I am down with a cold after some travel abroad (luckily, not the dreaded Hamthrax) so I'm staying home from work today.
I kept noticing it was getting colder and colder in the apartment after my girlfriend left for work. I knew the heat was off but I figured sweats and a blanket would keep me warm--I was starting to get really worried that my fever was spiking or something.
Come to find out, she opened half the windows in the place before she left, apparently to "air the place out." How does this make any sense? Especially in a culture with a popular conception of pathology that is essentially medieval? No, it makes perfect sense to wear a scarf everywhere all year, but leaving the windows open when someone is down with a cold? Sure, that will be comfortable!
Rant over...
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Why does my German girlfriend open windows...
...if cold, moving air makes you sick?
Maybe she thought that you having a cold (or is it manflu?) you would be running a temperature anyway so why waste the opportunity to give the house a good airing as you wouldn't feel it.
This is something every single german I know does, they open windows in the early morning for a good 10 minutes or so, maybe she just forgot to close them - being all worried about you being at deaths door and all that probably caused it
This is something every single german I know does, they open windows in the early morning for a good 10 minutes or so, maybe she just forgot to close them - being all worried about you being at deaths door and all that probably caused it
No I reckon it makes sense to bring in fresh air when the weather is okay.
The fashion of wearing scarves even on a hot day is unbelievably stupid though.
The fashion of wearing scarves even on a hot day is unbelievably stupid though.
maybe she just forgot to close them
... or maybe she thought that her [s]laz[/s] slightly under-the-weather boyfriend would close them after the 10 minutes were up?
This is a nation where fermented cabbage sits proudly at the pinnacle of collective culinary achievement.
Pretty obvious then why they all learn to "air" the house every morning.
Pretty obvious then why they all learn to "air" the house every morning.
It's not manflu! It's just a cold...your basic fever/chills (remember, fever makes you feel cold), sore throat, aches, etc.
Not that I haven't maximized my time off on the xbox, but seriously, what else am I good for? I'm just a pathetic shuffling shell of the man I once was, and that's why I must insist she bring home Indian takeout and rub my shoulders while I moan about how sick I am.
Not that I haven't maximized my time off on the xbox, but seriously, what else am I good for? I'm just a pathetic shuffling shell of the man I once was, and that's why I must insist she bring home Indian takeout and rub my shoulders while I moan about how sick I am.
my (english) wife does the same thing. Just make sure to close them after she's gone
When you're down with a cold that last thing you want is a cozy, warm apartment full of dry, central heated air. She let the bracing, cold, damp air in so that you can breathe more easily. Rejoice in the fact that she cares for you.
She didn't tell you that she left them open as she assumed that you would realize it yourself.
Get well soon!
She didn't tell you that she left them open as she assumed that you would realize it yourself.
Get well soon!
Come to find out, she opened half the windows in the place before she left, apparently to "air the place out." How does this make any sense?
Makes perfect sense to me. She opened them to give rid of all your icky cold germs.
She is probably the same selfish bint that closes all the windows at work because of the draft... Thinking to herself, Well, i have all my windows open at home!
Just wait until she start slapping quark and cabbage leaves on your chest...
She is saving you from getting malaria*! It is why I started an "old wives tale" thread.
*literally bad air
*literally bad air
From my experiences, my German wife and mother usually open the windows, during the winter time, to let fresh air into the apartment and also to keep the mold from growing in the corner of the walls. They generally close the windows within 2 hours.
A lot of flats here suffer from mould if you don't air them in the morning (it gets rid of the condensation). As it can be the tenant who ends up carrying the can for getting rid of the mould it is often second nature for a lot of people here to air in the morning.
As explained here by our usually trusty friend Wikipedia, your gf is using the recommended, so-called Stoßlüftung method of airing an apartment/house
Als Stoßlüften bezeichnet man das kurzzeitige und vollständige Öffnen von mindestens zwei Fenstern oder Außentüren eines Raumes. Hierbei strömt durch das erste Fenster die verbrauchte Luft hinaus, und durch das zweite Fenster wird Frischluft nachgesaugt. Um einen möglichst hohen und schnellen Luftaustausch zu erreichen, sollten diametral gegenüberliegende Fensterpaare geöffnet werden, da sich dadurch ein starker Luftzug einstellt. Da viele Räume nur über ein Fenster verfügen, ist ein Stoßlüften auch durch das Öffnen der Fenster in benachbarten Zimmern bei gleichzeitig geöffneten Zimmertüren gewährleistet. Besonders geeignet ist dieses Verfahren zum Luftaustausch während der Heizperiode, da es durch die geringe Lüftungsdauer das energieeffizienteste Lüftungsverfahren ist. Ferner eignet sich die Stoßlüftung bei starken Gerüchen (Bäder, Raucherhaushalte), mangelndem Sauerstoffgehalt der Luft oder zu hoher Luftfeuchtigkeit. Als Stoßlüften gilt der Lüftungsvorgang bei einer Dauer von bis zu fünf Minuten. Beim Stoßlüften müssen die Fenster auch im Winter vollständig geöffnet und nicht nur gekippt werden.
Das Stoßlüften sollte im Idealfall drei- bis viermal täglich durchgeführt werden.
Auch in sommerlichen Hitzeperioden (über 30°) soll zur Vermeidung einer Überhitzung von unklimatisierten Innenräumen aufgrund der hohen Außenlufttemperatur die Stoßlüftung praktiziert werden und sonst das Fenster tagsüber vollkommen geschlossen bleiben. In der Nacht soll dann das Fenster geöffnet oder gekippt werden, um den Innenraum abzukühlen.
Flinging open the windows for approx. 10 minutes a day once or several times a day is a better and more economical way to ventilate a place than leaving windows cracked open all the time. Here's a guide to how long to leave your windows/doors open throughout the year:
Das Stoßlüften sollte im Idealfall drei- bis viermal täglich durchgeführt werden.
Auch in sommerlichen Hitzeperioden (über 30°) soll zur Vermeidung einer Überhitzung von unklimatisierten Innenräumen aufgrund der hohen Außenlufttemperatur die Stoßlüftung praktiziert werden und sonst das Fenster tagsüber vollkommen geschlossen bleiben. In der Nacht soll dann das Fenster geöffnet oder gekippt werden, um den Innenraum abzukühlen.
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