Author: jhammers

It has been more than a week since I have returned home to the United States. Although my previous plan was to come home right after my course finished, my family surprised me with a trip through eastern Europe. As such, I was able to experience France, Spain, and Great Britain in addition to the countries I visited over the summer. In total, I saw Germany, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, France, Spain, and the UK.

Before my trip, I expected Europe to be very well put together, not as crazy as the United States can be, and a very easy switch from life in the US. However, after about a week of living there, none of my expectations held up. Due to the war, COVID, local political disagreements, etc., Germany seemed like another country with imperfections (shocker, right?). Although they might not have been as disorganized and divided as the US, many people in Germany shared their opinions and disagreed with one another on every topic.

But looking back, I’m happy there is conflict, disagreements, and imperfections. After all, what would the world be like if it was perfect. In my eyes, boring. The exciting thing about life is our differences as people and finding commonalities despite them. My experience in Germany gave me numerous opportunities to find commonalities and share in them, but also to recognize differences and celebrate them. Not every cultural difference was a positive one (like the fact German stores are only open to 8!), but they put a spin on life.

Before signing off, I’d like to say thank you to everyone who helped me discern and complete my journey. Thank you to Mrs. Eva Hoeckner for telling me about SLA. Thank you to Professor Robert Norton for inspiring me to see places outside of Leipzig and inspiring me to develop me German further than I normally would at Notre Dame. Thank you to Professor Denise DellaRossa for assisting me in my search for housing, the right program, and everything else related to Germany. Thank you to Mrs. Mary Davis for helping me look deeper into my experience and see the lessons within my experience. And finally, thank you to all of the sponsors from the CSLC and Max Kade Foundation who assisted my journey financially and made this dream become reality. I cannot thank everyone at Notre Dame enough.

With that, I’m signing off.

Sincerely, John Hammerschmitt

After living in Germany for 2 months and traveling to different cities and countries on the weekend, I’ve learned a lot about the country and its culture. Naturally, German has many similarities to the United States, but it also has some significant differences. After looking at Germany’s Hofstede Index and comparing it to that of the United States, I noticed Germany is identical to the United States in everything except for Indulgence and Long-Term Orientation. As such, I’d like to share my experiences in Germany in relation to these cultural dimensions.

Although Long-/Short-Term Orientations are hard to notice at first glance and even after living in a country for only 2 months, I still was able to see small things that demonstrated Germany’s focus on the long-term. For example, Germany places a large focus on the environment, recycling, and saving money. One can recognize this after 1 trip to the grocery store. While there, I noticed that every customer brought their own bags and bought enough food for a few days/maybe a week. In regards to the store policies, Germany is a big supporter of recycling, such that they have instituted a recycling-incentive system. A “deposit” of sorts is put on any plastic and glass bottle, so when you buy a bottle, you pay for both the liquid inside of the bottle and the bottle itself. When you return to the grocery store, you can recycle it for your money back. This deposit and return is called “Pfand”. I thought all of these were very interesting to experience, and after thinking about it, I realize it is just a step beyond America. In America, we use plastic bags in grocery stores, believe in optional recycling, and have no incentive to recycle. In Germany, they banned plastic bags, believe in recycling (to an almost insane degree), and have a system in place to incentivize recycling. All of these simple factors are but one example of Germany’s care for the environment and therefore their focus on the long-term.

The other dimension I thought was interesting was Germany’s restraint compared to America’s indulgence. However, I find the index to ignore some parts of German spending because they consider it a part of their society. Specifically, I am referring to Germany’s baked goods and coffee culture. They will enjoy baked goods and coffee at many points in the day, but I don’t believe this is factored into the index. To me, an American, I see this as a clear indulgence of their desire for sugar and caffeine. But to them, it is a social norm and a common event to drink coffee during the day for 30+ minutes. However, I believe Germans demonstrate restraint in other ways. While Americans are very lax about how long their 30 minute lunch break actually is or what they do during school (talking to their friends), I think Germans are concerned about their work and finishing their tasks during work. Now, that’s not to say they don’t talk to coworkers at all, but they are a very punctual society and start and end work on the dot. They prioritize their tasks and goals more so than their wants and desires. I myself saw this in class. Class started at exactly 9, talking and eating during class was strictly prohibited, and breaks were exactly 15 or 30 minutes long. We had fun during class, of course, but the teachers made sure we were on topic for as long as possible.

After exploring the other cultural dimensions of Germany and comparing them with the US, I think that they are not too different. Germans and Americans share many similarities when it comes to recognizing a power difference, but not enough to where there is an organized hierarchical structure. We both desire success in school, work, and life, and are not afraid to flaunt it in the form of houses, clothes, and cars. However, as an American, there were many differences in day to day life and societal pressures I hadn’t felt back home. For one, there was a new emphasis placed on the environment and on punctuality. But overall, I didn’t believe I was in a totally different land culturally. Many values were the same, and the same power structure and success-oriented mindset persisted through cultural “barriers”.

This exercise was very informative and interesting, and I now view Germany in a different light. I don’t see it as different as before, while emphasizing the differences in, for example, long-term goal setting. I may be adopting some aspects of their society, like punctuality, since it seems useful in every situation!

Till next blog, John

Hi All,

For my fourth blog post from Leipzig, Germany, I’d like to write a little about one of my first experiences with native speakers and the language barrier in a D.I.V.E. analysis. After about two weeks of classes at the language school in Leipzig, I started to bond with the other kids in my class through our common interest in basketball. In our group of four, we had a kid from Russia, China, and Jordan, yet we all liked to play basketball and go to gyms to play when we could. One day after class, we decided to travel to the local university’s gym to play with whoever else was on the court at the time.

When we got there, there was a 6’10” man (Felix) who was shooting by himself. My friends, thinking I was the tallest guy they’ve ever met, immediately pressured me into a 1 on 1 against the taller guy. Despite the enormous height and weight difference, I was more worried about the language barrier and whether or not I could make a coherent invitation to play with the man. After a brief introduction and invitation, we walked to the top of the key and I said “Sind Sie bereit zu beginnen?” which directly means, “Are you ready to begin/start?”. Although it seems like such a basic question and anyone should understand what I meant when I said it, Felix stopped with a puzzled look and said “Wie bitte” (“Pardon?”). Immediately I was anxious and repeated myself, to which he said in perfect English, “I cannot understand you at all”.

Apparently, Germans don’t say that when they are asking for confirmation of the beginning of a game/task/etc. But the way Felix said it made it seem like I was an idiot for posing the question or saying it that way. In a 3rd person, explicit description of the scenario, Felix was simply telling me he didn’t understand what I said and needed clarification. But I, as a non-native German speaker, thought he was being a jerk who bluntly called out my poor German skills. My interpretation of Felix’s retort was completely negative, and although he said it as a pure fact, I believed it was meant to call me out for poor skills.

This negative evaluation and negative feeling made me go to my roommate and ask him if ; 1) If I was in the wrong for asking the question in that specific way; and 2) If all Germans are mean to foreigners who don’t speak German as their mother-language. Because I didn’t want to believe all Germans were like this, I sought verification from my roommate. He ensured me not everyone is like this, but many are straight to the point and see things are more factual. He encouraged me to try and take the emotion out of it and not see it as an embarrassment, but rather a cultural misunderstanding.

After a DIVE evaluation of this situation, I think that I am able to see it in a new light and be thankful for this experience, which, although negative in my opinion, served as a reminder to not feel embarrassed when testing my skills and making mistakes. The DIVE method of slowing down and decompressing helps when feeling overwhelmed in any scenario, and I will make use of it in the future.

Till next time, John Hammerschmitt