Well, well, well, look what just turned up on Spiegel.de’s international section :

The Germanic Stare-Down : Whatcha Lookin’ at Granny?

You jump into the subway on your way to work in the morning and plop down in the nearest seat. Glancing up from the morning paper, you can’t help but notice that the person across from you is staring at you for all he’s worth. You break the gaze, but each time you look back, he’s still staring. Is it a challenge? A come-on? Do you have food on your face? You look away, but can’t help squirming.

Welcome to Germany, the land where a bit of intense eye contact is a daily occurrence — so much so that many expats and visitors have dubbed it the “Germanic Stare Down.

This article offers some interesting explanations for the stare, such as Germany’s past concerning the Staatssicherheit, more commonly known as Stasi. For those not in the know, the Stasi were the secret police of the GDR (East Germany) and were highly efficient in their spying methods, from wiring houses to even coercing civilians into becoming unofficial spies, sometimes having them gather information on their own family. Though I wouldn’t say that this was the case in NRW, being in the West of Germany.

I’ve come to love the German Stare anyway. My tactic is to stare back, though I’ve seen the old grin, wave and ‘HIYAAA’ employed to great effect. The article suggests the old ‘take a photo, it’d last longer’ route – when I first visited Augsburg, we challenged one another to actually do this auf  Deutsch. So : ‘Mach ein Foto, es wird laenger dauern’!’

I wonder if I’m more of a Starey Marey after nine months in Deutschland?