The Examination of a Turkish with Germany: What I Expected? As a young Turkish lady who comes from a secular family according to Turkish standards and who always follows oppositional media, I came to Germany with huge expectations. I believed to find perfectionism in Germany because we knew Germans with their well-disciplined characters. I thought I was so close to reaching paradise in the world, but everything I imagined about Germany was nothing more than my dream.
I heard Germans are extremely punctual
Then, I realized this is not the case, especially when you need them to be punctual. When I needed to register at the city hall on my first arrival to Germany, I got my first disappointment with Germans. I was expecting to be called directly by the official when my appointment time arrived but unfortunately, it was not the case. I needed to wait more than 20 minutes in the waiting room. If I had been the one who did this, they would not have taken me even to the waiting room. There was nothing to do! They are the authority there and I could not haul up them for not being the Germans in my dreams. I had to accept whatever happened there.
After a while, I even got used to it! I started to make my plans according to always delaying German buses and trains. So, I became the most German person in a friendship environment. Since the transportation system is rotten in Germany, I have never trusted the program of vehicles and always preferred the potential ones that would arrive at my destination address at least one hour early. That is, while I was taking the transport which was supposed to arrest my target address normally one hour earlier than I needed, I was able to reach my address just on time.
The Examination of a Turkish with Germany: 5Ws
I heard Germans are well programmed
Then, I started to question why I was still receiving emails from the dormitory where I had applied to stay that it was still not certain yet whether I was able to get a room from them or not even just one week ago from the official move-in date. Should have all of the processes been already done a few weeks ago? So I could have an idea about where I could stay. If the dorm is not a possible option for me, I should definitely find another place to stay. Unfortunately, I could not get a room in the dorm even after I arrived to Germany and they were always asking me whether I was still interested in it like there was a place they could offer me.
I heard Germans always follow rules
“Germans always follow rules no matter what happens.” I had always heard that kind of stuff while I was in Turkey. However, it was a big lie. When I arrived to Germany, I was intensively trying to find a place to stay. Some people around me were telling me a should go to the dormitory administration and talk with them about my situation. They were advising me to arouse pity for myself in front of their eyes, so they could offer me a room. I couldn’t get their point.
Why I should have behaved like a beggar? I had enough money to pay the rent of the room. They would not have given the room to me freely. If they had had a room, would have been also better for them to give it to me so they could have received rent from it? If they had not had a room, how could they have offered it to me? I was confused but implemented what they had said to me because they were insisting. And it worked!
Then my mind was confused one more time. Why were not giving the room to me while I was demanding it in a normal manner? Why should I have claimed that I really did not have a place to stay? Was not it so obvious that as a foreign student, I did not know anyone in a totally new country to me and did not have any idea about what I could do? Also, as a German citizen, did not they know that I needed the document of city registration for every little thing in Germany?
Forget about what you heard
I heard so many compliments about Germans that are not true in real life. I made my plans on what I heard before I had come. I had a big shock when I arrived. Each and every passing day, I am getting more and more used to what is the reality in Germany and I will be trying to open also other people’s eyes and warn them about unrealistic German standards in other societies’
