My cultural identity
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 พ.ย. 2024
- Hayley Alexis's video: • HOW MY VIEWS ON RACIAL...
How has becoming a German changed the way I feel about myself? Or... has it?
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by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com
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”It's not the colour of my password or even the colour of my skin that defines me.” is a great line and should be reality for everybody.
@obsoleteUbiquity I also saw this before Andrew said it, and I was wondering "What does the 'color of my password' mean?". It turns out he was talking about the document used for the security of borders, not online accounts.
For me as a German the only time I had to state my race on an official form was actually in Britain. I already commented this under Hayley's video.
It happened when I worked as foreign language assistant at a school in the UK for a couple of months a few years ago. I was really shocked when I had to check these boxes about my ethnicity in a form on my first day there. This was the first time I had ever seen this and it felt very wrong to me. So I drew an additional box on the form and wrote "schwäbisch" next to it. Nobody ever complained :D
If it was for a job in the UK I'm guessing that question will have been part of the optional diversity survey most companies ask new employees to fill in to monitor diversity in their workforce. Generally data on ethnicity, sexuality, gender etc are taken anonymously and it certainly never factors into the decision to employ someone or not - these data are kept separate from the info that goes to the recruiter.
I remember reading your comment.
It probably does happen in the UK, but Hayley was saying she was confused that when the immigration office asked her where she was from, they didn't mean her race. That, for me, puts it in a completely different league.
@@jhonbus I like the thought that somewhere in the statistics of some company in the UK there will be a single member of the "Schwäbisch" minority
@@rewboss you are absolutely right there.
Es ist immer noch so. Ich bin Deutscher und lebe in GB seit langer Zeit. Neulich musste ich das wieder mal ankreuzen, als ich einen Test kit für den Virus beantragen wollte. Man wird tatsächlich gefragt, ob man weiß ist, britisch weiß oder weiß von irgendwo anders her und so weiter. Was würden wohl die Medien schreiben, würde das in Deutschland eingeführt werden? Das nächste Mal schreibe ich auch schwäbisch hin, das ist gut.
Face it, you are Denglish.
LOL -- You beat me to it!
I was going to say he's Germish hehehe but that sounds odd
Maybe it should be Breutsch instead of Denglish?
@@Peaceful_Rayne Sounds like he's contagious.
@@markhesse2928 Or Britsch? But then the question could arise: Is he "A Britsch Too Far"?
I was born in the US and spent the first couple of years in Virginia. Then my German/American parents moved to Germany. For the next 18 or so years I was the American kid. Then I joined the US Air Force thinking I'd be among my 'fellow Americans'. To them I was the German. Hard lesson to learn, that you're neither. Anyway, still in Germany and loving every minute of it :-)
I'm living in a "foreign" country, too. But for a German I am probably in the easiest country: Austria.
I still feel (and am) German, but for living and thinking I'm Austrian. I don't want to go back as I have been here the longest time of my life. And I don't have to change nationality. There are only very few things I can't do: politics (at least at higher levels), army, police(?), international sports competition.
I chuckled all the way through this because I feel exactly the same: I would also be utterly lost trying to live in the UK as I moved here at 21, more so because I now have a German qualification that is very hard to translate into English. As with you I feel sort of culturally British (although I've wondered a bit in the last few years) but I'm functionally German in everyday life.
I had to point out to my mum who was a little upset about me taking German citizenship that I would be able to retain my British citizenship, and I was just doing it so I could keep living and working here.
I generally tell people I'm British and German but I was born in the UK.
I left Britain when I was 8 and have lived for 40 years in Mallorca. I don't feel Mallorquín or Spanish and I don't feel British, I feel me. I have no pride or affinity for any piece of land or flag and find it strange that anyone would. Strange.
"When I'm in Germany I don't feel completely German, and when I'm in X, I don't feel completely X"
This is something I hear a lot from citizens with a migration background. It's really interesting.
You lose something of your own culture and don't gain everything of the new. Maybe this is why most migrants feel like this.
Or children of refugees who grow up in their host country, their country
Like me .
I am too X _to consider myself/ to be considered_ Y
and I am too Y _to be Considered/ to consider myself X_
this could be less of a problem when you are in an "immigration country" but it isn't the case
And not even just migrants. I'm that annoying secondworld kid who has too many US friends and has been jealous about gun rights for at least a decade now - americanized enough to hate Hungarian laws and the attitudes that shape them, but 2ndworlder enough to be super low-maintenance and go "you don't know how good you have it" a lot. Plus constantly fuqqing terrified of the 2A being scrapped or neutered even further....even though it doesn't even apply to me (yet). Sigh.
I'm German and have lived in the UK now for over 47 years. I try and go to Germany once a year on holiday. No, not that I miss it or feel home sick but to show my son where his old man comes from. Despite the length of time I've lived in the UK I'm still an outsider but the same applies when I'm in Germany. Occasionally I'm being asked when was the last time I've been home and my answer is always "every day". Germany is the place where I was born, I'm a German national but my home is where my bed is and right now it is in the UK.
