In December, my parents, my baby sister, my younger brother and his girlfriend decided to join us in New York for the holidays. It honestly meant a lot to have them in our new home town and have the people that mean so much to me get to spend time together.
We were lucky enough that by the end of the year I still had a good portion of vacation days left over. Paired with German national holidays and weekends, I was able to join him in New York for a little over 3 weeks throughout December which was a big luxury.
Our first Christmas together was a roller-coaster. We were living in Hamburg (Germany) at the time and had made plans to spend Christmas eve with my younger siblings and their significant others at our family home on the outskirts of Berlin.
Living abroad and/or with a significant other from a different cultural background, you sometimes see yourself and your upbringing through a different set of eyes. Things that you might not otherwise question and usually take for granted can very suddenly be open for interpretation and reflection.
Another interesting difference from my German experience is an outwardly focus on the positive. In Germany there is an unofficial saying "Keine Kritik ist Lob genug." ("No criticism is enough praise.").
Another thing that I noticed with some, was the need to save face. Even though a lot of my colleagues seemed very confident, brave and open at first glance, I slowly began to register that it was oftentimes outward pretense.
With some colleagues, I learned that they wanted (or needed) instructions to a level of detail that surprised me.
Another thing that startled me was the perceived difference in attitude towards work. I had heard about the New York hustle and "Live to Work" mentality and was excepting to find colleagues who were driven and passionate about their job.
I also found it very unusual, that people would not make eye contact or greet one another walking by or when they ran into each other in the kitchen.
Having lived in what feels the capital of the world for about 1 year and 4 months now, it feels right to look back and record some of my experiences (especially in this turbulent year 2020). Let me start with the (for me) biggest change: Working in New York City.
Wandering Explorer Travel 