Welcome to the Foreign Workplace

So at long last, after months of preparation, I began what I came here to do: work. I’ve now completed my first full week at my place of employment for the next two months, the Auswärtiges Amt (German Foreign Ministry, like our State Department). There will be much to tell in the coming months, but for now here are my first impressions from the German workplace:

Location. I postulate that the measure of a good bureaucracy can be determined by how huge and ridiculously confusing its building is. The Foreign Office is definitely a great bureaucracy. It is actually quite beautiful though, inside and out. Highlight: our building is equipped with elevator-type lifts called Paternosters which make simple travel to another floor an absolute thrill, not to mention efficient. And the building is quite historic - check out this short video about its history (really cool, I promise).

Language. I’ve spent months learning German and one week in a work environment demonstrates clearly how non-proficient I am. No, I’m perhaps being hard on myself: my real problem with personal-level interaction is self-confidence. However, as with any industry, there is a specialized and highly technical vocabulary that is required and nearly impossible to master outside of the workplace. Thus I must rapidly add to my vocabulary terms and concepts relating to ethnic conflict, post-conflict management, institutional reform, and the OSCE. The learning curve is indeed steep and sometimes I sit entire meetings without a clue about the topic, but nonetheless I feel my German is rapidly improving.

Formalities. I’d been warned for months about the critical need to use Sie (the formal version of you) when addressing coworkers at the office. This involves never using first names, addressing emails to “Highly Esteemed Mr. or Mrs. So-and-so,” and never letting my conversations drift into personal topics such as “how was your weekend?” So imagine my surprise when most of my coworkers offered me their first names, demanded that we speak in Du terms (the informal version of you), and on Friday asked about my plans for the weekend! This has been great and all, but does make for some awkward social moments: for example, at lunch the other day I was eating with some coworkers, one with whom I was on Du-terms and the other on Sie-terms. My brain suddenly started overheating when I realized that I would need to use different sentence constructions depending on the individual I was addressing. You can imagine my confusion and panic in trying to pose a question to them both together.

First-Week Etiquette. I had heard that it’s standard practice here to bring homemade baked goods to share during your first week of work, last week of work, and on your birthday. Not wanting to disappoint, I did. I “baked a cake with Lauren’s help” (which means I was tasked with measuring out the more simple ingredients and nervously watching as she baked) and brought it in to our morning meeting, at which point the director excitedly asked if it was my birthday. I replied that it was only my first week, and everyone of course understood. Fortunately my birthday has already passed.