Came across this wonderful piece by Andrew Hammel in German joys via Washington Monthly via Venk@.
As someone who used to think working 12 hours a day and then some more on the weekends was pretty normal, I can easily say the one thing that took me the longest to adjust to here was the “work/life balance”. I am a total subscriber to it now, but the passage wasn’t easy and there is still the odd day or two when I send email after email after phone call asking the same question, emphasising the urgency of the situation – until I pester someone into responding. I could not agree more with Andrew Hammel’s advice, which applies not just to Americans moving to Europe, but pretty much anyone not used to working less than 40 hours a week:
I don’t want to quote the whole thing, but heres a brief. But do scoot over to get the real thing.
* Don’t brag to other people about how hard you work. [..]
* Learn your environment. [..]
* Change your standards. [..][..]enjoy your free time! [..] spend lots of time with their friends and family, they pursue hobbies much more complex than catching up on all the episodes of Sex & the City, they visit museums, read complex books, drink a whole lot, go to parties, fairs, and circuses, and take lots of vacations.
And I have discovered a wonderful blog – a fellow Duesseldorfer too – boy! its made my day!
Looks like you have already read it! Will probably do so today…
Very ture..Indians work less and enjoy less. We do everything in moderation. Enjoying and Partying after a hard days work is a sin in our country. Attitude matters. Thanks for the post and German Joy Blog.