new thread
I'm going to live in germany for a year as an exchange student. I am leaving in less than two weeks, and I had to go to my main sponsors house to get 350€. I had a bit of trouble 'cos of my hair when I applied to be an exchange student, some of the people though "He's a druggie" and didn't want to accept me into the program. I got in though, like 2 out of 10 didn't want me in, but the rest did.
Also, a few months ago at one of the orientations one of the guys told me "You know you may have some trouble in germany because of your hair.. I'm not telling you to cut it, but I just want to make sure you know this" Which was a nice approach in my opinion. I just told him that I'd rather prove to people that just 'cos someone has long hair DOESN'T mean that they are a druggie or a thug or something, than to cut it. It just strikes me as really stupid reasoning, I'll still be the EXACT same person whether my hair is long or not, what will cutting it change?
Even so my main sponsor seemed quite apprehensive about my hair, but after knowing him for almost a year now, he finally seems to accept it. Anyway I was talking to him at his house when his wife came in. She had really short hair (she must have just had it cut), and my main sponsor (i'm avoiding saying his name :p) told his wife "I like your hair, it looks really good" etc. etc. Then he introduced me to her and she said "You've got a lot of hair" I had it tied back even.. She then said "Are you going to cut it before you leave for Germany?" I just kind of smiled and said "No" Then she said "You probably should cut it.. that would scare me if my host son had long hair!" I immediately thought "What a stupid thing to say", I just kind of smiled and didn't say anything. Then her daughter said "Geez mom! Some people like longhair.."
O well, none of the germans I talk to have anything against longhair :)
Another classic example of how the younger generation is smarter and less narrow-minded.
Nice story, Oyo. :D
- Brian
I just kind of smiled and said "No" Then she said "You probably
should cut it.. that would scare me if my host son had long hair!"
I immediately thought "What a stupid thing to say", I just kind of
smiled and didn't say anything.
Then her daughter said "Geez mom, some people like longhair..."
O well, none of the germans I talk to have anything against longhair :)"
Do people really believe that a 'thug' couldn't be NEAT-looking to
maybe FOOL the people into NOT believing he WAS a thug?!
It's really a shame that some folks cannot see past their own stereotypical beliefs!
Long hair= what? Long HAIR= WHAT?? LONG HAIR= WHAT???
STOP! THINK!! PEOPLE . . .PLEASE...
STOP & THINK . . .PLEASE!
I would of immediately tried to hold back a comment about her having short hair if she would of said something like that to me.
Smart Daughter, Ignorant Mother, Open-minded Germans. Kind of sums-up how you go...........with what "Mother Nature" gave you to begin with and intended for the Male a well as the Female Species. It is 100% natural!
When I was 20, I spent a year in Germany as part of my University course. That was in 1975/6. my hair was shoulder length when I arrived in Germany, and I didn;t even trim it al the time I was there.
Nobody made any adverse comments (in fact a lot of people said they liked it), and nobody thought I was a druggie.
Because Germany is still very anti uniform for school students, it seems to be very tolerant of people who want to be themselves.
Go out there and let it grow, und viel Spass!
hi oyo, hi everyone else out there!
have been quite a long time lurker, so i guess my first post is almost overdue. i'm a 20 year old male from austria, with hair let's say around 30 months long. when reading about oyo's year as an exchange student and the comments regarding his hair, i just have to post a comment aso.
so far, "simply" having long hair doesn't seem to be a big issue in austria (nor do i think it is in germany) - it's more your overall expression and appearance which might cause reactions. sure, certain people seem to assess others solely by their hair length (every longhair _has_ to do drugs); but anyway, in my opinion most of the people over here just don't mind long hair (though there are exceptions). you might get some strange looks of course, but on the next day you will receive envious looks of someone who's currently fighting the awkward-stage, or even interested looks of girls or boys (whomever you prefer :) )
don't rack your brains over people's reactions over here-
rather rack your brains over the german language :)
oh, and being a metalhead might give you an extra bonus in receiving strange looks :)
Hair is not an issue here. The overall looks decide wheter people think you are a "dark metal satanist" or something like that! ;)
Hope you enjoy your year in Germany (and your year with the Euro - the only REAL STRONG currency *hehehe*)
I lived in germany for 3 years while in the army so of course, I didn't have long hair at the time but I can safely say that there are about same percentage of long hairs and short hairs over there as anywhere else.
Hehe, I just talked to a german girl for about an hour and a half (in german :) ) She said that there are lots more metalfans in germany and a lot more people with longhair. And that not nearly so many people will care as they do here =)
Coincides with what all of you have been saying :p
I've been to Germany a couple times as we have family friedns there and once lived there and it seemed to me they were even more accepting of it than ppl here. In fact, the son of the family friends, who is my age, 18, also has long hair.
>She then said "Are you going to cut it before you leave for Germany?"
>I just kind of smiled and said "No" Then she said "You probably
>should cut it.. that would scare me if my host son had long hair!"
Some people are always ready with a snappy comeback but most of us think of our witty replies hours or days after an encounter. After thinking about it for awhile, here are some of my potential comebacks, maybe others can add more wit or sarcasm:
"I'm glad Germans are more accepting of individuals that you!"
"So you're an authority on modern German culture then?"
"It would scare me to have you as a host mother"
"Exactly what is scary to you about long hair?"
"Are you saying you have a phobia about hair?"
"Nah, it's doing that on its own."
Witty reply...yes, just when you need one your mind goes blank!
But your replies to that woman are great:
"I'm glad Germans are more accepting of individuals that you!"
"So you're an authority on modern German culture then?"
"It would scare me to have you as a host mother"
"Exactly what is scary to you about long hair?"
"Are you saying you have a phobia about hair?" . . .he..he...
"Did you mean to say that out loud?" works wonders in many situations because it tends to make a person aware that perhaps their vocalized opinion was pointless or rude. However, some people are immune to tact. For those more egregious comments the wisdom of Lewis Carroll comes in handy. In "Alice in Wonderland" the Mad Hatter's first words to Alice are "Your hair wants cutting." Dealing with the issue quite effectively, Alice's resopnse is that "You should learn not to make personal remarks, it's very rude." I can see that kind of levelheaded statement working well for anybody.
Elizabeth
I seen a former Recon Marine on CNN a while back. He looked in his late 30's or early 40's. He had long hair tied up in a pony tail. Not a little pony tail neither, a good sized one. A Recon Marine, some of the toughest men alive, with long hair, need I say more?
I guess it depends on where you're going. I used to chat with a German guy (long hair of course ^_^) and he said that there are a lot of longhairs around where he lives. It was a kind of a smallish town, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it. He was a metalhead, but also Asatru...I don't know which sparked the hair growth ^_^
~Jenn