Whether you’re a student chasing down professors, an employee in an office job, or a normal citizen waiting to get a form stamped in one of the endless German bureaucracies, there is a simple axiom of German life: Doors stay closed. Period.

It works like this: There you are standing with your ear to the door to see if you can hear anyone inside -- you wouldn’t want to barge in on a conversation, right? In your country that’s not done. At home in North America, an open door is an invitation, a warm welcome that cries, "I’m here for you." A closed door indicates it might be better to come back later. However, the person behind the door is important to you. So you have to knock, and that’s where the problem starts in Germany: You have to knock LOUDLY, which may go against your habit of discretion. To top it off, in a crowded hallway full of people chatting and laughing, it’s hard to hear anyone responding to your polite, non-confrontational knock through 2 inches of veneered oak. Discouraged, by now, after about the third knock, you may hear a Teutonic voice shout, "Herein!" -- with distinct irritation. Great.

So now you’re peeved at having to intrude. The person you want something from is even more peeved, and may not stand up to greet you. They just sit there, staring poker-faced as you sheepishly tip-toe in, looking all apologetic: "Ja?!" the person snaps, and by now intercultural relations have gone the way of interpersonal rapport.

So, when in Rome … Stride up to that door, show it who’s boss and knock ONCE with vigor, grasp that handle like there’s no tomorrow and swing the door open, enter with your chin up and your back straight -- and assert yourself. And don’t forget to smile.