Thank you.
I have been living in Germany for 2/3 of my life now, but born and raised in England. I have had dual nationality since 1977 when I was duly conscripted to the Bundeswehr!
Although I have been here for over 40 years now I still feel English, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else (just around the corner actually, in Darmstadt).
I can vouch for every word you said as I have the same feelings about identity and culture. p.s. love your videos.
You are not British, you are not German - you are Andrew!
People have this innate drive of pigeon-boxing everything to ease their unease at having to comprehend slightly more complex situations.
Couldn't help but notice that the first recommended video is another one of yours from four years ago with the exact same title.
I feel much the same. I am British, but now, also a German citizen, but I am still learning to be German. At the moment, I am having to learn what a e. V. is. (Eingetragener Verein) Weirdly, I have been asked to possibly join the administration of a German Historical club. Life is sometimes strange.
How dare you, going out and getting a tan.
There isn't much going on out there and summer is over, take in the last bit of sun before it hides behind the clouds until the snowfall in february.
Dear Andrew. About the question "How does feel it now that you are German Citizen":
I would probably answer the question as that the difference feels more or less like: "The difference you would feel between before your 20 birthday and a few day after. "
Before you were a teen and now you are not anymore. Now you are at a completely different age. That must feel different, right? Right? ;-P
That's a pretty good answer.
From the perspective of a native babyboomer German, I would rate you as our Brit.
I noticed that in Europe people see national culture and upbringing as more important than concepts of race and family lineage. This is a big difference form former colonial countries where race and family heritage is everything (eg USA, South Africa, Malaysia, Australia)
I am in Australia and over here a lot of people identify themselves with where their family originally immigrated from. For example Australians with British heritage call themselves "Anglo -Saxons", people with Italian or Greek heritage identify themselves as Greek or Italian Australians, a lot of people from the South Australian region identify as "Australian Germans" and many children of Asian immigrants call themselves "Asian Australians".
Your feeling about not being completely British or German is exactly how all of us of dual nationality feel (where we spent a large chunk of our lives in A and the later chunk in B). For me it’s I don’t feel completely German or completely American. We are the limbo folk.
As someone who also has dual British German nationality, I describe myself as European. I feel that many of my values are core European ones and that drives my self identity. It's over simplistic for me to define myself as either nationality.
Thank you for this video, i am kind of culture exchange video geek.
I think Haley Alexis lateley made a few very valueble videos, going into some very specific cultureral diffrences.
I even used her videos as bases for some discussions \ conversations.
Btw i think your videos are great for getting a diffrent point of view or better exploring some diffrent povs.
Glad you feel comfortable in Germany.
Greetings and love from Schleswig-Holstein.
Dont take it too personally. My great/grand-unkle immegrated to the US when he was like 23. Almost 60 years later he is still consiered to be "the german" in his community, while he is - having an american passport - considered to be american when he is back over here.
Himself, he just sais that he picks whatever part of each culture he likes best and runs with that.
And I thought you were going to talk about how moving to Bavaria from Berlin has influenced your cultural identity.
he is now of of those "englische Preußen" they talk about :)
Your video got me remembering an experience I had. In summer 2016 I moved to Bonn for an internship and had to get a temporary resident visa. During the registration, they asked me what my religion was. I must have been visibly taken aback, since the immigration officer said it was only for demographic data or something. But I didn't like the idea of telling the government what religion I was, especially since I'm Muslim (albeit non-practicing/irreligious) and the Arab refugee crises was still happening, but I didn't want to create an issue so I told them anyways. It's funny, being from Canada I'm used to filling out my ethnicity on forms (and see the demographic benefit it provides) but never religion.
The only time I've ever been asked my religion has been to register my address. It's for the purposes of assessing church tax, and only a few branches of certain specific religions receive church tax. In most areas, the choice is Roman Catholic, Lutheran or Jewish. If you're not an official member of any of those, you say "none". No Muslim organisation currently receives revenue from church tax, so Muslims don't have to pay it.
That might have been why you were asked, as in some cities non-EU citizens register their initial address at the immigration office at the same time they get their residence permits.
@@rewboss I believe that a church tax gives you the right to be buried in a church's yard. Of course, Andrew will never die, his soul will be embedded in a video camera for all eternity to give you the minutia of translation.
@@rewboss what about official holidays regarding the religion? Doesn't that make a difference too at the work place? (Not sure about other religions, but the difference between catholic and lutheran in Austria until at least until last year was Good Friday: Lutherans highest church holiday was either a day off for people of this belive or the employer had to pay extra when they needed to work on that day. I would expect this to be the same with other religions. And the same in germany. (There was a comedy skid some time ago where a german comedian mixed all religions he found according to the holidays, to make a new religion so he would only have to work 16 days a year)
@@nirfz Individual people don't get different holidays depending on their religion. But there are sometimes different holidays in different states: for example, states that have mostly Catholic populations have 1st November off work (All Saints Day), while several states with mostly Protestant populations have a holiday on 31st October (not Halloween, but Reformation Day). It doesn't matter what religion you are, or even if you're not religious at all: you get the day off depending on the state you're in.
