It always seemed a bit odd to me that in certain English speaking countries where I lived people said a sincere “Sorry” after having to sneeze, but burped wholeheartedly and uttered merely a “fake” sorry after such a noise. From my experience burping is considered vulgar in Germany whereas sneezing is a response to being sick or having hay fever and people don’t feel offended by it. Gesundheit 😉
Blowing the nose at the table where you eat is rude and disgusting. At least where I come from (last time I checked it was Germany). It's true that this happens, but this is something only the "creepy grandpa" does. ...since the pandemic we get up, take 1,5 Meter distance to the table and blow the nose 😂
Couple of things: 1. We'll generally switch to English if you speak to us in broken German because we're German and want to be efficient. Most of the time our English will be better than your German, so it's easier and more efficient to speak English. 2. The coffee thing is not so much about planning. You have to be careful with your small talk. We don't really do that. "How are you" is a genuine question to us. If you don't want to know how we are, try "Hello!" instead. Same goes for "we should meet for a coffee some time". If you don't actually want to plan something, don't bring it up or ask if they'd like to go for a coffee right now.
Regarding #1, if someone is in Germany to learn the language it can be exceptionally frustrating to never get the chance to practice speaking German and having a normal conversation in German. I went through this myself long ago so I know exactly how infuriating it is. It may seem "easier and more efficient" to you as a German, but you are not thinking about the other person's needs, and in some cases actually preventing other people from learning German.
@@alicemilne1444 Sure but if you are on the move you might not want to take so much time for an unknown person. If it is on a party or somewhere else fine. but this specific case is hard to do a German lesson.
@@alicemilne1444 well i dont mind if you speak german to me but if i answer in english well maybe i think i can make clear what i mean better that way or just maybe i want to train my english skills as much as you want to train german so speak german if you want to no need to switch to english too
As an American who has lived in Germany for over 25 years, I can verify that every one of those things has happened to me over time. My favorite story is of my first neighbor. I had plants on my balcony as most do here and I found some leaves neatly tucked into a plastic bag, taped to my apartment door with the request to "please keep your leaves on your own balcony" I got such a laugh out of that. My girlfriend is a stickler for appointments....she keeps an appointment book (not electronic) and most of our weekends are planned months in advance. No joke. Great video!
Until recently when Feli mentioned this in a video I didn't know that blowing your nose could be considered rude. On the contrary: my parents and teachers always told me/us to blow the nose instead of constantly sniffing. I never left the table for blowing the nose just turned away.🤔
tunring away is fine. But blowing your nose infront of the food where other people eat is just disgusting. The tissue isn't going to keep the bacteria from spreading.
Yeah the trash checking neighbours would actually be a more positive example. Usually, you'll only have your own bin for the Restmüll/general waste, while others for paper/plastic/bio will be shared **and** there are also fees for them. So, being shared, they're almost always full- so if one person puts plastic in the bio bin, for example, the company is allowed to refuse pickup and might even add a fine in some places... So if the bio bin is gonna sit there all full for 2 more weeks, esp now as it gets warmer it **is** everyone's problem ... 😂
I am from a small town between Hamburg and Bremen and I often think watching videos about Germans/Germany they are speaking about another country. Or it is because many videos are from Berlin and Bavaria 😛Yes such things happen. But not in general. About the rules. It is the same in all countries. Social rules with which we grow up are somehow engraved into our brains. I often smile about rules in France or the Us or England too. And they will point on mistakes as well. As always it depends on the persons character. Don't take all that too serious. Come, visit and experience by yourself. The people and the country. Try to erase many of the stuf you have seen out of your brain. That you can enjoy your trip freely. I really hope you will have an amazing time.
I can imagine her to be talking about Berlin. I studied there and found the population sort of split. There were these "cool", very excentric people who didn't care about anything and on the other hand a lot of very conservative people with what I would call a "prussian mindset". I can't remember any of these situations in the video ever happened to me or anyone I know here in Bavaria, not in my large city nor in the rural area where I lived for a few years. These are just stereotypes that MIGHT happen, but are not really commonly wide spread in Germany.
