117 upvotes, 7 direct replies (showing 7)
Bulgarian here, living in Germany. While I've rarely encountered any xenophobia personally, other people from my country have shared with me that they're generally viewed with some measure of suspicion or contempt. Things like "your name ends in -ov/ova or -ski/ska, you don't get a call for a flat or a job after you apply". Definitely an attitude that would be judged as totally unacceptable if it were directed toward a black person of any ethnicity.
I've mostly moved in an academic environment (and also, in Berlin), so I've been lucky enough not to have had any issues like that. What I've faced is a softer form of discrimination that had mostly left me wondering if people take me as seriously as they would a German. Mostly it's been amusing to see how people's attitude changes when they hear where I'm from (then again with a Slavic name it's always kinda obvious from the start). Stuff like speaking slowly, as if I'm a child, or the obligatory "Aber du sprichst so gut Deutsch!" (Ja danke alter, bin seit 7 Jahren in Berlin und bevor ich nach hier zugezogen bin, hatte ich es für 10 Jahren in der Schule gelernt. So ein Wunder, dass meine 2 Balkannervenzellen die Fähigkeit haben, fließend Deutsch zu reden, oder?) Or there was the doctor who administered my covid vaccine, when he asked me where I was from and I told him, he was like "Ach Bul-gaaaa-ri-en..." and immediately became dismissive of any question I tried to ask, including the one about when and how to get my bloody digital certificate.
So yes, I believe a discriminatory attitude is present (though certainly not the norm, thankfully) and people get away with it because it's not directed at a group that's widely seen as marginalised.
Then again, a thicker skin is something we are taught to have and we get told "well, it do be like that" before we even go West. Jokes are fine, we make those ourselves, but when more serious matters are concerned, it's just not fun anymore.
Comment by Inevitable_Proof at 19/07/2021 at 06:31 UTC
37 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I'm full german with a name that ends in -ski. In the Ruhr area, no one even asked. It's normal here.
I once moved away for a while to find a job elsewhere and everyone asked me where I came from and what my nationality was. For the first time in my life, while living in northern germany, I experienced some kind of 'racism'.
One time I wanted to make a doctors appointment and they flat out told me after telling my name that they're full for the next year. Accidentally called the same place again a few days later because no one took me in, I was beat, I didn't say my name (really by that point I was just asking whether they take new patients or not) and they told me sure, they take new people. I was perplexed. Didn't go in the end. Maybe it was just a bad day for that person on the other end the first time, but it struck me weird.
I didn't get a job, 'recently moved here' and my surname seemed to be the issue. I moved back to NRW, got five interviews over the span of two weeks.
As a kid people always made jokes like 'polish people steal, hahaha, if something went missing she has it' literally no one in my family or me can speak Polish or is from Poland. Not my grandparents from either side, not my parents from either side, and they're both different -ski's.
Comment by RottenCleric at 19/07/2021 at 04:09 UTC
24 upvotes, 0 direct replies
As somebody whose surname ends in -ski/-ska I can 1000% agree
Comment by [deleted] at 19/07/2021 at 10:16 UTC
14 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Ha! That depends on the people. I've learned really fast to not underestimate people on my first job. Bulgarian was my department head and I'll never forget him lecturing me on German... "Alter, es ist Genitiv... wegen DES Vertrages, nicht wegen DEM Vetrag... ich bin erst 4 Jahre in Deutschland und ich spreche besser Deutsch als du!"
Needless to say I've never made that mistake ever again in my life. Never underestimate people. :D
Comment by wikki019 at 19/07/2021 at 09:21 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Getting a flat to live as an ausländer is very difficult, despite the fact after having a respectable income and job security.
Comment by viijou at 19/07/2021 at 11:39 UTC*
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Not racism but prejudice. When hiring a company for home construction prejudices are strong. My german dad who worked in the construction field his whole life starting as a mason and later as engineer and boss in a big firm, would tell me about the work ethic of people from specific countries. I wanna mention that he always treated everybody with respect. But he was especially appreciative about the work quality and ethic of polish, romanian and bulgarian firms. Others not so much (including Germans who work with a high quality but can have different issues sometimes).
Comment by ZenturioVI at 19/07/2021 at 08:59 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Du sprichst aber gut Englisch
Comment by [deleted] at 18/07/2021 at 22:12 UTC
-21 upvotes, 3 direct replies
That was the reason I stoped learning German. Like… what is the sense? It’s less hurtful to be hated for “oh, you come to our country and don’t learn our language, it’s disrespectful” than just being hated for a name/accent and when you have already spent your free time on something you don’t need. lol