August 3, 2026
From stereotype to schnitzel soulmate
More German than many Germans
Turkish intern moved to Hamburg and the comments crowned him ‘one of us’
TLDR: A Turkish student went to Germany for an internship, fell in love with life in Hamburg, and ended up returning for a full-time job. Commenters were torn between celebrating a feel-good "welcome home" story and arguing over whether modern Germany is warm, rule-obsessed, or pushing away newcomers.
A student from Turkey went to Hamburg for a summer internship expecting the full internet-stereotype package: cold people, harsh language, zero smiles. Instead, he got airport pickup from his new flatmate, nightly kitchen chats, a trusting "just drop the keys in the mailbox," and coworkers so warm they welcomed him back with balloons and candy. By the end, the internship had turned into a full-time job, the flatmate had saved him a room, and one tiny moment at the city office — a clerk saying "Welcome back!" — landed like the emotional season finale. The community absolutely ate it up.
In the comments, readers basically threw a digital citizenship parade. One person joked that he had practically become German already, while another German commenter turned the whole thread into a national group hug, saying bad headlines often hide how kind people can be in real life. But because this is the internet, the warm fuzzies quickly picked up some edge. One commenter swerved into politics, worrying about the rise of the far right and saying Germany risks scaring away exactly the kind of people who make the country better. Another dropped the spiciest line of the thread, complaining that rules can create "NPC-like behaviour" — yes, the video game meme made it into the debate — and taking a shot at modern Germany as a "country of lawyers" instead of engineers. So while the story itself was pure heart-melter, the comments turned it into something bigger: a fight over what Germany is, what it could be, and who gets to say "welcome home."
Key Points
- •After the third year of Computer Science studies, the author secured both an Erasmus scholarship and a 2017 internship at a company in Hamburg.
- •The author says prior views of Germans were based on stereotypes, but direct experience with a flatmate and coworkers contradicted those assumptions.
- •During the three-month internship, the author reports receiving support, responsibilities, team inclusion, and a positive workplace experience while earning minimum wage.
- •The team lead offered the author freelance work from Turkey after the internship, with a path to a full-time contract.
- •In 2018, the author received a full-time contract, moved back to Hamburg, rejoined the same team, and says a warm welcome reinforced a sense of belonging.