Americans in particular often think that service in Germany is bad if the waiter doesn't come to the table every two minutes and ask if everything is OK. Personally, I would feel disturbed by this. A good waiter in Germany pays attention to whether glasses or plates are empty or whether the guest is looking around for the waiter. Only then does the waiter approach the table so as not to disturb the guests unnecessarily and to give them adequate privacy. The waiter will not bring the bill unless asked. No one is kicked out of the restaurant after eating to make room for new guests, so you can take your time. I believe that good service is in the eye of the beholder.
It can happen that you are asked to hurry a little with everything. But this really only happens very rarely and only on a few days and places, e.g. at big events at real hotspots. And then it is also noted with great regret.
@@sylviascherf3501Yeah but this is absolutely not the norm. Also, people are honest here. They won’t put up a super exaggerated smile and laugh constantly to look “nice”. They’ll take your order and be friendly just as any nice stranger, not more not less
Well, I´ve been "hurried" in restaurants, but always before even taking a seat. "We only have this one free table right now, and that has a reservation on it in 2 hours. Will that be enough time for you?" And now it is my turn to decide if I want that table (and the timerestraint attached to it), wait for another one to free up or leave because I had hoped for more time to sit and enjoy the evening. And I honestly completely understand it, it is my own fault for not calling in advance and reserving a table if I want to sit there for longer.
It's important to remember, that German restaurants work differently from, for example, US ones. German restaurants make their big profits from selling drinks. The food is sold relatively cheap, while the drinks are much more expensive. So you sitting around after finishing your meal and taking with your table while having more drinks makes them more money than you eating your meal in one bite and instantly leaving to make space.
Yes, to step into an elevator and out of nothing ask the person from where are you is absolute weird behaviour. People probably would think you have problems with your brain.
What the guy says about "free pee" is absolutely wrong. I mean yes, public toilets are mostly taking 50 cents or 1 Euro because they are well maintained and kept clean. But the BIG MISUNDERSTANDING is the term "public toilet", which obviously has another meaning in Germany than in the US! Most Americans I saw reacting on this topic thought that for example toilets in a bar, a restaurant or alike are "public toilets". Not as Germans use that term. In bars, restaurants, cafés etc., toilets are usually absolutely free for guests. So if you as a tourist feel any urgency... just hop in, order a little coke or lemonade, whatever! And use the toilet for free! In German minds a public toilet is a toilet run by the town or municipality, train stations and parking spots along the Autobahn. And no, nudity is not okay in each and every place. Another misunderstanding here! Yes, Germans are not prude and do not sexualize nudity the way that Americans do! But that doesn't mean you can run around the center of a city nude or take your clothes off or show any private parts wherever you want. That would be prosecuted as "Erregung öffentlichen Ärgernisses" (Exciting a public nuisance) and will get you fined in the end. And peeing at any corner or tree in the city is called "wild pinkeln" (to pee wildly / savage peeing) and is illegal too. In general, this guy has no idea what he is talking about. If I would break down every headline I ever read about the US to the essence of my own interpretation, it would be as worse as his video! Because it makes no sense to say "in XY country it is like Z!"......... generalizing is never a good idea, and leaving out some points like the ones I explained above, doen't help either. The only thing I agree with is "Don't EXPECT other countries and cultures to be the same as back home!"
Also I really don't know where this myth comes from that Germans always leave their shoes outside. There may be areas where it is very common to do so, like in the former GDR, but most places I know people just walk inside and that's it. It is NOT like in muslim countries or in India or China, where people always and principally put off their shoes before entering the house!!!
@@rogerk6180 exactly. It is personal property of the restaurant owner. But Americans see that "public" thing different I guess, they regard each and every toilet which is not in a absolutely private family home as "public". And that causes those misunderstandings, the US definition of "public" and ours simply differ.
@@haggihug3162 It depends on the where (city/landscape), the what (apartment/house), the cultural/educated situation (knowledge/underprivileged) and type (tidy carpet/dirty plastic floor). Normally you see already shoes taken off (or even house shoes, socks for guests) by owners or not. When I studied in 80s only some foreigners or rich would ask you to put shoes off. In the 90s some asked you, some became angry if you ask them to do so. In the 00s there were still more not taking off shoes before entering an apartment than those who ask for tidy Ness. In the 10s more people had shoes standing at the apartment door, not outside, than wearing street shoes inside.
In Germany when you bring back the empty bottels, you get a voucher, on this voucher is the sum of money to get. You can go directly to the cashier and get the money, or it will be withdrawn from the total youll have to pay for your groceries.
@@6h483or like me have thick socks over wool socks over cotton socks, because there is not heated apartment under me but the temperature on the floor is 5! Degree Celsius less than temp. around my head.
The main reason why there is no free water in restaurants is that restaurants make their money from drinks, not food. This is also tied to high labor costs, as food preparation is labor-intensive. Therefore, people come to restaurants for the food, but the restaurant actually earns its profit from the drinks.
I always get free table water when I ask for it. 1. My eyes say surely I do not accept anything else and rather would go. 2. The water are for my pills or health but not the reason I enter the café, pub, restaurant, so I order coffee +tap water or wine +water.
I have never had a problem getting tap water in Germany. I like to drink a glass of water every 3 beers. Maybe if someone only wants a glass of free water it is another story.
In Germany small children learn in elementary school that they are only allowed to cross the street when the light is green. They also have extra traffic lessons.
When I was a child it was the parents job. No one told us in elementary school things like that. And what is traffic lessons? Is that really a thing? Which Bundesland and which year?
@@xYonowaaru I think it’s both, the parents obviously but we also had a lesson in school about road behaviour and what to wear when we walk to school (not all dark, reflective..).
@@MrsStrawhatberry I guess it either depends on the school or your time at elementary school has been more recent than mine. The only thing we had were cops coming to school and we had to make our "Fahrradschein".
Jaywalking in front of kids in Germany is like swearing in front of kids in the US Regarding no free water: This is how German restaurants make their money. Energy, wages, rent, taxes - all very expensive here, but beverages are an easy way to make reliable revenue. Btw, that's why they aren't as keen on turning many tables and getting you out of the restaurant as quickly as possible - they want you to stay seated and order more drinks.
As a Dutchie with a bit of Germany experience (if I was American I'd claim 25% hereditary) I'm almost shocked by you thinking that at 12:35 the card they mentioned is a creditcard 😱 there's a big resistance against having debts so credit cards are very rarely used irl. (Maybe more with very high priced products and online shopping because of the insurance). The card he spoke about is probably a debitcard that's connected with the bank account. The payment gets immediately withdrawn from the account and added to the account of the shop. Thanks for sharing! Greetings from the Netherlands
I was a member of an international choir (German-Belgian) and so I was in Germany quite often. Almost nothing this guy tells is valid. I was in Germany on almost 30 occasions and visited several houses, I was never asked or even hinted to take off my shoes. Almost nowhere in the EU toilets are free, and if they are, don't use them... Of course in bars and restaurants there will be no faux-friendliness to augment the tips, tips are a big option. Concerning calling late at night that is a no-no almost everywhere here, but you can text someone and ask if it is ok to call. How often I see an Americian movie where a late call disrupts a beautiful sexual encounter . Concerning paying only cash : it used to be that shops had to pay a lot to the bank for each transaction, lately those charges have become minimal, so you can pay by card for any amount almost everywhere. And why does he think that American attitudes are the norm ? Being upset about nudity, but not about people being killed is only the norm in Hollywood. The arrogance is almost the same size of the ignorance in the US.
Sometimes it happens. I like to be talkative in general. I don't like the fact that people in Germany talk to each other so little in public. It used to be different here, but I think that it is still common practice in some areas.
recycling is not just mandatory, the problem is that if its done wrong and you live in an appartement building the entire building pays the fine, thats why the neighbours are all up in your trash and freak out if you do it wrong, cause they essentially pay part of the fine you caused.
@@desperadox7565 no. 1. They can refuse f. e. to not take organic waste brown bin if a stupid persons throws plastic etc. inside wich means to have to possibility to throw away the green stuff for a week. 2. They do not take it as free organic bin but normal black one which is to be paid extra so the cost rises for all apartment renters in that house. Idnk if fine from ?city can occur. Anyway neighbours pay for stupid or bad or lazy ones and so have interest to educate.
I think I cannot agree with many points. I mean, to generally say that it is like this everywhere or that every person has rules like not calling after 8 PM is simply not accurate. Not every person is the same. For example, we don’t have any limits on when someone can call.
Thanks captain obvious. Comments like that are the reason why RUclipsrs have disclaimers in front of every video telling people they talk from their experiences and obversations and it's obviously not every single person like that.
