World Aids Day Germany, December 9, 2003, by Erika H

From MemoryArchive

Who: Erika Hamalainen
What: Cultural differences on World AIDS day
Where: Walsrode, Germany
When: December 9, 2003

On World AIDS Day at my school in Walsrode, Germany, they passed out condoms as well as other material on AIDS, safe sex, as well as a quite hilarious pamphlet on how/when to put on a condom, and condom etiquette in general. I was sort of scandalized. Although I grew up in a very liberal suburb of Boston, passing out condoms in school just wasn’t done. But here, in a school that houses eleven year olds to nineteen year olds, passing out condoms was not only a common practice –the teachers were making sure everyone got one.

This was a huge cultural difference. There are two sides to American culture. Half dressed teenage pop stars make millions singing about losing their virginity, and breast implants are a growing trend. Yet at the same time there are bills in congress banning women to breast feed in public. On American television you are much more likely to see someone die a million different graphically violent ways, yet you can’t see a naked person. (If you ask me, I feel like nakedness and sex is a natural part of the human experience, but gratuitous violence isn’t… but what do I know?)

I knew that I needed another opinion on the matter. I decided to ask one of the Canadian exchange students her take on the matter. She said that since she went to catholic school she really couldn’t give a good answer. Then I saw my friend Dimitri, and wondered, 'Do they give out condoms in school in Russia?'

Dimitri was an exchange student from Russia. He is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met: Smiley, friendly, but really gullible. He's the kind of exchange student that if someone told him to say something like 'Dildo' but they told him it meant, 'Pencil', he would go around asking someone if they had an extra dildo. For the record (and very important for this story), he speaks not one word of English.

The bell rung and Dimitri and I walked to class together. As we get into the classroom, I felt the condom in my pocket and I remember that I wanted to ask him about his school. So I took the condom out of my pocket, held it up, and said, 'In Schule...uh... um... in Schule...'. I forgot what the verb is to hand/give out in German. So my mind was going a mile a minute trying to figure out what the verb “to give out” is, but I kept saying, 'In Schule.... In Schule' which means, 'In school... In school'. Now let's not forget that I'm still holding a condom in my other hand and I'm shaking it around.

Well... needless to say, the look on Dimitri's face was priceless. It was a mixture of shock, disbelief, confusion, and euphoria. Imagine it, if you will, someone coming up to you with a condom saying, 'In school, in school'.

Well I eventually realized that Dimitri thought I was propositioning him, and I started laughing hysterically. Then class started, and I physically could not explain what I meant because I was laughing too hard! Dimitri sat opposite me in the classroom, and the whole class he kept giving me strange looks.

After the 45-minute class I was able to remember the verb “ausgeben” (to give out). Then I explained myself.