Yes, I am weird, weird is good. Normal is overrated.
Gautam Sawala was born in India and had a humble upbringing. He moved to Germany in 2014.
He is a graduate in MSc. Computer Science from Saarland University, Saarbrücken. He works as an Android and iOS Developer and is a business partner in an e-commerce startup. He is also a co-founder of The Honest Blog, where he writes about living, studying and working in Germany. He is a published writer at Quartz.
Being unconventional is his forte. Having taken five years to finish his master studies is a testimony to that. Speaking his heart, by writing controversial answers on Quora and blogs is another.
When he is not talking about himself, he loves to ski in the mountains or walk the city with a camera. He is also trying not to break something while learning to skateboard. He also loves to binge on TV Shows.
Growing up Gautam has been infamous for being nerdy and spelling mistakes. Thanks to the autocorrect feature, the latter one isn’t a thing anymore.
Here is some of the habits I got used to living in Germany which I realize only when I visit my home country, India:
- Drinking black coffee.
- Drinking sparkling water.
- Eating much less spicy food.
- Using plastic bottles as currency. Expecting pfand (deposit) to be paid back for returning the bottle.
- Segregating the garbage.
- Using tissues and toilet paper.
- Calling professors at university by their name instead of “sir” or “prof”.
- Walking out half way through the lecture.
11 reasons why study in Germany? - The Honest Blog
- Criticizing everything from weather to traffic. Even when there isn’t much to complain about.
- Summers: It’s so hot! I’m sweating like a pig here.
- Spring/ Autumn: The weather here sucks! It’s always pouring, always!
- Winters: Was I high when I decided to come here? -5 degrees! I could sit in a refrigerator and feel warmer now.
- Griping about public transport:
- 1 minute delay: Maybe the bus got stuck at a signal it will be here soon.
- 2 minutes delay: Probably the driver took longer smoke break so the bus got delayed.
- 3 minutes delay: Alright, I am getting a little uncomfortable now. I am recalculating my plan and checking if I need to inform the other person that I’m going to be late.
- 5 minutes delay: I am getting impatient now. I’m mentally preparing my apologies to the person I’m meeting. I should have probably taken the previous bus. I would have reached half hour early, but at least better than being late.
- 10 minutes delay: I am frustrated. This is too much. Whoever talked about German efficiency was probably drunk. I’m going to write about this on Quora, even if it does not fit the context of the question.
- 20 minutes delay: Alright, I’m going back home now.
- Using “,” as a decimal separator.
- Saying Danke schön (Thank you very much) and Bitte (Please) very often.
- Being at least five minutes early for an appointment or meeting.
- Going for a walk at two in the morning.
- Wearing a seatbelt or helmet while driving.
- Walking or driving on the right side of the street.
- Waiting patiently for red light to turn green.
- Pressing this button to make the signal turn green.
- Not bothering about small talk. You rarely strike a conversation with strangers.
- Feeling of something missing, loneliness and emptiness.