@@Michael_from_EU_Germany Well meanwhile rather you and your friends are rather exceptions of the rule by now. Do not be so unfriendly and aggressive!
Customer service might not be as friendly as in other countries but in my experience it is more helpful if you have a problem. Because if there is one thing we Germans love… It is solving problems. 😁
In Germany, children under the age of eight must use the sidewalk when cycling. This means that they are not even allowed to ride on the bike path. Between the ages of eight and ten, they are still allowed to use the sidewalk, but they do not have to. This takes into account the fact that children develop at different speeds. Some already feel safe enough on the bike path or road, others are still a little unsure. From the age of ten, all cyclists must use the bike path or road.
Als ein Vertreter der deutschen commune in diesem Video bin ich geehrt verkünden zu dürfen, dass diese Kommentarsektion nun Eigentum der Bundesrepublik Deutschland ist.
It is not about reminding what you got wrong. It's about helping you improve, because you give the impression that you really want to know and that you are concerned.
But a lot of people, Germans too, find it rude to hear the truth about their mistakes. It is not specifically Americans. There are so many dumb sentences on the internet from stupid, bad educated people like: you may keep your corrections for yourselves. And foreigners learning German mostly are lied to like "your German is already quite good" even most people can not understand them. Instead of showing up mistakes and helping to improve the new generation is rather proud of faults or find mistakes funny and sheerish them. Gen Z hardly tells anybody the truth to get a THUMBS UP, offline to.
Cash also has costs associated with it, honestly the main reasons german vendors prefer cash is often that everything paid with card is on the books if you get what I mean.
also the Jaywalking-thing: Those videos never mention that totally fine to cross the street nearly every point (50m from a crossing that is). They never say its ok to cross the street without a traffic light.
I did a research on that and only found a 5 metres rule. 5m to the left and right of the traffic light you have to follow the color. So not like 6 metres away. But normally with a lot of traffic you walk to the pedestrian crossing for your own safety. And making whole situation dangerous for other participants is forbidden. So at night with no/rare traffic you better " jaywalk" >5m before the traffic light than wait like a nerd lonely in the dark.
@@MiaMerkur There's no rule about it. There have been many court cases about with many different rulings. For some judges 10m were okay, for some 50m still was too close. And also the day time plays often a role.
I personally hate it when expected guests arrive prior to the announced time. I prefer it even more when they're 5 to 15 minutes late, because my own time management isn't on point. 😅
@@dieserADannStrongly depends on what you’re doing imo. When you’re just hanging out, I find someone being overpunctual to be annoying and stuck-up. But when you’re meeting up to eat dinner at a specific time or to go somewhere time sensitive, it’s really rude to be late, because it’s annoying to the group and might lead to time stress or trouble
I am a german, and i jailwalk sometimes. Usually when no car is in sight. Why should i wait, when it's not needed. And there are enough parents with kids, who do the same. There is another dangerous trend going on. Pedestrians walk on the street without watching. Usually they are the weakest in traffic, and in case of an accident, the weaker usually has a benefit here. I can't tell, how many elders ran in front of my car and motorcybles without watching.
@16:30 The machine prints out a coupon with a code. The code can be scanned by the cashier, and the sum will then be either detracted from your total or you receive it in cash.
As always, I can only say that in Germany, as in any other country, there are different types of people. You can make small talk, depending on the person, but it's not very common. Of course, there are also many people here who are not punctual and many people only wear socks at home, not slippers. There are also many people who walk through red traffic lights
my apologies, but as a German I'm affraid I have to strongly object in regards to the issue concerning customer service.. German customer service is fantastic most of the time.. because it is handled the GERMAN WAY... customer service in Germany is the way it is because that's how WE want it to be.. and one will just have to accept that while they are here.. as long as you keep to customer rule #1 and "don't be a f*cking d!ck about it", you'll be fine... and for Americans specifically... please be aware that the dissatisfaction in regards to customer service interactions is indeed very much mutual.. in the same way Americans describe German service as "terrible", Americans are generally regarded as the absolute worst kind of customer.. because they, sadly, tend to be f*cking d!cks about it. which, and I'm not gonna lie, might have created some considerable internalized baggage or negative bias towards Americans.. the overly friendly nature of US customer service is antithetical to Germans.. in fact, it makes us suspicious you might be trying to rip us off..
@@MiaMerkur I'm German, too, and I have lived in the US. I''m much more annoyed with pushy American sales personnel than with their German counterparts that leave me alone when I'm just browsing. When I need help I call them but I don't want them to be all over me to make me buy things. I also prefer a genuine grumpy person to a fake-smiley-howareyoudoing one. Usually, if I'm friendly and patient as a a customer the sales clerk will be almost always the same.
@@MiaMerkur as you well should... but that's not what I meant.. of course there can be bad service but it's not the norm.. when Americans say "German service is bad", they mean ALL service.. including service we Germans consider as good or very good.. as in competent, professional and reasonably sociable in relation to the nature and context of the service provided..
Sorry if I have to disappoint you as a 21-year-old woman in terms of nudity in Germany. In parks, most of the naked people are women and they are mainly young women. On nude beaches on the coasts, it is usually families or older couples. If my phone rings after 8pm and the caller is not stored in my phone memory as a family member, I don't answer the call at all.
5:51 No, it’s not just dudes, but you see more naked men than naked women, which could be because women feel safer in the company of others. As a woman, I wouldn't sunbathe naked in some places if I were alone. Men naturally have fewer problems with this.
when you put your bottles in the maschine, you get that ticket, (one ticket for all stuff you brought back,) when you cash out the amount from the ticket is taken of your total amount, you also can just go to the cashout and get your money back without buying stuff in the store
Yes, there are a lot of public (or semi-public) toilets in Germany (or other countries in Europe) where you need to pay or actually be a patron. But there are also a lot of public toilets that are actually free to use. E.g. at a lot of the rest areas (not stations) along the Autobahn. But also in most airports and many raiöway stations. What is different is that those are not cleaned as often (usually once or twise a day (at airports more regularly)) as the ones that cost something to use. And as we all know, some of our fellow humans are horrible when tjey use (any type of) public facilities, so be prepared for sometimes not so pleasant experiences ...
During the time of year you have to mow the lawn regularly the sun sets pretty late over here. Also, German working hours aren’t as long as in the US. So you‘re probably home early enough to mow the lawn or do other things around the house during late afternoon/early evening.
16:45 You mustn't let German directness and the tendency to criticize get you down. What you can also learn is to deal with justified criticism more confidently and not let unjustified criticism affect you. I sometimes see Americans in videos who explode after hearing a wrong word and immediately go into attack mode for a fight. From a German point of view, they suffer a loss of control over small things, while in our case an eyebrow only goes up. 😏
16: Public bathrooms have to be maintained, and somebody has to pay for it. It started with Autobahn service stations, where the maintenance of the bathrooms was leased out to specialized companies like SaniFair, followed then by the big railway stations doing the same. Since some decades more and more municipalities also equipped their public bathrooms with access control systems (using coin based or electronic payment) to fund maintenance and also to reduce vandalism. In restaurants the bathroom is usually free to use for customers, in some towns and cities there is also the "friendly toilet" system where some restaurants mark their bathrooms as open to the public and get some compensation from the municipality. 15: It depends a bit on how you define "great service". Many Germans don't like US style service and consider it intrusive as well as obviously pretended friendliness as dishonest respectively even as sign for attempted fraud.
Good video, but a bit exaggerated. I've been in Germany for the last six months, 99% of card payments are accepted without any thresholds. Rare exceptions, only some small private shops,
We're big on recycling in Australia as well. Last year, my sister and I stayed in a holiday apartment complex. When she went to put some things in a recycling bin. She found the following items in it. A rock someone had picked up when they'd been walking around somewhere and half a bottle of ketchup. Aussies adults love to talk to strangers, and we'd met an American male tourist. I figured it must have been him put those things in the recycle bin. Especially the ketchup. We have our own tomato sauce in Australia. It's very different when it comes to its taste. But we do have ketchup in our supermarkets.
The reason for the minimum spend with cards is because the store owner has to pay fees on every transaction, which means if you buy something for $5 and the retailer has to pay $5 in card fees, he loses the profits from the sale, making it not worth his time and money.
