Completed my scarf. Now onto the hat.This is my 3rd January in Germany and finally I’ve learned an expression I’ve been dying to know: Das ist nicht meine Angelegenheit meaning, that’s none of my business.

Or better: Kümmere dich um deine eigenen Angelegenheiten! Can you guess? That’s right: Mind your own business!

Do native people use this expression? I’ve never heard it but then again I don’t ask enough questions, which is sort of a New Year’s resolution (or Vorsatz) for me.

It has been pointed out to me that I rely too heavily on assumptions that don’t work in the German culture. When I don’t understand something I need to speak up.

Only it isn’t that I know immediately that I don’t understand something, rather it is mostly the case that I understand it differently. It is recognizing that I am understanding something differently and subsequently wrongly is the point where I could save myself from getting into trouble or not. But regardless I’m destined to repeat my mistakes over and over again if I don’t start getting a clue soon. And this is where I start to miss Florida.

In Florida and I image in other states in the U.S., the people and perhaps the ‘lack-of-culture’ culture is often times more forgiving than it is here. Mind you I’d never want to experience the nightmare of being a foreigner trying to get a green card or just to pass customs for a few days vacation in the U.S. It is certainly comparatively easier in my shoes.

But once you are in the US, you aren’t told in so many words that your thinking is backwards or you lack proper communication skills. Am I wrong? Americans just take you for who you are. They are open to jesters and speaking slowly, imitating sounds and relying on facial expressions if need be.

Try using these primitive measures in Germany and you’ll get a blank ape stare from your confused, native speaker. Asking politely of a native German speaker to speak slowly is like slowing down the merry-go-round for 2 seconds. Then it gets boring or unnatural for the German and the merry-go-round accelerates again. The struggling foreigner has to weigh whether to ask to slow it down again or hang on and hope he’ll recognize something after all that spinning. (When in doubt and even if it feels rude, ASK!)

To a certain point, the way Germans speak is infectious. Now that my German is pretty good (once I get going) I don’t like to switch back to English. In fact I prefer to speak in German; I don’t have to worry about my hands or facial muscles. It’s all just brain and mouth. In an unfair way, one could say speaking in German is robotic, like Data. yeah.

Now it feels completely out of place to speak English in public places and when I do, I can feel that inside my cranium is war to arrive with the most appropriate words. It’s when my thoughts land in a mushy spot on my brain and the German words get mixed up with the English. Then nothing comes out and then I revert to the old assumptions and the old way of telling a story, which is to use body language, but opps! how?!

I know that it is just a bad, bad, bad thing to just give up on a train of mindless, American thought just to save the conversation. But sometimes that is the only thing that feels comfortable. Better to skip to a clean part of the record than to relive hearing the skinny lady tumble out nonsense repetitively.

My head spins just thinking how much has changed since then – the way I talk in English or in German, I have no real accent that locates me to a particular region in the US. Although it’s clear I’m American. But hopefully you won’t pick that up in the first five minutes in a conversation in German. That’s my goal

But hanging out with a couple of Canadians, I’m to through people off a bit. Eh! The way I think too has changed. I find it slower, which is all the more frustration. When I speak in English, my favorite simple German words slip in. For example: genau. oder. aber. are my 3 mischiefs. I’ve forgotten what I used to say when I thought something was cool before I moved. I say “super” for pretty much everything. I might even say “super geil” if I totally slip up. It’s okay though because everyone understands, but for language purity sake, I sound like an alien to someone who doesn’t know Danglish.

Alex and I both went into the exam room together and I sat in the chair first. On first sight I noticed that the equipment is about 25 years older than those in offices I had been to in Florida. This dentist office is most likely frequented by the publicly insured considering a nursing home, lots of foreigners, and a men’s homeless shelter are within minutes walking distance.

The dentist walked in brought out a firm handshake and was just a super friendly guy who spoke quickly and asked me immediately, ‘how are your teeth’? I tried to explain that I have a sensitivity when I run dental floss between two of my molars. He asked how often I use dental floss. I could honestly say that I’ve used it almost every night since I’ve lived in Germany.(e.g., no job = no money for dental work, flossing is cheaper).

Soon after I tried to explain my affinity to getting cavities, Herr Dentist turned McGuyver before rushing to take x-rays (they are called Röntgenbilder, named after the guy who discovered the radiation, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen). First, he sprayed my tooth with freak’n cold air from a can, like the ones you use to clean the keyboard. Damn that was not fun. Next, he struck my teeth with the end of the metal mirror. That didn’t hurt too much, just shocking that these methods are used. So they took a ‘Röntgenbild’ and the dentist tested my gums (no gloves, no eye guard) with dental floss but they didn’t bleed.

Then he said after looking at the picture that it was hard to tell what is the problem, seems like there could be an infection in the root area but not between the two teeth I was complaining about, but ones with composite fillings. *Sigh* It would result in extensive work and if I wasn’t experiencing pain while eating foods or drinking cold liquids then I could wait a little more unless I notice it getting worse. No drilling, hm, okay :hmm1:

Then the dental assistant removed the plaque with an electric wand. She was gentle, maybe too gentle. I’m used to the heavy duty hand chisel tool that feels like they’re mining for precious gems in my mouth. My public insurance covers the removal of plaque and an examination by the dentist. That’s it. If I wanted the special wash and shine I have to pay 50 Euro extra. Hey that seems reasonable.

Until I actually had it done and looked up the details of the treatment on the internet. If it cost 50 Euro chances are the teeth cleaning isn’t from a professional hygienist rather from someone who took a weekend course on how to smear polish on teeth. A dental hygienist cleaning cost about 100-150 Euro per hour in Munich and there are only about 8 dental hygienist in all of Munich. I guess dentist can’t afford to keep a hygienist.

In 6 months, Alex and I decided we will visit a professional dental hygienist and get a more thorough cleaning. I was spared this time, but next visit might be drill time.

It seems every time I visit a new dentist I hear something different or slightly contradictory to the advice I’ve heard previously. I’m most confused on the following:

1. mouthwash:
   use it (kills germs) vs. don’t use it(kills all germs, good & bad)
2. toothbrushes
   electric toothbrushes are better than regular ones vs. teeth cleaned by a normal toothbrush (when used properly) are just as healthy as teeth cleaned by an electric brush.
3. fluoride gel/rinse:
   use it once a week rinse well after use vs. use it often and don’t use a toothbrush, but smear it with your finger on your teeth, let it set on your teeth, spit don’t rinse
4. composite fillings
   last longer, safer, stronger vs. composite fillings don’t last as long as amalgam fillings and tend to break if not applied properly, or form cavities underneath if the hole wasn’t completely dry when they added the mixture, or there is no overwhelming evidence that amalgam is any less safe

The only thing I can trust is that flossing is number one among dentist, none of them cant on this advice.