(I lack) Cultural Fluency

Update 11/6/09 – In a fit of empowerment I unilaterally ripped the the poster off the wall and threw it into my trashcan.  I wonder if this will come up in House Meeting.

I’m thinking about coming back  here after exams to work on my dissertation, so maybe I’ll have another crack at attaining proficiency, if not fluency.

———

I wish people wouldn’t ask me if I like Germany or if I feel comfortable here when Germans are part of the conversation.  Early in my time here I was able to say yes (albeit with serious mental qualifications), but these days I can’t even convincingly evade the question.  I met an American just now who’s planning to go to med school here in Germany (seems kind of dumb considering that he hasn’t decided for sure that he wants to live here long term), who put this question to me, in front of his German friend.  When he asked me what I miss about America, I said “Friends.  English.  Convenience.  Knowing what’s going on.”

For an example of how I still don’t understand what’s going on here, in the sense of not knowing how people think or what makes them tick, see the poster below of cartoon bears having breakfast, which is posted in the hall outside my room.  This is in a dorm where the majority study theology (a serious subject here – they have to study Latin and philosophy as well as the stuff I studied in seminary) and the average age is probably 23 or 24.  And this is what they choose to decorate public spaces with.