A word of caution: - being naked in public: in urban areas it could be allowed in designated areas within for example a public park or a public outdoor bath; however you're not generally allowed to be naked everywhere. Mind that his example refers to a huge public park in Munich, the Englischer Garten (weird name in this context), which has an explicitly designated nudists area. The attitude towards nudity varies a bit: it's probably more accepted in and near urban areas, less so in rural areas; more in Protestant areas (particularly in the north), less so in Roman-catholic ones (particularly in the south; and protestants there can be pretty conservative too). - smiling / friendliness: outside of large urban agglomerations like Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Essen, Dortmund, maybe even Köln you don't have to bother much about being too friendly. However the cities mentioned before are in a kind of competition of putting a very special characteristic way of being grumpy on display... Examples: Munich: an Grant hoam; Berlin: Berliner Schnauze/Schnoddrigkeit; Stuttgart: bruddlet vor sich naa (im günstigsten Fall) ... the examples are very difficult to translate if at all. But I'm assuming that people from New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, San Fransisco or LA are possibly also known to show their displeasure in a certain characteristic way - at least some of them. - phone call late in the evening: as a rule of thumb that might be right but it's actual a more individual thing. If somebody tells you you may phone him even late in the evening that happening 11:30 pm might be ok still. Without such approval the rule is really the later a call the more important the reason for calling should be. As a result many people can get easily worried if being called late in the evening. I'd say for 8 - 10 pm there should be a common interest for talking about something. After 10 pm there should be a really good reason or it should be agreed to before.
Yes the voucher you get from the "Pfand" machine is deducted from your next buy, where you hand it in, but you can also just go to the cashier and have them pay out the money, if you don't want to buy something.
The thing with the free water is that restaurants often have the highest profit margins on drinks while the food doesn’t generate as much profit. So they want to sell you drinks to make profit and you not only refusing to buy something but also asking for a free drink is considered a bit rude.
I mean a soft drink or a beer often costs between 4€ and 5€ in the restaurant while costing 50ct to 1€ in the supermarket (restaurants get it even cheaper probably). The food served never comes close to those profit margins as you not only need the ingredients but also the wages for a cook preparing the meal as well as other costs (electricity, gas etc.). And the tap water isn’t free for the restaurant as they need to pay their water bill. So not only are you asking them to not make profit but to actually lose money for serving you
The little voucher you get at the bottle return stations will get you this amount off of your bill, and if you don‘t want to buy anything, you get your money back from the cashier.
The Pfandstation prints out a voucher that you can hand in at the cachier to deduct from anything you are buying, or you can also just have them hand you the amount in cache...
16:30 various ways. Either use it while Shopping, dropping your Grocery Shopping Results for the amount of your voucher or pay the Price the register says and let your voucher get paid out afterwards as an extra point. It also is possible to pay out the voucher beforehand, for example: if you pay with card. Thats also a possibility. On the Sitenote: You can't use vouchers of different Supermarkets, only the one that you got out of the machine in the market.
It's _very_ similar in Austria, only that - according to my German friends - Austrians beat around the bush a lot more, especially at work. I feel like Austrians are more prone to unpunctuality, although it varies widely from person to person. My (Austrian) best friend is sometimes 30 minutes too early. 🤦🏻♀️
Swiss people too, we are not at all direct but very very punctual. We kind of expect others to understand what they are doing wrong when we stare at them angrily… it is not efficient. It’s probably better to get up and tell people directly what bothers you.
Hio "when shoud i mow the lawn" it is simel in the week around 8-12 and 14-20 and saturday around 10-12 and 14-20 DONT on sunday ^^ mor than enout time for it, and your question on "how shoud i know that i have traffic and be ladte" alsow simpel plan so that you will arive around 15 min early (or more^^) and if you have traffic you will be still in time^^.
I appreciate your channel because you „don‘t give up“, even though american coulture is critizized a lot, directly or inderictly. You sir show us, we‘re all not that different. Thanks for all your refreshing clips.
I very rarely see nude people in my city, the culture is just accepting if people want to be nude in certain places. But in the park in munich with kids playing there is pretty weird and usualy not common! At the beach you can be sure to run into some naked people and Not only dudes haha
With the Pfand (deposit), the machine will print out a voucher which you give to the cashier before paying your groceries, it will be taken off your bill. People rarely go to the machine with only 1 can, they gather a few at home (e.g. a bag full) and bring them back then. A little like a piggy bank.
About jaywalking in Germany: When you do it, you'll get often times the response: "Rotgänger, Todgänger!" what translates to something like "Red-walkers, Dead-walkers!"
The machines for pfand will print a bar code. you can bring it to the register and they will deduct the amount from your grocery price, or if you don't buy anything, they will give you coin.
Jaywalking can really get you in trouble in Germany. You can actually lose your driver's license when you ignore a red light on foot. Fun story: A friend of mine ran a red light on a bike as a teenager and because he was caught he was not allowed to get a driver's license for some 2 years since he was denied the permission as a known traffic offender 😅
Bavaria or BaWü? 😂 I'm from a somewhat rural area in NRW. When teenagers cycle home drunk from a party in the middle of the night, there are no cops anywhere. But when there are, they just check if the bike has the lights on, if the rider seems 16+, and if the person is not too drunk to get home. They also always set up their 'hidden' mobile radar traps in the exact same spots (since at least 30 years), and only if it's sunny. So you always know where to slow down. I like our local police ❤
@@cindz4618It could be totally true! That law was changed a couple years ago. When I was a teen in the 90s biking and driving were still 2 separate things, legally. No cop gave much of a fnck about what you did on a bicycle. That just "didn't really count".
Children up to seven years are also supposed to bike on the sidewalk if there is no bike lane. If there is no bike lane, others will have to drive on the road as the bicycle also is a normal traffic vehicle here. But IF there is a bike lane, think of it as an extra road for bicycles. They will use it and they will drive fast and noit expect to meet pedestrians there. If you go there its just like walking or standing on a street.
16:05 The return machine identifies, counts and totals the values of the bottles and cans. A receipt is created with a barcode that registers the return like an item in the cash register system. When you then check out, the barcode is registered like a normal item and treated as a credit. It becomes invalid after billing, so the receipt cannot be scanned a second time. The return machines are also secured against attempted fraud and block if you try to take out a registered bottle. If you have access to the "engine room" where the bottles are often compacted for return transport, then fraud would be possible. However, everything (in the customer area) is typically monitored with cameras. Employees would be found out very quickly and, in addition to being fired, they would also be in a lot of trouble with the law. By the way, I was a sales person, worked with the machines and manually accepted cans and bottles that the machine didn't recognize because they were too badly damaged or not recorded in the database.
When you collect your Pfand, you get that small receipt you can give the cashier when they scan your products and you get the corresponding discount. It is technically also possible that the cashier actually has to hand out money to you because you bought less than your Pfand's worth, but it is kinda frowned upon to do that.
That video is weird... Not only are there several misconceptions about german culture, also a "DONT" is not "something you should not expect to happen"...
Ryan, that 'bubbly water' you mentioned in Germany is natural spring water. The town of Brohl, in the Eifel, has such grand mineral water that the Romans, back in the day, built aqueducts to transport the water among the different garrisons. Americans get confused and think it is enhanced with soda, but it is not. Love your videos.
as a pedestrian and a bike rider you are by law participating in traffic just like a car driver. So if you do not respect traffic laws you may get points on your driving licence as well. And if you are drunk on a bike or as a pedestrian (in traffic) you may loose your driving licence as well (not always - depends on the mood of the officer)
PFAND: On sale theres a 25cent deposit placed on the bottle or can, wich is applicable with the Pfandsymbol still attached to the bottlewrapping sufficiently, and at the Pfandautomat when entering the empty bottle and after its scanned it is added onto a Pfandticket wich is cashed in at the cashier for either a reduction in the checkout price, or if one only returns Pfand, the amount of money on the voucher(idd guess theres a validation period expiring some time after its printed, but shopping at the same location as the scanner rarely ever takes up more than an hour/90 mins with waiting and a super long shopping list)
One reason people react this way when someone crosses the street at a red light and children are present is that children as young as 6 years old walk to school alone. Parents are afraid that they will jaywalk if they have seen an adult do it before and then an accident happens. The fact that parents are giving their children more freedom and teaching them to be more independent does not mean that they are not concerned about their safety.
But some parents are very, very rude, mad, aggressiv to strangers at the traffic lights. "Teach your own kids properly and let foreign people do what they like" I would say. 99% of the time German parents would not accept the littlest educational advice from strangers. But suddenly in public at the traffic light they make foreign people Co-educators? It just had become an accepted way for burned out parents and some other adults to get loose of their anger.
@@MiaMerkur Even if parents teach their child to cross the street when the light is green, children learn by imitation. If they see adults doing it, they think it can't be that bad, so they copy it. As a responsible adult, you should be aware of your actions and their effect on society, even if you don't have children. If you insist that you don't care about others, that says a lot about you. The fact that others then react with outrage may not be such a bad thing. The fact that people are becoming more and more antisocial may be because others are looking the other way and letting them be.
