In Europe, I realized one thing – you can keep hearing / or not keep hearing someone till the guy says But or However;then you have to listen to what he is saying because that is what the guy actually wanted to say. The rest is just some air-compression.
It is funny as this is the case across Europe (by my experience). I am not sure if this is a cultural issue but this used to leave me highly antagonized in the beginning. There is some beating about the bush and then the But or However takes place. Then business discussions start.
I thought that we in India are the polite guys who have to do quite a lot of beating around the bush to say No but this is news to me that the same happens around here as well.
Berlin was a very different experience. In Berlin, the guys appear downright rude, right from the airport till the time I left Berlin, this feeling was not lost on me. I was told that this is typical Berlin-er behaviour. I was also told that Kennedy had said – Ich bein Berliner and then he was shortly after that- shot.Well, till now no one has shot me but then I do agree that this veneer of rude-ness is just that – a deceptive appearance. Actually the folks are nice but then every place has its own culture and this was one interesting one.
In Europe, most of the things are expensive. That is more so when you book or buy at the last minute. The land route is sometimes cheaper and sometimes not so cheaper. For example, I paid around 80 euros or so to go to Oslo from Berlin by flight but a taxi would have costed me close to 100 euros to go the hotel. So, I took the bus. Certain things are definitely crazy over here in Europe.
I wonder why as Europe is basically closing itself off as a visiting destination for other non-Europian countries with prices as high as these. But then, I guess, the same argument could be applied that if things are planned much much in advance, one could end up paying probably a 10th of the price.
