It’s about 4,530 miles from the Greenville Hyatt Regency to Stuttgart, Germany, Matthias Baumann’s hometown. So it’s kind of amazing Baumann found a sense of belonging at Downtown Alive, the free weekly outdoor music series held at the Hyatt’s plaza last year (it’s back at the Piazza Bergamo this year).
Last March, Baumann, a 24-year-old financial analyst, was transferred to an over-the-pond post in Simpsonville. Alone in a new country, he quickly found friends and good times at Downtown Alive.
“I went to Downtown Alive to meet people and socialize,” Baumann says. “It’s a good place to be after work.”
At the Thursday happenings, Baumann soon ran into groups of other Germans working in the Upstate. Besides obvious tip-offs like overhearing accents or dialogue spoken in German, he could identify other expatriate Deutsch by some pivotal tells.
“Sometimes you can recognize other Germans by their clothes…the guys from BMW dressed in their leather pants,” Baumann says with a laugh. “And Germans usually travel or meet up in larger groups than Americans do.”
Although Baumann pines for the Stuttgart vibrant nightlife—especially the disco Momi—he soon fell for South Carolina’s azure skies and balmy temperatures. In addition to Downtown Alive, he’s made Reedy River Falls Park, Barley’s and Wild Wing’s regular haunts.
Obviously, Germany boasts a stellar beer pedigree. When hitting the town, if Baumann can’t find any German suds, like Warsteiner, he makes due with Yuengling. But many of his Palmetto State high notes have occurred outdoors, not at the bar.
“What I like most about it here is you have so many options. There’s a pretty downtown and mountains,” says Baumann, an active cyclist who listens to rock bands, like Dream Theater and AC/DC.
Volker Ott couldn’t agree more. The 32-year-old Ott is a salesman hailing from Heilbronn, a north German city, but for the last 18 months he’s worked in Greenville. It’s a five-minute walk from his current apartment to Downtown Alive, kicking off this year on March 19 and running till Aug. 29.
Usually Ott can pick out fellow Deutsch at the Hyatt by their gregarious nature.
“I’m a very open person. Germans tend to be very open. Americans are usually more conservative.”
Of course, spying other Germans on the plaza is easy when they’re wearing lederhosen. Ott wasn’t expecting South Carolina to be hopping with his countrymen. But after discovering numerous German companies, like BMW, Bosch, Roechling and Pierburg, maintaining operations here, he chalked it up as logical convergence.
A big Iggy Pop fan, Ott digs Downtown Alive’s al fresco configuration.
“You have music, and you have trees,” he says.
Besides attending various local festivals, Ott spends his spare time working out and hitting outlet stores, including Nike and Tommy Hilfiger, in Commerce, Ga.
But he longs for Swabian food—especially the sausages, hearty breads and pretzels. And Fanta soda.
“The Fanta in Germany has more orange flavor,” Ott says. “Here it’s too sweet.”
Since moving to Greenville Ott has become friends with Baumann and another German expat, Timo Schock. A 28-year-old financial analyst, Schock began working here in late 2007 and misses his friends and family more than any other aspect of his life in Germany.
Yet, he’s made a nice go of things in Greenville.
Enjoying a reprieve from Germany’s ominous weather, Schock careens between Carolina’s peaks and beaches and outdoor shindigs like Downtown Alive, where he can peg other Germans by their Chiemsee jackets, jeans and shirts, which he says are only available back home.
“It’s nice to get out of your apartment, drink some wine or beer and see everyone else,” says Schock, whose hobbies include techno music and computing.
While declining to generalize German social tendencies, Schock did make a poignant observation regarding gender.
“I think there are more men than women here.”
Welcome to my world, bro.
