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  Why I Don’t Kill Flies Disclaimer: Sorry this has nothing to do with Germany! „Stop, don’t kill it!,” I yelled as our office intern suddenly leaped up, waving a rolled up magazine to swat at a fly, which was frantically buzzing around the room. “I thought you were a Christian?,” I mumbled, trying to keep calm as I rose from my seat at the conference table.    He froze, his hand hovering midair. He stared at me: short black hair, five feet of quivering anger, encased in a thin Asian frame. “Oh, I forgot you were a Buddhist,” he replied, sarcasm clouding his voice.    OK, diplomacy wasn’t always my strong point. So touché to him, I thought. In fact, many people believe my religion is why I often plead with them to spare the lives of insects. But that’s not the real reason.    It all started when I was about four years old. I know I had to be that age, because my mother had not yet learned to drive. She started taking driving lessons later, after the ac...
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First Post, First Story in Book

Germans are so misunderstood... I don't know why foreigners are always complaining about the Germans. I've lived here almost 20 years now and can say that the Germans are quite simply - just misunderstood. If you take a closer look you will come to realize that they are a very polite, shy, fun-loving and humorous people. Take an example from last week. I was at the bookstore, standing in line. This process is, by the way, called a "schlange" in German, which means "snake". Some nasty foreigners like to say that the reason for the name is because standing in line can sometimes be poisonous with all the pushing and jostling which goes on. However, the real reason for the name is that lines here tend to slither around while you're standing in them - because Germans like to constantly play games. In any case, there I was standing in line. The woman behind me started to push, as is just customary here and simply an indication of their fun-loving nature. I pus...
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