I was born in Hamburg and still live here but none of these apply to me. Even though I agree that all of these facts are true. I usually am totally hating all of these 😂😂😂 I also think it’s a very German culture thing. What I mean by that is that I believe that it’s basically native Germans doing this stuff.
You asked for things which happen in Germany: In April I lost my purse with over 400 Euros, my ID , driving license and several credit and debitcards (which I all just had with me at that day) here in Berlin. I waited some days and organized new ID and driving license. Some days later I got a thick letter with the purse and everything in it. Somebody found it and sent it to me. I sent him a letter with the finders reward and a big thank you but sadly couldn’t get him on the phone to check where he actually found it.
People commonly take found objects to the nearest rathouse. I found my bunch of keys there. It was a wonderful and touching experience . It also meant saving a fortune on replacing special keys and some locks as my partner didnt have duplicafes for all of them...not to mention the time involved
ALL is in this video true! I personally found ( not only once) a purse or a cellphone and I gave it back. I expect the same from the other people. And I have been never disappointed! It's all for a common good and the better future, ISNT IT???? Greetings from Germany 🇩🇪!
I love the deposit scheme on the bottles. I went to a local festival near me, in the UK, and you paid £5 for the pint and £3 for the plastic cup. I've never seen a festival site so clean!
@@kaj0t thank you yes I forgot the name. Just remember that he's from Krakhozia or something and he sets himself up pretty good with the chairs and all
The house rules and rest periods in apartment buildings in Germany are taken very seriously . But if you want to celebrate a little longer and let the neighbors know, most of them will understand. And most people are not that strict with their daily planning, they will definitely have time to have a coffee, tea or a beer with you.
Ist ja auch nicht bloß 'ne Hausordnung, sondern gesetzlich geregelt. Und wenn Du werktags sehr früh raus musst, kannste froh sein, wenn diese kleine Regel einfach von allen eingehalten wird ... ist ja kein großes Ding. Wer schon mal 'n Nachbarn hatte, der auf die Nachtruhe scheisst, weiß wie das ist. Und wenn Du keinen Bock mehr hast, regeknäßig freundlich um Nachtruhe zu bitten, kannste die Schmiere bestellen, die dann durchsetzt, was Du nicht höflich regeln konntest.
Only thing as a German I am really guilty of is spare time planning. I vividly hate spontaneous "do you have time today", lol. I need days or weeks mental preparation and need to write into my calender a good time before, so I can make sure I am prepared. XD
9:40 "The coffee is at 4, I'm being there at 3:55" In Germany we say "5 Minuten vor der Zeit ist des Deutschen Pünktlichkeit", which roughly translates to "5 minutes early is on time for germans", so you already got that figured out perfectly!
Zu früh ist unpünktlich. Being too early is being not on time, too. If someone comes in too early she/he can see how she/he amuses themselves until I have time for them. Obviously being friends or similar varies the reaction, but that doesn't change the fact that being too early is just as rude as being too late.
@@beageler Never heard that before during my time in Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. You don't expect people to arrive 15 minutes early, but 5 minutes early are the standard.
@@dansattah Like I said, they can turn up earlier, but then they should be prepared to wait. Less so in private settings, but very much so in professional settings. That's what waiting areas are for.
In a Play by Heiner Müller the saying is "5 Minuten vor der Zeit, ist die _wahre_ Pünktlichkeit" which would translate to "5 Minutes too early is the _true_ punctuality"
7:50 I once had very loud neighbours whose living room was next to my bedroom. They liked inviting family over and their kids were always up late jumping around and shouting. I was rather lenient for them, but be sure that when I wanted to sleep and they were at it, I was kicking that wall. Hard. Always shut them up.
