… naturalisation is already possible after three years”

Have you noticed? Naturalisation should be facilitated (see also link in commentary).

If you are new to Germany and you are seeking naturalization, your required period of residence in the country will be reduced from currently 8 to only 5 years in the future. 

Even shorter for special integration services, yeah.

But what is a special integration achievement?

Today I have a gift for you. Be german faster than your papers allow. Here are the top ten possibilities:

1️⃣ Be punctual and make appointments. Please make sure that you do not ring too early. If you arrive too early, you wait in the area, the door in view and sound exactly on the agreed minute. Not sooner, not later.

2️⃣ You know better about everything. You even know better than the salesperson in the media market.

3️⃣ You take Sunday walks. Before (or after), make sure your family enjoys the Sunday coffee and cake. If you find a hat, gloves or sock during a walk – especially at this time of year – hang it on a tree

4️⃣ Be annoyed, audible and visibly annoyed at shopping queues and at all waiting opportunities. 

5️⃣ Start baking, as a hobby. But let the others know about it. Performance must be detected. Learn to appreciate a supper. Cooking hot in the evening is a luxury that you won’t always afford here.

6️⃣ Learn to love sausage, with all the different variations. I guess you can even try all the varieties in those 3 years without repeating just one strain.

7️⃣Reserve seats for your whole family. This applies not only to the beaches, but also in the self-service restaurant or in the event halls without fixed seats. 

8️⃣ Shop not because you want something, but because the good or service is reduced. Please feel like you’ve saved a lot. Be sure to report on it, this is a heroic deed.

9️⃣ Lawsuit, lawsuit and lawsuit. Complaining about the weather, about colleagues and neighbors, especially about the noisy neighbors like me, complain when someone rides or walks on the wrong side of the road, complain about everything that’s new and about anyone who is unable to do anything. Lawsuit, no matter what.

🔟 But above all, be reliable and interested. Ask for help if you get stuck and in turn feel free to help others.

Germany is a love at second sight; be patient with yourself and with the locals.

Take it occasionally with humor. Talk and laugh about your “culture shocks”.

Dear reader, what have I forgotten?