I certainly recognise the difference in formality with colleagues. Years ago I worked in the UK for a German company. The UK operation was small with only a handful of engineers and it was quite common for the European President to visit us for various reasons and he would often stay in the same hotels and go to pubs and clubs with us. We knew him, and addressed him as Karl-Heinz (or just Karl, depending how much we had drunk). The first time I visited the German office, the shock was palpable when I greeted our president, "Hi, Karl-Heinz." then wandered into his office to chat about the previous night. To be fair, Karl-Heinz never seemed bothered but all my German colleagues were so upset: "You can't talk to him like that!" I was also amazed at how formal people were generally in social situations. I recall being on the U-Bahn in late afternoon and being stunned to see groups of college age youths greeting each other by surname and shaking hands. In the UK, pretty much the only time anyone ever shook my hand (at that time) was at job interviews! It's interesting that my Eastern European colleagues nowadays seem equally keen on handshakes and it is common to see people going around to shake the hand of every (male) colleague at the start of work. The biggest difference I found between the UK and German workplace was not in manners but in the promptness with which my German colleagues ended the day. If you called one second after close of business the telephones were on voicemail and the office empty. Here in the UK, working for the same company, it was not uncommon to work late into the evening to meet deadlines and telephones were expected to be on, and answered, 24/7. Our contracts stated 40 hours plus the time required to complete the tasks assigned (or words to that effect), colleagues in the German office just had a hard 37.5 hours with specified times. On the other hand, colleagues in our American parent company only had 2 weeks annual leave where we in Europe had 5-6!
English comes from the same family of language as german. So it is much easier to adapt to the pronunciations from german or even dutch to english. i have always noticed this about german people. i was watching something in german once and it sounded like a british person speaking gibberish with a British accent.
Wen Chu No, it's true. German & English are from the same language tree. You can google "Indo-European languages". English and German are both "Germanic" languages.
I was just going to say "we put £1 in our trolleys in the U.K. Too!" Then I heard you say Lidl and Aldi 🤣but they're my only go to shops so I'm used to having my £1coin handy. I also like the idea of reusing and recycling bottles and cans, we should do that!.
I remember being very surprised when I found out that reusing bottles and cans isn't a regular thing around the world! Here in Finland we have return machines that give you 0.20€ for small bottles, 0.40€ for big ones and 0.15€ for cans and we collect bottles at home and then bring them to the shop when we have lots of them. So go Germany, I'm positively surprised! 😊
When I was a kid (early to mid 1980's) we used to return our empty fizzy drink bottles to the local corner shop and get 10p for every bottle we took back. But it was only one type of bottle where you could do this on. With regards to light switches in bathrooms in the UK. They are called "pull cords" and the reason we have them is for safety. Normal switched light switches in a bathroom, condensation and or moisture can run down the wall, and into the switch, which can cause problems with your electrics, or worse still, give you an electric shock when you go to switch it off. I don't agree with self service checkouts. To me, the more people that use them, the more likely you are to put till operators out of a job, so I don't use them on this principle.
Your accent is even regional, perfect, wish I could speak German this well. Live in the US but from the UK hate when people from the US pretend British accents accents. Yours spot on Just great!!!!
in australia we dont tip at all . every one has to be paid at least the legal adult age , or more but never less. so we dont tip. its not our custom and we are uncomfortable with the whole tip concept.
When I was a child in the US, 'fizzy water' called 'club soda during my childhood, was quite common. Of course still water is the norm, but I drank a lot of club soda in the warmer months.
LOL.. the German thinks the Brits are too “touchy” while for an American or the rest of the world I dare say people find the Brits to be pretty stand-offish XD That says it all.
The informal addressing and email thing may be something that has happened over the last couple of decades. In school in the US (1970's and 80's) we were taught Ms., Miss. and Mr. and to address people by their last name and to open letters with Dear, etc. But in the 90's we started to get away from that and address bosses and even customers by first names. Emails are more informal than letters so it makes more sense to start off with "Hi" unless it's a more formal communication like applying for a job. I personally can't stand to be addressed as Ms. Lastname. It feels condescending (though I understand that it's supposed to be respectful). I wonder when my mother entered the room and start looking around for her (which is hilarious since I'm 43).
The pull cord light switch in the bathroom is standard now - it's all about health and safety by which the nanny state rules our lives. It's so you don't touch the lightswitch with wet hands, and risk electrocuting yourself - or at least getting an electric shock. For the same reason, there are never any standard electric sockets in bathrooms here. I might find this a sensible safety precaution had I not grown up with bathrooms that had regular light switches, from which nobody in our family EVER received a shock! Mind you, way back when (before and for some time after WWII), some people had an electric FIRE fixed to the wall OVER the bath - now that was helpful, when most houses still had no central heating, and kept you from freezing whilst having a bath - but there were some terrible accidents when the fire fell off the wall and INTO the bath and the person bathing WAS electrocuted….so I guess today's arrangements make sense, really.
It depends where you live in London - which borough, and in what kind of property in some cases. Your video makes it sound like we don't take recycling seriously in the UK, which just is not true. I cannot believe that you live anywhere in London in a place where it is not perfectly possible for you to recycle cans and bottles if you actually want to. If the council doesn't actually collect recycling from outside your front door (yet) then there must at least be a recycling point close by. The last London borough I lived in was Brent, in the Willesden area. There, if you live in a house or a flat conversion in a house (which most people in Willesden do) you get a blue bin for recycling and a grey bin (which they call a landfill bin) for non-recyclable rubbish. And you are expected to use them. Not only do the bin guys who collect the recycling and rubbish check your bins (and sometimes won't empty them if you've put stuff in the wrong bin), they also have special inspectors who go round looking in people's bins to check you are separating your recycling from your rubbish and putting everything in the appropriate bin. If you're not doing it properly you get a warning, and if you persist in not doing it properly you will end up paying a fine. If you live in a purpose built flat in Brent you would still, at the very least, have a recycling point close by where you can take your cans and bottles - and old newspapers, magazines and cardboard etc. I live in Nottingham now, in a house, and they have the same sort of system as Brent here. All the councils in the UK have quotas for the amount of recycling they are meant to do and the amount of landfill they are allowed to do, and if they don't meet the quotas the government fines them thousands of pounds. That's why they have to be serious about it.
One of the best aspects of UK culture inherited by the US is to address a boss by his or her first name. I always thought that the formality that is used in German, Spanish or Italian cultures is an anachronism.
The thing about hugs I believe is a fairly recent thing, at least it's a younger generation thing. Unless I'm meeting someone for the first time, I'll always be happy to give a hug but if they don't initiate the hug, I'll just go for a handshake instead. But my parents or grandparents wouldn't do any such thing unless it was family or a very good (female) friend - only handshakes or waving otherwise.
The light cord which you pull is actually called - A Pull Cord - Bathrooms have wet, wet hands on normal light switches, nooo, dangerous, wet won't travel up a pull cord. It's a building regulation requirement (or a switch outside bathroom door). I suppose there is alot of electrocution accidents in German bathrooms...*
JD1010101110 not all trolleys at those supermarkets have a coin chain. The small trolleys especially don't have the coin chains. I guess it depends on the area you live in
In some bars and all fast food restaurant you need to order at the till, but in most (all?) restaurants there is waitress service! We have the coins in the trolleys at most supermarkets near me (Glasgow, Scotland) and Northern Ireland, where my parents live too. There was one company here (Scotland) that did the bottle returning/deposit thing but they've stopped it in the last year. I just googled the bathroom light switch thing, because as someone below comments, it's not like people in other countries are constantly getting electrocuted from them! It's not easy to see in a quick search where it originally came from. Apparently it is now legal to have switches inside the bathroom in certain locations (eg not so close that you can switch it while in the bath), but many electricians on the forum I just looked at were saying they would avoid fitting them to avoid risk. The main concerns seem to be people switching them while they are in the bath, shower or have a hand in a basin of water, and condensation. I suspect someone at some point in British history (maybe in the early days of electricity) were (rightly or wrongly) concerned about bathroom safety, and that the equipment is now much safer, so not really an issue. It's the same reason that we don't have sockets in bathrooms (apart from the lower voltage razor ones). My Mum always told me that was so people couldn't for example drop their hair dryer in the bath while they were in the water, and electrocute themselves (either accidentally, or intentionally). I also found this on a forum (but I have no idea what it means!): "Possibly historical reasons (why some countries have these rules and other don't.) Some continental countries (certainly Germany) have had electromechanical RCDs in widespread use for a very long time, which reduce the numbers of deaths by electrocution." The email thing is kind of interesting. Letters between firms were always formal. Email was invented and I guess initially mostly used socially. So when companies started using it, there was confusion about what sort of register to use. So I find the more formal ones (and older people) don't use "Hi", but they struggle with what to use, so end up with "Dear" or even just start with your name to avoid using anything at all. The sign off for formal letters was never mainstream use for emails, but again people struggled to know what to do, but we seem to have settled on "Best regards", "Best wishes" etc. Which is more formal than you use with a friend or family member but less formal than a letter. I found being someone who lived through all these changes interesting (but very confusing at times!). Signing off "cheers" strikes me as being between colleagues or people from different companies who are of the same age (younger)??? But it's more of an English than a Scottish expression for thank you, so it's hard for me to know. I know thank you is another way that people sign off emails when they don't know how to!
