 Hello, and welcome to the last session here in this room for today. I'm just here as a moderator and Welcome to the session Working as a foreigner in Germany, and I will hand over this microphone to my colleague Jacob. Oh Hey, can you hear me? Okay, it's working Okay, okay, I'm from Costa Rica. I came here one year ago Was easy and hard because finding job in Germany I found this this job in Dornud via I Was online like looking for jobs and it was Surprisingly easy to find Something related to for me. I am UX designer designer and yeah, I did some interviews via Skype Yeah, it was was very fine very very nice. So the time I've been here is Yeah, it's a cultural shock in a good way Because you know, Germans are very Organized and I like that because it's very easy to work before I've been working with people from the United States and Costa Rica, Mexico You can see the difference with Germans because it's it's like they don't rush they have more time to Yeah to relax, but at the same time. So they are organized so they can They can get things done, right? So, yeah, I'm happy here living dormant very nice city And for me is it is isn't hard the language The language I'm learning. Yeah, I'm learning. I can understand Kristoff is my teacher It's like every day. We have like a little Pig bank piggy bank every time I spoke spoken English or Spanish I have to So So in a good way, yeah, it's very nice because I'm learning I can understand I Can't speak. Yes. I'm busy, but yeah, I'm very happy here My name is Maria Aragon. I Come from Colombia. I came to Germany 10 years ago Initially just for two years I was going to finish my master degree and then go back because my whole family is there But then a job opportunity presented. So I stayed another year Then I was ready to go back then I met the person who's now my husband Who's German? so now that was seven years ago and I I stayed I stayed but I also stayed Because it is a nice country to live in it has a lot of advantages But it was an adjustment and it had changed me it has changed me. I don't know a couple of First points to say when I came here one comes with the with the Thought or the impression that Germans are cold and serious and and very Distant But then you get to know them and they are really nice and helpful and friendly and Yes, they can be very direct and I was also an adjustment But I learned also to appreciate how good that is how good that is that Germans are direct. They tell you what it is that they need. I had my first boss. We were Communicating a lot in Skype through Skype and every time I needed something from him Hello, how are you today? I would for me. It was very important to be polite and to start a conversation like that It didn't last two or three days until he said hey stop that if you want something for me If you like if there's a Skype pop up That distracts me. It's already taking me out. Do not say how are you? I yeah, tell me what you want and then for me it was impolite. It felt very rude to say Hello, Rick. Can you please give me the page for this and that? That's in in our Point of view very but then I understood how much time we lose If we do it the other way around or Same when I was at my first customer. I was Staying there for the whole day and then when you go out to the cafeteria and then you See people in the stairs or in the hall. Hello. How are you fine? Thank you Then I would have to call them for something. Hello. How are you? Maria you already asked me that today. Why are you asking me again? How I am? I already told you same thing We always say hey, how are you? Hey, it doesn't matter. It's like standard But did this directness I understand and how is it that they can be so effective and so? Productive it he does change me but but in a good way in a good way So hi, my name is Carlos I come from Chile Latin America I live here in German 9 years ago so 9 years people here and I think for me says it's the same like like you this directly a point of view of the Germans because for example for me was in the When I write I wrote a email then the people here in Germany say, okay Folk in this this is a follower and Ready and we I think the people in Latin America they make others Different a different way. We ask how are you? Who is your family and right and right and then we go to the point because because otherwise is not too Political so Yeah, yes, I think this is a point that's for me was so a very big difference here in in your mind Yeah, my name is Walter. I'm from From the Netherlands My mom is from Indonesia and my dad is from the check. What's now the Czech Republic and I've been living in Germany for 10 years and For me the experience is a little bit different For me Germans are very polite compared to the Dutch So it's it's quite different I I Expected that everything would be really formal, but it's not really case You have some instances where they are formal, but if you work with colleagues, it's not that different compared to the Netherlands The first question colleagues usually asked see or do it's only did then the chefs or people hire up you see so that's For me a bit different perspective