Plus 3 in Germany Individual Report: A Chinese American Abroad in Europe

I. Introduction: A Fresh Page Called Germany
As a native of Hong Kong, I moved to the United States with my parents at the age of four. I have lived most of my life in Los Angeles, but I have traveled extensively throughout the United States, particularly the west coast and the east coast, spanning the redwood forests to the streets of Atlanta and the skyscrapers of New York. I have also been fortunate to travel internationally: to Singapore, China, Japan, and Canada. In groups, I have led and organized a trip for the Robotics Club to attend and participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition World Championships in Atlanta Georgia twice, once in 2004 and again in 2008. I have also traveled throughout China many times, once with a group of high school students to teach English in Ningbo in 2005. In addition, I frequently visit my extended family in Hong Kong. As both a Hong Kong (British Nations Overseas) and American national, and as a person who embraces both Western and Eastern culture, I feel that I can relate to a large amount of the population of the world, but at the same time, there is so much more to learn. Growing up, I learned about Chinese culture and tradition from my parents, embraced American culture and the English language with my peers, and began exploring Latin American culture as a Spanish student in Southern California. Traveling to other places has become second nature to me, something that seems to exist in necessity, and I seek to travel to build on these culture experiences. However, one of the areas of the world that I have been less exposed to and unfortunately am more ignorant about is Europe. The Plus 3 Program to Germany is the beginning of my education about its people and its culture, and it is an opportunity for me to visit this personally uncharted area of the world. I personally have little contact with the culture and professional background of Germany, but my American godmother, Sharon Steck, a former neighbor and good family friend, lived in Germany for a year during her youth, right after World War II had ended, and has told me many stories about Germany and the reconstruction efforts of Europe. Her father worked in part to set up Radio Free Europe and was stationed in Munich with his family in efforts to spread American influence in Europe after the war. Her memories of the era and the experiences she had are a backbone to what I expect to come, and I hope to build on her memories of the post-World War II period. With but a couple of simple German phrases, I come to this country with an open mind to learn more, to understand, and to connect the long history behind this nation and its people.

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II. Individual/Personal Issues: A Tight-Knit Culture
As mentioned before, I have dual nationalities due to my birthplace, and similarly, I derive my cultural background from two sources. The German culture has similarities to either or both the American or Chinese culture, and at times, deviates from either culture entirely.
One of the major deviations is the directness and openness of German culture. Many note that Germans are very direct about their opinions and will make no formalities in expressing their thoughts and/or arguments (Spillane, German Ways – Understanding German Attitudes and Culture). This can apply to peers or perfect strangers, even foreigners. I would not be surprised if somebody in Germany directly told me that I was doing something wrong. At the same time, Germans are very meticulous, organized, and punctual. This is similar to both Americans and Chinese. Germans also value planning and sticking to a schedule, with appropriate activities for appropriate times of the day. In the household, Germans are perhaps even closer to Chinese in that their houses are perfectly organized, especially for guests and visitors (Kwintessential, Germany – Language, Culture, Customs, and Business Etiquette).
One of the major aspects of the difference in cultures is the drinking age and the role of alcohol in culture. While the drinking age in the United States is 21, in Germany, the drinking age is 16, one of the lowest drinking ages in the world. Alcohol in Germany is considered to be commonplace and acceptable as a regular drink, and often people cite beer to be as cheap if not cheaper to purchase than water. Some have noticed that there have been trends of problems with the consumption of alcohol, mainly that many Germans are poorly educated with the detrimental effects of alcohol abuse (Ryan, The Highs and Lows of Germany’s Drinking Culture).

III. Company/Professional Issues: On Task and On Time
The German business culture is described by most to be parallel to its culture on a general level: it is a continuation of punctuality, directness, and meticulousness. Germans are on time, and are expected to be neither late nor early. Following the large sense of organization, hierarchies are commonplace in business and employees are expected to be formal and separate business life from personal life (Business With Germans, German Culture).
Likewise, with directness of speaking, in business, Germans tend to avoid hyperbole and speak with exactness. There is a sense of perfectionism as well in German business, so engineers and businesspeople can be expected to be hard-working but also cautious. It is said that businesspeople in Germany tend to be financially conservative (Kwintessential, Germany – Language, Culture, Customs, and Business Etiquette).
An interesting note in the German industry is the outlook towards engineering and educating future German engineers. There is a larger emphasis during the education of engineers in hands-on applications, with larger focus on apprenticeships. There are many different ways to be educated in engineering now in Germany, with some internships mixed in with classroom education on the university level (Kowlal and Juergensen, Engineering in Germany). It will be interesting to see how engineers in Germany fit into their companies and how they work with the hierarchical system – whether engineers are expected to fit into the corporate side of companies and if they hold higher-tier positions in the business.

IV. National/Societal Issues: First World Country in Decline?
Post-World War II Germany has seen large growth and prosperity. The nation is renowned for its engineering businesses and has been a first world country participating as a front-runner of European nations (especially now in the European Union) for quite a while. From its famed automakers to military developments, Germany has been a model for technological development in countries around the globe.
The Gross National Income of Germany is $38860 (BBC, Country Profile: Germany). The acting leader of the state is the Chancellor, currently, Angela Merkel, who is the first female chancellor of Germany. Chancellor Merkel has been noted as one of the leaders in consolidating the G8 to agree to goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Along the lane of the environment, Germany has been a marvelous example of continued development and growth while actually decreasing greenhouse gas emissions 18% from 1990 to 2005 (Blue, Lessons from Germany). The Germans are frontrunners in embracing alternative energy sources and using economic policies such as taxes to reduce damage to the environment. If there is one thing to be learned by Americans from Germany as an entire nation that applies to modern day, it is the way the Germans deal with the environment.

V. Conclusion: To Observe and to Build
While I do not expect to come back from this trip fully versed in either German or German culture, I do hope to gain some insight in the workings of citizens of Germany in their corporations and their everyday lives and how they manage to be successful. I especially hope to piece together the history of Germany into a personal understanding and appreciation, hopefully through the visits of historically significant sites, such as castles or the concentration camps. Also, I hope to see how their innovations in engineering occur and how the Germans are working together to save and protect the environment as part of their goals in developing technology. I hope that my experience and prior knowledge will serve me well to understand the progress at companies like Fujitisu Siemens (now Fujitsu Technology Solutions) , and that I will be able to look back on good memories and valuable lessons for many years to come.

VI. Sources
Individual/Personal
Parks, William. “Bumps and Jolts on the Cultural Road”. http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/living.html.
Ryan, Rachel. “The Highs and Lows of Germany's Drinking Culture “. http://www.dw- world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2226609,00.html.
Spillane, Stephen. “German Ways - Understanding German Attitudes and Culture”. http://offtogermany.blogspot.com/ 2007/12/ german-ways-understanding-german.html.

Company/Professional
BusinesswithGermans. “German culture”. http://businesswithgermans.com /Documents/ Culture.html.
Kowal, John and Leif Juergensen. “Engineering in Germany”. Machine Design. http://machinedesign.com/article /engineering-in-germany-1107.
Kwintessential. “Germany – Language, Culture, Customs, and Business Etiquette”. http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/ resources/ global-etiquette/ germany-country-profile.html.

National/Societal
BBC. Country profile: Germany. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/ country_profiles/1047864.stm#overview.
Blue, Laura. “Lessons from Germany”. TIME Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/ 0,28804,1730759_1734222_1734213,00.html.