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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: July 16th, 2023

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  • I’m very body positive and pro nudity for an American who grew up Catholic, but moving to Germany unleashed similar hangups for me.

    Fun story: the first time I used the communal shower at the pool naked (like everyone else here), a child pointed at my nipple piercing and loudly asked “mommy, what’s that on her nipple,” so everyone turned to stare at my tits. I was doubly overwhelmed, because it was the first time I’d heard the vernacular term for a nipple in German: “Brustwarze,” which literally translates to “breast wart,” which is fucking horrendous.

    If it weren’t for the fact that I remember that every time I encounter the word “Brustwarze,” I think I’d have blocked it out.




  • Even people who can take a day or five at any given time are working class, as long as they do need to work to sustain themselves. The problem is they by and large don’t realize it, and that won’t change, unless the economy gets so much worse that many people less fortunate than they will suffer a great deal (because they’re the petite bourgeoisie and they vote against their own class until it’s already fucked the rest of the working class).

    Class is different from but intrinsically linked with both money and diminishing micromanagement at work. The landlord who inherited a 2-5 homes, rents all except their own out, and only actually makes $35k annually in profit is not working class. The attorney who makes $300k and gets to choose what cases they take a year is. Although at that point, I suspect there’s a lot of lifestyle trimming that could probably allow them to retire basically at any point and become members of the haute proletariat, but the likelihood that they’d accept a <$50k a year lifestyle for the rest of their lives is basically null, so that’s probably moot.







  • It’s closer to someone saying “well they’re from Portland, so they’re probably somewhat open minded.”

    These sorts of stereotypes about places are hugely common all over the place (do I want to get collard greens in North Dakota, clam chowder in Texas, or fry bread in Connecticut? Fuck no, even though they could be just as good as their counterparts from elsewhere) and they’re not that harmful IMO as long as they’re not viewed as absolute.

    That said, I recognize that I’m essentially arguing in favor of stereotypes, so I’m very open to the idea that they are harmful in a way I’m not considering. And obviously they shouldn’t be used when getting something right is important, like in court.




  • I think there’s a parallel with other social clubs, too.

    My medication kicked in while writing this and it shows. TLDR: in Germany, there are various social clubs including international cultural exchange groups (generally composed of immigrants/children of immigrants and Germans in a roughly 2:1 ratio) and clubs based around specific countries open only or mostly to immigrants from those or neighboring countries (whether openly or simply through convention, selection bias, and social pressure). The former are fun and the latter tend to be toxic unless there’s currently a large wave of immigration/refugees from the country they represent in Germany, in which case they can help coordinate resources and support, as well as help people deal with culture shock and the trauma of needing to flee their home country.

    I’m an American immigrant in Germany. I love international groups and being able to bond with people about dealing with German bureaucracy as a non-native. I have zero interest in American emigrant groups.

    In international groups, we do make fun of Germany, but it’s not mean spirited. We also commiserate about the actively negative aspects of living in Germany as an immigrant. In American groups, I suspect it would turn into U-S-A chants or something similar.

    International groups here welcome Germans as a rule, whereas for groups for specific nationalities, it tends to be limited to people who can speak the language.

    There’s a real need served by national groups for brand new immigrants who are overwhelmed by everything being different (often significantly more different than Germany is for an American), and they’re great for creating a sense of community that can be helpful for short term immigrants (though they can hamper long term integration).

    I suspect I’ll warm up to American groups as a way to give new immigrants a crash course on German culture if we get a wave of American refugees in the next couple of years, because those are the demographics (large groups of people temporarily displaced from the same country who all come at once) that tend to benefit from these type of groups.

    I’ve been told that national groups for Arab countries tend to be full of either bitter, unpleasant people and/or gay people and blatant alcohol drinkers, because everyone else just meets at the mosque. Although given that I have no first hand experience and the person telling me about it only has experience with a handful of cities, it may not be accurate for the rest of the country.






  • When I was about 22, I was at a party where a 17 year old showed up, didn’t tell people how old they were, and sat down for a shitty trainee tattoo with someone who brought a homemade rig. Partway through the tattoo, they mentioned the SATs, and it was like a ripple of discomfort went through the party when we realized that we were all responsible for this child permanently scarring themselves.

    In what world are the sort of 22 year olds who go to parties with amateur tattoos in the basement more responsible than the people who govern us??