Denmark is kind of the connection between Germaness and Scandinavian 😂 like compared to the Scandinavians above you, your still somewhat German compared to the German side we envy the Scandinavian organisations and mentality..
I was really surprised to learn, that the German "Abendbrot" is something special. For be it's perfectly normal to have bread for dinner. (Even when the whole family is eating together.) Eating something cooked at the evening is rare, usually when meeting with friends/business contacts or at holidays.
about the rules to be quiet at night: it's not that we're obsessed with rules and want rules for the sake of rules. this one for example is basically a compromise for apartment buildings where you live very close to your neighbors & you somehow have to figure out a way that works for everyone: the ones who need to practice their instruments & the ones who go to bed early because they maybe work in shifts or have to get up early for other reasons. reminding people of that is always tough because the ones reminding others are painfully aware of what they're doing. and I wish the ones who were reminded would also be more aware of the fact that they're not alone in the house. 🤷♀ I think most rules in Germany are intended to avoid petty conflicts & aim at people not annoying each other too much. Remember that Germany is smaller than Texas & 84 million people live here.
if you plan to be in berlin during your stay in germany you should think about a side trip to prague. theoretically you could make a one day trip to prague. flixbus runs several times a day from berlin to prague and back (one way about 4 hours). depending on when you go you pay about 50€ round trip. Prague is one of the most beautiful cities with one of the best preserved and largest castles. not to mention good and cheap beer. a lot of information about prague can be found on the channel "The Honest Guide" of which you have already seen a video (differences between America and the EU).
Hahaha, exactly, let's teach him how it's done. He can't just visit Germany or even just one city for the first time in his life and then just spontaneously explore one thing after another. He has to be as efficient as possible and needs to visit as many different countries near Germany as he can fit into his schedule. Not a single minute must be wasted, true to one of German's favorite saying: " Gut geplant ist halb gewonnen." 😂 s/he is right though. Prague is great, but IMO worth to be explored with more time than just a few hours during a day trip. @MoreJps 2 things that haven't been mentioned in these educational videos about Germany 1. We always have a suitable saying ready for every imaginable and even the smallest situation and love to annoy other people with it. 2. We love sarcasm. Preferably delivered with a straight face, topped with irony and sprinkled with cynicism. Btw. I love how excited you get about visiting Germany and how much thoughts you put into it. Even though some things might be for video content reasons, but don't worry about doing anything wrong as a visitor in Germany. Especially here in Berlin there is not much that you can actually do wrong or out yourself as a tourist, because it's much harder to spot an actual German and original Berliner are actually unicorns.
You can also put empty bottles next to trash cans. Then the bottle collectors can take them directly with them. In some cities there are even rubbish bins with extra holders for bottles. Old people who only get a small pension often collect.
Just today one of my neighbors taped a notice on our recycling bins, because I don't clean out my food containers or milk containers in other recycling containers before I throw out , because when they get to the recycling station destination, they get cleaned anyway.I don't wanna waste drinking water from the tap. so I taped a notice from the Internet on the other bin stating that it is not mandatory to clean out your recycling containers and that it actually does only waste water. But most people in Germany think it is only proper to clean out everything you throw away because of the smell and because of insects and so I always have problems with people because of this everywhere I live even though I'm actually right and they're wrong
Well actually the neighboors thing depends always on where you exactly live and what neighboors you have. The same goes with several other things like when she said "you are in the way". That's something that would rather happen VERY rarely and I don't recall it to have happened to me after over 39 years living in Germany. :) People also differ from place to place and she mostly brought up things that happen in Berlin. Same goes with the planning and meeting people. Yes, we plan a lot because we also have to at parts (depending on the work, family situation, age and more) but it doesn't rule out that if you ask if we have time tonight to go watch a movie, or drink a coffee or have a gaming session or whatever, we will say, yes, let's go! :) As about the noise thing I must say I was one of these neighboors that went upstairs and told them to finally stop it because I have to wake up at 5am for work and they kept being VERY loud at 2am in the morning so I couldn't sleep the whole time.