But still the differences are Compared to like Dutch and German are not that big but does nuances that are different and Also the language For me it's very confusing sometimes because there are a lot of words in Dutch They also exist in German, but they have a different meaning So I confuse them Familia Familia Familia is Yeah In in German, that's like mom dad children Family in Dutch is all the relatives also all day in the cousins and He's in and also for example Rente it's like Pension but in Dutch that is interest So sometimes I confuse words because yeah, I know them Oh, that's a different meaning and sometimes it's just happens that people look at me like what do you mean? So that's cost of the language are so close that different problem one question Is and I know from a media that especially for for other people Sometimes it's hard to get there To they have their education accepted in Germany, did you have anything like that? So did any one of you have the issue that what they learned wasn't accepted or Whatever I can answer this question. And yeah, I learned a study here in Germany and and We have the people in Latin America. We have Adventure here in Europe because in Spain the people speak Spanish and we don't have to translate our documents of the the student and this is because for us not too difficult to Comvalidate the the student for example for me. I I I didn't have problem for that. I don't know And on the official validation like to be accepted as I was a bachelor already and I was accepted as a bachelor here as well What was a problem for me was more like understanding the German education system When I was applying I didn't know any German and I wanted to study a master's degree So I was to looking for German universities. So if you find an university of applied sciences well, it's a university and I applied to a university of applied sciences because it sounded well applied. I'm an engineer. It's good applied Then to later find out that a fachoschule something completely different from University that it's a different level and you need like different grades and different types and different recognition Had I known that before I probably wouldn't have applied to a fachoschule but You I don't know if it is is that a European thing. I think it's a German thing. Is it similar in the Netherlands? In the Netherlands is the same system Fachoschule or school and University and again, that's one of the things that when you understand Oh, it makes sense. Yeah, because the system and then they distribute it makes sense, but at the beginning I'm like How is it that you decide when you're and like a 10 year old kid whether you or not you're gonna make it to university or not? It's it was a little bit and I know that it's not like that. It's not black or white that there are different ways but but it was I Like in in Colombia, yes, you decide but you're already 18 when you decide so it's a little bit more It's not so early that you're Technically you decide if you go to university or to fachoschule when you're something like 17 or 18 When you do either the Avitur or just the fachabitur, so Is there any funny story that you can tell like That you Misunderstood words signs or whatever any funny story that you came into One German word that I didn't know Well, my boss asked me I was talking to a client and so we said you're fablieben But I'm fablieben. Yeah, I'm not here. I'm here. So probably miss you stay somewhere No, that's so they had to laugh and like I had to explain what it was. So One of my favorites breads like here in Germany the makers are amazing, right? And one time I Ordered is called in German Knusper Hoenschen or something like that, right? Knusper Hoenschen, yeah So But for me it was too hard to pronounce that word But I loved that but I didn't know where where the bread was and every morning I was like Where is that? I really wanted that bread for breakfast and the girl was what what? I'm croissant it I'm croissant forgot the word Okay Just to share the fun with other others. Can you say it reached? Good Excuse me I can I can do it I don't think it's a really funny but but I am Germans usually laugh about my way of saying no because for example, I'm in a in a work situation and and I Have worked with many companies that develop software and then when I'm with a customer they start asking for features that they want and or they start to ask questions and Sometimes well, they they want things that are very Difficult to do so When they start asking for too much or maybe going the wrong way or something then I have to stop them Tom's house Why that's so funny? Because and I say the problem is I don't say nine nine nine nine nine nine No, I said because it's like the reaction and I cannot get rid of that It doesn't matter how much German I do speak is like no no no and then they start to imitate me And then they laugh and then well that it's not a serious meeting anymore, but Yes, I Then nine nine nine nine nine I have to think about it. It doesn't come automatically No, I'd say no no no no no no no because that's their natural reaction I think here the people say Hi history