The term Germanized

I first came across the term Germanized more than a decade ago (even before I arrived in Germany). What does this term mean? The term?Germanized is a term coined by native English speakers to describe the process of becoming more German. The more you live in a German environment, the more you actually adopt the German culture, customs and mentality and thus you become more German.

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For me personally, this had an effect in separating the garbage into different trash cans. In the past I would not have done this until I understood the importance of separation for the benefit of the environment. There are other customs, such as waiting patiently in a long line and not overtaking the people in front of you (standing in line in my opinion is more about cultural matters and giving the right to those who waited in front of you).

Another German custom I was influenced by the culture, is giving priority to a person who has only one product to buy and is waiting behind me in the checkout line at the supermarket. This custom stems from consideration for others. In case you have many products to purchase and you are waiting in line at the checkout in the supermarket, why not give the?priority?to the person behind you who only wants to purchase a product?

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For me, being German?(especially if you live in Berlin) also means living in a kind of constant minimalism and not purchasing luxury brands (this is one of the reasons why you can find many stores in Berlin that sell second-hand items, especially clothing). Also, don't usually buy spare items that you won't use later.

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In my opinion, being German means that if you have an item at home that you don't use, instead of throwing it in the trash, just put it on the street corner and someone will take it at some point, because they will see it as useful (this custom is especially pronounced when it comes to books and clothes).

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Okay, so here's a list of well known, common scenes and their effect on making you more German (of course the list can go on and on...):

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• Germanized means wearing rags and walking on the streets with them because no one cares (especially in Berlin, everyone has their own style)

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• Germanized means going to Sp?ti at 12 at night on a weekend and paying twice as much for a bottle of beer (don't forget to carry the fanny pack of course).

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• Germanized means going into an old bookstore, noticing thick books but also magazines from the 80's.

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• What else does Germanized mean? Do not cross a red traffic light on foot, as this could annoy the people around you (unless you don't mind getting a lecture afterwards from a person who will explain to you why it is forbidden). Also pay attention to the bicycle path (yes, this is not a sidewalk, it is a path intended for bicycles!).

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• Germanized means walking on the streets of Berlin and noticing that next to old inhabitants you will always notice flashy and?noisy teeagers (due to huge age gaps in the population).

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• Germanized is to walk on the streets and not notice flashing billboards, skyscrapers or huge posters trying to get you to buy something (this is not New York or London).

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• Germanized even means volunteering once a week and helping a community or a certain population (after all, this is a humanitarian social state).

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• Germanized means watching the news and understanding that it is indeed 100% news and not a reality TV show (of course, follow the weather every day).

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• Germanized, also means knowing how to maintain privacy and respect your neighbors. It is also true that if you accidentally drop a pin on the wooden floor after 22:00, you will still hear knocks on the door from the neighbor who will tell you that it is already after 22:00 and you need to keep it quiet.

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• Germanized, is also to understand that Germany has changed significantly, and today it is made up of immigrants who come to Germany all the time.

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• Germanized means walking in a park or on the street and noticing a random girl who will smile at you, nod her head and say hello.

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• Germanized is to walk in the park and notice that the people around you are not really stressed and have all the time in the world because they are not in a hurry to get anywhere.

• Germanized is when you buy an item from a shop and then you realize that you have two years guarantee on that item (how cool is that ?? !?)

• Germanized means making an Internet contract in advance for two years without the possibility of leaving it. This means understanding that the entire country is actually working on contracts.

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• Germanized means giving coins/donation (kleine spende) to the homeless, artist or musician you meet on the street or at the U Bahn station.

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• Germanized?means waiting five months for an appointment at a bureaucratic office and when you get there and finally meet with the clerk, you find out you forgot to bring a document, and then you have to wait another five months for another appointment.

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• Germanized means collecting a large number of bottles and at the end of each certain period going to the supermarket and getting a refund for them (of course if you forget to collect them and this is the more common case, you throw them in the garbage bin intended for bottles or donate them to a beggar/bottle collector on the street so that he can get a refund on them).

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• Germanized means always giving up your seat at the U Bahn train for older people and smiling and winking at the babies at the U Bahn train when they look at you.

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• Germanized (especially in Berlin) means that every second person in the city has a dog (and by the way and it's a fact the dogs in Germany are the cutest dogs in the world)

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• Germanized means that every professional does his job to the best of his ability, arrives on time, contributes to society and of course does not go to the doctor to get sick notes???

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• Germanized means entering the office and starting to work and not understanding why the light is not turned on in the office (why is it still dark in the office)?

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• Germanized is to understand that it actually rains more in the summer than in the winter. And to understand that in the end the German winter is not so bad (I got used to it a long time ago) after all it is not Siberia, and besides there are many activities that can be done during the winter.

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• Germanized is to understand that today Germany has completely changed and contains a wide variety of immigrants. When you walk down the street you hear a wide variety of languages and German is just one of them.

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• Germanized, is to understand that Germans like to travel. Everywhere in the world you notice German travelers and usually they travel in a minimalist way. Travelling is part of a liberal German culture.

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• Germanized is to understand that if you buy an item of furniture for your apartment you must throw away the old item and in no way hoard unnecessary items. You don't need them and they take up space in your apartment.

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• Germanized, is when you pay attention to the people around you?(including yourself), care more about collecting life experiences than tangible products/items.

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• Germanized is when you have an errand to make in a certain place. First, you try to reach them by phone, send them an email and even contact them online through their website, and then when you don't get an answer you realize that the only way to make that errand is to arrive physically during opening hours and talk to a clerk in person.

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• Germanized is when you realize that Germany is the most humanitarian country in the world when it accepts more than a million refugees every year.

• Germanized is when you are in Germany for several years and when you talk to people you use the words “Ach so” (Oh I see) spontaneously without meaning to do so.?

• Germanized is when you miss the U Bahn train by a split second, you look at the board and realize that the next train will arrive in just three minutes and it still annoys you ??