Schein und Sein

Theory
You know what I've been thinking these day? Maybe I should become an adult, or to be more precise, maybe I should act in such a way that people perceive me as the adult who I am.

Example 1: Clothes
When going to work I've been dressing rather informally. It's not at all different from what I used to wear for going to university - which would be OK if I had been into law or social sciences but not as an arts student :-) - or from what I'm wearing when going out. I think lack that semi-formal style. Most is informal and rather sportive. That's the way I am (well, more informal than sportive :-) and the way I feel good. I was assured by Sylwia that the way I dress is fine, so I know that in practice it's no problem. Yet, I concluded that maybe I should change my attitude. The English translation of "sich leger kleiden" according to LEO is quite telling: "to dress down" - to make myself smaller, younger, weaker. It may be just a result of my general unsureness and uneasiness when dealing with superiors, maybe it's only his general personality but I sometimes got the impression that my boss does not take me as serious in scientific matters as I would wish. And I concluded that the way I dress may have contributed to that. If I would dress more formal, act more confident, people would in the first place see the serious scholar (which I'm at work) and not the laid-back young guy (which I'm in my free time). It shouldn't be too difficult to find some nice and semi-formal clothes in which I'm not looking boring?

Example 2: Lifestyle
Self discipline. Routine. Yep, that topic again. Also in my life style I feel that I match much more the stereotype of the young, chaotic, untidy student then that of a nearly 30 years old, settled adult. Both Kinga and Matthias were actually quite surprised (if not shocked) when I admitted that my frequency of doing dishes or cleaning can rather be described as "occasionally" than as "regularly". The situation of moving out made the whole dilemma plain clear: My landlord was obviously well aware of the state of disorder the apartment has been in for most of the time, although I think he got a worse impression than it actually was. So the day I mentioned that I would move out he suggested that I should hire a professional cleaning company because I had to clean everything and that would be a lot, a lot of work. Some of my colleagues assumed he just wanted to take advantage of the situation but I've come to a different conclusion. I think he was sincerely convinced that I actually did not know how to clean properly. At least when I made clear that I was determined to do it by myself and confident about it he didn't resist - but I felt that he was not convinced. Which in turn appealed to my honour. I did not ask any of my female colleagues for help as he suggested - no I wanted to do it all by myself. (Which I guess I would have done anyway because I have lived there so it's my job to get rid of my dirt, and also it's a good way to say farewell to the apartment.) I'm sure he assumed that the fact I needed until today was due to a combination of the basement being horribly dirty and of me not really knowing how to deal with it. Which is not entirely untrue: As I said stove and fridge were hard work indeed, and also I wouldn't say that I'm the quickest cleaner. However, the prime reason was that I was cleaning with meticulous care. Cleaning all shelves, even those I never used, and not only dusting them but really scrubbing them. Cleaning every possible spot, trying not to leave a single hair - and I knew that my predecessors have not been that careful. So when I had finished today and he came down to check (as we had agreed) he was just surprised. So I said: "You see, I'm a bit chaotic by personality, but also if I have a job or duty I try to do it perfectly." "And you've succeeded. This is really perfect." Hehe. I know. I could see that he had not expected this. Which was of course a satisfaction but was it worth the work?

Conclusion
I think the basic problem is similar to the one about clothes: I don't care too much about the appearance so an observer will think worse of my qualities than they are, which in return puts me under pressure to prove what I can achieve, by which I make my life a lot harder than necessary because in the end people get something better than they actually expected or deserved. The theory of the day. Well, that's it, these are the thoughts which have been running through my mind these days. Plans, plans, planss - am I not having so many good plans these days? Let's see what happens. This here again was something completely against the plan. I was so tired after the tiring weekend that I had planned to go to bed early today. And now it's already quarter past one in the morning. Forget about plans, live as you feel.. (As long as nobody sees it .:-)
Saqiyuq (Gast) - 2006/10/18 09:19

Willkommen im Club!

Ja, ja, seit 2 Wochen besitze ich meine erste weiße Bluse, so eine richtig klassisch geschnittene. Und ich trage Pullis mit Kaschmiranteil und so, die klein und fein und seriös aussehen. Mein Make-Up ist perfekt. Und das alles, weil ich ähnlich unsicher bin wie du, mich nicht ernst genommen fühle und mich selbst nicht immer ernst nehme als Wissenschaftlerin. Fuck. Hat es was geholfen? Ich bin die schönste Unsichere hier...