If someone in my house risked me having to pay fines because the garbage wasn't separated, I would say something, too. I often have the feeling that people from other countries thinking Germans are rude for mentioning things is just entitlement.
This thing with speaking English happens to me all the time. As a German, I am asked something by a foreigner, and I see that he makes an effort to speak the language. What happens: I answer him in English - happens all the time and all the time.
I disagree with o lot of points of the video that you are watching. There are a bunch of countries in which people switch to your language as soon as they detect your accent. People in the Netherlands do it a lot. People in France almost never do it, even if they speak other languages. People of English speaking countries are simply seldomly able to speak any other language and are therefor not able to switch. In Germany people do not "love rules". People are simply more aware of the rules and fall back to them when they are bothered by something. Instead of being socially competent while asking for something, they mention the rules. The other side of the coin are people who have no awareness of people around them at all. Be that being loud in the middle of the night during a work day, or standing around at the narrowest spot of a busy walk way with a huge crowed around them trying to pass. The woman in the video seems to be one of those people if people come to her all the time telling her that she is in the way :D That only happened to me once and I was actually standing in the way. But there are also valid points. Lots of Germans really do plan there weeks like crazy. You actively have too look for spontaneous people.
I experienced the quite opposite behavior here with Germans. When I randomly meet German tourists in Victoria or Vancouver, they seem (according to the claim in the video) to be polarized differently. Most often, at least in my little cosey Canadian roam, they are happy to communicate in German, even I notice that their English is quite fluent.
I live in a multi appartment building and i feel like you have to read your neighbours a bit. Give them a bit of freedom and then you get some for yourself. Like, if they have friends over after ten and it's a bit louder, just let them have it and they will probably recognize that you didnt complain and wont complain on their part when you listen to slightly louder music on a sunday. But everyone has their individual limits and you just have to figure that out a bit. And some people just arent good at that or even worse, complain all the time while also doing a lot of annoying things themselves.
The part about complaining about throwing trash in the wrong bin absolutely makes sense. If the collectors spot someting in the bin that doesn't belong there, they will leave the full bin behind. Then you can either go through the whole bin and take everything out that got wrongfully in there (which noone wants to do, especcially in the bio disposables) or order an, expensive, special tour for the collectors so it goes into the "various" type of trash. So if your neighbour scolds you for not following the rules in that case he/she is in the right because everyone in the house will have to pay for it.
TBH you know when you're going to move so you can make an appointment with a network technician beforehand. Plus, it's not even necessary to have a technician at home anymore, if the appartment has an existing network connection and you've got a router that can be accessed remotely. You'll just have to allow the remote access and the provider can install the necessary data remotely.
right, the only "occasion" you need a technican is, when they need to install new lines, like upgrade copper-low-bandwith to glasfiber-high-bandwith, maybe even complete new wires need to have ground-works too
I'd like to add here: I'd say most of those rules, like Nachtruhe, are most often enforced by older people. Of course there are exceptions and of course you always try to be reasonably loud/quiet after 10pm. If you ever want to throw a party, just inform your neighbours beforehand and it should be okay. English is also exceptionally easy for German people since English is very close to German and we learn it from a young age. So you will always find people who'll talk to you in English, especially in bigger cities. If you're not sure - OFTEN it is "safer" to talk to younger people in that regard but I do know a lot of older people who speak crystal perfect English!
I've never heard someone complain about noise in my whole life when it wasn't at 2 AM and really really loud music since hours. Of cause there are this odd guy complaining, but you got strange people everywhere.
