Afraid to open my mailbox

My biggest struggle when I moved to Germany was probably with myself (isn’t it always?). And even though I keep thinking as long as I am balanced I can be happy and content anywhere in the world the differences in culture also play a role. Aside from not being able to find a really good job, I often felt really alone in Germany.

What is the most shocking thing here?

I don’t know if I would use the term “shocking”, but I am still amazed by the huge number of mail I get in my mailbox and I know it’s usually not good news, so in the 2 years spent here I got to the point where I’m afraid of opening it.

The other thing that I find hard to deal with is the way Germans separate their private life from their work life. I remember having to call the music school director at her home because of a real emergency. She later told me she was really surprised – to be understood as unpleasantly surprised – that I called her home. I just happen to have her home number because she called me once and I just saved the number in my phone. She is a really nice lady and we had a good, even warm work relationship, and then this comment came… As far as I’m concerned things are different in Romania: some of my work colleagues are also my close friends and I think this is only natural since we spend most of our time together.