An Interview for a cultural magazine with Michael Anthony McCann by Aleksandra Klimczyk
I have met many different people from many different countries in my life, and all them had one thing in common: when they came to Germany they suffered from culture shock. So, why scars Germany people so much and what are the main stereotypes of German people?
Last week I had an interview with Michael McCann, afield hockey player from Australia. Once again he confirmed my past experience. It seems to be a huge gap between the German way of life and all the rest of the world. Michael McCann was born on 26th September in 1977 in Sydney. He made his international debut at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2001 and won the gold medal with the national field hockey team at the Summer Olympics in Athens in 2004. With a strike rate of one goal every two matches, Michael is one of the team's most prolific scorers and has become a focal point for the Kookaburras attack. In 2007 he retired from international hockey after playing 165 games and scoring 72 goals. At present (2010) he works as a coach for the men's Mannheim field hockey team.
Before meeting Mike I asked myself what he was thinking about Germany in the past and which expectations have been confirmed. It turned out that he didn't have a clear opinion about Germany before. After visiting Germany when he was 17 years old and later in 2007 when he stayed for longer time in Hamburg, he had the impression that the Germans are very uptight, selfish and concentrated on work and study more than on enjoying life. During his stay in Mannheim for two years his opinion hasn't changed a lot. He met mostly direct people, but i was pleasantly surprised to hear that he has met a couple of friendly people here, too. Another positive thing about Germany is the beer and the central position in Europe. To sum up, Mannheim is the smallest city he ever lived in, but with lots of particular sport activities.
Mike's curriculum vitae shows us a very ambitious sports man who got ahead. When he was four years old he started with field hockey with much support from his family. More and more sport became the main aim in his life. He realized that he was more ambitious than he was in school and focused his life on sport. Because of the success he was able to travel around the world and to enjoy many cultural experiences. The most beautiful city he has ever been to is Barcelona and he enjoys the Spanish way of life more than the German one. According to him Spanish people are more relaxed. Whenever the topic turned to other countries, Mike's facial expression altered a lot. That country seems to impress him very much.
Coming back to my opening question of why Germany scars people coming from abroad we came to the following conclusion: according to Mike it is important to have goals in life but it is more important to enjoy it. Because of his career he had many chances but also many losses. The most important one is his ruined relationship to his girlfriend and the little time he has to spend with his family. The structure of German life is focussed so much on success and work, so that there is the great danger of forgetting about what we are for on this earth. That little philosophical aspect in the conversation with Mike makes me feel more relaxed although it cautions us against excessive demand. Maybe we should balance our way of life towards the southern style.