@@robertjarman3703 for most religions/churches, membership with a specific church gives you the right to be buried in their "holy grounds", and also participate in some ceremonies _(Abendmahl, etc)._ and that membership usually requires you to pay some contribution to that church. for easier collection of your dues, some churches have contracts with the government that some "church tax" is collected together with the normal tax, and those churches also pay some amount to the government for collecting the money on their behalf. only for those religions/churches that have such a contract, you need to specify it on some forms, and only for that specific purpose to determine whether "church tax" will be collected automatically and which church receives that money.
AFAIK, there were negotiations between some muslim organizations and the government to also collect "church tax" for them, but they couldn't agree on all the details (eg which organizations or which branches of that faith would participate and who would get the money, some might have opposed the subsequent requirement to specify the religion/branch in forms, etc) and thus there are no such contracts (yet) and no need to specify whether someone is muslim (or even more detailed info about religion), able to simply declare "none/other" to be excluded from government collected "church tax".
edit/ps : the same probably also applies to most (or even all?) american christian churches (and british and other variants/branches of christian religion) who have no such contracts and thus are not considered to be catholic or ev _(evangelisch)_ in the sense of these contracts.
Now, that's a powerful finisher!
Shocked, and for the same reason. That's just how felt as well when I saw that video of Hayley's.
Volker Pispers hat mal gesagt "Ich bin so sehr damit beschäftigt Mensch zu sein - zum deutschsein komme ich nur ganz selten."
I honestly had no idea that many countries did not ask for race on the majority of forms. I've learned something new that has helped me understand the way my country (the US) views and uses race. Thanks, as always, for helping me learn!
Amin Maalouf, Christian Lebanese and French author has written an entire book on this subject: "In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong" in response to French or Lebanese people who ask him which of these to identity he feels more belonged to.
When England play Germany which team do you support?
Collecting ethnic information is normal in the UK. It's what informs a lot of information for public policies to tackle issues regarding education, policing, housing and much else. However, it is not compulsory.
Great video! I wouldn't worry too much about "identifying" oneself with a specific country or culture or even background. Each person is unique, with their own circumstances & personality. I'm not my passport, my race, my gender, the place I was born to, the assorted places I happened to live in or even the social/cultural background. I'm me. I'm the sum of all that and more.
At 3:29. A person taking a walk outside.
Bravo!
What a lovely video, I've moved to Sweden this year and I notice my mind coming back to this subject more and more often. Nothing can prepare you for becoming an immigrant other than being an immigrant
Feel you. Came to Germany as a Polish kid of five, felt as both Polish and German and neither of them since then.
I feel you, brother! Your cultural identity is YOU!
Bleib so, wie du bist - never change!
In an earlier video on the same topic you talk about british values. Don't you think that many of those british values are rather western european, european, western or world wide appreciated values? Compared to the asian world europeans are relatively close together which might have something to do with european cristianity. The asian world contains more different religions especially if we take India into account, what asian politicians dealing with foreign affairs actually have to do in these days.
I found the queues at british bus stops rather delaying, but the german self-organizing chaos peacefully and quickly done, even in overcrowded situations. I do not visit soccer games or public mass events, but due to lengthy construction works on my train line I currently face overcrowded busses sometimes. Queues would be almost impractical.
This was a very well articulated description of something pretty complicated.
Very well done, Andrew!
I'm of the opinion that it doesn't matter anyways. It's a small talk topic like the weather. 😁
jepp - you're between :D
Hmm. Subject is Resisting Assimilation.
Thats Strange. We need to Increase our Efforts on Germanification Processes.
^^
I think so
Really enjoyed this 😎
Imagine an official German form asking for the race of a person...
That would cause a huge shitstorm lol
In Austria, some years ago, I had to fill in a form with a checkbox "Migrationshintergrund nein/ja" and additional question "which generation" if yes.
Being a migrant myself (so nothing to do with "background" as it stated) it seemed like a strange question to me, so I had to ask the office person what to fill in. I was told to check Yes and write 1st generation.
I still sometimes remember that situation and shake my head.
You are German now. This means: You being German and me being Geman is the very same thing. Both of us share the freedom to think, feel and behave like whatever we want, as long as we are respecting the regulations and laws. And that freedom is something I am hapoy about.I never understood the idea of differntiating...
I was quite taken a back with declaring religion to the Auslanderbehorde, I don't recall ever having to do that anywhere before.
As for identity I will answer the question with where I was raised but in truth I don't identify as being from anywhere. I think this is or will become increasingly common.