Very long comment, without a TL;DR. A few things that might explain the differences: 2: Most UK people grow up drinking tap water, so we see still water as "normal". 4: In the UK reuse is usually something done at home. Unless you have a milkman, most glass bottles either go in kerbside recycling or to the bottle bank (as with cans). Plastic bottles (and recycling of other plastics) are one of those things where kerbside recycling is more efficient because there are just too many types of plastic, some of which can't be recycled, so there would have to be a bottle bank and wheelie bin for every type of plastic for at-home sorting to make sense. 5: Some supermarkets require £1 for trolleys and tokens are typically available, but most of them have done away with 'trolley deposits' (with the exception of some smaller stores, and larger stores on some of the smaller trolleys). We have 'trolley boys' (gender neutral term sounds weird), and most people wouldn't want their car hit by a trolley so they return it to a point near their car. The larger supermarkets are now using self-locking wheels, just in case someone tries to steal a trolley, and in some places multiple retailers share trolleys. When I worked in Sainsbury's the local council charged £100 per trolley they returned to a store, so whenever a trolley was 'liberated' a member of staff was sent to collect it (presumably our wages plus off-site insurance was cheaper than the council's fee, plus new trolleys are rather expensive). 7: Depends on the circumstances and people. As an economy that is mostly service-based we have (in most cases) shifted away from calling bosses Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms/Sir/Madam/etc. perhaps because being informal creates less of an us/them atmosphere. In most cases you still talk to customers formally, but if a company wants to come across as "customer-focussed" they will now ask how you want to be addressed. Amazon calls me "John" and as soon as I pass security with my bank (or as it seems, any call centre) the first question they always ask is "May I call you John?" As someone who tends to have a "formal" conversation style, most companies call me "John" and use formal language when talking to me. If a company really annoys me I make them call me "Mr Cook" which at least makes it sound like they are taking my complaint more seriously. 9: Virtually every bathroom light "switch" in the UK is either (a) a pull cord inside the bathroom, (b) a light switch outside the bathroom, or (c) a motion sensor inside the bathroom. This is due to the building regulations which require electrical sockets and switches to be a certain distance from a bath/shower (and sinks too, I think). Except for shaving sockets (which can be closer to a bath/shower), most bathrooms in UK homes are too small for a light switch to be x metres away from the bath/shower. If the pull cord is red, it isn't for the lights. This page explains the rules (including some of the more lenient new ones that probably didn't apply when the buliding was last rewired): electrical.theiet.org/wiring-matters/53/section-701/index.cfm 10: Self-checkouts are probably popping up in every country. Self-scanning your shopping as you go around larger stores is also becoming more commonplace. If you prefer packing your own bags at smaller checkouts a self-checkout should be more efficient and less awkward than a cashier scanning and passing items to you, unless the checkout decides to start screaming 'PLEASE PLACE THE ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA!!!" and no staff are nearby. Likewise, self-scanning as you shop should be more efficient as you don't need to unload your trolley at the checkout, but "rescans" (checking you are being honest) are much less efficient. They are both things where technology can help speed things along, but they can be a huge PITA when they malfunction. My small local Tesco has a self-service checkout that regularly has trouble with online authorisations and it starts flashing its lights and screaming at me to use another payment method even though the problem is with it, not my card. While Brits may be fine with queuing, we also don't like needlessly holding up a queue. Also, having a machine do a Santa impression after paying did irk me a bit over the Christmas period. 11: The UK is, in my experience, similar to how you describe Germany. If a tenancy agreement says you can't do something, and you want to do it, ask the landlord for permission. While they could say no, they might say yes. I got permission from my landlord for BT and Virgin Media to drill holes in the walls (sockets for phone/broadband can have value for future tenants), and my room has been painted blue (although it must be painted back to magnolia before I leave). 12: As with 7, depends on the people and circumstances. Almost all of my correspondence with government departments, politicians, and credit reference agencies have been formal by default. Depending on the length of correspondence over an issue, it might become more informal over time. Having said that, if I am the initiator of an e-mail thread with a company/MP/government department/etc. I always start off formally. If they do the whole "customer-focussed" thing the first response back will potentially switch us from formal to informal salutations and sign-offs, and I personally prefer using "Hi" and "Thanks" instead of "Dear" and "Yours sincerely". I think part of this is that a lot of people have been using the Internet for communication for a while. Forum threads and mailing list threads typically don't start with a salutation. Some people have also done away with sign-offs because of usernames and e-mail signatures making it clear who something is from. Another part is that e-mail is not traditionally a formal communication medium. I have seen it suggested that e-mail writing styles can be one of three groups: formal, neutral, and casual/informal. Formal e-mail tends to be restricted to complaints and initial contacts with an unknown person at a company/organisation. Neutral tends to be used within companies/organisations, and an initial response to a formal e-mail might be in a neutral style. Some companies might use casual e-mail in reply to casual e-mail (much like some do on Twitter). A casual reply to neutral correspondence might come across as not taking something seriously, or lead to misinterpretations. I think the formal/informal thing for 7 and 12 might not be true. If we throw in the neutral style, then in my experience most of what I would have deemed informal (that which is not strictly formal) was actually neutral. Having something between formal and informal does make sense as it allows more efficient communication than being full-on formal, without being informal.
When renting in Britain the contract is formal and true to the video. However if you contact your landlord you will most likely get permission. I have been lived in 5 rented accommodations and been granted permission to decorate and put up shelves 4/5 times.
I realise I'm commenting on all of these points as you say them, but the bathroom light switch thing - as far as I know it's because some houses in the UK are converted and often don't have windows or any decent ventilation in the bathroom to get rid of steam, and so people decided having a cord pull a switch buried in the ceiling was a better idea than a wall switch that could risk electrocuting you with all the water everywhere. And I suppose it caught on as a trend. I know that most light switches today are waterproof, and they are in bathrooms more, but this was the reason I was given for why we have pull cords in bathrooms.
Well, I'm from Germany and I don't always tip and I prefer still water since it is healthier. Tipping is not a must-do in Germany, unlike in the USA. Well, with the dress-code in Germany you mentioned at the end, it has also become a bit stricter now in Germany. There were some cases in Bavaria last year I think where they banned girls from wearing navel-free tops and skirts that are too short. Maybe this is better then.
I like using the plastic button alternatives for the shopping trolleys (can't be bothered with small change all the time), but I frequently lose them as well. :-D A problem I can't win. :-p I admire how well-established the recycling policies are in Germany. While you see them all around Europe, it does seem like taking bottles and so on back for recycling is already an ingrained habit in your homeland, and that's a very positive sign. People are generally recycling a lot more these days, everywhere, but it's still quite uneven from country to country.
Not talking to people at checkouts is more of a big city thing I think. If I visit the supermarket where my mum lives ic often find myself waiting while the ladies ahead of me catch up with the news!
Zu Nummer 10 Selbstkassen: Die hat in Österreich jetzt Merkur (Rewe) als Pionier eingeführt und ich liebe diese Dinger, wenn du nur 1-5 Sachen hast. Drüber ist die Kassa+Schlange schneller.
+JD1010101110 there wasn't anywhere to recycle in the flat I lived when making that video. loads of london roads don't provide the people with bins. you just chuck black bin liners on the road.
All the boroughs are supposed to. I've lived in a couple of boroughs of London, even in flats there is normally on big bin for general waste and one big bin for recyclable.