It is necessary to sort the trash right. If it's not done correctly, there is a good chance it wouldn't be taken by the trash workers. To avoid getting stuck in trash one has to be annoying to some neighbors. Once I got mad at a moving neighbor. He threw all his crap in the trash, filling two containers by himself, leaving no space for everybody else. It wasn't normal trash but pieces of furniture, old carpets and so on. For these things he should have made a special appointment and put it on the sidewalk the night before. It doesn't cost extra money if done right. But putting it in the normal trash containers causes extra load and the whole house is charged.
@@xaverlustig3581 Sure, but you still don't throw your general waste into the bio waste container, like it happenend in the video. Also, paper, plastic and bio waste is cheaper than general waste. But, it's your money.
@@5thElem3nt No I put everything in the generic bin. I'm prepared to give them my plastic and paper for recycling if they pay me for it, but not for free.
I usually always answer in German when someone asks me in German even if I know they’re maybe not rly from here or struggling. If they begin talking in English I switch to English too. I really don’t want someone to think their German sucks and I‘m acknowledging their effort by responding in German. Also we‘re all used to ppl talking to us that don’t really speak perfect German since a lot of older (not necessarily OLD) ppl may have a migration background and still aren’t used to talk in German since their social circle is made of ppl speaking the same first language as them. So I think Germans don‘t get flustered when it comes to broken German. Though there are some making racist discriminating comments too
Watching your vlogs from UK and Germany you are a decent guy. You have done your homework and looked at the places to visit and culture before you go. Very comprehensible and great to see from a young generation your parents must be really proud of you.
I hope you´ll be enjoying your time in Germany and you´ll be visiting not only Berlin but other places, too - Berlin is not examplary for life in Germany. Berlin is rather considered a "failed state" by many Germans and one should get a wider view. The Baltic Sea by the way is just a 2.5 hours ride north of Berlin with wonderful landscapes, beaches, small towns and villages and so on...
I literally would love to see ur face the first time you see someone in a Berlin U-Bahn with a beer bottle in the back of their baggy jeans. In some places it is not as present but in Berlin everyone drinks beer no matter of place, time or Pegel ( engl. “level” of drunkenness). I wish u a great time here! If you want to go partying you might want to go in a bigger group, maybe you think about making a party Discord for those who are available in Berlin/Hamburg :)
Literally the waste separating thing never happened to me, but to my best friend! The neighbor came over with all their trash and a handout about the right way of waste separation. He was especially furious about the pizza boxes bc since they have grease stains they can’t go into the paper trash. Yep to that instinct xD
In my town, citizens have to separate their recyclables as follows: milk cartoons (TetraPack), plastic cups (yoghurt etc.) plastic packaging and plastic foils separated, Aluminium, cans (dog food, tuna etc) - it is driving me crazy. I live on the third floor, so I have 6 containers in my kitchen. And once a month I drive it all to the recycling station of the city council. And the plastic packaging has to be separated again when it had fresh animal products like ground beef or chicken breasts and the foil on top, otherwise the staff at the recycling station is telling you off - and not in a nice way.) it really has gone super crazy with all this recycling. And the system is different from council to council. Aaaaarhh
If you have similar people in the garbage collection as we do, there is nothing left but to pay close attention to the garbage separation. They leave the barrels full, with a "re-sort" note on it. And that's bullshit because you can't get rid of the newly sorted barrels until the next emptying.
Nobody likes being corrected. On the other hand, how are you going to learn if nobody corrects you? With the waste separation it is probably even important. If non biodegradable things are going to the compost, it either gets detected and the whole compost will get throne on the landfill, or it does not get detected and the waste contaminates the soil created by the recycling process. Then you get plastics and toxins in nature and the food supply. If you get grease and oil in the cardboard recycling it can effect the properties of the recycled paper to a point where whole batches are unusable (you cant write on it, or they disintegrate, or they just start molding). Tonns of material needs to be throne away then, instead of being in the recycling system over and over. I would rather be a little uncomfortable once because I was caught making a mistake, than be oblivious about the mistake.