The religion you declare in some countries in europe makes a difference in which days are legal holidays for you. (Your employer has to either give the days off that are relevant holidays in your religion, or has to pay extra money if you have to work on such a day. Also different religions means different tax money recipient groups (the official religions representation) from the taxes you pay. (I think that are tha major rules why you have to declare your religion, but not ethnicity)
@nirfz: in germany, holidays may be based on religion, but are the same for all people in a state no matter which religion they have (or none at all).
@Perd Beer: specifying the religion for tax purposes is only required for those churches which have explicit contracts with the government to collect it on their behalf (and they pay some fee to the government for doing that job). if you don't want to specify the religion, you need to complain to your church that they made such a contract. the government themselves are not interested in such data.
@@Anson_AKB no, you don't have to complain to your church. That'd be completely useless. Just declare "keine". If you want to donate your money to religious institutions you still can do so later (and voluntarily...).
@@Anson_AKB Thanks for the info!
Dear Rewbos. This whole thing of not feeling 100% this Country or that Country, I have heard a lot from persons with a migration background.
And of course some persons with migration Background, don't have this "issue".
And the biggest difference between those 2 groups is the keeping of their heritage. Group 1 move to Country X and keep the inner opinion "I'm here but in my heart I'm still citizen of country Y".
The second group just move and have the inner opinion "Now I'm here, so I'm citizen of country X now."
Keeping the own heritage like this, like a special unique thing, that makes you different, could maybe cause that integration problem. Just a thought.
You are living much longer in Germany in your life, than in GB. And your are many more familiar with the way of life in Germany, than in GB.
Maybe, just make a list how many British you are anymore and decide, is it enough to be british anymore.
Just some thoughts about inner heritage feelings vs. real life.
No need to turn over or what else.
I don't have "an integration problem". I am perfectly well integrated into German society and am very happy to be living here: as I said, I feel that this is my home.
However, I cannot change the fact that all the values I was exposed to during my formative years were British. It's not a problem for me, because as I also said, I don't feel the need to "belong" in a specific category.
I must say, that was one of her most eye opening videos.
It always raised the question for me why someone has to identify themself by race/ethnicity (especially if the available options don't necessarily fit) and also find it disturbing.
Isn't it just another tool to divide the people? Is there any real useful effect one can get from this (I mean, it isn't like your blood type, that makes more sense for me).
Home is where someone feels at home, I guess. For whatever reason.
I can't say anything to the cultural identification. This is something that I can't understand. I can identify myself by my point of views and personality but that doesn't match any culture. And what people often define as cultural identifications are often things where I could either easy feel comfortable with, and if not, it would be because of my personality. Well, seems complicated.
By the way, I wonder a bit why you called it "insulting" to be defined as a middle easterner. Well, maybe it was the way it was delivered, didn't saw the comment. Other than that I wouldn't find it insulting.
And another btw … if you look up "Rasse" in the german wiki, you'll find the information that in Biology this definition is avoided and/or only used for animal breeding. The science point of view is that there are no clear specifications for human races because the transition between those are blurring.
This makes for me most sense if you look where we came from. I mean, where would we start, at the first human beings in africa, or, as europeans, at our scandinavien ancestors, what about Mongols who came here and did bring their genes to europe, what about those of us who still have some neanderthal genes?
And what "culture" does a grandchild of Muslims have who always lived in western europe, might have a german parent, if both parents aren't religious? Is it possible to change your culture in your lifetime (doesn't necessarily seem so, I mean, try to become a jew and citizen of Israel, won't work … yet). What if I meet a native american women or one from Mexico in Taiwan and we have a child and raise it in Taiwan, what would be the culture of this kid?
It's just a thought.
For some reason I also saw that video of Hayley, although I havn't seen much of her before. But somehow, maybe because of the BLM movement, it has brought up quite some "Expats living in germany" videos to my starting page and I watched some of them, the one you are talking about included.
It's unbelievable that decades after the end of racial seggregation in the US, this is still a topic in official forms...
i would catorize a person like you as british but also as not a foringer. if that makes any sence.
at least where I am in the States, with a large black population, race is important to state at the doctor's because of certain diseases and ailments that occur predominantly with the black community. we check in online and then go to the doctor's, so when they look at our file and what we are coming in for, they can prepare certain tests in advance. any other time I'm asked to check that isn't a medical setting, I click 'other' or 'decline'.
One thing that might be useful to think about with those race questions is that it can help aggregate statistics understand just what the problem is and how bad inequality is so they actually know what to do about resolving inequality and any discrimination that arises, and tracking progress or regression over time.
If I understand you correct … to compare "race" with anything would be like the ice cream consumption in relation to shark attack statistic.
The result would be worth nothing.
Popular example: Dark skin, so you have to identify as "black". No information about where you are raised, under what circumstances (financially or social values) and so on. What would that statistic show. There would be different results if you only get the data from a defined location and 20 miles or kilometers around or if you look world wide and neither would show anything useful because each person would have something unique that would influence the result, so you couldn't adapt the result to nobody.