THE STRING THING CONFUSED ME TOO WHEN I WENT TO THE UK FOR A FEW WEEKS. I was in my friend's apartment and was just like UHHHH HOW DO YOU WORK YOUR BATHROOM LIGHT.
yes everything you said it's right every time you travel to the uk . in the airport the inmigration officer is so polite and tells you have a good day or enjoy your visit . but in germany in my experience you don't feel that welcomed it feels slightly cold . I'm not generalising it's just my opinion . I feel so welcomed in the uk and this is my view as mexican living in the uk . the British politeness you won't find it in other parts of europ or in the world .
if renting privately landlord/landlady don't like there tenants doing to much to the property because then they have to then pay to fill in holes or redecorate the flat which costs however if you rent a council property you will find you can preety much do what you like within reason
i work for sainsbury's at Winchmore hill Letchworth and Biggleswade stores all of them charged £1. It could be a London thing but Winchmore hill is near Enfield London
This became really common here in the UK about 5-10 years ago for just the reasons mentioned in the video. I'm surprised that Jen hasn't experienced it more often. Two different situations make it more likely (in my experience): firstly, supermarkets that are close to residential areas (ie within walking distance) where the store is concerned about trolleys leaving the site never to return; secondly, very large out of town sites where it is a real problem collecting trolleys scattered all around a massive car park. Having said that, many stores now seem to be reversing the policy and removing coin mechanisms (or chopping off the chains!) simply because customers find it such an inconvenience. My local ASDA has dropped trolley fees within the last month and my (semi-)local Morrisons a couple of years ago. Ironically, Aldi (just 3 minutes walk from ASDA) introduced coin deposits about 6 months ago... I keep a trolley token (fits £1 slots) on my keyring.
Not that it is a bad thing but in my 1 year stay in Germany I found that the cashiers never talk to you and are very stand-offish, they never said more than Hello and then quickly ran your groceries through and then held out their hand for money while you were trying to stuff your groceries into your bag. Not like the US where if you let them many will talk to you all day. haha. So I use the self check out to speed things up. I was in the Dusseldorf area though, could be different else where.
Interesting. I am German and at my local supermarket you would literally every time you checked out have a little chat with the cashier, going like this: -Hello. -Good day. -Did you find everything you need? -Yes, thanks. -Do you want a receipt? -Yes, I do. -You're welcome. -Thank you. Bye
+dani sechzehn I'm sure there were people that said these things as well. I was just blown away at first by the speed and brevity compared to the us. They were great at their jobs, very accurate and the lines never took long but as with most interactions I had there with strangers there were minimal niceties and next to no small talk. I'm not saying that is a bad thing just different.
Don't know where in the UK you are but pound coins for trolleys have been standard for a long time here. Since the late 90s or early 00s, it's quite rare to find a place that doesn't take a coin... I guess you're just lucky wherever you live :P
Hehe, I really enjoyed this :) YES to the Pfand-thing, I found it incredibly difficult to get rid of the habit of collecting what people here consider rubbish. I was wondering about the trolleys though, I live in the West Midlands and need a pound or shopping coin for every supermarket trolley in the area (expect the fancy ones like M&S and Waitrose). Love the Du vs. Sie dilemma too - I sometimes have meetings with German and English people. In the meeting I will address everyone by their first name ... naturally. However, sometimes it happens that I end up alone with the German people and you can tell that every time, everyone is utterly confused not knowing whether to say Du or Sie in German :P This video really made me laugh out lout a couple of times! Especially the showering in the dark bit .... it was almost the same for me but I failed with the power shower. I ended up naked in a friend's bathroom (light on though :P) and was too embarrassed to ask how the damn thing works so I ended up "showering" using sink. Lovely memory!
An Mei :) I only really know about Tesco and Sainsbury's in London and they definitely do not have coin slots in their trolleys and it seems none of my friends have ever heard about having to put money in them, but good if they do it other places, I am all for that! haha
Jen Dre I was slightly surprised too, I lived in Milton Keynes beforehand and there were trolleys all over the parking lot because people were too lazy to return them (yeah I know it's like 20m of walking so that's a huge effort apparently).
+Jen Dre Huh, that's weird. I've never lived in London, but lived all over the North of England, and I think every single supermarket I've ever been to has had coin slots in the trolleys. Even the small Tesco Express ones with the weird thin trolleys.
M Errington oh that's odd, maybe it's a South England thing. I've been to many small towns and places in Norfolk, Suffolk etc and they never have coin slots either :D
Uhh... bottles, plastic or otherwise, are never ever reused by stores/manufacturers. They're grounded down and recycled, becoming raw material input for the new production or other products.
Sorry but that is not true for all plastic bottles. Like glass bottles thick plastic bottles are/were reused (at least in Germany) - Coca Cola is trying to stop this I think... But there is still companies doing this. And you can clearly see it because reused bottles look very beaten up and form white lines around the plastic.
***** they do. I gues now it would be more but before minimum wages were introduced a lot of waiters made maye 5 Euros an hour, which is less than 4 pounds. So its cutsomary to tip generously.
I'd rather have a flat where I wasn't allowed to the change the décor than have to provide a SCHUFA, 3 months pay slips, proof that I have a job contract and a letter from my employers just to have the luxury of renting a flat where I'll have to install my own kitchen and all furnishings at massive expense to myself. Seriously you can't prefer the German way of renting it's like something out of the Victorian ages. Not only is it invasive and distrustful, I mean seriously why would you let some random landlord see your financial information, but it's a massive pain in the arse for anyone who doesn't plan to stay in that flat for years and years. Also you can probably put shelves (shelfs lol) in if you ask your landlord for permission. The thing about renting in England is that it's exactly that! A rental! If you rented a car you wouldn't expect to be able to modify the engine would you! You are borrowing it, but it's highly convenient because if the oven breaks then it's the landlord's responsibility to get a new one, you won't have to fork out 500 euros for a new one just to have to sell it a year later when you move to the other side of Germany or to a different country altogether. You're not meant to throw away your bottle and cans you're meant to put them in the recycling box or take them to the bottle bank. Just because there is no pfand doesn't mean you can't be environmentally friendly. The string hanging from the roof is called a pull cord. It's to stop you from electrocuting yourself if you have wet hands. Kinda dumb but there will always be some idiot with loose wiring. Self-checkouts are now becoming very popular in Germany, much to the dismay of the older generation who are bewildered by them. All the Rewe's near me have them now. However the shops that don't have them fucking need them because it's unbelievable how few checkouts they have there. Like a supermarket that would have 12 checkouts in the UK will have like 3 in Germany (although Aldi in the UK is similar) and the service has to be super quick but I've seen some nightmare queues at peak times in supermarkets like Edeka, Tengelmann and Penny. Seems to me that most German supermarkets are a bit cheap and nasty with a crap range of products to choose from although it is changing. A big new one just opened near me and it was cute to see all the Germansn were amazed at how the supermarket was selling stuff like Gardenware, DIY stuff, household goods and stuff. Stuff we just take or granted in the UK.