@@woedendstewadpier4922 Yeah of course I am totally with you! And I do get it, the way the neighbor interacted with her was just insanely rude. You know an 18 year old in her first own flat getting yelled at by a man in his 40s in the hallway instead of being talked to I an informative way is just the point where I draw the line :/
@@woedendstewadpier4922 Put everything in "Restmüll" and you're done. If companies want to make a profit from my stuff, I want payment otherwise they don't get it.
To be honest; if you live in a 7 storey house with 6 flats each floor, the least I can expect from people is to be quiet at night. Night starts at 22:00.
Hello!! I watch and love the videos on your RUclips channel, and I recommend that when you come to Germany, visit Dresden! The city is considered the cultural city of Germany (the Florence of the Elbe) and is located less than 1 hour and a half from Berlin, either by train or by bus (the tickets are quite cheap). Also from Dresden you can easily go to see Saxony Switzerland, Leipzig and even Prague (less than 1 hour away).
A few years ago I was in London, it was the middle of the night. Small street, red traffic light, no cars far and wide. On the other side stood a man. A minute or two later, Traffic light red, still no car. Traffic light turns green, still no car. I go, he goes. As if we were about to meet us in the middle and were a little on the same level, he says as we pass: "Auch deutsch?" Me: "Jap."
If it happens very often, that people tell you, you were in the way, maybe, you shouldn't blame the others, but at least take into consideration, that you are at least part of the problem and frequently block the path of others, which can be a nuisance if the other one is in a hurry.
De de de de de de de deeee de de de deeeee… 15min later…”Leider, sind alle unsere Angestellten in Gesprächen. Versuchen Sie es zu einem anderen Zeitpunkt wieder.”… aufgelegt! If you know, you know! :)
Hello Joel. The family l was with bought me a sliced loaf, like at home, assuming I would not rather try what they ate, similar to the speaking English but of the video. I hope you had a good Memorial Day.
ha this is the same in switzerland but a little more phased, noise should be reduced at 8pm to a normal level "moving chairs" not excessivly loud tv etc" and from (depending on where you live) 10 or 11, in side or out, you have to be as silent as possible. for example if your caught revving your engine after hours in a neighbour hood, you might loose your license.
With the internet connection - its critical, one tip which I would always do if I take over an apartment or house for renting - discuss with the former owner and take it over, its seamless - worked for me. You can do that with your local provider. Not a new connection just take over.
The planning of free time sounds so weird when they show it like this but yeah I do it, everyone I know does it. Before I visit my parents who live just a few minutes from me we make up a time. Who knows what I would run into if I just come around uninvited..
I din't know if I am not living in that germany but all my friends are always late and if I'm not planing a bigger trip (have to buy tickets for a show or a train) or an event (birthdayparty or wedding) i don't plan weeks in advance and most people i know don't do this eather
I always remember my German grandparents in Hamburg making me wait at the pedestrian crossing, until the walk light turned green. Even when the street was completely empty. When in the UK we treat pedestrian crossing on minor roads as mainly there for mothers with children and old people.
Very nice video! I maybe you can meet with them! They already contacted other reacters who do germany reactions 😀 I've lived in Japan for a couple of years and the cultural shock is probably even higher than the one between Germany and Japan. Especially the blowing your nose thing. One thing you'll notice in germany is that unfortunately very many people smoke. And they DONT GIVE A SHIT about their surroundings. Around kids, in parks, in front of buildings, on their own balcony. Basically they contaminate the whole city and everyone is ok with it. Even non-smokers tend to take their side (and I'm sure someone is gonna react to my comment to defend them lol)
Yes, we separate our garbage but if someone tells you, that you sorted it wrong, it has a reason: The garbage disposal might look into the garbage bin and won´t dispose it when there is, for example, plastic in the paper bin, because it can´t be recycled then properly
People commonly take found objects to the nearest rathouse. I found my bunch of keys there. It was a wonderful and touching experience . It also meant saving a fortune on replacing special keys and some locks as my partner didnt have duplicafes for all of them...not to mention the time involved . so.if you lose.your thing and dont find it there, ask where else someone migght have handed it in, and try another day if still not found. If your think has fallen behind a bench into a bush then it couod be there a few days before being seen or someone might find it and not have time immediafely to take it to the rathouse.
