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Germans are among the least understood people in Europe. When I travel outside Germany people tend to look at me sadly when I tell them where I live. In Latin countries they just shake their heads in pity at my chosen exile to this land of cold people. Before proceeding I have to say I know that to generalize about an entire nation is stupid, so here I go. Germans are the most American of Europeans concerning their personal lives. They preserve their privacy and let you in when they know you, not before. They have a complex cocktail of pride at what they’ve accomplished beginning the second half of the 20th century and guilt with their behavior in the first. You’ll find this residual collective guilt even in young Germans. Young Turks don’t spend much time pondering the genocidal behavior of their grand parents against Armenians early in the 20th century. The young worldwide read history. They know that their sweet gray haired grandparents may have been involved in genocides or random acts of terrorism against whatever minority was handy back then. In the rest of the world the young don’t feel so emotionally connected to acts committed 60 years before their birth. Wouldn’t it be an irony if future generations of Jews feel guilty over the manner Palestinians are treated now? But I digress. Perhaps this is why also the young here have their own very visual form of penance; bad hair cuts. Arguably the worst haircuts in Europe are worn by German kids. Brits run a close second. I see hair styles that seem designed to be as disfiguring as humanly possible. It’s not a matter of being extreme. I like extreme. It’s more a matter of being ugly, another matter entirely. They are not cold people as most of Europe types them. They tend to be a bit pragmatic, true, but in the end, and after a few beers, they become loose and friendly. Then they pee. Ok. Everybody pees after drinking but others tend to do it in bathrooms. It’s a bit looser here. I live 40 meters from the city wall that surrounds central Nuremberg. If stone could be dissolved by urine the city would be completely unprotected. In this place where laws are enforced strictly and to the letter it’s not uncommon to see men peeing publicly. Manners dictate that one should turn facing away from the sidewalk and anoint the city wall. It’s a time honored tradition. This can occur perhaps at the same place one’s grandfather left some ancient lager 70 years ago. You get used to seeing it. They have interesting ideas about their body. If they’ve eaten a lifetime of too much deliciously rich German food and are quite overweight this is no reason not to wear that tiny speedo thong or enjoy the nude part of the local lake shore beach. You don’t like it? Don’t look. It’s a free country.

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