Cash: There are two groups. Group 1 are older people who, for various reasons (new currencies etc.), do not have as much confidence in cash. Group 2 are younger people who would like to pay for everything without cash. But many store owners don't offer card payment because they have to pay €1 per transaction to the bank.
11:05 I'm from Serbia, living in France, and in elevator we are silent, don't talk :D someone will take it as flirting or that you wanna sell something and we are in close space so we can't escape you, feels very sketchy
Remember Ryan ! US and Canada has 3 time zone...so calling New York from LA you may be calling at 8pm in NY is 11pm - Germany is 134.9 square miles, only 3.75x the size of Indiana so, 1 time zone !!!
in most households, shoes are expected to be taken off before you enter the house and the shoes are usually placed in front of the door unless the host has a specific area inside the house where you can leave your shoes similar to the japanese method. in most households, there are no slippers and people are expected to walk around in socks. when the floor is cold (because of no carpet or floor heating) some hosts will offer slippers... but from my experience that is the epitome of being VERY german... "multi cultural"-german households tend to not have the "slippers" concept while VERY traditional German families tend to wear slippers. the slippers themselves can be ANYTHING as long as that something has never been worn outside. so from Pantoffeln, to Birkenstock, anything is allowed. I think americans only recently have adopted a "50/50" approach to wearing shoes indoors for different reasons. it used to be much more common for people to take their shoes off in the 90s or 80s as it can be observed in home videos from that time period.
The small talk thing is mostly just a judgement call. If you just say hi orgood morning you will immediatly know from the other persons response if they are open to small talk or not. And if they are not, just mind your business.
Me and my friends are germans. We expect to be treated well in restaurants/shop or we dont come back. We call after 8 and we are not naked Sauna visitors. I appreciate other cultures and i keep the things that fits for me:) I like the punctuality here though and hate smalltalk. I think that we can all learn from each other:)
But that's the thing we expect to get treaten well and with competence. But Americans expect to get their ass kissed and if they don't they speak to the manager and probably they get their way.
If you try not to be naked in a official Sauna in Germany, you'll have to go... And for very good reasons! So you can't visit the Sauna at all. I think, you do not have a point about saying that you are not naked in the Sauna, your point would be: I do not go into a Sauna, because i do not want to be naked! But whats the point of beeing naked? Are you ashamed of yourself? Is it a religious thing? I don't know, but you will miss something if you don't go into a Sauna like the Claudius Therme at Winter Time...
@@kalossthenosmatters-2807 i just dont need to sweat. Its to hot and i cant relax. I miss nothing:) My point was, that we are different. To say germans dont like this and that is stupid.
If you don’t pay attention to these 16 things, nothing will happen. It is a very subjective view of things, presumably from a small town in the south of Germany.
No, you can take them as proper rules. You know yourselves that NY is not Texas is not Hawaii is not Indiana. People are different in some places more traditional conservative or left and tolerant open minded.
Most of it is just absolute nonsense. Sure, who wants someone to show up uninvited? The small talk thing actually made me angry... If he doesn’t like it, that’s his problem. Of course, you can make small talk; it’s just complete nonsense... He’s just taking stereotypes and passing them on unfiltered... You’ve now watched 1,497,047 videos of this kind, and none of them are actually accurate in any way...
Restaurants make most of their income from drinks. However, eating out is cheaper compared to other countries. That's why you don't get free water everywhere.
Even my pretty conservative parents who were born in the 1940s didn't mind calls up until 9pm, 10pm for very close friends and family. I still call my mum at 10pm almost daily. So he's a bit over exaggerating. I like most of Germans service (there are some bad apples obviously). The American way of overly false friendliness, interrupting my meal and chat with questions and knowing they do it because they want at least 20% tip is super annoying to me.
Not waiting for the light to turn green, because there just isn't any traffic in sight, is a speciality of people in Berlin. ;.) When you do this, some people might call you out, that's true. My answer always is: Kids need to learn when to cross a street in a city. But you can get fined for crossing a red light even as a pedestrian, so, you might walk some meters away from the traffic light before crossing the street. And when there isn't any traffic light, you can cross the street as long as there's no vehicle approaching too near.
Our water is not free since our waiter are payed normal by the company and tipps are just a free bonus you can give if the service was good. I would NEVER eat in the US where you are expected to pay 25% of your bill as tips..
In Switzerland it's easy. The normal trash is paid, anything you can recycle is free. So you either recycle or pay more for trash bags that fill up faster.
And the reason for the "cash only" issue (if it still exists)... Is tax evasion. The high credit card fees is just what they tell you, as they wouldn't tell you the real reason, obviously. If you'll find a "cash only" place, it's usually a smaller restaurant, or a small shop (like a "Späti" in Berlin).
20:57 For children below 9yo it is mandatory to cycle on the sidewalk - or bike lanes which are separated from the main road. Kids below 11yo are still allowed to use the sidewalk with their bike if they wish. But from 11 and older you have to cycle on the road (or bike lane) like everybody else and using the sidewalk instead could get you a fine. In primary schools there's a bicycle training in third or fourth grade (depends on the state) where kids learn the basic traffic rules on the road and the most common traffic signs in order to participate safely on the road traffic with their bikes. This training is often assisted by local police officers. The kids undergo a written and a practical test to gain the "Fahrradführerschein" - a driver's license for cyclists.
Americans in particular often think that service in Germany is bad if the waiter doesn't come to the table every two minutes and ask if everything is OK. Personally, I would feel disturbed by this. A good waiter in Germany pays attention to whether glasses or plates are empty or whether the guest is looking around for the waiter. Only then does the waiter approach the table so as not to disturb the guests unnecessarily and to give them adequate privacy. The waiter will not bring the bill unless asked. No one is kicked out of the restaurant after eating to make room for new guests, so you can take your time. I believe that good service is in the eye of the beholder.
It can happen that you are asked to hurry a little with everything. But this really only happens very rarely and only on a few days and places, e.g. at big events at real hotspots. And then it is also noted with great regret.
@@sylviascherf3501Yeah but this is absolutely not the norm.
Also, people are honest here. They won’t put up a super exaggerated smile and laugh constantly to look “nice”. They’ll take your order and be friendly just as any nice stranger, not more not less
Well, I´ve been "hurried" in restaurants, but always before even taking a seat. "We only have this one free table right now, and that has a reservation on it in 2 hours. Will that be enough time for you?" And now it is my turn to decide if I want that table (and the timerestraint attached to it), wait for another one to free up or leave because I had hoped for more time to sit and enjoy the evening. And I honestly completely understand it, it is my own fault for not calling in advance and reserving a table if I want to sit there for longer.
It's important to remember, that German restaurants work differently from, for example, US ones. German restaurants make their big profits from selling drinks. The food is sold relatively cheap, while the drinks are much more expensive. So you sitting around after finishing your meal and taking with your table while having more drinks makes them more money than you eating your meal in one bite and instantly leaving to make space.
Somehow the idea of having smalltalk in an elevator shocked me more, than it should.
Yes, to step into an elevator and out of nothing ask the person from where are you is absolute weird behaviour. People probably would think you have problems with your brain.
10:54 "Is that something I really shouldn't do?"
No, you should not. Simply don't! Just no!
Just emptily stare at the wall like any other normal person...😅
@@haggihug3162 Hands may be thrown.
I'm not sure what would confuse me more out: someone trying small talk in en elevator or being nude in the elevator?
What the guy says about "free pee" is absolutely wrong. I mean yes, public toilets are mostly taking 50 cents or 1 Euro because they are well maintained and kept clean. But the BIG MISUNDERSTANDING is the term "public toilet", which obviously has another meaning in Germany than in the US!
Most Americans I saw reacting on this topic thought that for example toilets in a bar, a restaurant or alike are "public toilets". Not as Germans use that term. In bars, restaurants, cafés etc., toilets are usually absolutely free for guests. So if you as a tourist feel any urgency... just hop in, order a little coke or lemonade, whatever! And use the toilet for free! In German minds a public toilet is a toilet run by the town or municipality, train stations and parking spots along the Autobahn.
And no, nudity is not okay in each and every place. Another misunderstanding here! Yes, Germans are not prude and do not sexualize nudity the way that Americans do! But that doesn't mean you can run around the center of a city nude or take your clothes off or show any private parts wherever you want. That would be prosecuted as "Erregung öffentlichen Ärgernisses" (Exciting a public nuisance) and will get you fined in the end. And peeing at any corner or tree in the city is called "wild pinkeln" (to pee wildly / savage peeing) and is illegal too.
In general, this guy has no idea what he is talking about. If I would break down every headline I ever read about the US to the essence of my own interpretation, it would be as worse as his video! Because it makes no sense to say "in XY country it is like Z!"......... generalizing is never a good idea, and leaving out some points like the ones I explained above, doen't help either.