Hi, don't take the video too seriously. While there are people who are uptight, there are plenty of easygoing individuals, especially among the upcoming generations. However, it does make sense to follow rules in public because we Germans want to be good role models, and safety is important to us. As for noise disturbance, it depends on the area. There are plenty of student areas or houses outside of residential complexes where making a little noise isn't a big deal. Greetings from Germany PS.: You have to visit Heidelberg :D the castle is *chef's kiss*
Regarding the red light: don’t cross on a red light during the day (late at night can be acceptable) - you (everyone) has to be a good example for any children, who might see (even if you don’t see them). But you can cross a street everywhere else without a traffic light, just make sure to look in all directions first.
@@woedendstewadpier4922 really? Where? Nowhere, where I lived or visited. In those places people always seemed to have a „children might be looking out of a window, I just can’t see them“ on their minds. Which is very understandable for parents, we know, that children are at home more than non-parents would expect.
ROFL - with the speaking english to americans asking for the way in german you just got me trapped.... 🤭 On the other hand there are also some kind of stereotypes that may hit the nail directly to it's head for some persons - but definitely not for all. There are some people that love to "educate" others in the form of telling them what would be allowed and what not. But that's far off from ""the usual Germans" and these persons are not at all that much popular in germany among their neighbours too. The calender thingy for planning your leisure times - hugh.... I never had that amongst any of my friends... 😀
its a bit late to answer 3 months later but lol why not: basically if someone approches me with german i speak german to them and if they ask in english i reply in english. BUT if the convo is dragging on for ages because we stuggle with words I usually start speaking english so they can understand what i mean, then if they dont understand what i mean i think its probably because they are a bit unsure, if they keep talking in german thats fine by me aslong as we get to the point. Even if not id ask politely if we could switch to english because They certainly want to get to their destination and so do i
Well, maybe it also depends on the provider. I'm with Telekom, but I also had to wait a few days because I had to lay the cable to the house telephone connection beforehand, as I didn't have a connection. Since a buddy of mine is a telecom technician, I was able to call him and he accepted the order and called me at work in the morning: "Got your connection ready. I was totally surprised, it didn't even take 5 minutes to connect and activate it. My mother has all her doctor's appointments and birthdays of family and relatives in it. Oh, it's not so bad now with the nose blowing. My father liked to burp and fart a lot with hearty food and beer. My mother used to say: "Why don't you burp and fart, don't you like it?😂😂😂
Telekom is a prime example of an ISP that is just crappy in every regard. At least there's the chance with them that, if you can reach second level service and make a stink, things change. That is where you can see the higher price of their products working. Back when DSL first came around, I had to make them restart the gateway server every couple of days. And how I had to argue for them to connect me with second level/a local technician without going through reboots and downloading drivers and all that drivel. After a couple of weeks I demanded to talk to a supervisor and told him that I had that problem every few days and that I was fed up with having to spend 20 minutes holding first level's hand before I got through to someone who could help me within a minute. Afterwards the gateway crashed much more seldom and first level accepted it when I told them that I knew exactly what the problem was and that a local technician could solve it with the flick of a switch.
When we visited Berlin and been drinking in public there was constantly someone asking for our bottles. It was really annoying. Especialy when we just opened cans and took just few sips. And till you finish your drink, there will be other two persons asking for your bottle.
I am German, my Wife is turkish! When we go to vacancies we go to turkey, where our neighbours are british! When i first met them, after 2 weeks, the wife asked me when we would return to the USA...Damn man...I am f ing proud of that story...