As a 53 year old American I can assure you that, with the sole exception of the decennial census, it's never required that you state your race or ethnicity. You can always skip the question if you don't want to answer it.
how do you feel german or british?
Labels work. We perceive our world in mental objects. This makes it possible for us to manipulate and, thus, interact with it. We perceive a moment of “I am hungry. I will eat an apple” without questioning any of these concepts. We simply accept that there is a concept of apple and that we can apply it on certain objects. This gets all wobbly as soon as you introduce different sorts of apples. Now you have two objects that identify as apple although one is only a subcategory of the other. How can the concept of apple still exist if there’s not even one real world object that fits this idea a hundred percent? There’s not one apple that is only an apple but not a certain kind of apple. So even in the abstract realm we have established that apple does not exist as an independent object. If we look at the real word, we will quickly notice that there’s no apple at all. If there actually was a Granny Smith apple, how could it be that there are several of them, that are not exactly the same. Even if they were, they would not consist of the same atoms. If apple really existed, there could only be one. Every apple we perceive, is an absolutely unique object. Even if once you could replicate an apple down to every atom, one apple will still exist of different atoms than the other. Humans don’t exist. British don’t exist. Germans don’t exist. Yes, most of us can be neatly labeled into concept as race. The concept, however, makes less sense the more we, as humans, are flexible. The only relatively clear situation we can have ist that of citizenship. That should be it. Every mixed or migrated person cannot be put into meaningful labels.
Interesting thought process.
At first I would say I like apples .. then again, not all.
There are some I prefer and some I wouldn't like to eat (e.g. because they are to sour).
And if the ones I usually prefer became rotten, I wouldn't like to eat it either. Would I then be a apple hater?
Yep, we're Europeans, even the people who are living or used to live on an island.
Nice video,
I was always bit curious of the outtakes at the end of the episode, and they kinda looks somewhat consistant.
may i ask you if you have some sort of speach inpedemant?
Ich glaubs nicht ;D da ist der rewboss doch auf meiner Startseite und ich habe schon ewig keine Videos mehr von dir gesehen wurd mal wieder Zeit :D
PS: die Gruppe23 gibt es ja auch schon eine ewigkeit nichtmehr :D
Beste Grüße
Also, "Middle-Easterner" shouldn't be considered an insult in the first place.
Yeah
I am a middle Easterner 😢
I like that "Bundesjohann" on the thumbnail.
But actually "deutsch mit britischem Migrationshintergrund"
Nice flag in the Thumbnail. If a bizarre Federation Union Republic Country UG should ever form, I would like to see that as its flag.
Actually quite a logic explanation! It's as simple as you described. Unfortunately many nationalist or even racist idiots will never get it!
I'm German...it's written on my passport. But do I feel "German". Not really. I never had much interest in a national identity. At most I feel connected to my regional culture, my "tribal culture" and my regional language and my home region. Ironically this is a very "German" thing to feel I believe. The German national identity is not that old. "Germany" has been a cluster of provinces until 1849 and it kind of still is. Federalism is strong here.
Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to live in a stable and rich country and I don't really know a place I'd rather live. But I'm not very patriotic. What do I have in common with a Bavarian business man besides a somewhat similar language and the same passport? I feel much closer to an American working class kid than to that guy. But some people want to tell me that me and that Bavarian guy are somehow connected to each other and we are all the same because we are German. I don't believe in that. I'm me first, I'm a son of my class second.
Welcome to the club of the hyphenated, whose homeland is a state of mind, in between times, places, languages and cultures. At home in two or more of them, but not fully belonging to either. :-)
The thing with culture, unlike with citizenship, is, you choose it yourself. You say what you are, as what you feel and that's it.Migration makes you a little more unique. In USA, were this was more common, US-citizen felt free to say "'I'm American", "I'm German" or "I'm German American", or "of german heritage" and so on. And nobody cares or concludes things like "you don't belong here".
Help me out here, so, culture is something that you can choose yourself and you have the right to and this is accepted?
And the culture is defined by a country where you … moved to or were born or did live for a while or where your ancestors came from?
So, an American whoms grand grand parents came from Niger has … what culture?
An Pennsylvanian Amish has what culture, American or German-American? The same way a Texas-German has? Even they both live a bit different livestyles?
Even I can't relate to any culture, from what I learned so far, the definition of culture seem to be much more complex and can't be broken down to one or two countries.
I mean, Germans don't have "German culture", it is a huge difference if you are from Bavaria or from North Rhine-Westphalia. You find a so called tea culture in East Frisia but a coffee culture in Hamburg (both in the North) and both speak very different dialects of low german.
So, how do I choose culture myself? By moving to somewhere and then saying "I am now Frisian"?
@@raythevagabond3724 Yes, I can move to USA, and feel as an American, and usually so after 5-10 years, this is accepted. Than neighbors say "you are one of us".
Culture just means you behave like others in your group, and behavior can be changed.
