A Foreigner’s Guide to Meeting Locals
Today marks three weeks since I touched down in Germany, and with just a few more days remaining on my Dialogue, I’ve been reflecting on all of the the incredible times we’ve had traveling around Munich, Nuremberg and Berlin immersing ourselves in the culture and learning about the Holocaust in ways that would simply be impossible when reading from a book. Naturally, with good experiences come great people, and a lot of those people have been locals themselves. Meeting locals can be intimidating, but there’s no reason to be afraid – all the Germans I’ve spoken to have been eager to learn our story and help us out with suggestions for where to spend our free days.
Want to meet your fellow countrymen (and women) and impress them with your German language skills, or just hang out, but still not sure how? I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a number of locals, if only briefly – here are my top three tips regarding I did it.
1. Incorporate a conversation piece into your outfit
I was sporting my Boston Red Sox hat while on a walk to get some fresh air when a group of Germans my age stopped me to ask if I was from Boston. We ended up talking about the time they had visited Boston on a school trip, and one was particularly interested in how my beloved Sox were doing this season. This conversation was easy, because I was talking about something I truly loved that was popular enough for the locals to know about, and they reached out to me based on my accessory.
2. Go where the people are
On July 4, we wanted to celebrate our nation’s Independence Day with other Americans who would understand our desire to belt out the National Anthem unannounced. Luckily, we found that in a Munich pub that a quick internet search explained was “made for expats.” We made friends with Americans and Germans that night, all by immediately gravitating toward others who were donning the red, white and blue and, together, making the move to get to know Germans who were staring at our American pride a little too questioningly.
3. Use your tour guide
Over the course of these last three weeks, we’ve had some incredibly intelligent, personable individuals guiding us through our cities and the attractions within them, such as the Topography of Terror museum, the Nuremberg courthouse, Neuschwanstein Castle and through all of Munich’s Nazi memorials. Your tour guide isn’t just an audiobook full of information – your professor spends a full calendar year working on planning the Dialogue and selecting tour guides that will add intelligence and excitement to our long days. Use this person as more than resource for your assignments – get to know them! Ask them about their passion, their favorite part of the city and what led them to be a tour guide. They can be a great friend in addition to being a great resource!
When traveling abroad, making friends with locals is invaluable, and you shouldn’t let fear or a lack of conversation starters stop you from talking to most everyone you meet.