Related to the work may I have I know a lot of Yeah, I have to for example I When when I wanted to start with the study here in Germany in Germany the people have different ways to say the the hour the clock and And one once I hear okay, you have to come Three part of for I don't know who is the the translator of that in barbarian Yeah, dry fiertel Yes, and the problem was I have to I had to to to made a monthly test for for the university and then the the the professor come and it was too late and her fissure you Sees in such bed you are too late here. Yeah, but You say me in this time no no, I excuse me that was to be on on on the email But I was I was only called and this was my first year here in Germany and I didn't learn this This kind of off of the hour To be honest this dry fiertel sieben and fiertel sieben and things are like a Lot of Germans have problems with that and this Fiertel sieben and dry fiertel sieben is only used in several areas like in Lower Saxony and I think in Bavaria, but especially here in this area. It's Mostly unknown so Yeah What is the thing that you miss most from your own from from your old life? From okay, I'm Latino. So I miss my family. I live here. I live here with my wife and my daughter She's eight years old, but I miss my mom and my brother Very much, but they came to Germany every year this year So that's the thing I miss in Costa Rica. I was born in Colombia, too But I live in Costa Rica all my life. I miss the sea What's in the the wish and mountains because I live in dormant dormant is boom It's like a pancake. Yeah So I miss mountains. That's the thing I missed and food maybe But the food here is very nice My family of course because that's all my family is there But apart from that I I do meet well a few things Coming from Colombia not only from Colombia I come from Cali which is self Self-declare as the capital of salsa. So there's a lot of dancing and Here not only normal parties are Maybe there's like a movement maybe maybe just for the very intrepid ones Or you go to a salsa party and then the problem is that they everybody counts the steps And then it's like very specific figures that you have to do We don't dance like that and so the dancing at the parties or the impromptu parties that come out That's we always find an excuse to celebrate So that and Food in general, but I think it's Well, that's normal, but then there's one thing that I miss very much is the we eat a lot of corn corn Derivates corn bread corn On the cold and and you don't get that here the ones that you get here if at all are the sweet corns Nothing nothing to do that. Yeah, don't don't even get me started Yeah For me it's the family to the friends, but I think so one thing I Miss anything here in Germany is for example with my German friends. I say hey, do you have time next week? Oh, no, no, I'm sorry. I have a termin no and then when do you have time? Yeah, maybe in three months And then a what what excuse me Yeah, this is I think what I'm missing for or maybe yeah for is the same Yeah, for me, it's the Indonesian food. I Live in Frankfurt, which is quite international, but there's not an Indonesian restaurant or something. I don't miss the Dutch food Strobe waffles, okay Oh Name name by you Um on that topic of the termina So you you have to make appointments very very far in advance that was already an adjustment for me, but not only that it is very impressive for us that we make an appointment for in maybe Two months two and a half months and everybody writes it in the calendar and then two and a half months Even if we're not if we haven't talked to each other Everybody shows up and everybody's there when we said that we were gonna be there. It is not In Colombia sometimes You do have to make things far in advance, but if it's so far away then a week before Let us call let us call and make sure that they still remember and you have to do any He hasn't called he forgot it's not gonna happen He hasn't called it's not gonna happen and then they don't show up because you didn't confirm It's it's it was Yeah, and then On the on the planning thing There is small things for example When I was in the University of Applied Sciences We Friday for example and we wanted to do a little get-together with friends So you go to a supermarket and you want to buy cola or something? Well beer is another subject But if you want to buy cola for many people then you buy well one liter bottles or anything But then you want them for now like it's six o'clock. We're Meeting friends at seven then We want them cold You cannot get one little one liter bottles cool. It's very difficult It's very difficult in Colombia Everything is cold and we don't only have one liter some but two liters three liter Coca-Cola and it's called at all times any time you can get because and this is the thing we Improvise a lot. It's like last minute in Germany if you're planning a party that size How on earth are you gonna improvise the drinks? Of course you bought them a week in advance and you put them cold because I mean No Last-minute things it doesn't and then small things like that. It's where they show it shows