Continual kraut-bashing by expats on TT

Topic split from: Which of the German dialects is nicest?


Hello, I'm new here. To hell with this!!! Straight to the point!! What is WRONG with you?!!! BAS...!! This isn't on topic, but you are a BIGOT!!! Every time I hear an English person refer to Germany, it is always in the worst possible light! It even extends so far as Betty White! German-hating is something that NOBODY condemns! All across the world, nobody understands, and everybody HATES Germany, and YOU are no different!! I am TIRED of it! Another thing, you ever heard of the ANGLO-SAXONS?!! PROBABLY NOT!! Well, news flash, ASS! THAT is your culture, like it or not, and it is a GERMANIC culture! It is upstanding, and it is honorable, and you are tarnishing it! I would have thought that an Englishman, of all people, would recognize the POLITE DIGNITY of the Germans, because it is the same as I have always thought was present in the English culture! That was completely unprovoked, and you're the reason I joined here - just to tell you off! YOU ARE BLATANTLY WRONG, AND THE WORLD IS WRONG. I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. You should be blocked!

I could only imagine how angry you must feel at times, opwto1.

I probably shouldn't have gone that far, but he said some terrible, very insulting things, that seems to be all I ever hear about Germany.

It's a site for expats and they can whine and whinge here about their experiences that frustrate them, better here than taking out their frustrations on our hosts eh?

I'm not quite sure whether you're referring to him or me. However, I will say this. - I could not tolerate that. It's just enough!

Hi opwto1,
I agree with you. I joined Toytown because I have always been interested in the English language and in the culture of English-speaking countries (I'm German and lived in England for some years). Toytown has been a very disappointing experience for me and has put me off a great deal from "the" English/Americans. I appreciate that this a place for expats for "whining" and "whinging" but people should not forget that this is a public domain. People posting here do represent their countries, and I must say that some of them seem to be very ignorant. Some of them don't speak proper German but think they can judge how terrible all the Germans are. There are many things I critize about Germany myself and I don't mind people critisizing life in Germany but the way some people generalize here is just intolerable. And it is rather insulting at times. Then again, if you browse in expat forums for Italy and France, you will find the same remarks about those countries, so I don't take it that seriously anymore. In fact, I don't visit this forum hardly ever anymore because it is not what I had hoped it would be - a place for exchange and communication between expats and "natives". Never mind.

Was that a flounce?

Don't take everything (or anything) said here too seriously, fenna. That's the first step in enjoying TT and understanding communication between expat English-speakers.

Thanks for that post, fenna - this is exactly how I feel about this board and I know that many if not most Germans who come here feel the same.


I'd like to see your reaction if a post in the style of Don Riina's latest ramblings was directed to Ausländer and not to Germans. How seriously would you take that? Given how sensitive many people here are about being discriminated against it's surprising how hatefule tyrades like DonRiina's posts (or the posts of Expaticus and of some other people on here), stupid generalizations and sweeping desparaging statements are always excused as being "fun" and "the way expats communicate with each other. Many of the things that are posted here go far beyond "whining and moaning" and reflect a degree of hatefilled bitterness, arrogance and ignorance that would not be accepted on any other message board.

And no, Georgiagirl - this isn't the way "expat English-speakers communicate". It's the way a limited number of members of this forum communicate and by doing so they tarnish the reputation of the entire expat community. There are some great people here who've come to this country to experience a different culture and who are able to criticise the things they don't like in a level-headed way and to make fun without being unpleasant. They deserve better than to be lumped in with bitter losers like Don Riina.

Another thing that I find extremely disappointing about this board is the common excuse "I may say bad things about Germans on here but I'm married to a German/my bf/gf is German/I got a lot of German friends so I don't really mean it". Sad to say - the fact that I've come across such statements quite often has made me rather apprehensive about relationships with English-speaking expats since apparently for many of them loyalty and respect fly out the window as soon they are able to bitch about their partner or friends behind their backs. Would you want a German mate or partner who'd call you a Scheißausländer on a message board as long as they think you won't find out about it? What does it say about you if you talk in a similar manner on this board about your German friends?