The only thing I agree with is "Don't EXPECT other countries and cultures to be the same as back home!"
Also I really don't know where this myth comes from that Germans always leave their shoes outside. There may be areas where it is very common to do so, like in the former GDR, but most places I know people just walk inside and that's it. It is NOT like in muslim countries or in India or China, where people always and principally put off their shoes before entering the house!!!
A toilet in a restaurant isn't public. It is in a private property.
The one with the 16 tips just wants to rip off advertising money. The best way to do that is to claim sick rubbish.
@@rogerk6180 exactly. It is personal property of the restaurant owner. But Americans see that "public" thing different I guess, they regard each and every toilet which is not in a absolutely private family home as "public". And that causes those misunderstandings, the US definition of "public" and ours simply differ.
@@haggihug3162 It depends on the where (city/landscape), the what (apartment/house), the cultural/educated situation (knowledge/underprivileged) and type (tidy carpet/dirty plastic floor). Normally you see already shoes taken off (or even house shoes, socks for guests) by owners or not.
When I studied in 80s only some foreigners or rich would ask you to put shoes off. In the 90s some asked you, some became angry if you ask them to do so. In the 00s there were still more not taking off shoes before entering an apartment than those who ask for tidy Ness. In the 10s more people had shoes standing at the apartment door, not outside, than wearing street shoes inside.
In Germany when you bring back the empty bottels, you get a voucher, on this voucher is the sum of money to get. You can go directly to the cashier and get the money, or it will be withdrawn from the total youll have to pay for your groceries.
von all den sachen mag ich das am liebsten, sorgt halt echt dafür dass man seinen pfand behält. Nur die pfandcolelction zuhause nervt
@@Dirty_Davos die eiserne reserve, wenn nach ende des geldes noch sooo viel monat übrig ist. 😅
@@MAiKAeFeRLiKoER So viel bringt das auch nicht.
Hat mir schon en paarmal den Hintern gerettet : die Pffandsammlung.🤣
@@Wildcard71 ganz ehrlich? es gab zeiten, da hat es mir tatsächlich den arsch gerettet. zum glück sind die vorbei, aber unterschätz das mal nicht.
If the phone rings after 8pm my brain immediately goes into emergency mode. Somebody must be in hospital or worse 🫣
😂😂😂😂
my mom is like that
I think it depends on, whom you call. I my personal experience the 8 o clock rule is more for 60+ yo.
@@LudwigRohf i'm
Same, especially if its my Mom, who usually already in bed this time.
Many people also just wear socks in their home. But for example when the floor is cold you take out your slippers
Or your Wollsocken von Oma
@@6h483or like me have thick socks over wool socks over cotton socks, because there is not heated apartment under me but the temperature on the floor is 5! Degree Celsius less than temp. around my head.
The main reason why there is no free water in restaurants is that restaurants make their money from drinks, not food. This is also tied to high labor costs, as food preparation is labor-intensive. Therefore, people come to restaurants for the food, but the restaurant actually earns its profit from the drinks.
Also our waiter are payed a normal pay unlike in the US, that also raises personal costs here.
@@BlackXIVand still it’s WAY more expensive to go to a restaurant in the US..even without the tip
I always get free table water when I ask for it.
1. My eyes say surely I do not accept anything else and rather would go.
2. The water are for my pills or health but not the reason I enter the café, pub, restaurant, so I order coffee +tap water or wine +water.
I have never had a problem getting tap water in Germany. I like to drink a glass of water every 3 beers. Maybe if someone only wants a glass of free water it is another story.
In Germany small children learn in elementary school that they are only allowed to cross the street when the light is green.
They also have extra traffic lessons.
When I was a child it was the parents job. No one told us in elementary school things like that.
And what is traffic lessons? Is that really a thing? Which Bundesland and which year?
Rotgänger Totgänger
In Lower Saxony, lessons existed at primary school as early as 1983 and later.There the children learned how to behave in traffic.@@xYonowaaru
@@xYonowaaru I think it’s both, the parents obviously but we also had a lesson in school about road behaviour and what to wear when we walk to school (not all dark, reflective..).
@@MrsStrawhatberry I guess it either depends on the school or your time at elementary school has been more recent than mine.
The only thing we had were cops coming to school and we had to make our "Fahrradschein".
Jaywalking in front of kids in Germany is like swearing in front of kids in the US
Regarding no free water: This is how German restaurants make their money. Energy, wages, rent, taxes - all very expensive here, but beverages are an easy way to make reliable revenue. Btw, that's why they aren't as keen on turning many tables and getting you out of the restaurant as quickly as possible - they want you to stay seated and order more drinks.
And free clean toilets!
As a Dutchie with a bit of Germany experience (if I was American I'd claim 25% hereditary) I'm almost shocked by you thinking that at 12:35 the card they mentioned is a creditcard 😱 there's a big resistance against having debts so credit cards are very rarely used irl. (Maybe more with very high priced products and online shopping because of the insurance). The card he spoke about is probably a debitcard that's connected with the bank account. The payment gets immediately withdrawn from the account and added to the account of the shop.
Thanks for sharing!
Greetings from the Netherlands
I was a member of an international choir (German-Belgian) and so I was in Germany quite often. Almost nothing this guy tells is valid. I was in Germany on almost 30 occasions and visited several houses, I was never asked or even hinted to take off my shoes. Almost nowhere in the EU toilets are free, and if they are, don't use them... Of course in bars and restaurants there will be no faux-friendliness to augment the tips, tips are a big option. Concerning calling late at night that is a no-no almost everywhere here, but you can text someone and ask if it is ok to call. How often I see an Americian movie where a late call disrupts a beautiful sexual encounter .
Concerning paying only cash : it used to be that shops had to pay a lot to the bank for each transaction, lately those charges have become minimal, so you can pay by card for any amount almost everywhere.
And why does he think that American attitudes are the norm ? Being upset about nudity, but not about people being killed is only the norm in Hollywood. The arrogance is almost the same size of the ignorance in the US.
yes smalltalk in an elevator would be kinda weird hahahaaha
Sometimes it happens. I like to be talkative in general. I don't like the fact that people in Germany talk to each other so little in public. It used to be different here, but I think that it is still common practice in some areas.
It’s fine and still acceptable if you just say hello and good bye
@sigmagic2874
No :)
My smalltalks are often longer ;)
But often hello and good bye toooo :D
It's better than farting in a Elevator
@@c.sommer9432
Yeah :D:D:D
recycling is not just mandatory, the problem is that if its done wrong and you live in an appartement building the entire building pays the fine, thats why the neighbours are all up in your trash and freak out if you do it wrong, cause they essentially pay part of the fine you caused.
Keine Strafe ist nicht richtig !
I never heard about the inhabitants of a whole building getting fined and I can't imagine under what law that could be possible. Sounds like BS to me.
@@desperadox7565 no. 1. They can refuse f. e. to not take organic waste brown bin if a stupid persons throws plastic etc. inside wich means to have to possibility to throw away the green stuff for a week. 2. They do not take it as free organic bin but normal black one which is to be paid extra so the cost rises for all apartment renters in that house. Idnk if fine from ?city can occur. Anyway neighbours pay for stupid or bad or lazy ones and so have interest to educate.
@@desperadox7565 Der Vermieter muss das halt zahlen und reicht das an die Mieter weiter indem die Betriebskosten erhöht werden, wenn sich das häuft.
Nah some people are just nosy af and that gives them a reason and chance to sniff around other peoples lives
I think I cannot agree with many points. I mean, to generally say that it is like this everywhere or that every person has rules like not calling after 8 PM is simply not accurate. Not every person is the same. For example, we don’t have any limits on when someone can call.
Since the advent of digital telephony, the name of the caller is displayed on the phone and you can accept the call or not.
But these are about the general rules. You cannot name all little differences in a short video.
Thanks captain obvious.
Comments like that are the reason why RUclipsrs have disclaimers in front of every video telling people they talk from their experiences and obversations and it's obviously not every single person like that.
I never respond to surprise calls.
if you call me after 8 and its not important get assured that i call you out for it. maybe its an age thing
"Hausschuhe" are very common here in Germany, 'cause floor heating still isn't very popular.
Nonsense, just talk about yourself and the people you know and not "here in germany".
not just no floor heating cocern. if you hit your toe with just socks on, its hurting more than with shoes
@@theawesomemepreussenif you hit your toes all the time you probably have to much edgy things in it.
@@Michael_from_EU_Germany Well meanwhile rather you and your friends are rather exceptions of the rule by now. Do not be so unfriendly and aggressive!
@@MiaMerkur I'm sorry for my hard words.
Dont call after 8pm, there is "Tagesschau" and then 'Tatort" on TV...😂😂
Or good films at main time 20:15.
