Jammern [Whining] as a German Way of Speaking

Several years ago I had a telephone conversation with a German friend who had returned back home to Germany after living and working in the United States for many years. After having been away from Germany for an extended period, she found herself frustrated and angry with her German colleagues. She explained that her coworkers didn’t seem very supportive of her ideas nor were they very positive in their general outlook. My attempts to encourage her did little to douse her momentary bitterness, however, and before hanging up she said, “I just hate how Germany’s become. It seems all my colleagues do is sit around and whine.”