I'm fully aware that this isn't the first post of this kind - it's a recurring theme on here and it won't change a thing since it's quite obvious that the people who run this board are interested in keeping it a place where German-bashing is part of the "fun". However it might be worth pointing out - as fenna did - that some of the posts on here will influence the attitude of Germans towards expats. In other words: If you're not willing to show some respect to the people who's country you've chosen to live in don't expect to be treated with respect by them, if you feel free to make generalizations and spout prejudices don't complain if you have to deal with prejudices directed at you, if you support ignorance and arrogance don't be surprised to be considered ignorant and arrogant by people who come across your posts.

That was your mistake. Toytown was never designed as a place for 'exchange and communication between expats and "natives"'. It's not the fault of the Toytown members and/or its administrators that you grabbed the wrong end of the stick and that you then try to use that stick to take a swipe.

The same applies to you LittleSprite. There are other options out there if you are looking for something fluffier. Or you could start your own website.

Take Don Riina with a very large pinch of salt. Almost everything he posts is bigoted, hate-filled bilge. Why he lives here I do not know, but don't allow one single user to tarnish a forum with 6,000 members.

Although mostly it's his refusal to spell "Kraut" correctly that irks me.

Then take your teddy and fuck off somewhere else with your whining.

My personal take on the subject is that Don Riina purposefully posts in such an OTT (over the top) way to make it clear that he is being IRONIC.

I agree with LittleSprite. It seems this whole forum has had it's collective tone lowered by the loud-mouthed few, and it's too bad. Don Riina thinks he's funny, and some apparently agree, but I just hear a lot of ugly in an endless parade of stupid.
I hope that too many of the interesting and intelligent people haven't already given up and left. This forum did once have a different tone.
(Post #11 being an example of unnecessary nastiness we could do without)

My personal take on it is that somebody who posts the same hatefilled drivel for years isn't trying to be ironic but needs their head searched. One post of that kind is funny, five posts of that kind get tedious - hundreds of posts of that kind are pathological. Either he's the biggest attention whore in existance or the saddest person on the planet...I'd assume he's a combination of both.

If any of you complaining about TT think that this is a phenomenon associated only with this board, then take a look at the German language expat sites in the UK.

You'll find exactly the same there, trust me.

As Keydeck said though, nobody ever said this was meant to be a quasi official cultural exchange site.

It is what it is, a board for mostly Expats to have a moan, take the piss and generally enjoy an online debate or conversation in much the same way as if you were talking to a bunch of people in the pub.

LittleSprite and others: Why can't you just not read it, and why are you so predictably offended by it? I'm sure there are things written about the Brits on that board for Germans in Britiain that might be offensive, or maybe I feel I could help explain my nation of birth to them, but I just don't care.

Sounds like the old "if you don't like it here why don't you move to another country" standard, doesn't it? I don't spend much time here, but I do feel free to criticise bigotry and ignorance when I happen to come across it. If you don't like that - there's fluffier sites out there.

I wouldnt think that's disgusting. I can imangine that to be funny or even cute.

First off if you took a moment to check you'd see that Don Riina hardly ever posts and in fact hasn't done so in over a month. So that pretty much blows your attention whore theory out of the water. He has also posted many very helpful and informative posts but you've obviously chosen to ignore those.

If you feel offended by the posts that someone makes you have a couple of very effective courses of action available to you...

• Make a complaint using the Report button under each post.
• Use the Ignore feature so that you do not see that person's posts.
• Simply ignore them.

Bitching about it in a completely different thread is about the least effective thing you can do.

Fenna, opwto1 what is more important in life it is not how people treat you or how people around you behave but how you are affected by these people. How would you be affected if you visited a psychiatric hospital for example? Could you hold your own or would you go loopy?

I think it's a shame DR doesn't post more often, his posts always make me laugh, sorry guess I have an odd sense of humour

They are predictably offended by it, because it is offensive. And so is your attitude.

Or just flick your iggy-switch and read the more intelligent, tolerant, fluffy, German-hugging, where do I find my accustomed food posts. Heaven knows there are enough diverse posts per day to satisfy just about any taste.