There are local cultures, if you refer to Germany, but they are not related to administrative borders. Like the habit of drinking tea is more popular in Frisia, you can move there and drink tea, adapt the culture, or you stick with coffee.
To say "I'm frisian now", you rather change to tea, maybe. But the first necessary step in your head must be "I want to be frisian".
You are the only one who can do this decision.
The mayor of Hallig Hooge (far north) is born bavarian. The only way to find out what she is, is asking her. There is no test or exam to do so.
Most common and acceppted way to change culture since centuries, is to marry somebody from another culture. Some even change religion this way.
Andrew, you are YOU. You're unique and you're comfortable as such. 'Nuff said!
But Andrew, we need you to get into one of our convenient, ready-made pigeonholes. ;)
_Zwei Herzen ſchlagen - ACH- in ſeiner Bruſt!_
Ach was!?
I aI am now in Ireland for 18 years. Still getting upset if the handy man who promised to show up in the evening does not show up :D But it is getting less :D wondering how many more years it will take when I won't be actually at home when one of them has announced their arrival again :D "Oh, you really came? Well, I am out on a lash, see you tomorrow .. .or so " :D
I am an english man
in new york,
new home
~ wooooh-oh, I'm an alien
A British child, in a grown up German. Very interesting :D
Yeah, sadly it has to be said that the US are inherently racist. You'll recognize the difference when you talk or hear about race from Americans, compared to Europeans, simply by how to them there is not even a hint of doubt or unease to use the term as if it was correct.
Race =/= ethnicity, origin or culture, and though here in Europe too some people use the term 'race' that way because it has been coined that way for a long time, most realize this and know there are no human races. In the US on the other hand people take the term at face value and believe in what it is meant to say ... and thats unfortunately racist.
To put it simple: in Europe (mostly) only racists use the term race, in the US everyone uses the term and they (the majority of them) actually mean it.
And mandatorily: www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/04/race-genetics-science-africa/
There's only one race, the human one.
Many British forms have a question for race.
That is voluntary, afaik. For the purpose of collecting data on whether or not all ethnicities are treated equally.
In the USA, we'd call you an English - German, in the same way that I would identify as a German-American, but in Germany, if you aren't a citizen of Germany, you aren't German, even if you were born there.
I don't think something like a cultural identity even exists. Nobody could ever really define what for example german culture specifically means. The way people think and feel depends on the personality not nationality.
As somebody who has moved from one country to another, I can very categorically state that there is such a thing as a cultural identity. It's not your nationality, of course, but what you are taught is "normal", and that varies from place to place. It's how you're taught history, the laws you are asked to obey, the things you see on TV and in comics, how the police work, and so on and so on and so on. It really does affect every aspect of life, and it can be quite a shock when you realize that things simply aren't the same everywhere.
@@rewboss I absolutely do realize that but everyone in any country has a different opinion about their own laws, how their police work, what they see on TV and so on. It's why discussions exists, it's why laws change, some children follow what their parents teach them others don't. The list is endless.
@@rewboss I'm curious. What exactly is, according to your experience, a thing that is entirely part of the german culture, something no other culture has and every german shares?
@@DawnofInfo That question is based on a complete misunderstanding of what is meant by "culture". It's not a single thing that all Germans have and no non-Germans do: it's a series of attitudes, values and experiences which, taken together, form part of an experience that is familiar, in general terms, to the majority of the population.
And it is a real thing. As somebody who grew up in one culture and now live in a different culture, I am acutely aware of this. It is something I am confronted with nearly every single day.
@@rewboss And yet nobody is able to define what this specific culture is supposed to have. And everytime someone is trying to name something there are plenty of people who think or do the complete opposite while thinking that this is how their culture is supposed to be. Humans are just humans each one with a different set of rules and standards no matter where they come from.
That identity question is a rather theoretical one, posed by e.g. Germans who just have been living a "normal" life without any foreign disturbances. The German society, unlike others, has been a quite homogenic society. Yes, Germany is a country of immigration. But yes, Germany officially - in politics - has downplayed this and refuse to acknowledge it. Yes, in Germany a fourth of people is of foreign heritage. And yes, Germans don't realize it, dividing people into foreigners and Germans. Which means: being German is linked to a set of cultural habits, language skills, especially the feeling to belong here and "be" German. Germans expect that from people getting German citizenship. And officially this is being tracked by the integration courses and the special exams to be taken, which also focus on cultural and political things. Germany is one of the main countries of immigration across the globe, but far from being comparable to the USA or so. It is supposed that a person deciding to become a German really thought about that. You explained it very pragmatically, as it makes your life easier here. I would say: fine, why not? But many would find it disturbing, feeling somebody had to identify with a community to a certain extend. The everlasting political question is: how to measure this and to which extend?
