Tuesday, January 8, 2013

nette geste

Nette Geste literally means 'nice gesture' in German. It's like, when you visit your friend and bring a bottle of wine or a bouquet for the host. When I arrived in Berlin two days ago I found an origami-folded paper in my mailbox. It turned out to be a Happy New Year greeting from the new neighbor in the house. I found it really cute and it was definitely a nette Geste.


I've had thoughts about how to get to know your neighbors when you are new in the house. I'm not even sure how people do it in my home country. I guess there it's easier to encounter your neighbors and have a little chat with them now and then, especially since most of the people are curious about their neighbors. In Germany, especially in big cities like Berlin, people don't really care about their neighbors. At the most, you meet them when they took your packages for you.

That is rather sad, I think. I have incredibly nice neighbors in my apartment building. My life would be not the same without them. When I'm Munich they water my plant and empty my mailbox. We often have tea time or dinner together. They even taught me how to crochet. I will awfully miss them when I move to Munich. And it all started with a small greeting in the staircase. Now I wonder how we could greet our future neighbors in Munich.

Do you greet new neighbors as an old dweller? Do you introduce yourself in any way as a new kid in the block?

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