How good at planning? They are Let's open the the the questions. What is your question? so my question would be The Bud Press community has a code of conduct and ethical rules and Did it happen to you in? Yeah, since you're here that you get any racism or problems with like, I don't know, you know what I mean like Okay, I haven't experienced any problems I I Never experienced that the people was always very open for me and and on on the beginning I as I Yeah, as I spoke German not to a not too good. No good. Then the people was so slow Sometimes different, but I didn't I didn't have problem in this No Racism or or discrimination. I didn't feel anything and if anything They were nicer or or Or even like more interested because I'm like weird also because I I studied in Emden, which is very northern in Germany and not a very Big metropolis. So there's not it's not very international. So it was a special I come from Colombia. So When they were a little bit into the conversation or they got me to know a little bit of then they did ask about drugs or Well, the bad part of Colombia, but they were careful to wait until Yeah, that's how I filter people like who what do you ask first about the coffee and Peebe Valderrama or Paolo's co art so that but they were careful to wait until Yeah No, never Germans have as very outside German, of course the people have a very stupid stereotype about Germans You're right When I was going to come here. No, there are racist It's all them. I think you're like 70 years late or something because Yeah, there's no racism racism racism here that I've noted for me It was every time I say I'm from Costa Rica. You know, it's wow. Oh nice. Well, how is Costa Rica? So just to sum it up you didn't experience any racism or or bats In bad things even either inside the WordPress community and in in your normal day life So any other questions from the audience? So first of all, thank you very much for being here for talking to us. It's very interesting What is your tip? What can I learn as a German from you? What can you give us as a Loosen up a little bit like so I learned we need to cool down our drinks to So I could invite you to a party in three years, but So what is your other take on on us that we cannot see as we are here all the time Let me think let me think um, I would maybe suggest I don't know how to how to I make a lot of Germans see that but I hear a lot of complaints from Germans about German procedures or for example the bureaucracy and all the bureaucracy. There's a procedure for everything There's a there's a form for everything and and it's like a complaint because it's complicated Yeah, but then As an as a foreigner there's a lot of paperwork that I have to do and I'm not only a foreigner, but I'm a foreigner from a country but well Up until recently it was very difficult to get visas anywhere because Columbia Well, it's been a little bit easier now, but still I am used to the paperwork. I'm used to Filling up forms and it was actually very easy here because for everything there is a procedure So if I wanted to do something I just google it Or ask and then there's a specific you have to do these 12 steps But then I know what are the 12 steps in in Columbia some of sometimes not always but sometimes it's like Okay, what do you have to do? Oh, you have just to fill out this form and then you fill it out You go in it. Oh, but you forgot this other thing Oh, but then you have to go to the other place in the other side of the city and then and then you You figure out the 12 steps as you go But then not in advance here. It's very clear and then you go and if you have done everything Okay, okay, so wait three weeks and ah three weeks. I have to wait, but then three weeks exactly I get the result. So, um, I would encourage you to appreciate that Because it's not forgiven Even even inside Europe, I don't know if probably the Netherlands. It's similar but I had to travel a lot between France and Germany and the trains In any Deutsche Bahn Train station you have the yellow printed out papers where you say this train will arrive at this time on this platform It's all it's printed out. It's known in advance Only in France It's the neighbor you go there and you don't know what platform is going to be until like 10 minutes before So there's everybody. There's like a hundred people waiting for the for the in front of the screen to see where I hate that and I I come from a country where there's not even a timeline that we do don't know when the bus is going to come We have time and you know the bus goes here when Go it will come And then you yeah, it will come and then it comes one and maybe two minutes later The other one comes and then maybe in 20 minutes. Nothing comes. You don't know but it will come doesn't matter So so a little bit of Appreciation for how good the order is I would say I Have a complaint with Germans. Yeah, I'm trying to learn Deutsch right so I go to a person Hello, we kids. Yeah, I'm fine Why is it later? Oh the bathroom is there Everybody's fixing it. I want this right Oh, what I want to learn German And they always that's why we have to piggy bank. Yes. That's