On the other hand there are for example milllions of Germans of Turkish decent or people who are Turkish. They often describe it similarly: in Turkey they don't belong there for being shown they would be German. And here they are supposed to be the Turkish guys, if not for anything else, then for their looks. It is sad, but true. And of course it has to be confusing, not to feel being accepted as an individual anywhere. So at least you don't seem to have this struggle, after all. But as soon as one decides to have multiple citizenships or to live abroad for long, those questions probably will confront you automatically.
I recommend this movie: Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland. The film about a turkish family's history here, settling and taking roots in Germany as part of the "guest workers" generation. It is a comedy.
In this scene, the already aged couple that emigrated to Germany first, is about to gain German citizenship. Due to have been living here for decades and for practical reasons. The husband, nevertheless, is not as much convinced as his wife, feeling his stronger Turkish identity and doubting if he was goiing to cut off his roots. In the night before the official appointment at the local office, he has a dream..
th-cam.com/video/mhJ6IYRuwvQ/w-d-xo.html
You don't have the urge to stand on the balcony at 22:05, yelling that it's past 22 Uhr and that whoever makes noise have to be silent or else you call the cops? That would be very german.
Could you countenance the idea of being European?
Ich bin Amerikaner und wohne auch in Deutschland. Ich versuche mich anzupassen, die Kultur zu verstehen, aber immer wieder finde ich, dass ich eine Grenze ziehen muss. Wie du sagst, ich bin mit amerikanischen Werten aufgezogen, und sie sind deutlich anders als deutsche Werte, fast unversöhnlich so.
" ich bin mit amerikanischen Werten aufgezogen, und sie sind deutlich anders als deutsche Werte, fast unversöhnlich so." Weißt Du (ich hoffe das Du ist ok ...) mir ein Video dazu ? Oder magst Du antworten ? Genau die Perspektive interessiert mich. Ein Teil denke ich zu wissen oder zu ahnen... (Z.B. "Patriotismus", "Auto-Fanatismus", "Regeln", ...)
@@martinjost5637 Ich glaube, dass der Hauptunterschied liegt im liberalistischen Hintergrund Amerikas während der Liberalismus in Deutschland immer noch fremd aus einer kulturellen Sicht geblieben ist (Der GG enthält immerhin liberalistische Prinzipien aber Der Liberalismus war nut 1848 versucht und gescheitert ist). Die Idee des Einzelmensch und der Aufgabe des Staates ist vollkommen anders. Deutscher im allgemeinen sehen den Staat als eine Obrigkeit unabhängig vom Einzelmensch und den Einzelmensch als ein Nichts während Amerikaner ganz in Gegenteil sehen den Staat als ein nicht vertrauenwürdiger Diener des Einzelmensch, von wem er abhängig ist.
@@officeofpeaceinformation5094 Hallo,
Danke für die Erläuterung !
Hmmm ich habe vor Jahren Henry David Thoreau "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” gelesen. (Und hab' beim googlen gerade verblüfft das "duty" wieder-entdeckt - nicht so in Erinnerung.) Ich war neugierig weil das Buch wohl Mahatma Ghandi beeinflusst hat - und war beim Lesen dann sehr verblüfft und etwas enttäuscht - wie stark das Buch eine Art "right to be left alone" vertritt, insbesondere dem Staat gegenüber.
"und den Einzelmensch als ein Nichts": Das Grundgesetz mit dem Rechte-Katalog zu beginnen - §1 "Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar. Sie zu achten und zu schützen ist Verpflichtung aller staatlichen Gewalt." - soll nach meinem Verständnis genau das ausschließen. Und ein Verfassungsgericht, das Klagen einzelner Bürger nach Ausschöpfen des Rechtsweges zulässt und immer wieder mal den Gesetzgeber zum Nachsitzen gezwungen hat.
Aber ja, ich sehe den Unterschied.
I wonder what it means that modern identity politics attaches such great importance on skin culture lately, or sexual orientation or other individual features. Seems to me like racism returning through the backdoor, when it becomes less important what someone says than who says it.
You are a British German.
Personally i always found that nationality as a concept is grossly overrated and one of the silliest, yet apparently very common, reason to wage war over.
I really hope to see the day, when we consider ourselves humans first and members of a special nationality second....
Heimat ist wo das herz ist! Mein Herz ist in Deutschland! With out a second thought!
Is your body somewhere else ? For people who never migrated, this question doesn't make much sense.
@@holger_p That is a german saying!
so you suddenly like Bratwurst more?
Curry Wurst
This was a serious video and no reason to make bad jokes about it.
Oh that food definitely brings the wurst out of me
Andrew, what the most obvious difference between british and german women/girls? That is, if you noticed any at all.
The Romans: Ubi bene ibi patria.
Yes, but just for those with Roman citizenship right, therefore the "Bellum socitii"
in case someone tried to use google translate and failed to see more than a joke (latin "Ubi bene ibi patria", wrong translations: "Na da wo das Land ist" and "Well there where the country"), here is what i faintly remember:
literally in german "wo gut, dort Vaterland", meaning "Da wo es mir gut geht (gefällt), da ist mein Heimatland"
literally in english "where good, there fatherland", meaning "where i am well (where it pleases me), there is my homeland"
I knew you hated England (just kidding).