Oh they do those background checks here too when you want to rent though? You have to provide all your bank statements and do a full credit check so no difference there. I had to provide 3 references. 2 professional and 1 personal etc. 😂 an agency called my employer etc etc. I don't feel the law protects me as a tenant in the UK at all. I feel it's better in Germany. But it all had advantages and disadvantages. My tenancy agreement in the uk even specifies that I can't have a goldfish. I think it's a bit too invasive. I honestly don't think I could keep up recycling. My flat is on a major road where ppl can only put their bins straight on the road and they're collected by one vehicle. I tried to recycle many times but it goes unappreciated. I haven't seen any self checkout where I am from in germany but it makes sense to implement them in larger cities. But I feel in the UK every tiny shop has them so they're the total norm where in germany they're still a but of a novelty... but glad they're coming. Less necessary human contact when shopping 😂😂😂
Jen Dre Maybe it is different in London where the housing market is ridiculously competitive but nowhere else in the UK have I had to do a finance check. The most I've had to do is pass an interview with the landlord and then pay the first few months up front. However I've only lived in cities in Germany which are actually smaller than places like Birmingham and Manchester, yet they all do checks without question. Also there seems to be a big lack of rental housing in German cities because I've never found a place where the landlords didn't have tonnes of applicants, while in England in most places there was housing just available and it wasn't as desperately needed (that might have to do with the fact that British landlords can refuse people on benefits a lot of the time). That is outside of London though. Ultimately I'd rather no have a goldfish and not have to have a finance check. Sometimes in England I rented shitty places for 6 months just until something better turned up, but in Germany doing that seems a lot harder. It's like you were buying the property. The kitchen thing is a complete nightmare for foreigners and anyone who likes to move frequently. It also means that a lot of the places I've rented in Germany didn't have ovens or washing machines which sucks majorly. The recycling should be picked up by one vehicle yeah, but you should have multi-coloured bins for different materials. I've never been to anywhere in England where they didn't have this system. It started over 10 years ago and now it's virtually everywhere. In some areas you will get fined if they think you're putting to much recycling in the black bins (which is for non-recyclable). It's a way better system imo because it doesn't require endlessly going to the supermarket just to claim back money you've already spent. Don't you have wheely bins where you are? My old house in England had like 4 different ones (Glass, paper, green and normal). The pfand system feels like they are forcing you to recycle which is kind of harsh. It's funny watching the self service checkouts in Germany, people get really confused and annoyed by them, but it cuts down the time shopping massively. I don't understand how many German supermarkets operate with so few staff. In England if you ask where something is then the staff member will take you to the item exactly, in Germany they just grunt at you some vague direction. Also the queues at like 6pm at fucking insane with like 20 people, even though I was say the German checkout people work faster than the British ones, it's still amazing to see huge supermarket with like 5 checkouts.
I can only speak for London but a lot of flats here don't have washing machines either. My first flat didn't. And no oven. 😂 We don't have any bins at all... we are meant to just throw everything in one bag and leave it out past 5pm. So london must be majorly behind in this as I know loads of roads that have zero recycling system. My old flat hat a bin but only a black one and you had to sort the rest yourself and bring it to the appropriate place but I highly doubt many Londoners are fond of taking loads of bins on the tube to properly dispose... hardly anyone has a car so taking things to "the tip" as it were... seems unrealistic . I do hope they sort it out though. I would like to be able to return bottles to stores ats stores at least are everywhere so it would be easy to get rid of them... but that's just me.
Jen Dre Yeah well London isn't really England you know? People live in tiny boxes and pay double for everything. The government is barely in control of the place, it just kind of runs itself because people so badly want to be there for some reason. It's like comparing central Berlin to somewhere like Braunschweig, except even more so because London is x3 bigger than Berlin. If anything living in London seems more similar to living in Germany than living in other parts of the UK is, because in Germany I've noticed people seem to be more comfortable with urban living than in the UK. Even in towns with only 300k people in Germany I noticed how many people live in the town centre, almost all blocks of flats. In a town this size in the UK almost nobody would live in the centre but in the suburbs in houses rather than flats because this is just the normal way in the UK. In Germany I see whole families living in flats and wonder why they don't move away to somewhere with a garden so the kids can play and more space. I'd never even seen a flat without an oven before moving to Germany, and I miss being able to make a roast meal or cook a frozen pizza. I'd still rather the local council services came and took my recycling for me, as they do in most of England, than having to carry bags down to the supermarket every few days. It really sucks if you live more than a few hundred metres from the nearest supermarket.
Yes London is special, but it's all I can base my opinions on, because that's the only place I have ever lived in England :) Then again things are different everywhere - if I lived in Glasgow that wouldn't be very representative either, neither if I lived in like Norfolk :D People make different experiences I guess :) But that's the fun of these videos, too - they're totally subjective! I am planning on making a video about the differences between German and English Christmas and I am sure people from South Germany will totally disagree with how I will describe German Christmas.. as I am from the North! haha
Late comment but we have light switches on cords due to safety issues. If your hands are wet from washing you could electrocute yourself I think is the general idea, probably more for childrens protection or people without common sense. But I find they always break. Maybe I'm too heavy handed.
it's your letter "L" which sounds a bit Yorkshire, the tongue goes slightly further back. This might come from your German (mind you I don't know German), but to my ears it sounds Yorkshire. Like your vids, cheers
Maybe its a bit silly to think that someone from Germany would still have a German accent, even if they had lived in UK for 20 years or more................
Wow!!! Ich hätte niemals gedacht das du eig aus Deutschland kommst. Du sprichst perfektes english! Ohne Akzent. Meist hört man das Deutsche noch raus aber ich bin echt positiv überrascht!!! 😍 Respekt
Mein Englisch ist nicht gut, trotzdem habe ich im wesentlichen alles verstanden, bis auf eine Sache. Ab Min. 07:46, Was ist Queuing? Im Wörterbuch stand „in der Schlange stehen“. Das kann doch nicht sein, die Leute mögen es in der Schlange zu stehen. Das Wort hat sicher zwei Bedeutungen. Was ist in dem Video mit Queuing gemeint?
+Jen Dre, Danke für die Antwort. Also doch in der Schlange stehen! Dann haben die Leute echt Glück kulturell so geprägt zu sein. Wenn ich weiß, dass ich in der Schlage stehen muss kaufe ich vorher eine Zeitung ;-) Als ich vorhin auf Ihr Video geklickt habe, hatte ich erst gedacht Sie wäre Engländerin, die aus Deutschland über die Unterschiede berichtet. Wie lange leben Sie denn schon in England, wenn ich fragen darf?
I have to strongly disagree about your "formal vs informal" point, but that might be specific to hospitals/the hospitals I have worked in: As a nurse, I use informal you with all of my colleagues from the get go... except maybe for the head physicians, but even with those I try to establish a flat hierarchy as fast as humanly possible. In general I feel as if the informal you along with first names gets used more and more between colleagues.
I certainly recognise the difference in formality with colleagues. Years ago I worked in the UK for a German company. The UK operation was small with only a handful of engineers and it was quite common for the European President to visit us for various reasons and he would often stay in the same hotels and go to pubs and clubs with us. We knew him, and addressed him as Karl-Heinz (or just Karl, depending how much we had drunk).
The first time I visited the German office, the shock was palpable when I greeted our president, "Hi, Karl-Heinz." then wandered into his office to chat about the previous night. To be fair, Karl-Heinz never seemed bothered but all my German colleagues were so upset: "You can't talk to him like that!"
I was also amazed at how formal people were generally in social situations. I recall being on the U-Bahn in late afternoon and being stunned to see groups of college age youths greeting each other by surname and shaking hands. In the UK, pretty much the only time anyone ever shook my hand (at that time) was at job interviews! It's interesting that my Eastern European colleagues nowadays seem equally keen on handshakes and it is common to see people going around to shake the hand of every (male) colleague at the start of work.
The biggest difference I found between the UK and German workplace was not in manners but in the promptness with which my German colleagues ended the day. If you called one second after close of business the telephones were on voicemail and the office empty. Here in the UK, working for the same company, it was not uncommon to work late into the evening to meet deadlines and telephones were expected to be on, and answered, 24/7. Our contracts stated 40 hours plus the time required to complete the tasks assigned (or words to that effect), colleagues in the German office just had a hard 37.5 hours with specified times. On the other hand, colleagues in our American parent company only had 2 weeks annual leave where we in Europe had 5-6!
I find it hard to figure out which one you preferred
From your accent I'd never have guessed your german
Yes, like British
Wen Chu She lived in the UK for some years.
English comes from the same family of language as german. So it is much easier to adapt to the pronunciations from german or even dutch to english. i have always noticed this about german people. i was watching something in german once and it sounded like a british person speaking gibberish with a British accent.
Wen Chu No, it's true. German & English are from the same language tree. You can google "Indo-European languages". English and German are both "Germanic" languages.
In Germany there is a Region called Bavaria, where I had to greet 'Servus Peter' my collegue 30 years older than me. Alle duzens sich;)
I was just going to say "we put £1 in our trolleys in the U.K. Too!" Then I heard you say Lidl and Aldi 🤣but they're my only go to shops so I'm used to having my £1coin handy. I also like the idea of reusing and recycling bottles and cans, we should do that!.
Jad, thanks a lot for you videos. they are so useful for english learners. good luck!
Picked up a very English accent.
I remember being very surprised when I found out that reusing bottles and cans isn't a regular thing around the world! Here in Finland we have return machines that give you 0.20€ for small bottles, 0.40€ for big ones and 0.15€ for cans and we collect bottles at home and then bring them to the shop when we have lots of them. So go Germany, I'm positively surprised! 😊
+Jenni K yes same in germany. Except value of bottles is different 😂 😄
+Jen Dre Oh and thank you for your amazing videos, I've been planning my trip to London and your videos have been very helpful! :)
I NEVER hug anyone I don't know, that's just weird. Hand shake, always.