a good idea. Yeah So if somebody tried to speak German speaker I have I have a question. I realized that I'm pretty good in English and I have a basic understanding of French and a basic understanding of Dutch and When I went to Sofia and to Poland I Couldn't read anything because they they have the Cyrillic writing. So I really was lost And you had any experience like that or was that fine for you? Every okay, I Think we know I don't have problem with it with the pronunciation of German, but I think my problem is sometimes in German you have different vocals you have On this and that this we don't have that And for it. Yeah, for example, you can so switch the the vocal and you say another word complete another for example Moren more than sing carotten More than the more than sing carotten more and more and it's yeah Yeah, yeah, but for example Yeah, but if this is sometimes I switch the this this word and then There's a game in Germany called take a solution if you have one and the same words with With totally different meanings. That's even worse and the other thing that is probably a very Unusual for for anyone outside Germany. We can we can Concatenate words like hell. I think the longest word that's officially in the dude is Reinmeindono canal shifat's patent that's And that's just the longest official word we can concatenate I Think that's totally unusual for for you guys, right? I like the big words. Yes Yes Yeah, it's amazing like When you came is what you're like, what does then you start learning? Okay, this is cool Any further question from the audience I come to you and everyone Just one quick thing because He made me remember this okay when I arrived in Italy for the first time. It was so crazy. It was so crazy The thing is I arrived in the place of beats Asians then so it was more of the old people who are not really used to black So I want another it happened that I have that I was trying to get to the train station So I went to when I was like, sorry train station station. Okay. Yeah, it was that's your name It was that's your name and they say Avanti Avanti Avanti is forward. Oh, okay. I say. Thank you I keep walking 15 minutes. I said but I'll start soon. They say Avanti Avanti Yeah, okay fine That wasn't quite hard to understand because the Italian if you speak English eater Italian is not really difficult Because it's just little letters out both German Dutch how did you ever ever because the first time I was in Germany in 2014 at the train station my whole I knew my cousin who came to pick was saying was that he I saw letters and I was seeing the combination of two three consonants like said How did you ever start because you did I see don't understand It was not easy. I came here. I could say Good morning Thank you. And what can I put kaufen much means like I could survive But I didn't know anything else and I studied in English had a few German classes, but it was not until I actually started working In a German project with Germans all around me that I was finally able to start talking. It was like on The end of my second year that I kind of felt I could speak German It's difficult and I still make a lot of mistakes And and the the grammar and the daddy does Yeah I don't know I I because well learn courses and and and what you're doing try to speak only in German in the area I think but You know, it was not particularly easy Especially with daddy does I know some cultural groups from from Asia they From the nearer part of Asia. They say the the auto the board But but coming with with that story. I just recently read satiric article about Germans ordering dinner and and It's true. I know I do it myself If you go to to to dinner and order dinner you say mit allem und Schaf Did you ever realize that Germans? By design and talked wrong German because you they knew that you are not Not very good in German is I Notice it only. I didn't know I Realize afterwards because I didn't know it was wrong German because for me it was German But my husband sometimes does it on purpose so that I don't lose my accent or my mistakes So so he he he has heard it. His German has Gone bad because of me I don't I don't remember but because I don't know that they're mistakes So no, I don't I don't know. Do you have any examples of? So have we any further question from the audience? Anyone who wants to ask a question? So if we don't have any other question or I just want to teach you something If you ever go to Costa Rica, you just need two words Nothing else is put a video you can search put a video so put a video means yes, it's okay. No Bye. Hello. Good morning. Good night So, yeah Hey, how are you? Okay, hello No, yeah, we say put a beer So Just take keep in mind put a beer and you'll be fine. I Think this is a great closing remarks for this session I want to thank everyone here in this room for having this session with us By the way, I am the one to blame for that these great people shared their thoughts yesterday at the warm-up I said hey, Jacob, oh, you need to do a session and Maria too and then we we got Both of them today too. So thank you for being here and have a great evening