I guess you could say that you're Saxon, but you live in Aschaffenburg, so, you can't.
Is it racist to make people state their race, or NOT to make them state their race? It's become difficult to get that right these days.
If you watch Hayley's video, the issue for her is that she is "mixed race", but often has to make a decision about whether to state her race as "Caucasian" or "Afro-American". Whether or not it's racist is almost not the point: it's just a bit ridiculous.
@@rewboss even more ridiculous if tourists are/would be asked that question. what should a real african (someone from the continent of africa) answer? with dark skin "afro-AMERICAN"? with white skin from south-africa "African" ? and as a german (with my family in this town for 100+ years) i am certainly not from _Kaukasus_ (Russia), although my ancestors centuries ago might have come from asia and thus from _Dschingis Khan_ via _Balkan,_ or wherever else (would need a DNA test to find out) ...
Großbritannien ist auch deutlich schöner als zum Beispiel Norddeutschland. Alleine deswegen wünsche ich mir schon manchmal auch Brite zu sein... Das wäre glaube ich absolut nicht so, wenn ich da leben würde, wo du lebst. Aber statt Bremen oder Ostfriesland würde ich ganz Großbritannien doch vorziehen.
Sure...
Also ich fand Großbritannien irgendwie immer dreckiger und alles war kleiner als in Deutschland.
Schönheit liegt bekanntlich immer im Auge des Betrachters.
Und meine Augen sehen das, hm, nicht zwangsläufig anders, aber es hängt stark davon ab wo in GB man sich gerade aufhält.
In Schottland zum Beispiel findet man sicherlich einige schönere Gegenden als den Bremer Holzhafen.
Auf der anderen Seite, wenn man, wie ich, nur noch selten die Möglichkeit hat den Norden zu geniessen … Bremen und Umzu, und viele Orte im Emsland und Ostfriesland würde ich jederzeit den deutschen Norden vorziehen.
Mal abgesehen davon, dass es doch einen großen Unterschied macht ob man irgendwo Urlaub macht oder dort dauerhaft lebt. Und insbesondere bei letzterem würde ich Ostfriesland jederzeit vorziehen, dann aber immer mal wieder gern Urlaub in GB machen (falls Brexit es nicht zu kompliziert macht, sonst lieber nach Italien, Skandinavien oder Finnland).
Das Grass auf der anderen Seite des Kanals ist halt immer grüner.
war in UK, fahren allen auf der falschen Strassenseite und können nicht kochen... lieber in die Schweiz oder Frankreich aber nicht in UK....!
0:52 Rewboss: " I just tan easily..."
England: No real English man tan easily, which millions of red burned English man proof year by year on the beaches of this globe.
So what are you really? ;-)
By adopting german nationality, you have become a hun.
Oh, so very true! And well said. Probably it's hard to believe for some people who cannot even imagine to live abroad for even a short time longer than a holiday.
war 6 Monate in den USA, nie wieder!
Haha, du Türk....lol
Btw what do you think about the new doctor?
I have no problem with a female, but the writing is so bad!
Or is it her acting?
Well maybe part of, but its the same with the new Star Trek and Star Wars, VFX are great, good actors, but the writing and directing is a lets say in french, "c'est un ètron", its a pile of shit!
You tan easily?
So you are not English? We know that English get into the sun on the first day of their vacation and the next they they look lile a cooked lobster. :-p
Since English are known to be heterosexual, a gay man can impossibly be English. That's your way of thinking in stereotypes and getting racist about everybody not fitting in your stereotypes. There's nothing funny about it.
@@holger_p
Oh Lord, throw brain from the heavens.
Yes, making a joke is racist so are jokes about Scots, East Frisians, Swabians?
This is part of the cuture of humour.
You use stereoptypes and situations, exaggerations and nonconforming behaviour.
A German an American and a Chinese walk into a bar. Oh forget it, you have to go into the cellar first.
@@helloweener2007 Depends if you are in a comedy show, or in a philosophical discourse.
If you switch too fast from one mode to the other, how can one determine, what is meant literally, what is meant ironic/sarcastic ? Especially in written form, the gestures, sound of voice, or the smile is missing to give orientation.
The step from "nonconforming behaviour" to "you are not one of us" "you don't belong to us" etc. is quiet close. That is how racism starts. Just to think about. Germany -Land of Thinkers, not land of people kidding each other.
@@holger_p
Yes, that is why Emoticons or Emojis are used. Maybe you read
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon
And then my first post again. ^^
@@helloweener2007 However, you obviously don't want people to think, you want them to lough. But you call for brain.
At school this is the exact description for bullying. One group of people "just want to make fun" and another person is hurt and suffers. And if he complains, he's called out a fun killer or party pooper.