P.S. Als ich in Kanada lebte, hat niemand (!!!) je beim Auszug geputzt. Einziehen war dann natürlich eher ekelig...oder ist das nur in Montrealer Studigegenden so üblich? Ich wäre jedenfalls sehr froh gewesen, hätte meinen Vormieter oder dessen Vormieter oder dessen...der Putzehrgeiz gepackt!

relationes - 2006/10/18 17:57

Die schoenste Unsichere. Nett. :-)

Was putzen in Kanada betrifft. Ich weiss nicht, wie es hier ueblich ist, aber das alte Basement war ja nicht Studentengegend. Vielmehr hat ein Professor das Basement vermietet, und damit meinem Boss, mit dem er befreundet ist, einen Gefallen getan. Weshalb ich es schwerlich als Chaos zuruecklassen konnte..

Ich wuenschte auch, mein Vormieter in der neuen Wohnung haette ein bisschen mehr Ehrgeiz gehabt. Das Zimmer hat sort of gepasst, aber insbesondere im Kuehlschrank war lauter schimmliges Zeug (Hausverstand? herausnehmen wenn man auszieht?) und alles war klebrig. Brrr. Da komme ich vom putzen heim zum putzen. Schocktherapie?

PS: Wartest Du noch immer detached auf den Sommer? ;-)
benq - 2006/10/19 20:39

Canada

also das Haus in dem ich gewohnt habe, war von Fliegen befallen... vorm Schlafengehen hab ich immer erstmal den Sauger betätigt u. ca. 30-40 tote Fliegen vorm Fenster weggesaugt (jeden Abend), aber meine Angst bestand mehr darin, dass mir mitten in der Nacht eine tote Fliege ins Gesicht oder Bett fällt... dann wär ich wahrscheinlich unter die Decke geganen.... trotz Terminator war diese Plage nicht zu beseitigen...

Was die Kleidung betrifft, liebe ich es sportlich bequem, muss aber auf Grund meiner Arbeit desöfteren doch mal schick umher laufen, das lässt sich aber immer gut kombinieren....

Wie sagt man so schön "Kleider machen Leute", hört sich zwar oberflächlich an, ist aber doch ein Stück Warheit dran....
Lucka (Gast) - 2006/10/18 16:52

Boring...

I know I will sound boring but believe me, I am a great example of a person who use to be totally diorganized, and I MADE IT! You just have to really get used to clean up and wash the stove and sink after EVERY cooking, and that's it! It's that simple! And YES (a very big YES), it does make the wrong impression if you visit someone and you see that he lives like in a dungeon...

Re the style: I have changed my style a lot in Canada, so maybe this is what happens to a lot of people there...? Just kidding: but being ALMOST 30, and a man, is different from being 31, and a woman, so if I were you, I wouldn't hurry up, you still have time to start wearing white shirts. Perhaps a nice jacket and a pair of new jeans would do it? I changed my style not in the direction "formal" but rather I started to check if my skirts and shirts are properly ironed (e.g. if I ironed them at all...), but on the other hand, I started to wear colorful cloths, which is actually quite in the direction "youth"...
Take care!

relationes - 2006/10/18 18:07

No this doesn't sound boring at all - this sounds as if there could still be hope for me! :-) But you're wrong, JUST cleaning stove and sink after every use is not a JUST at all. It's NOT SIMPLE, it's HARD!

As to clothes: No I wouldn't start with shirts and tie rightaway but as you said, especially nice jackets. Yeah, you were always dressed so nicely. Actually I may be wrong but I got the impression it's easier for women to dress, for example in summer, women can just wear a light summer dress and look perfect, while men can't get rid of long trousers without stepping into total informality. But probably the reason why women always look nicer is just because they are superior beings.. :-)
Florian (Gast) - 2006/10/19 14:06

Du könntest es auch so machen wie ich.
Wenns klingelt, öffnest du grundsätzlich nicht. Du lädst nie jemanden zu dir nach Hause ein. Wenn das Thema auf deine Wohnung kommt, gibst du jedes Mal eine andere Adresse an, zumindest aber jedenfalls nie die richtige. Wenn dich Nachbarn grüßen, schaust du nur zu Boden und bellst zweimal laut und kräftig. Wenn du Pizza oder ähnliches bestellst, weist du den Lieferanten an, die Pizza vor die Tür zu legen, schiebst das Geld unter die Tür durch und beobachtest durch den Spion, bis er gegangen ist, bevor du dir die Pizza reinholst. Du gehst niemals eine Beziehung zu einer Frau ein, damit du nie in Verlegenheit kommst, sie zu dir bitten zu müssen.

Auf diese Weise kann ich ungestört meiner Unordentlichkeit fröhnen, wasche das Geschirr grundsätzlich nicht, da man die Teller ja auch so wiederverwenden kann und dadurch gleich mehrere Geschmacksrichtungen geliefert bekommt, bette mein Haupt auf den zusammengesammelten Staubflusen der letzten Wochen und garniere meine Butterbrote mit Schimmel von den Wänden.

Quote

Wer die Enge seiner Heimat ermessen will, reise. Wer die Enge seiner Zeit ermessen will, studiere Geschichte. (Kurt Tucholsky, 1890-1935)

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