Hey everyone, Dana here!
You’ve asked, so I’m answering. It’s a Q&A video.
I asked on Facebook and on Twitter for questions that you have about my experiences living
abroad or living in Germany, and you had so many really great questions, just really interesting.
So I'm actually going to make this into a three-part video.
Three Q&A videos coming up soon, answering your living abroad, living in Germany questions.
And getting this first question just out of the way, I get this question every time I
do a Q&A video: Why do you pronounce your name Dana and not Day-na?
It doesn't matter what the topic of the Q&A video is, I get this question.
And I've actually answered this question in both of the other Q&A videos that I've done, so
I’ll just link to those videos down below, if you wanna go check them out.
Do you still consider yourself living abroad?
Aren't you at home in Germany now?
And is it still an adventure to you?
Ooooh this is such an amazing question, a great question.
I do feel quite home in Germany, yes.
But I still definitely feel like I’m living abroad and every day is still an adventure
because, as I mentioned in my video on 4 things I look forward to in the USA, I still don’t
really deep down inside and out just know in my heart and understand the culture here
in Germany.
I have to remind myself, like, oh yeah, right...that’s how it’s done here, for many things.
And I also find myself still learning new things about the culture, especially how things
are done slightly or sometimes a lot differently in different parts of Germany.
So yeah, I still feel like I am from somewhere else.
And this kind of all ties in with the next two questions...
Do you consider mastering a new language a lifelong challenge?
And: Are you sometimes frustrated that you can’t say everything
exactly as you want to say it? With every shade and every hidden meaning?
Yes and yes!
Very yes.
Even after 7 years in Germany, there is still a lot that I do not know about the German
language, and I am always getting surprised by new idioms especially, or words with a
meaning that just isn’t so obvious.
Just the other day, for example, someone at dinner used the word "abgefrühstuckt," and
from that moment on I stopped being able to concentrate on the discussion that was going
on around me, and I was just, I was just way too involved trying to work out what in the
world “abgefrühstuckt” could mean.
Like, "breakfasted off," what could that mean?
So yeah, I do think that learning German will be a lifelong challenge for me.
And that ties in with why I still feel like I'm living abroad and why it is still an adventure
for me here in Germany.
And, yeah, it can be really frustrating when I want to say something but I just can’t
figure out how to get the meaning that I want to say across in German.
And then I usually end up saying something that only half conveys what I actually want to
say and I actually feel and then, yeah...sometimes I get frustrated that I can’t get my 100
percent exact feelings or thoughts across.
Do you understand or appreciate German humor?
I think so!
I’ve certainly enjoyed a lot of the stand-up or late night shows that I’ve watched here
in Germany.
And I love stand-up comedy, so if you have any suggestions for German comedy that I should
check out, please let me know, I really like stand-up comedy and late night shows.
And if you are curious to know more about what I think about German movies and comedy,
I did an interview over on the YouTube channel BrodiesFilmKritiken, so I’ll link to that
down below, if you want to check it out.
His questions are in German, but I answer them in English.
Is there a difference between peanut butter in Germany and peanut butter in the U.S.?
Yes, I think so at least.
From what I can taste, the peanut butter here in Germany usually doesn't taste
as creamy or as sweet as the peanut butter that I like from the U.S.
Although in the U.S. you can also find less sweet peanut butter as well.
But I like the sweeter version.
Is there anywhere Americans can work that will sponsor their visa?
So understandably, I get quite a lot of questions about working in Germany, and I’ve actually
already made several videos dedicated to this topic.
So if you’re interested in what I know or at least what I think I know about visas and
jobs and teaching in Germany, I will leave links down in the description box below to
all of those videos, so you can check them out for more information on those topics.
How long does it take someone to get used to living in Munich?
Ooooh that an interesting question.
And I would say that this would be different for everyone, right?
So me, personally, it did take me a couple years to really feel at home here.
And I think for me, the big thing, the big point that really shifted how I felt in Munich
was learning German.
So when I felt like I could really communicate with people and go out and run my own errands
and do things by myself and really have conversations with people and get done what I needed to
do in German, I think that's, for me, when I really started to feel at home here and
"got used to" living in Munich.
What do you find so special about Germany?
Ugh, there are just so many things, so many things that I love about living Germany from
the architecture here to the cafe culture, to the work-life balance in Germany.
To the fact that many cities are really, really walkable, so I can get to a lot of places by
foot, and then if not by foot, then often by public transportation.
I really appreciate the public transportation.
Alright last question.
For this video.
There's still two more to come as is planned right now.
Is it easy to make friends in Germany?
So, I will be honest. For me personally it wasn’t so easy.
Even though I took German courses and I put myself out there in situations to meet people,
I just found that it took me a while to really find people that I just clicked with.
But I’m not convinced that that had anything to do with Germany or actually anything to
do with me even.
I think it might have just been luck.
Or lack of luck, I guess.
In Prague I would say I got really lucky with my roommate.
She and I got along really great, and there you go: I automatically had a friend who I
even lived with.
Whereas in Germany, like I said, I took German courses and I went to events, but I just didn’t
have that click moment with any of the people that I met.
But yeah, I just kept going out there, putting myself out there, meeting new people and eventually
I did start meeting people that I did have that click moment with.
And, actually, going back to the other question about getting used to life in Munich...yeah,
I would say that for me I started to really feel at home here in Munich when: two things,
my German improved and I had that click moment with people and I made friends here in Germany.
So my question for you is: What answers would you give some or all of these questions?
Please let me know in the comments below.
Thanks so much for watching, I really hope that you enjoyed this video.
Thank you so much for all of your great questions and also a big thank you so much to our patrons
on Patreon, who help make these videos possible.
Thank you so much for your support.
If you would like to check out our Patreon page, you can also find a link to that down
in the description below.
Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!
Really hope that you enjoyed this video.
Thank you for all of your gweat, gweat...great questions.
For me personally, it wasn't so easy.
And I guess that was part of wha...sentences, Dana, sentences.