Customer service might not be as friendly as in other countries but in my experience it is more helpful if you have a problem. Because if there is one thing we Germans love… It is solving problems. 😁
Yes they either solve your problem or they clearly tell you if they can't if they know they can't instead of wasting your time.
Hey Ryan, thank you for your thoughts and content 👍🇩🇪
In Germany, children under the age of eight must use the sidewalk when cycling. This means that they are not even allowed to ride on the bike path.
Between the ages of eight and ten, they are still allowed to use the sidewalk, but they do not have to. This takes into account the fact that children develop at different speeds. Some already feel safe enough on the bike path or road, others are still a little unsure.
From the age of ten, all cyclists must use the bike path or road.
i am 39 and live in Berlin (Neukölln). believe me, i will NEVER drive on the road here
Als ein Vertreter der deutschen commune in diesem Video bin ich geehrt verkünden zu dürfen, dass diese Kommentarsektion nun Eigentum der Bundesrepublik Deutschland ist.
It is not about reminding what you got wrong.
It's about helping you improve, because you give the impression that you really want to know and that you are concerned.
But a lot of people, Germans too, find it rude to hear the truth about their mistakes. It is not specifically Americans.
There are so many dumb sentences on the internet from stupid, bad educated people like: you may keep your corrections for yourselves. And foreigners learning German mostly are lied to like "your German is already quite good" even most people can not understand them.
Instead of showing up mistakes and helping to improve the new generation is rather proud of faults or find mistakes funny and sheerish them. Gen Z hardly tells anybody the truth to get a THUMBS UP, offline to.
In germany never talk to people in an elevator, especially if you are alone with them and you don't know each other! What are you, a creep?😂
Cash also has costs associated with it, honestly the main reasons german vendors prefer cash is often that everything paid with card is on the books if you get what I mean.
BS 😂
also the Jaywalking-thing: Those videos never mention that totally fine to cross the street nearly every point (50m from a crossing that is). They never say its ok to cross the street without a traffic light.
I did a research on that and only found a 5 metres rule. 5m to the left and right of the traffic light you have to follow the color. So not like 6 metres away. But normally with a lot of traffic you walk to the pedestrian crossing for your own safety. And making whole situation dangerous for other participants is forbidden. So at night with no/rare traffic you better " jaywalk" >5m before the traffic light than wait like a nerd lonely in the dark.
@@MiaMerkur There's no rule about it. There have been many court cases about with many different rulings. For some judges 10m were okay, for some 50m still was too close. And also the day time plays often a role.
In Germany Jaywalking is normal in the meantime, at least outside of Munich. You normally don't do when children are around.
Iit's a german Phrase:" Fünf Minuten vor der Zeit ist die wahre Pünktlichkeit"(Five minutes ahead of time is true punctuality)
I personally hate it when expected guests arrive prior to the announced time. I prefer it even more when they're 5 to 15 minutes late, because my own time management isn't on point. 😅
@@dieserADann Just change time zone on your clock, add an hour to the time and you'll be done with preparation just in time for the firsts to arrive.
@@dieserADannStrongly depends on what you’re doing imo.
When you’re just hanging out, I find someone being overpunctual to be annoying and stuck-up.
But when you’re meeting up to eat dinner at a specific time or to go somewhere time sensitive, it’s really rude to be late, because it’s annoying to the group and might lead to time stress or trouble
I am a german, and i jailwalk sometimes. Usually when no car is in sight.
Why should i wait, when it's not needed. And there are enough parents with kids, who do the same.
There is another dangerous trend going on. Pedestrians walk on the street without watching. Usually they are the weakest in traffic, and in case of an accident, the weaker usually has a benefit here. I can't tell, how many elders ran in front of my car and motorcybles without watching.
We do just wear socks inside, but not when it's freaking cold, which it is 9 out of 12 months so there's no point in air condition :)
@16:30
The machine prints out a coupon with a code. The code can be scanned by the cashier, and the sum will then be either detracted from your total or you receive it in cash.
As always, I can only say that in Germany, as in any other country, there are different types of people. You can make small talk, depending on the person, but it's not very common. Of course, there are also many people here who are not punctual and many people only wear socks at home, not slippers. There are also many people who walk through red traffic lights
my apologies, but as a German I'm affraid I have to strongly object in regards to the issue concerning customer service..
German customer service is fantastic most of the time.. because it is handled the GERMAN WAY...
customer service in Germany is the way it is because that's how WE want it to be.. and one will just have to accept that while they are here..
as long as you keep to customer rule #1 and "don't be a f*cking d!ck about it", you'll be fine...
and for Americans specifically...
please be aware that the dissatisfaction in regards to customer service interactions is indeed very much mutual.. in the same way Americans describe German service as "terrible", Americans are generally regarded as the absolute worst kind of customer.. because they, sadly, tend to be f*cking d!cks about it.
which, and I'm not gonna lie, might have created some considerable internalized baggage or negative bias towards Americans..
the overly friendly nature of US customer service is antithetical to Germans.. in fact, it makes us suspicious you might be trying to rip us off..
I do not agree and I am disappointed about the more unfriendly, lazy or arrogant services in Germany. As German.
@@MiaMerkur I'm German, too, and I have lived in the US. I''m much more annoyed with pushy American sales personnel than with their German counterparts that leave me alone when I'm just browsing. When I need help I call them but I don't want them to be all over me to make me buy things. I also prefer a genuine grumpy person to a fake-smiley-howareyoudoing one. Usually, if I'm friendly and patient as a a customer the sales clerk will be almost always the same.
@@MiaMerkur as you well should...
but that's not what I meant.. of course there can be bad service but it's not the norm..
when Americans say "German service is bad", they mean ALL service.. including service we Germans consider as good or very good.. as in competent, professional and reasonably sociable in relation to the nature and context of the service provided..
16:15 Yup, you give the pfandbon to the cashier and he scans it, which leads to a minus on your bill.
Alternatively you also can get back the money if you don't have any bill or if the bill is smaller than the Pfand.
Sorry if I have to disappoint you as a 21-year-old woman in terms of nudity in Germany. In parks, most of the naked people are women and they are mainly young women. On nude beaches on the coasts, it is usually families or older couples.
If my phone rings after 8pm and the caller is not stored in my phone memory as a family member, I don't answer the call at all.
5:51 No, it’s not just dudes, but you see more naked men than naked women, which could be because women feel safer in the company of others. As a woman, I wouldn't sunbathe naked in some places if I were alone. Men naturally have fewer problems with this.
I would sunbath naked but not if young men or prude, Islamic, russion-ish nations are around to not put me in danger.
Me as a German wishing People would talk with me randomly because most of the time i am bored
when you put your bottles in the maschine, you get that ticket, (one ticket for all stuff you brought back,)
when you cash out the amount from the ticket is taken of your total amount,
you also can just go to the cashout and get your money back without buying stuff in the store
Wishing a Good Morning from Germany
Yes, there are a lot of public (or semi-public) toilets in Germany (or other countries in Europe) where you need to pay or actually be a patron. But there are also a lot of public toilets that are actually free to use. E.g. at a lot of the rest areas (not stations) along the Autobahn. But also in most airports and many raiöway stations. What is different is that those are not cleaned as often (usually once or twise a day (at airports more regularly)) as the ones that cost something to use. And as we all know, some of our fellow humans are horrible when tjey use (any type of) public facilities, so be prepared for sometimes not so pleasant experiences ...
During the time of year you have to mow the lawn regularly the sun sets pretty late over here. Also, German working hours aren’t as long as in the US. So you‘re probably home early enough to mow the lawn or do other things around the house during late afternoon/early evening.
16:45 You mustn't let German directness and the tendency to criticize get you down.
What you can also learn is to deal with justified criticism more confidently and not let unjustified criticism affect you.
I sometimes see Americans in videos who explode after hearing a wrong word and immediately go into attack mode for a fight.
From a German point of view, they suffer a loss of control over small things, while in our case an eyebrow only goes up. 😏
I can’t even imagine going in a flat or house and not taking my shoes off.
16: Public bathrooms have to be maintained, and somebody has to pay for it. It started with Autobahn service stations, where the maintenance of the bathrooms was leased out to specialized companies like SaniFair, followed then by the big railway stations doing the same. Since some decades more and more municipalities also equipped their public bathrooms with access control systems (using coin based or electronic payment) to fund maintenance and also to reduce vandalism. In restaurants the bathroom is usually free to use for customers, in some towns and cities there is also the "friendly toilet" system where some restaurants mark their bathrooms as open to the public and get some compensation from the municipality.
15: It depends a bit on how you define "great service". Many Germans don't like US style service and consider it intrusive as well as obviously pretended friendliness as dishonest respectively even as sign for attempted fraud.