And I am British
When I was a kid (early to mid 1980's) we used to return our empty fizzy drink bottles to the local corner shop and get 10p for every bottle we took back. But it was only one type of bottle where you could do this on.
With regards to light switches in bathrooms in the UK. They are called "pull cords" and the reason we have them is for safety. Normal switched light switches in a bathroom, condensation and or moisture can run down the wall, and into the switch, which can cause problems with your electrics, or worse still, give you an electric shock when you go to switch it off.
I don't agree with self service checkouts. To me, the more people that use them, the more likely you are to put till operators out of a job, so I don't use them on this principle.
Your accent is even regional, perfect, wish I could speak German this well. Live in the US but from the UK hate when people from the US pretend British accents accents. Yours spot on Just great!!!!
in australia we dont tip at all . every one has to be paid at least the legal adult age , or more but never less. so we dont tip. its not our custom
and we are uncomfortable with the whole tip concept.
Paul Richardson In Europe too, tipping is really not common, maybe in some tourist areas.
When I was a child in the US, 'fizzy water' called 'club soda during my childhood, was quite common. Of course still water is the norm, but I drank a lot of club soda in the warmer months.
LOL.. the German thinks the Brits are too “touchy” while for an American or the rest of the world I dare say people find the Brits to be pretty stand-offish XD That says it all.
The informal addressing and email thing may be something that has happened over the last couple of decades. In school in the US (1970's and 80's) we were taught Ms., Miss. and Mr. and to address people by their last name and to open letters with Dear, etc. But in the 90's we started to get away from that and address bosses and even customers by first names. Emails are more informal than letters so it makes more sense to start off with "Hi" unless it's a more formal communication like applying for a job. I personally can't stand to be addressed as Ms. Lastname. It feels condescending (though I understand that it's supposed to be respectful). I wonder when my mother entered the room and start looking around for her (which is hilarious since I'm 43).
You've probably know by now, but REWE supermarkets now have self-checkout facilities in most of their stores in Germany.
i went to a REAL recently and used the self-checkout there. I did find it a little weird however that they make you scan the receipt at the exit :D
The pull cord light switch in the bathroom is standard now - it's all about health and safety by which the nanny state rules our lives. It's so you don't touch the lightswitch with wet hands, and risk electrocuting yourself - or at least getting an electric shock. For the same reason, there are never any standard electric sockets in bathrooms here. I might find this a sensible safety precaution had I not grown up with bathrooms that had regular light switches, from which nobody in our family EVER received a shock! Mind you, way back when (before and for some time after WWII), some people had an electric FIRE fixed to the wall OVER the bath - now that was helpful, when most houses still had no central heating, and kept you from freezing whilst having a bath - but there were some terrible accidents when the fire fell off the wall and INTO the bath and the person bathing WAS electrocuted….so I guess today's arrangements make sense, really.
In Massachusetts USA the light switch for the bathroom is on the wall outside the bathroom, in the hallway - probably for similar safety reasons.
I don't just throw away my cans and bottles in the UK! I wash them out and put them in the recycling bin.
ha! You're an exception to the rule then - at least in London :D
It depends where you live in London - which borough, and in what kind of property in some cases. Your video makes it sound like we don't take recycling seriously in the UK, which just is not true.
I cannot believe that you live anywhere in London in a place where it is not perfectly possible for you to recycle cans and bottles if you actually want to. If the council doesn't actually collect recycling from outside your front door (yet) then there must at least be a recycling point close by.
The last London borough I lived in was Brent, in the Willesden area. There, if you live in a house or a flat conversion in a house (which most people in Willesden do) you get a blue bin for recycling and a grey bin (which they call a landfill bin) for non-recyclable rubbish. And you are expected to use them. Not only do the bin guys who collect the recycling and rubbish check your bins (and sometimes won't empty them if you've put stuff in the wrong bin), they also have special inspectors who go round looking in people's bins to check you are separating your recycling from your rubbish and putting everything in the appropriate bin. If you're not doing it properly you get a warning, and if you persist in not doing it properly you will end up paying a fine.
If you live in a purpose built flat in Brent you would still, at the very least, have a recycling point close by where you can take your cans and bottles - and old newspapers, magazines and cardboard etc.
I live in Nottingham now, in a house, and they have the same sort of system as Brent here.
All the councils in the UK have quotas for the amount of recycling they are meant to do and the amount of landfill they are allowed to do, and if they don't meet the quotas the government fines them thousands of pounds. That's why they have to be serious about it.
My mum has a token the same size as a pound coin which she uses for the shopping trolleys and I'd never hug somebody before getting to know them lol
One of the best aspects of UK culture inherited by the US is to address a boss by his or her first name. I always thought that the formality that is used in German, Spanish or Italian cultures is an anachronism.
The thing about hugs I believe is a fairly recent thing, at least it's a younger generation thing. Unless I'm meeting someone for the first time, I'll always be happy to give a hug but if they don't initiate the hug, I'll just go for a handshake instead. But my parents or grandparents wouldn't do any such thing unless it was family or a very good (female) friend - only handshakes or waving otherwise.
The light cord which you pull is actually called - A Pull Cord - Bathrooms have wet, wet hands on normal light switches, nooo, dangerous, wet won't travel up a pull cord. It's a building regulation requirement (or a switch outside bathroom door). I suppose there is alot of electrocution accidents in German bathrooms...*
Not really. 🤣
All the big four supermarkets have the coin chain trolleys! Where has this girl been shopping? Fortnam and Masons?!
+JD1010101110 actually, tesco. not all london supermarkets have coins in trolleys.
JD1010101110 not all trolleys at those supermarkets have a coin chain. The small trolleys especially don't have the coin chains. I guess it depends on the area you live in
germeny 1 uk 2 japan 3 usa 4
OceanBlue lol no it really isn't
It's the first time in your channel
And definitely not the last
Your new fan from Sweden:-)
Aw thanks 😁
In some bars and all fast food restaurant you need to order at the till, but in most (all?) restaurants there is waitress service!
We have the coins in the trolleys at most supermarkets near me (Glasgow, Scotland) and Northern Ireland, where my parents live too.
There was one company here (Scotland) that did the bottle returning/deposit thing but they've stopped it in the last year.
I just googled the bathroom light switch thing, because as someone below comments, it's not like people in other countries are constantly getting electrocuted from them! It's not easy to see in a quick search where it originally came from. Apparently it is now legal to have switches inside the bathroom in certain locations (eg not so close that you can switch it while in the bath), but many electricians on the forum I just looked at were saying they would avoid fitting them to avoid risk. The main concerns seem to be people switching them while they are in the bath, shower or have a hand in a basin of water, and condensation. I suspect someone at some point in British history (maybe in the early days of electricity) were (rightly or wrongly) concerned about bathroom safety, and that the equipment is now much safer, so not really an issue. It's the same reason that we don't have sockets in bathrooms (apart from the lower voltage razor ones). My Mum always told me that was so people couldn't for example drop their hair dryer in the bath while they were in the water, and electrocute themselves (either accidentally, or intentionally). I also found this on a forum (but I have no idea what it means!): "Possibly historical reasons (why some countries have these rules and other don't.) Some continental countries (certainly Germany) have had electromechanical RCDs in widespread use for a very long time, which reduce the numbers of deaths by electrocution."
The email thing is kind of interesting. Letters between firms were always formal. Email was invented and I guess initially mostly used socially. So when companies started using it, there was confusion about what sort of register to use. So I find the more formal ones (and older people) don't use "Hi", but they struggle with what to use, so end up with "Dear" or even just start with your name to avoid using anything at all. The sign off for formal letters was never mainstream use for emails, but again people struggled to know what to do, but we seem to have settled on "Best regards", "Best wishes" etc. Which is more formal than you use with a friend or family member but less formal than a letter. I found being someone who lived through all these changes interesting (but very confusing at times!). Signing off "cheers" strikes me as being between colleagues or people from different companies who are of the same age (younger)??? But it's more of an English than a Scottish expression for thank you, so it's hard for me to know. I know thank you is another way that people sign off emails when they don't know how to!
