Rose-Anne Clermont on seriously bad manners
Rose-Anne Clermont, a New York native, first came to Berlin in 1998 as a Fulbright fellow, after earning a Master’s Degree in journalism from Columbia University. Her articles and essays have appeared in International Herald Tribune, Spiegel on-line, The Root, The Women’s International Perspective and Die Zeit. She lives in Berlin with her German husband and their three sons. This piece is from an ongoing series called Bush Girl that she plans to publish as a book. For more, visit her blog: http://currentsbetweenshores.blogspot.com.
Image courtesy of Keith Mallett
January 15th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
loved your story. Funny, well-written and true. At our dentist, they have two hygenists and I was shocked one day when the receptionist asked me if I wanted “the black one” or “the white one.” I really didn’t know what to say! Keep your sense of humor and keep educating Germans one at a time.
January 15th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
This is such a well-written story. I love Bush Girl. Can’t wait to hear more about your experiences!
January 15th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
How well do I identify with these stories? Too well. Looking forward to hearing more stories from Bush Girl!
January 15th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
great story, can’t wait to hear more!!!!!
despite how disturbing the stories are, they are also entertaining.
more please!
January 16th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Horrifyingly funny. Bush Girl shows an extraordinary compassion and wit. Can’t wait for more!
January 25th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Terrific. Beautifully written and well narrated. Hopefully, you detected ignorance and bad manners more than bigotry. Those can be corrected easier than the latter. We should have some help from the arrival of Obama on the world stage. Please give us some more Berlin stories
January 28th, 2009 at 5:10 am
Good work! Thank you very much!
I always wanted to write in my blog something like that. Can I take part of your post to my site?
Of course, I will add backlink?
Regards, Reader
January 31st, 2009 at 5:58 pm
I thoroughly enjoyed this and so look forward to your Bush Girl stories!
February 2nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Rose-Anne, you just ooze eloquence, competence (in the German, false cognate, sense) and perceptiveness in this piece. Well done!
Sure, I’m not visually automatically associated with any non-Caucasian grouping. But as a half-jew, and born in Australia, I experienced the same level of ignorance many times in my seven years in England. “You come from Tasmania? My, you speak good English!” “So what were your ancestors deported for?” And much, much more offensive relating to Jewishness – something which, in fact, I have also experienced in Germany. I retaliate by telling Jewish jokes (which I hear from Jewish friends – nobody is better at self-deprecatory humour!) and watching the Germans squirm as they wonder whether they can get away with laughing at such jokes in front of a foreigner; then I explain my heritage and they feel even more awkward. What lesson am I trying to teach? I’m not sure myself, but at least I enjoy it.
February 2nd, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Brilliant!
February 6th, 2009 at 3:20 am
Hi. Your site displays incorrectly in Mozilla, but content excellent! Thanks for your wise words.
February 6th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
You are such a gifted writer (and storyteller). Being able to approach these painful encounters with such levity and candor is a testament to what a remarkable (and strong) woman you are. I found the stories entertaining yet sad and very insightful as to the prejudices that unfortunately still exist around the world. Thank you for your honesty and beautiful writing!
February 15th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Rose-Anne,
I’m crying with laughter and nodding my head in recognition…. You talk about these issues with such humor and grace. Something so needed in our world…
Thank you!
Much love, M
August 25th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Sakapfet Rose-Ann?
I loved the stories. absolutely delightful. wishing you continued success…
January 8th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Yeah, I agree with Gretchen. Go on, Americans, keep educating the Germans and the rest of the world!
But if you encounter similar experiences in Poland, Scandinavia, Italy or Russia you may realise that those “German manners” not only exist in Germany, and in return “universal etiquette/manners” are in fact American etiquette or manners of the amaricanised/English-speaking/western world.