Good video, but a bit exaggerated. I've been in Germany for the last six months, 99% of card payments are accepted without any thresholds. Rare exceptions, only some small private shops,
We're big on recycling in Australia as well. Last year, my sister and I stayed in a holiday apartment complex. When she went to put some things in a recycling bin. She found the following items in it. A rock someone had picked up when they'd been walking around somewhere and half a bottle of ketchup. Aussies adults love to talk to strangers, and we'd met an American male tourist. I figured it must have been him put those things in the recycle bin. Especially the ketchup. We have our own tomato sauce in Australia. It's very different when it comes to its taste. But we do have ketchup in our supermarkets.
I have absolutely asked for tap water in a restaurant and of cause I got it.
The reason for the minimum spend with cards is because the store owner has to pay fees on every transaction, which means if you buy something for $5 and the retailer has to pay $5 in card fees, he loses the profits from the sale, making it not worth his time and money.
A word of caution:
- being naked in public: in urban areas it could be allowed in designated areas within for example a public park or a public outdoor bath; however you're not generally allowed to be naked everywhere. Mind that his example refers to a huge public park in Munich, the Englischer Garten (weird name in this context), which has an explicitly designated nudists area. The attitude towards nudity varies a bit: it's probably more accepted in and near urban areas, less so in rural areas; more in Protestant areas (particularly in the north), less so in Roman-catholic ones (particularly in the south; and protestants there can be pretty conservative too).
- smiling / friendliness: outside of large urban agglomerations like Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Essen, Dortmund, maybe even Köln you don't have to bother much about being too friendly. However the cities mentioned before are in a kind of competition of putting a very special characteristic way of being grumpy on display... Examples: Munich: an Grant hoam; Berlin: Berliner Schnauze/Schnoddrigkeit; Stuttgart: bruddlet vor sich naa (im günstigsten Fall) ... the examples are very difficult to translate if at all. But I'm assuming that people from New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, San Fransisco or LA are possibly also known to show their displeasure in a certain characteristic way - at least some of them.
- phone call late in the evening: as a rule of thumb that might be right but it's actual a more individual thing. If somebody tells you you may phone him even late in the evening that happening 11:30 pm might be ok still. Without such approval the rule is really the later a call the more important the reason for calling should be. As a result many people can get easily worried if being called late in the evening. I'd say for 8 - 10 pm there should be a common interest for talking about something. After 10 pm there should be a really good reason or it should be agreed to before.
Yes the voucher you get from the "Pfand" machine is deducted from your next buy, where you hand it in, but you can also just go to the cashier and have them pay out the money, if you don't want to buy something.
The thing with the free water is that restaurants often have the highest profit margins on drinks while the food doesn’t generate as much profit. So they want to sell you drinks to make profit and you not only refusing to buy something but also asking for a free drink is considered a bit rude.
I mean a soft drink or a beer often costs between 4€ and 5€ in the restaurant while costing 50ct to 1€ in the supermarket (restaurants get it even cheaper probably). The food served never comes close to those profit margins as you not only need the ingredients but also the wages for a cook preparing the meal as well as other costs (electricity, gas etc.). And the tap water isn’t free for the restaurant as they need to pay their water bill. So not only are you asking them to not make profit but to actually lose money for serving you
Was in Berlin this summer & went to a spa where there was a 'textile free' area.
The little voucher you get at the bottle return stations will get you this amount off of your bill, and if you don‘t want to buy anything, you get your money back from the cashier.
A German is never late! ...nor is he early! ...he arrives precisely when he means to. 😉
Gandalf
Yeah, I’m rather half an hour early than even one minute late😅
I would never invite you again for disturbing my preparing plans.
The Pfandstation prints out a voucher that you can hand in at the cachier to deduct from anything you are buying, or you can also just have them hand you the amount in cache...
Being late is disrespectful of the other parties time
16:30 various ways. Either use it while Shopping, dropping your Grocery Shopping Results for the amount of your voucher or pay the Price the register says and let your voucher get paid out afterwards as an extra point. It also is possible to pay out the voucher beforehand, for example: if you pay with card. Thats also a possibility. On the Sitenote: You can't use vouchers of different Supermarkets, only the one that you got out of the machine in the market.
It's _very_ similar in Austria, only that - according to my German friends - Austrians beat around the bush a lot more, especially at work. I feel like Austrians are more prone to unpunctuality, although it varies widely from person to person. My (Austrian) best friend is sometimes 30 minutes too early. 🤦🏻♀️
Swiss people too, we are not at all direct but very very punctual. We kind of expect others to understand what they are doing wrong when we stare at them angrily… it is not efficient. It’s probably better to get up and tell people directly what bothers you.
@MrsStrawhatberry Grüße an die Schweiz, Austrians' ultimate favorite neighbour, lol. (It's never Germany, is it.)
Hio "when shoud i mow the lawn" it is simel in the week around 8-12 and 14-20 and saturday around 10-12 and 14-20 DONT on sunday ^^ mor than enout time for it, and your question on "how shoud i know that i have traffic and be ladte" alsow simpel plan so that you will arive around 15 min early (or more^^) and if you have traffic you will be still in time^^.
I appreciate your channel because you „don‘t give up“, even though american coulture is critizized a lot, directly or inderictly. You sir show us, we‘re all not that different. Thanks for all your refreshing clips.
I very rarely see nude people in my city, the culture is just accepting if people want to be nude in certain places. But in the park in munich with kids playing there is pretty weird and usualy not common! At the beach you can be sure to run into some naked people and Not only dudes haha
With the Pfand (deposit), the machine will print out a voucher which you give to the cashier before paying your groceries, it will be taken off your bill. People rarely go to the machine with only 1 can, they gather a few at home (e.g. a bag full) and bring them back then. A little like a piggy bank.
About jaywalking in Germany:
When you do it, you'll get often times the response: "Rotgänger, Todgänger!" what translates to something like "Red-walkers, Dead-walkers!"
The machines for pfand will print a bar code. you can bring it to the register and they will deduct the amount from your grocery price, or if you don't buy anything, they will give you coin.
Jaywalking can really get you in trouble in Germany. You can actually lose your driver's license when you ignore a red light on foot.
Fun story: A friend of mine ran a red light on a bike as a teenager and because he was caught he was not allowed to get a driver's license for some 2 years since he was denied the permission as a known traffic offender 😅
Seriously?
Bavaria or BaWü? 😂
I'm from a somewhat rural area in NRW. When teenagers cycle home drunk from a party in the middle of the night, there are no cops anywhere. But when there are, they just check if the bike has the lights on, if the rider seems 16+, and if the person is not too drunk to get home. They also always set up their 'hidden' mobile radar traps in the exact same spots (since at least 30 years), and only if it's sunny. So you always know where to slow down. I like our local police ❤
@@cindz4618It could be totally true! That law was changed a couple years ago. When I was a teen in the 90s biking and driving were still 2 separate things, legally. No cop gave much of a fnck about what you did on a bicycle. That just "didn't really count".
Children up to seven years are also supposed to bike on the sidewalk if there is no bike lane. If there is no bike lane, others will have to drive on the road as the bicycle also is a normal traffic vehicle here. But IF there is a bike lane, think of it as an extra road for bicycles. They will use it and they will drive fast and noit expect to meet pedestrians there. If you go there its just like walking or standing on a street.
Hallo and hello, Ryan!
16:05 The return machine identifies, counts and totals the values of the bottles and cans. A receipt is created with a barcode that registers the return like an item in the cash register system.
When you then check out, the barcode is registered like a normal item and treated as a credit. It becomes invalid after billing, so the receipt cannot be scanned a second time.
The return machines are also secured against attempted fraud and block if you try to take out a registered bottle.
If you have access to the "engine room" where the bottles are often compacted for return transport, then fraud would be possible. However, everything (in the customer area) is typically monitored with cameras. Employees would be found out very quickly and, in addition to being fired, they would also be in a lot of trouble with the law.
By the way, I was a sales person, worked with the machines and manually accepted cans and bottles that the machine didn't recognize because they were too badly damaged or not recorded in the database.
When you collect your Pfand, you get that small receipt you can give the cashier when they scan your products and you get the corresponding discount. It is technically also possible that the cashier actually has to hand out money to you because you bought less than your Pfand's worth, but it is kinda frowned upon to do that.
That video is weird... Not only are there several misconceptions about german culture, also a "DONT" is not "something you should not expect to happen"...
Ryan, that 'bubbly water' you mentioned in Germany is natural spring water. The town of Brohl, in the Eifel, has such grand mineral water that the Romans, back in the day, built aqueducts to transport the water among the different garrisons. Americans get confused and think it is enhanced with soda, but it is not. Love your videos.