Very long comment, without a TL;DR.
A few things that might explain the differences:
2: Most UK people grow up drinking tap water, so we see still water as "normal".
4: In the UK reuse is usually something done at home. Unless you have a milkman, most glass bottles either go in kerbside recycling or to the bottle bank (as with cans). Plastic bottles (and recycling of other plastics) are one of those things where kerbside recycling is more efficient because there are just too many types of plastic, some of which can't be recycled, so there would have to be a bottle bank and wheelie bin for every type of plastic for at-home sorting to make sense.
5: Some supermarkets require £1 for trolleys and tokens are typically available, but most of them have done away with 'trolley deposits' (with the exception of some smaller stores, and larger stores on some of the smaller trolleys). We have 'trolley boys' (gender neutral term sounds weird), and most people wouldn't want their car hit by a trolley so they return it to a point near their car.
The larger supermarkets are now using self-locking wheels, just in case someone tries to steal a trolley, and in some places multiple retailers share trolleys. When I worked in Sainsbury's the local council charged £100 per trolley they returned to a store, so whenever a trolley was 'liberated' a member of staff was sent to collect it (presumably our wages plus off-site insurance was cheaper than the council's fee, plus new trolleys are rather expensive).
7: Depends on the circumstances and people. As an economy that is mostly service-based we have (in most cases) shifted away from calling bosses Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms/Sir/Madam/etc. perhaps because being informal creates less of an us/them atmosphere.
In most cases you still talk to customers formally, but if a company wants to come across as "customer-focussed" they will now ask how you want to be addressed. Amazon calls me "John" and as soon as I pass security with my bank (or as it seems, any call centre) the first question they always ask is "May I call you John?"
As someone who tends to have a "formal" conversation style, most companies call me "John" and use formal language when talking to me. If a company really annoys me I make them call me "Mr Cook" which at least makes it sound like they are taking my complaint more seriously.
9: Virtually every bathroom light "switch" in the UK is either (a) a pull cord inside the bathroom, (b) a light switch outside the bathroom, or (c) a motion sensor inside the bathroom. This is due to the building regulations which require electrical sockets and switches to be a certain distance from a bath/shower (and sinks too, I think). Except for shaving sockets (which can be closer to a bath/shower), most bathrooms in UK homes are too small for a light switch to be x metres away from the bath/shower. If the pull cord is red, it isn't for the lights. This page explains the rules (including some of the more lenient new ones that probably didn't apply when the buliding was last rewired): electrical.theiet.org/wiring-matters/53/section-701/index.cfm
10: Self-checkouts are probably popping up in every country. Self-scanning your shopping as you go around larger stores is also becoming more commonplace. If you prefer packing your own bags at smaller checkouts a self-checkout should be more efficient and less awkward than a cashier scanning and passing items to you, unless the checkout decides to start screaming 'PLEASE PLACE THE ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA!!!" and no staff are nearby. Likewise, self-scanning as you shop should be more efficient as you don't need to unload your trolley at the checkout, but "rescans" (checking you are being honest) are much less efficient. They are both things where technology can help speed things along, but they can be a huge PITA when they malfunction.
My small local Tesco has a self-service checkout that regularly has trouble with online authorisations and it starts flashing its lights and screaming at me to use another payment method even though the problem is with it, not my card. While Brits may be fine with queuing, we also don't like needlessly holding up a queue. Also, having a machine do a Santa impression after paying did irk me a bit over the Christmas period.
11: The UK is, in my experience, similar to how you describe Germany. If a tenancy agreement says you can't do something, and you want to do it, ask the landlord for permission. While they could say no, they might say yes. I got permission from my landlord for BT and Virgin Media to drill holes in the walls (sockets for phone/broadband can have value for future tenants), and my room has been painted blue (although it must be painted back to magnolia before I leave).
12: As with 7, depends on the people and circumstances. Almost all of my correspondence with government departments, politicians, and credit reference agencies have been formal by default. Depending on the length of correspondence over an issue, it might become more informal over time.
Having said that, if I am the initiator of an e-mail thread with a company/MP/government department/etc. I always start off formally. If they do the whole "customer-focussed" thing the first response back will potentially switch us from formal to informal salutations and sign-offs, and I personally prefer using "Hi" and "Thanks" instead of "Dear" and "Yours sincerely".
I think part of this is that a lot of people have been using the Internet for communication for a while. Forum threads and mailing list threads typically don't start with a salutation. Some people have also done away with sign-offs because of usernames and e-mail signatures making it clear who something is from.
Another part is that e-mail is not traditionally a formal communication medium. I have seen it suggested that e-mail writing styles can be one of three groups: formal, neutral, and casual/informal.
Formal e-mail tends to be restricted to complaints and initial contacts with an unknown person at a company/organisation. Neutral tends to be used within companies/organisations, and an initial response to a formal e-mail might be in a neutral style. Some companies might use casual e-mail in reply to casual e-mail (much like some do on Twitter). A casual reply to neutral correspondence might come across as not taking something seriously, or lead to misinterpretations.
I think the formal/informal thing for 7 and 12 might not be true. If we throw in the neutral style, then in my experience most of what I would have deemed informal (that which is not strictly formal) was actually neutral. Having something between formal and informal does make sense as it allows more efficient communication than being full-on formal, without being informal.
When renting in Britain the contract is formal and true to the video.
However if you contact your landlord you will most likely get permission.
I have been lived in 5 rented accommodations and been granted permission to decorate and put up shelves 4/5 times.
I realise I'm commenting on all of these points as you say them, but the bathroom light switch thing - as far as I know it's because some houses in the UK are converted and often don't have windows or any decent ventilation in the bathroom to get rid of steam, and so people decided having a cord pull a switch buried in the ceiling was a better idea than a wall switch that could risk electrocuting you with all the water everywhere. And I suppose it caught on as a trend.
I know that most light switches today are waterproof, and they are in bathrooms more, but this was the reason I was given for why we have pull cords in bathrooms.
Makes sense! We just have the switch outside the bathroom 😉
Well, I'm from Germany and I don't always tip and I prefer still water since it is healthier. Tipping is not a must-do in Germany, unlike in the USA. Well, with the dress-code in Germany you mentioned at the end, it has also become a bit stricter now in Germany. There were some cases in Bavaria last year I think where they banned girls from wearing navel-free tops and skirts that are too short. Maybe this is better then.
you are nice and funny I live in London too and I have similar experience with you
I like using the plastic button alternatives for the shopping trolleys (can't be bothered with small change all the time), but I frequently lose them as well. :-D A problem I can't win. :-p
I admire how well-established the recycling policies are in Germany. While you see them all around Europe, it does seem like taking bottles and so on back for recycling is already an ingrained habit in your homeland, and that's a very positive sign. People are generally recycling a lot more these days, everywhere, but it's still quite uneven from country to country.
Not talking to people at checkouts is more of a big city thing I think. If I visit the supermarket where my mum lives ic often find myself waiting while the ladies ahead of me catch up with the news!
I'm half german half English so this is interesting lol
I don't know where you go in the UK but especially in the north you don't tip anywhere
The self-checkouts are even in german stores now :D
+Fabian Berg yeah seen a few!
Zu Nummer 10 Selbstkassen: Die hat in Österreich jetzt Merkur (Rewe) als Pionier eingeführt und ich liebe diese Dinger, wenn du nur 1-5 Sachen hast. Drüber ist die Kassa+Schlange schneller.
cool!
Morrison's do that with Trolleys too
Put you cans and bottles in the recycling box!
+JD1010101110 there wasn't anywhere to recycle in the flat I lived when making that video. loads of london roads don't provide the people with bins. you just chuck black bin liners on the road.
All the boroughs are supposed to. I've lived in a couple of boroughs of London, even in flats there is normally on big bin for general waste and one big bin for recyclable.
@@JenDre it's harder in London but most places in UK have separate recycle bins which get collected every week
I love self checkouts because I don't have to interact with the cashier
stores that have a self checkout pay someone to watch it. mobile shelves might be ok.
THE STRING THING CONFUSED ME TOO WHEN I WENT TO THE UK FOR A FEW WEEKS.