I haven't been here in ages because I don't care that much, but since I deal with expats on a daily basis in real life I need to come back here every now and then. And why am I so predictably offended? For the same reason that black people will be predictably offended by the n-word. Unfortunately prejudice and stupidity don't stop if people ignore them - quite to the contrary.

Based upon whose standard?

Who made you the arbiter of good taste?

I'd rather do that but she is out shopping...

Nazi?

As usual, all the little puppets are in place and performing on cue.

Excellent work Don "Puppetmaster" Riina

The funny thing is that I never notice any "Kraut bashing" or whining at TT meetups. The most miserable whingers apparently never leave home.

Even when I address the topic directly, like mentioning things in Germany even I as a German do not like, I often get responses like "Actually, I LIKE the shopping hours here, I do not need to buy stuff 24/7" or "Yeah, the Germans aren't terribly polite but they are honest and sincere and that counts much more."

There seems to be a large gap between online and offline discussions (or only online TT members and those who actually go out once in a while).

Tell me one thing: When you come across people posting shit about Ausländer - do you turn away as well and look for something more "fluffy"?

Thought not.

Negerkuss.

Based on any standard of civilized behaviour. Show me the etiquette book in which insulting entire races and telling people to 'fuck off' is considered good taste. You know better than that.

Its a fact that germans never do anything annoying, so I don't see how a website can exist where people say nasty things about them. I for one am appaled that you guys can have different opinions on things. People should only be nice to each other and hold hands.

No but I can tell the difference between someone posting genuine ignorance and someone who's just trying to get a reaction out of me and have a laught at my expense.

I find it interesting that LittleSprite only chirps up when something offensive about Germans has been written. Where are your other, positive contributions to the forum?

And not to sound like a broken record, but EVERYONE gets dragged through the mud on this site. Germans don't get special treatement.

from the TT guidelines:


if anyone is ever offended by certain posts or posters they only need to report them.
or failing that make use of the 'ignore' function.
or leave TT.

easy really.

the German ex-pat sites in the UK nitpick about life in the UK and British people. good for them I say, they have an outlet for their grievances and queries.
and TT is ours.

That's pretty much what I expected and that's also what makes the whole thing so unfortunate: It's a limit number of people who attend those meetups and get an idea of what the expat community is actually about, while the stupid rumblings of a limited number of people on here are read by thousands of people on a daily basis who will then form an opinion about this community based on those posts. Well, as I said - I don't care that much so I'll switch over to fluffier grounds. Happy postings and thanks to all those expats who put in a sensible word or two - it's much appreciated.

And you can shove this board up your arse too. No place for you here, so move along to the next thing to complain about - somewhere there's a teenager crossing the road on a red pedestrian light and you should be there to tell him off.

I really don't understand why a person would read the forum every day if they are offended by it. Are these the same people who watch talk shows every day so they can congratulate themselves on being so much better than the others? There are tons of places you can go to be offended, and if that is what you enjoy doing in your free time, more power to you. I wouldn't do it.

VOLANT

No some people have a better sense of humour than others.


Bye, watch the door on your way out.

Ve haf vays to deal viz zem.

So basically this has all kicked off because a couple of Germans came on to TT and got mad at what they saw. Nothing new. How is this even a topic of discussion? I stand by my original post on the matter: if you wanna play around on TT, just don't take things too seriously. If you're offended by a post, report it, and if enough people share your view that the post is offensive and report it as well then I'm sure the poster in question will be asked to turn it down a notch. Simple really.

And really, at the risk of being Miss Repetitive McRedundancy: if you don't like it, go away. I find lots of things on the Internet offensive so I choose not to look at them.

Nah, I have to actually do some work today. Bugger.

This is brightening up a dull day, any more people need to be offended?

For completeness you should add, "...written by someone over three years ago."

And LittleSprite is still typing despite her earlier departure.

Pic of your husband I take it?

Basically I just posted to make it clear that fenna's post didn't just reflect the feelings of a single person...and like it or not, as long as this is an open forum people will comment on the shit that gets posted here.

If you don't like that - well, there's the door!

Fooled you, eh?

As if being sincere, honest and polite at the same time are mutually exclusive. Some of us have been living in Germanic countries too long...

No, amused me more like.