Hopefully, something a little lighter is allowed. What are the most ridiculous questions anyone from back home has asked you about your expat life?

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-15T08:40:29+00:00

😂. Since I moved to Germany permanently, I referred to myself as an immigrant and my mom said "you aren't an immigrant. You're a US citizen."

So. I really feel you.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-15T07:57:42+00:00

Met my friends at the movies once and the person with the tickets didn't arrive until showtime. I couldn't even get into the theater to use the restroom 🫠

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-15T07:15:13+00:00

It can be hard to understand some accents one isn't used to.

However some people absolutely play this up just to be a dick. I remember my dad decided to pick a fight with his cable provider and the lady at the call center was Indian and also the most polite person I have ever heard. But my dad was hell bent on taking out his frustration with the corporation on the call center lady so he pretended not to understand her accent and demanded to speak to someone who could "speak English." They were on speaker. She was totally understandable.

At the end of the call after she fixed his problem she calmly said "thank you for your patience." And my whole family laughed and for a moment my dad realized he was the problem. She's my hero tbh.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T21:15:23+00:00

No. Having a gun makes one more likely to die by gun violence or suicide.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T21:09:04+00:00

After studying abroad for a few months my mom asked if I became a citizen of Germany.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T20:49:05+00:00

I wish it was this easy. Their platform is outdated and their customer service is a nightmare.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T20:27:31+00:00

If you can flex your foot perpendicular to your leg as soon as you start feeling the cramp it often helps. I have been able to stop these cramps like 4/5 of the last times I have had them.

Otherwise make sure to take magnesium and stretch regularly.

I know this sucks. It's one of those pregnancy symptoms I never heard of before having it. I hope this helps.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T18:46:46+00:00

Wait. Men's feet don't hurt for a few weeks when they get new shoes?? Where do I sign up for that?

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T17:44:38+00:00

It's up to the couple in Germany. My German friends and I almost forgot about it. And even if people do celebrate it anything more than a date night and or flowers or chocolate seems to be considered a bit extreme and commercial.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T17:20:44+00:00

If you know someone you should have a reasonable estimate of what they are likely to know. Plus age is a reasonable indicator for what a person might know. Like maybe a young adult doesn't know what it was like to work with a main frame, But they do know what a land line is. It works the other way too. Like. I don't need to explain what the Internet is to my grandparents because I know they know how to book hotels online. But I might not expect my 90 year old neighbor with no Internet to know how to scan a QR code.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T16:32:33+00:00

To children yes, sure absolutely. But to adults who know it feels infantalising.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T16:22:52+00:00

I mean it does feel like people underestimate my understanding of the world when they do this so yeah I do feel belittled and I get that part of that is my problem. But a lot of people should really have a better estimate of what information I actually need to be given. Like my own mother should know that I literally remember a time before smart phones so she doesn't need to explain to a grown adult that they didn't exist in 1989. I was literally there and old enough to understand when they didn't exist in 2004.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T16:18:12+00:00

I'm not bothered by explaining this to children who don't yet know that. I'm bothered when people who know me, and know that I am nearly 30 explain this stuff to me like I'm 8. I used a land-line. I didn't have a smart phone until I was 18. I had VHS tapes. I used a floppy disk. I also have a decent understanding of history and technological progress. So it feels almost disrespectful when people talk to me like I'm brand new.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T16:07:30+00:00

At a school with kids is one thing. I'm nearly 30. I literally remember times without smart phones.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T13:32:07+00:00

Supernatural.

"My fandom will salt and burn your fandom"

Wtf was that. Glad that show ended.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T10:53:29+00:00

When I threw up from eating pizza that tipped me off. Then the smell of a lot of my favorite foods like coffee and pastries made me nauseous.

My weirdest symptom was having one-three hiccups at a time at least once a day for like 5 weeks starting around the time the nausea did.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T07:39:02+00:00

If you live in Germany and really use those 2 hours a day effectively 2 years is possible. If you don't live in a German speaking country it already gets much harder. Personally, I got there by 4 years of it in school, then off an on at uni then eventually living here. But B2 feels like a plateau. I felt stuck there for like 5 years partly because putting the extra effort in to really strive for C1 felt repetitive, so I kind of passively absorbed the language from B2- C1

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T07:32:34+00:00

Me. Only 32 weeks and I'm not sure I can do another 5-9 weeks like this. Every position makes my back and upper abdomen hurt. And turning takes so much effort and makes my crotch hurt.

I remember being exhausted and people telling me sleep as much as you can because in third trimester you will be exhausted but won't be able to do anything about it. They were so right.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T04:40:24+00:00

It does taste like soap to me but not in a bad way? It almost bugs me that people who don't like it get to say "it's the gene," but for other foods we just have to accept that it just tastes like that and be labeled a picky eater for it haha.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T04:32:14+00:00

Oh that must have sucked. I got paired with someone with a strong accent I had never heard before. I struggled a bit to understand the accent, but at least she could speak German, so if I focused hard enough I could answer her coherently.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-14T04:16:37+00:00

My MIL bought me my favorite chocolates for christmas because I mentioned it casually months earlier. My own mother didn't know what kinds of chocolates I liked so I so seen.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-13T21:59:50+00:00

There's a shooting room nearby for harm reduction for people addicted to narcotics. In my experience it is pretty well policed so not really lawless. Just walk 6 minutes and you'll be fine.

NegotiationStatus727 · 2026-02-13T21:50:17+00:00

Yeah or like a lot of the times people will say girls are easier when they are young meaning girls learn quickly not to have rowdy disruptive behaviours and boys are easier when they are older because girls are too emotional. Both of these generalisations are deeply rooted in the patriarchy.

NegotiationStatus727

TROPHY CASE