I was in my friend's apartment and was just like UHHHH HOW DO YOU WORK YOUR BATHROOM LIGHT.
the pull cord light switch is for safety to help prevent electric shocks when you still have wet hands
yes everything you said it's right every time you travel to the uk .
in the airport the inmigration officer is so polite and tells you have a good day or enjoy your visit . but in germany in my experience you don't feel that welcomed it feels slightly cold . I'm not generalising it's just my opinion . I feel so welcomed in the uk and this is my view as mexican living in the uk . the British politeness you won't find it in other parts of europ or in the world .
Im Real Markt gibt es mittlerweile auch diese Self-Check-Outs, so seit 1 Jahr. Sind aber nur ein paar.
Jen, I enjoy you, you are awesome.
if renting privately landlord/landlady don't like there tenants doing to much to the property because then they have to then pay to fill in holes or redecorate the flat which costs however if you rent a council property you will find you can preety much do what you like within reason
3:00 "You'll see a lo (lot) of bottle"... Hahaha :-D Also the "glottal stop" in the pronunciation of "lot"... She's definitely "british" !
most supermarket in Britain make you deposit £1 for a trolley, and have done for many years.
not in London I guess - at least I've never seen it at any Sainsbury's or Tesco.
i work for sainsbury's at Winchmore hill Letchworth and Biggleswade stores all of them charged £1. It could be a London thing but Winchmore hill is near Enfield London
This became really common here in the UK about 5-10 years ago for just the reasons mentioned in the video. I'm surprised that Jen hasn't experienced it more often. Two different situations make it more likely (in my experience): firstly, supermarkets that are close to residential areas (ie within walking distance) where the store is concerned about trolleys leaving the site never to return; secondly, very large out of town sites where it is a real problem collecting trolleys scattered all around a massive car park.
Having said that, many stores now seem to be reversing the policy and removing coin mechanisms (or chopping off the chains!) simply because customers find it such an inconvenience. My local ASDA has dropped trolley fees within the last month and my (semi-)local Morrisons a couple of years ago. Ironically, Aldi (just 3 minutes walk from ASDA) introduced coin deposits about 6 months ago...
I keep a trolley token (fits £1 slots) on my keyring.
Not that it is a bad thing but in my 1 year stay in Germany I found that the cashiers never talk to you and are very stand-offish, they never said more than Hello and then quickly ran your groceries through and then held out their hand for money while you were trying to stuff your groceries into your bag. Not like the US where if you let them many will talk to you all day. haha. So I use the self check out to speed things up. I was in the Dusseldorf area though, could be different else where.
Interesting. I am German and at my local supermarket you would literally every time you checked out have a little chat with the cashier, going like this:
-Hello.
-Good day.
-Did you find everything you need?
-Yes, thanks.
-Do you want a receipt?
-Yes, I do.
-You're welcome.
-Thank you. Bye
+dani sechzehn I'm sure there were people that said these things as well. I was just blown away at first by the speed and brevity compared to the us. They were great at their jobs, very accurate and the lines never took long but as with most interactions I had there with strangers there were minimal niceties and next to no small talk. I'm not saying that is a bad thing just different.
Water is not supposed to be fizzy lol
Don't know where in the UK you are but pound coins for trolleys have been standard for a long time here. Since the late 90s or early 00s, it's quite rare to find a place that doesn't take a coin... I guess you're just lucky wherever you live :P
+Elle Innes I just filmed a few the other day who have no coin slots in case someone ever asked for proof 😂
Hehe, I really enjoyed this :)
YES to the Pfand-thing, I found it incredibly difficult to get rid of the habit of collecting what people here consider rubbish.
I was wondering about the trolleys though, I live in the West Midlands and need a pound or shopping coin for every supermarket trolley in the area (expect the fancy ones like M&S and Waitrose).
Love the Du vs. Sie dilemma too - I sometimes have meetings with German and English people. In the meeting I will address everyone by their first name ... naturally. However, sometimes it happens that I end up alone with the German people and you can tell that every time, everyone is utterly confused not knowing whether to say Du or Sie in German :P
This video really made me laugh out lout a couple of times! Especially the showering in the dark bit .... it was almost the same for me but I failed with the power shower. I ended up naked in a friend's bathroom (light on though :P) and was too embarrassed to ask how the damn thing works so I ended up "showering" using sink. Lovely memory!
An Mei :) I only really know about Tesco and Sainsbury's in London and they definitely do not have coin slots in their trolleys and it seems none of my friends have ever heard about having to put money in them, but good if they do it other places, I am all for that! haha
Jen Dre I was slightly surprised too, I lived in Milton Keynes beforehand and there were trolleys all over the parking lot because people were too lazy to return them (yeah I know it's like 20m of walking so that's a huge effort apparently).
+Jen Dre Huh, that's weird. I've never lived in London, but lived all over the North of England, and I think every single supermarket I've ever been to has had coin slots in the trolleys. Even the small Tesco Express ones with the weird thin trolleys.
M Errington oh that's odd, maybe it's a South England thing. I've been to many small towns and places in Norfolk, Suffolk etc and they never have coin slots either :D
+M Errington (Mr. Square) Same here: I'm in the Manchester area and coin-slot trolleys are more common than not.
In Aldi/germany, do you get time for a conversation ??
No but every supermarket in Germany is as fast as in Aldi so its just normal.
We only have light switches on the US !😂 I find that so weird
Uhh... bottles, plastic or otherwise, are never ever reused by stores/manufacturers. They're grounded down and recycled, becoming raw material input for the new production or other products.
Sorry but that is not true for all plastic bottles. Like glass bottles thick plastic bottles are/were reused (at least in Germany) - Coca Cola is trying to stop this I think... But there is still companies doing this. And you can clearly see it because reused bottles look very beaten up and form white lines around the plastic.
Jen Dre I stand corrected
15% tipping in Germany? Really?
Yes. For hairdressing too.
+Víktor Bautista i Roca
No usually you don´t tip that much in Germany. In Germany its more like 5-10%.
naaaah. maybe rude people do but I don't think I've ever dared to tip under 10% in Germany ever... ever.
But, I thought in Germany workers have a salary, not like in the USA they have to live out of tips.
***** they do. I gues now it would be more but before minimum wages were introduced a lot of waiters made maye 5 Euros an hour, which is less than 4 pounds. So its cutsomary to tip generously.
If I don't hear her speaking in german, I won't believe she's german !
I'd rather have a flat where I wasn't allowed to the change the décor than have to provide a SCHUFA, 3 months pay slips, proof that I have a job contract and a letter from my employers just to have the luxury of renting a flat where I'll have to install my own kitchen and all furnishings at massive expense to myself. Seriously you can't prefer the German way of renting it's like something out of the Victorian ages. Not only is it invasive and distrustful, I mean seriously why would you let some random landlord see your financial information, but it's a massive pain in the arse for anyone who doesn't plan to stay in that flat for years and years. Also you can probably put shelves (shelfs lol) in if you ask your landlord for permission. The thing about renting in England is that it's exactly that! A rental! If you rented a car you wouldn't expect to be able to modify the engine would you! You are borrowing it, but it's highly convenient because if the oven breaks then it's the landlord's responsibility to get a new one, you won't have to fork out 500 euros for a new one just to have to sell it a year later when you move to the other side of Germany or to a different country altogether.
You're not meant to throw away your bottle and cans you're meant to put them in the recycling box or take them to the bottle bank. Just because there is no pfand doesn't mean you can't be environmentally friendly.
The string hanging from the roof is called a pull cord. It's to stop you from electrocuting yourself if you have wet hands. Kinda dumb but there will always be some idiot with loose wiring.
Self-checkouts are now becoming very popular in Germany, much to the dismay of the older generation who are bewildered by them. All the Rewe's near me have them now. However the shops that don't have them fucking need them because it's unbelievable how few checkouts they have there. Like a supermarket that would have 12 checkouts in the UK will have like 3 in Germany (although Aldi in the UK is similar) and the service has to be super quick but I've seen some nightmare queues at peak times in supermarkets like Edeka, Tengelmann and Penny. Seems to me that most German supermarkets are a bit cheap and nasty with a crap range of products to choose from although it is changing. A big new one just opened near me and it was cute to see all the Germansn were amazed at how the supermarket was selling stuff like Gardenware, DIY stuff, household goods and stuff. Stuff we just take or granted in the UK.
Oh they do those background checks here too when you want to rent though? You have to provide all your bank statements and do a full credit check so no difference there. I had to provide 3 references. 2 professional and 1 personal etc. 😂 an agency called my employer etc etc. I don't feel the law protects me as a tenant in the UK at all. I feel it's better in Germany. But it all had advantages and disadvantages. My tenancy agreement in the uk even specifies that I can't have a goldfish. I think it's a bit too invasive.
