Back in China there was a pretty cool comedy group talking about expats leaving China… No one ever said the transition from China back to your hometown would be easy… that includes us…
Taxi:
No more smoking or drinking in a German taxi. And wait: it’s like 15 times as expensive… while we keep repeating our address… the taxi driver looks puzzled. We also look puzzled: the driver speaks German (or English) and immediately understands what we are saying 🙂 And then he looks puzzled again: when we show the DMC code of our WeChat payment… it still takes (too many) seconds until we realize that we (again) don’t have cash with us…
Restaurant:
We order like in China: A lot. And more. Those looks. And that bill… have you ever tried calling a waiter like in China… be aware of getting kicked out of the restaurant… and the strangest thing: everybody (well, most people) talk normal, no screaming. And please stop burping, and spitting bones back on the plate (I know you were very proud that you trained your tongue to separate the shrimp shell from the meat and that the correct part made it back on the plate and the rest stayed in your mouth… time is over!)… and don’t start fighting about who is paying the bill in front of the waiter (I pay. No, let me pay. No, I pay. No, let me pay…)… (here it is ok to have the poor waiter calculate each single persons bill, especially when you are a party of 10). Haha.
Payment:
Oh dear. No more Alipay. Or WeChat. Life sucks (well, perfect excuse to buy a big handbag for the (new) big wallet to fit in). And no more friend price (no haggling for cheaper prices).
I have to admit we had mixed feelings about moving back to Germany. I am impressed how the country has changed over the last years. It became international. I can hear foreign people ordering their coffees in German language with a beautiful accent. People from all over the world work in my office.
We are getting used to our new German life. My happy husband: “I love Germany, the only country where the beer comes in big boxes”. And yes, he keeps sampling all the Swabian beers… he hates when people refer to him as “Scott from Scotland” (must be a translation thing for Germans…). He is from N. IRELAND! And he keeps practicing his German: “German language is like a quiz” – ehm, I haven’t figured that one out yet…
Oh and I am happily opening the door for our super friendly postman greeting me with a big smile: “Hello, Mrs. Toerli”. Or the DHL delivery man: “Where is Mrs. Turley?” – not sure who or what he is expecting but it seems anything or anybody but me 🙂
And yes, we are getting used to our new life (it still happens that we are out in a restaurant, both drinking and noticing that there will be no Mr. Xu picking us up…). A little bit of culture shock is mixing in… And then the Swabian comfort food helps to overcome it: Maultaschen, Schwarwaelderkirsch, Flaedlesuppe, Spaetzle, Linsen und Saiden Wuerstle (the “le” is very important!). Everybody turns around when I order “Brezn” rather than “Brezele” – the “le” is very important (I stick with my Franconian).
It’s been already a few weeks back in Germany and therefore about time to go back and see how my Chinese friends are doing 🙂 Ni hao, China! I got my passport including a one year valid visa. This time it’s a business trip (very weird to stay in a hotel in Shanghai! Even more weird to stay in the hotel next to our apartment where we lived…).
I am leaving in a few days (my suitcase is loaded with Lebkuchen, Zimtsterne, Spekulatius, chocolates, Haribo, Sauerkraut and Kartoffelmehl – fulfilling wishes for the German colleagues in China). I am excited and at the same time I am afraid to go back. At least I can afford the taxi again 🙂 Cannot wait for a few more new friends on WeChat and seeing the “old” friends again.
Bye bye for now.
Stuttgart547 