Expectations and Communication

Almost everything is settled now.... just not in the way I would have thought.... or preferred....

If you haven't heard by now, yesterday afternoon I was fired from Edeka, the grocery store I was working at in Germany for the summer.

I do not want to say that I was blameless, because that would be a lie. However, most of the blame could be put on Expectation's and Communication's shoulders.

What they expected of me, and what I expected, were two completely different things in most every regard.

How things were communicated, or not, were often detrimental to me.

--I expected that I could actually improve my schlechtes Deutsch, and be able to speak in a level closer to where I should be, for graduating next year.

They, however, thought I already spoke at a level that one should when spending six years on a language.

Though I do not know how they got the impression that I was close to fluent. And why does six years imply that I was any good? And three trips to Germany/Austria with Max Kade will not do you any good as far as language skills. We all know what those trips are really about....

[The reasons why I'm not at the level I should be is another story all together.]

Somewhere, Communication screwed up.

--I expected that I was going to be in Hamburg at 1pm on Monday, May 31st.

And here I erred: I did not communicate properly to Herr Kratzmann that was my expectation. I assumed Herr Seefedlt had passed the message on, but I can't be sure.

Though my plans changed, I thought I did call them in time to let them know I wasn't going to be on the train arriving at 1pm.... I was on the train at 1pm. So that means I called four hours before I was actually going to make it there.

And because of my schlechtes Deutsch, I was not able to communicate properly that I did not get out of Paris when I thought I was going to, delaying my trip from Frankfurt to Hamburg.

[We all know why I did get out of Paris....  now I know more.  Perhaps I could have left Paris when planned.  But the woman at the counter did not tell me other options that day.]

I think they expected me to have a cell phone, where I expected to purchase one once I got settled.

[Though I never did purchase one- because I was so close to work, used Skype to call my parents, kept CHANGE on me in case of emergency- I'm sure they saw this as irresponsibility. I thought it was just being smart with my money.  And why didn't I bring one with me?  That would have required changing servers back in the States....]

Though, I have to say, I am kinda frustrated that the story kept changing. Were Herr Kratzmann and his wife there waiting for me for an hour, two hours, or six?

--Herr Seefedlt expected that I was going to bring gifts from the States for my boss and host mother.

[One small line on a checklist is poor communication to someone who is about to embark on her first trip abroad on her own. She has too many other things that she is worrying about.]

This might be considered a cultural difference.... I would never thought about gifts (obviously I didn't) for people I am paying to live with or bringing a gift for my boss on the first day of work.


--With everything an elder says, always add "sofort" (immediately) even if it's actually said or not.  It does not matter if you've just been told by someone else to do something else and you're in the middle of finishing this task.  And it is not up for discussion.

I think most of the time I didn't know, or didn't hear the "sofort".  But once I learned about this rule, I followed it, as it was the most important rule.

--I thought I had asked for time off not just for taking care of the necessary paperwork in Bad Oldesloe, but for a small vacation time too.  This must have been one of those times that my German was not able communicate what I meant.  Or maybe communication between Herr Dame and Herr Kratzmann was not there.  I do not know.

Why would anyone think that I needed three days off to go to a city that is about a half an hour away?

--It was my expectation that all necessary paperwork and fees were taken care of before I left the States when I paid $1,150 in fees to the International Cooperative Education Program.  My expectation was that I would have been told if there were going to be any other paperwork to take care of, again before I left.

I still think it odd that I wasn't told about the Einwohnermeldeamt paperwork until a month after I had been in Hamburg, when it should have been taken care of the first week.


I could give you countless examples of how expectations and communication were not in sync.  But at the moment I have more important things to accomplish.