Even in the US a lot of places only let you use their restroom when you’re a customer
as a pedestrian and a bike rider you are by law participating in traffic just like a car driver. So if you do not respect traffic laws you may get points on your driving licence as well. And if you are drunk on a bike or as a pedestrian (in traffic) you may loose your driving licence as well (not always - depends on the mood of the officer)
PFAND:
On sale theres a 25cent deposit placed on the bottle or can, wich is applicable with the Pfandsymbol still attached to the bottlewrapping sufficiently, and at the Pfandautomat when entering the empty bottle and after its scanned it is added onto a Pfandticket wich is cashed in at the cashier for either a reduction in the checkout price, or if one only returns Pfand, the amount of money on the voucher(idd guess theres a validation period expiring some time after its printed, but shopping at the same location as the scanner rarely ever takes up more than an hour/90 mins with waiting and a super long shopping list)
that with the service and the smile: I cannot agree at all.
Don't visit unexpected: 110% agree.
Also: that topic with the shoes is not that common.
Small talking to a random stranger in an elevator would be creepy. I don't suggest you do that 😂
On my Bullshit-O-Meter scale this list is a 9 out of 10. 🙄
One reason people react this way when someone crosses the street at a red light and children are present is that children as young as 6 years old walk to school alone. Parents are afraid that they will jaywalk if they have seen an adult do it before and then an accident happens. The fact that parents are giving their children more freedom and teaching them to be more independent does not mean that they are not concerned about their safety.
But some parents are very, very rude, mad, aggressiv to strangers at the traffic lights. "Teach your own kids properly and let foreign people do what they like" I would say.
99% of the time German parents would not accept the littlest educational advice from strangers. But suddenly in public at the traffic light they make foreign people Co-educators? It just had become an accepted way for burned out parents and some other adults to get loose of their anger.
@@MiaMerkur
Even if parents teach their child to cross the street when the light is green, children learn by imitation. If they see adults doing it, they think it can't be that bad, so they copy it. As a responsible adult, you should be aware of your actions and their effect on society, even if you don't have children. If you insist that you don't care about others, that says a lot about you. The fact that others then react with outrage may not be such a bad thing. The fact that people are becoming more and more antisocial may be because others are looking the other way and letting them be.
11:08 if you try to smalltalk with me in an elevator i would play along but hate you for it 😁
Tips are not expected but are gratefully accepted 😊
Cash: There are two groups. Group 1 are older people who, for various reasons (new currencies etc.), do not have as much confidence in cash. Group 2 are younger people who would like to pay for everything without cash. But many store owners don't offer card payment because they have to pay €1 per transaction to the bank.
11:05 I'm from Serbia, living in France, and in elevator we are silent, don't talk :D someone will take it as flirting or that you wanna sell something and we are in close space so we can't escape you, feels very sketchy
14:08 floor is too cold to be wearing only socks
If someone come up to me on the street, trying to talk to me, I expect that they try to sell me something
Remember Ryan ! US and Canada has 3 time zone...so calling New York from LA you may be calling at 8pm in NY is 11pm - Germany is 134.9 square miles, only 3.75x the size of Indiana so, 1 time zone !!!
in most households, shoes are expected to be taken off before you enter the house and the shoes are usually placed in front of the door unless the host has a specific area inside the house where you can leave your shoes similar to the japanese method. in most households, there are no slippers and people are expected to walk around in socks. when the floor is cold (because of no carpet or floor heating) some hosts will offer slippers... but from my experience that is the epitome of being VERY german... "multi cultural"-german households tend to not have the "slippers" concept while VERY traditional German families tend to wear slippers.
the slippers themselves can be ANYTHING as long as that something has never been worn outside. so from Pantoffeln, to Birkenstock, anything is allowed.
I think americans only recently have adopted a "50/50" approach to wearing shoes indoors for different reasons. it used to be much more common for people to take their shoes off in the 90s or 80s as it can be observed in home videos from that time period.
Maßen Sie sich nicht an für andere zu sprechen:
"in den meisten Haushalten wird erwartet"
Eine unbeweisene Vermutung ...
The small talk thing is mostly just a judgement call. If you just say hi orgood morning you will immediatly know from the other persons response if they are open to small talk or not. And if they are not, just mind your business.
Mind your biz is such a bad unemphatic unfriendly wrong idea.
Me and my friends are germans. We expect to be treated well in restaurants/shop or we dont come back. We call after 8 and we are not naked Sauna visitors.
I appreciate other cultures and i keep the things that fits for me:)
I like the punctuality here though and hate smalltalk. I think that we can all learn from each other:)
Not naked in the sauna? In Germany? Where are you from?
@@MiaMerkur cologne, no Sauna at all;)
But that's the thing we expect to get treaten well and with competence. But Americans expect to get their ass kissed and if they don't they speak to the manager and probably they get their way.
If you try not to be naked in a official Sauna in Germany, you'll have to go... And for very good reasons! So you can't visit the Sauna at all. I think, you do not have a point about saying that you are not naked in the Sauna, your point would be: I do not go into a Sauna, because i do not want to be naked! But whats the point of beeing naked? Are you ashamed of yourself? Is it a religious thing? I don't know, but you will miss something if you don't go into a Sauna like the Claudius Therme at Winter Time...
@@kalossthenosmatters-2807 i just dont need to sweat. Its to hot and i cant relax. I miss nothing:)
My point was, that we are different. To say germans dont like this and that is stupid.
16:25 u can use your deposit for cashout at the register or using for ur shopping.
If you don’t pay attention to these 16 things, nothing will happen. It is a very subjective view of things, presumably from a small town in the south of Germany.
No, you can take them as proper rules. You know yourselves that NY is not Texas is not Hawaii is not Indiana. People are different in some places more traditional conservative or left and tolerant open minded.
I don't think it's good service to get hassled every 5 minutes because they want me to leave.
Most of it is just absolute nonsense. Sure, who wants someone to show up uninvited? The small talk thing actually made me angry... If he doesn’t like it, that’s his problem. Of course, you can make small talk; it’s just complete nonsense... He’s just taking stereotypes and passing them on unfiltered... You’ve now watched 1,497,047 videos of this kind, and none of them are actually accurate in any way...
Restaurants make most of their income from drinks. However, eating out is cheaper compared to other countries. That's why you don't get free water everywhere.
Even my pretty conservative parents who were born in the 1940s didn't mind calls up until 9pm, 10pm for very close friends and family. I still call my mum at 10pm almost daily. So he's a bit over exaggerating.
I like most of Germans service (there are some bad apples obviously). The American way of overly false friendliness, interrupting my meal and chat with questions and knowing they do it because they want at least 20% tip is super annoying to me.
Not waiting for the light to turn green, because there just isn't any traffic in sight, is a speciality of people in Berlin. ;.)
When you do this, some people might call you out, that's true. My answer always is: Kids need to learn when to cross a street in a city.
But you can get fined for crossing a red light even as a pedestrian, so, you might walk some meters away from the traffic light before crossing the street.
And when there isn't any traffic light, you can cross the street as long as there's no vehicle approaching too near.
16:20 you can also get the cash back without having to buy something. Both is possible
Our water is not free since our waiter are payed normal by the company and tipps are just a free bonus you can give if the service was good.
I would NEVER eat in the US where you are expected to pay 25% of your bill as tips..
When I was at high school, I remember I saw a few of the students from our school getting tickets for crossing the road where there was no crossing.
In Switzerland it's easy. The normal trash is paid, anything you can recycle is free. So you either recycle or pay more for trash bags that fill up faster.
About the Traffic Lights:
It's interesting to know that many Traffic Lights are switched off at 9 p.m.!
And the reason for the "cash only" issue (if it still exists)... Is tax evasion.
The high credit card fees is just what they tell you, as they wouldn't tell you the real reason, obviously.
If you'll find a "cash only" place, it's usually a smaller restaurant, or a small shop (like a "Späti" in Berlin).
Never try small talk in elevators, of all places! It will be tolerated in many places, but not in elevators. People will stare bigly.
20:57 For children below 9yo it is mandatory to cycle on the sidewalk - or bike lanes which are separated from the main road. Kids below 11yo are still allowed to use the sidewalk with their bike if they wish.
But from 11 and older you have to cycle on the road (or bike lane) like everybody else and using the sidewalk instead could get you a fine.
In primary schools there's a bicycle training in third or fourth grade (depends on the state) where kids learn the basic traffic rules on the road and the most common traffic signs in order to participate safely on the road traffic with their bikes. This training is often assisted by local police officers. The kids undergo a written and a practical test to gain the "Fahrradführerschein" - a driver's license for cyclists.