The title of this blog post I got from the newspaper article I write about and is not my own opinion about the Germans.

today we had a nice get-together with colleagues and there I got a newspaper article from my boss. The article came from a German newspaper and describes that it is possible to get trained in working together with Germans,  the title of this message is the first sentence of this article. And it’s  quite funny to read being Dutch and living in Germany.

The article is available above and is  written in German but I’ve translated the first part which is also the most interesting. Right-click and select open in new window/tab would open in it a size which is readable.

Germans are terribly complicated: They address each other formally, still wear ties and want to have everything in written form. More than rarely the Dutch have issues with this. To make sure the Dutch won’t be disappointed they can follow a course in German etiquette.

And to be honest I can understand that this course exists for the same reason as other intercultural trainings. After we just came to German I really need to get used to the formal way of speaking with each other, the hierarchy and the expectation of having every statement in a written form. After 4 years I think I got used to it and see it as normal and I can say it something Germany should be proud of its part of the German culture.

This morning started yesterday on the west-coast of the USA. We had a free late check-out so we had plenty of time to pack suitcases. We arrived on the 21st of september with 2 suitcases, actually 3 but one of the suitcases was placed inside another one. The total weight of the suitcases was about 35 kilo and we were curious about the total weight on our way back home. Packing was a bit difficult because we had a problem with the space in the suitcases. We bought a couple of pairs of shoes which took a lot of place but we managed to fit everything in the 3 suitcases and in our cabin luggage.

At 12 o’clock it was time to drive to the airport. The drive to the airport was 29 miles and we had for 35 miles gas left so if everything went well and there was no traffic-jam and I did not take a wrong exit we should be fine. And indeed everything went well and we were perfect on time at the rental car return. From there we needed a shuttle-bus to the international terminal to drop off our baggage. Dropping off the was no problem except for the pricing for an additional suitcase, they went up from $50 to $100 per extra suitcase.

After dropping the suitcases we had a sandwich before we went to the gate. The gate was a bit different as expected. We bought expected to board the Airbus A380-800 by bridges but no we need to board into busses. There was a whole seating organisation to lead the whole process and at the end everyone ended up at the same and only tower to board the plane.

We had excellent places on the upper-deck of the plane with some extra space on the window side of our seats. The flight was very pleasant  and we came out more fit as usual. I guess this is because off all the new technology for climate control they put into planes today. We left LAX with a delay of almost 45 minutes and arrived almost on time in Paris. But in Paris it took over 30 minutes to park the plane at the gate which meant we had only 60 minutes left to cross the whole airport including an a bus ride to the Terminal 2G. From Terminal 2G we boarded our plane towards Nürnberg. This boarding took place outdoor and the rain was pouring down on us.

Soon we arrived at Nürnberg and here we hoped to see our suitcases again. And we were lucky, they were among the first to be on the baggage-caroussel. We walked through custom without any question and rushed to the metro towards the central train station and from there we would take a train home to Altdorf.

And in Altdorf a colleague of me, Jörg, picked us up at the airport to drive us back home.