I honestly don't think I could keep up recycling. My flat is on a major road where ppl can only put their bins straight on the road and they're collected by one vehicle. I tried to recycle many times but it goes unappreciated.
I haven't seen any self checkout where I am from in germany but it makes sense to implement them in larger cities. But I feel in the UK every tiny shop has them so they're the total norm where in germany they're still a but of a novelty... but glad they're coming. Less necessary human contact when shopping 😂😂😂
Jen Dre Maybe it is different in London where the housing market is ridiculously competitive but nowhere else in the UK have I had to do a finance check. The most I've had to do is pass an interview with the landlord and then pay the first few months up front. However I've only lived in cities in Germany which are actually smaller than places like Birmingham and Manchester, yet they all do checks without question. Also there seems to be a big lack of rental housing in German cities because I've never found a place where the landlords didn't have tonnes of applicants, while in England in most places there was housing just available and it wasn't as desperately needed (that might have to do with the fact that British landlords can refuse people on benefits a lot of the time). That is outside of London though. Ultimately I'd rather no have a goldfish and not have to have a finance check. Sometimes in England I rented shitty places for 6 months just until something better turned up, but in Germany doing that seems a lot harder. It's like you were buying the property. The kitchen thing is a complete nightmare for foreigners and anyone who likes to move frequently. It also means that a lot of the places I've rented in Germany didn't have ovens or washing machines which sucks majorly.
The recycling should be picked up by one vehicle yeah, but you should have multi-coloured bins for different materials. I've never been to anywhere in England where they didn't have this system. It started over 10 years ago and now it's virtually everywhere. In some areas you will get fined if they think you're putting to much recycling in the black bins (which is for non-recyclable). It's a way better system imo because it doesn't require endlessly going to the supermarket just to claim back money you've already spent. Don't you have wheely bins where you are? My old house in England had like 4 different ones (Glass, paper, green and normal). The pfand system feels like they are forcing you to recycle which is kind of harsh.
It's funny watching the self service checkouts in Germany, people get really confused and annoyed by them, but it cuts down the time shopping massively. I don't understand how many German supermarkets operate with so few staff. In England if you ask where something is then the staff member will take you to the item exactly, in Germany they just grunt at you some vague direction. Also the queues at like 6pm at fucking insane with like 20 people, even though I was say the German checkout people work faster than the British ones, it's still amazing to see huge supermarket with like 5 checkouts.
I can only speak for London but a lot of flats here don't have washing machines either. My first flat didn't. And no oven. 😂
We don't have any bins at all... we are meant to just throw everything in one bag and leave it out past 5pm. So london must be majorly behind in this as I know loads of roads that have zero recycling system. My old flat hat a bin but only a black one and you had to sort the rest yourself and bring it to the appropriate place but I highly doubt many Londoners are fond of taking loads of bins on the tube to properly dispose... hardly anyone has a car so taking things to "the tip" as it were... seems unrealistic . I do hope they sort it out though. I would like to be able to return bottles to stores ats stores at least are everywhere so it would be easy to get rid of them... but that's just me.
Jen Dre Yeah well London isn't really England you know? People live in tiny boxes and pay double for everything. The government is barely in control of the place, it just kind of runs itself because people so badly want to be there for some reason. It's like comparing central Berlin to somewhere like Braunschweig, except even more so because London is x3 bigger than Berlin. If anything living in London seems more similar to living in Germany than living in other parts of the UK is, because in Germany I've noticed people seem to be more comfortable with urban living than in the UK. Even in towns with only 300k people in Germany I noticed how many people live in the town centre, almost all blocks of flats. In a town this size in the UK almost nobody would live in the centre but in the suburbs in houses rather than flats because this is just the normal way in the UK. In Germany I see whole families living in flats and wonder why they don't move away to somewhere with a garden so the kids can play and more space.
I'd never even seen a flat without an oven before moving to Germany, and I miss being able to make a roast meal or cook a frozen pizza.
I'd still rather the local council services came and took my recycling for me, as they do in most of England, than having to carry bags down to the supermarket every few days. It really sucks if you live more than a few hundred metres from the nearest supermarket.
Yes London is special, but it's all I can base my opinions on, because that's the only place I have ever lived in England :) Then again things are different everywhere - if I lived in Glasgow that wouldn't be very representative either, neither if I lived in like Norfolk :D People make different experiences I guess :) But that's the fun of these videos, too - they're totally subjective! I am planning on making a video about the differences between German and English Christmas and I am sure people from South Germany will totally disagree with how I will describe German Christmas.. as I am from the North! haha
Late comment but we have light switches on cords due to safety issues. If your hands are wet from washing you could electrocute yourself I think is the general idea, probably more for childrens protection or people without common sense. But I find they always break. Maybe I'm too heavy handed.
Loll. you should try being in France where people kiss each other on the cheek. That still freaks me out.
I love self checkout.
Self check outs are vewy vewy üblich in DL
No! No! no one likes queuing it's just polite!
Ad at the end of the video, weird.
you have a slight Yorkshire accent
Never heard that before but I'll take it :D
it's your letter "L" which sounds a bit Yorkshire, the tongue goes slightly further back. This might come from your German (mind you I don't know German), but to my ears it sounds Yorkshire. Like your vids, cheers
english people is germanic, originally from germany. maybe that explains why
It's not a hug it's bro spect get to my level bro
Maybe its a bit silly to think that someone from Germany would still have a German accent, even if they had lived in UK for 20 years or more................
Love you
Germany is 100% White, UK is about 90% White
Wow!!! Ich hätte niemals gedacht das du eig aus Deutschland kommst. Du sprichst perfektes english! Ohne Akzent. Meist hört man das Deutsche noch raus aber ich bin echt positiv überrascht!!! 😍 Respekt
Danke :)
Are you british or german? Or both? Hald british, half german? you look cute
German
Jen Dre
thanks and have a nice day
Mein Englisch ist nicht gut, trotzdem habe ich im wesentlichen alles verstanden, bis auf eine Sache. Ab
Min. 07:46, Was ist Queuing? Im Wörterbuch stand „in der Schlange stehen“. Das kann doch nicht sein, die Leute mögen es in der Schlange zu stehen. Das Wort hat sicher zwei Bedeutungen. Was ist in
dem Video mit Queuing gemeint?
+CaptainX100 Engländer stehen wirklich gerne an. Ist ne Art Kultur hier.
+Jen Dre, Danke für die Antwort. Also doch in der Schlange stehen! Dann haben die Leute echt Glück kulturell so geprägt zu sein. Wenn ich weiß, dass ich in der Schlage stehen muss
kaufe ich vorher eine Zeitung ;-) Als ich vorhin auf Ihr Video geklickt habe, hatte ich erst gedacht Sie wäre Engländerin, die aus Deutschland über die Unterschiede berichtet. Wie lange leben Sie
denn schon in England, wenn ich fragen darf?
+CaptainX100 etwas ueber 4 Jahre!
Darf man fragen, von wo genau du kommst? :)
Arirukuka Luebeck :)
I have to strongly disagree about your "formal vs informal" point, but that might be specific to hospitals/the hospitals I have worked in: As a nurse, I use informal you with all of my colleagues from the get go... except maybe for the head physicians, but even with those I try to establish a flat hierarchy as fast as humanly possible. In general I feel as if the informal you along with first names gets used more and more between colleagues.
FIZZY WATER IS VERY BAD FOR YOU WHEN EATING AS IS ICED WATER. DON'T DO IT !!
English you is an equivalent of Sie, the equivalent of Du is thou, which is basically not used anywhere.
Please take this accent back to Germany and teach them. The British Accent will soon vanish and be replaced by the American one.
Two World Wars and One World Cup vs. No World Wars and Two or Three World Cups - no fucking contest.
If you're German, then why the English accent?
+ozwasp because I live in England?
Jen Dre That's strange, as accents don't usually leave, or not very quickly - You don't have any sign of a German accent
+ozwasp Im just good at imitating people. I've sounded like this 6 months after moving to England.
Jen Dre Ok, maybe locals from England could pick inconsistencies - I'm in Australia
You have a very English face for German and I will leave it at that.
You sound British you are yeah