The consumption of alcoholic beverages in public is quite common in quite a few other countries in Europe, It´s nothing specific German! My Internet connection was available on the day I moved into my new apartment. The Germans, providing theyx spek English, are not the only ones answering Engliosh, the Dutch do that, too.
He will go to Berlin and he will probably encounter some rude people, then that’s when he gets the idea that everyone in Germany are rude, Just like he did about Scotland.
If you say: let's meet sometimes and a German says yes he or she means it. You'll get a text message or a mail to set up a date. If you don't mean it don't say it. If you don't want to if someone asks you say no. That you have no time. It's not rude. It's better than ghosting or let the other person wait for nothing. Don't ask a German how he's doing if you are not prepared to listen. If you are not don't ask. But it's almost hurting if someone asks me and them I realize that he or she is not really interested or it's not the right moment. Don't ask then. It's ok. We understand that sometimes people are not in the mood to listen or are not interested. But asking: How are you? means you are and you have time. It's a serious offer to be open to what the other person has to say.
And be prepared to schedule enough time to listen to complaints about the weather even though it has literally nothing to do with the intention of the original question. 😂
Okay but the trash-thing does actually make sense. 1. Biomüll (vegetables etc) are brought to compost and back into the cycle. 2. if the waste-company finds too much stuff in the Biotonne that doesn’t belong there, they will eventually stop picking up the trash.
I feel like the people, who are so strict with the rules are an annoying minority. Usually you try to not break the rules or to not overdo it if you have to break them. So for example if you have friends over for drinking and you make noise past 10pm, try to not do it to often and if a neighbor complains, because he has to get up early the next morning, you either try to turn the volume down or better you go to a bar or some other place. In return if a neighbor has guests over and is a bit louder past 10pm or starts to drill something on a Sunday, you don't complain. It's just give and take. However there is this small minority of people, that are so strict with the rules, they will just wait until you break one of them so they can start complaining. If you move in next to somebody like this it's really bad luck, because you either have to be extra careful with everything you do or they will complain all the time. Maybe there are more people like this in Germany than in other countries, but it's definitely not like this is the norm in Germany. Most germans dislike people like this aswell.
That rule with 22:05 is not exactly right - you can still play your keyboard, but it has to be to a moderate volume. Also you have Mittagsruhe - a time between 12:00 and 14:00, it' basically the same but not that harsh as in the evening. Most germans go early to bed, because they leave the house pretty early in the morning for work and that is often also why they are annoyed, when people are loud after 10pm. Blowing your nose so loud is also a bit different now - because of corona
As a born south african ive noticed ive become rather german because i too will walk up to you and tell you what rules you broke and why they are important. The reason is simple. Id rather fix the problem than complane all day, everyday.
i think planning our free time kicks in, when efficiency is playing a more important role in our lives. When we getting competitive in sport or job or getting a parent. …we want to squeeze all the free time possibilities or friendships in our free time to make the post out of our life. Of cause this is a very specific point of view. For a lot of cultures this would be quite the opposite experience.
Pro Tip for expats that run into the internet technician issue. 1) There are mobile carriers who offer modestly priced LTE routers that come with a flat rate dataplan. The offering of Congstar seems quite decent to me, the router itself will cost roughly 50 euros, and it is simlocked for Congstar. The dataplan they offer is one of the fairer plans you can find in germany. When I last checked it was around 50 euros for 50GB Datavolume per month, and you can cancel the plan at the end of each month. 2) The DSL infrastructure is still very strained in germany, although the modernization efforts have increased in the last years, odds are that you´ll either hear something like "I´m sorry, we can´t service anymore customers in your neighbourhood". Avoid the downtown shops like Freenet or more obscure stores, they will sell you a connection no matter what, but since the Infrastructure is already strained you´ll be paying a full price plan, but your connection will only have 50-60% of the nominal transfer rate. 3) Check if there are regional providers, the come in many shades. There are some electrical providers that offer Internet via the elecrical grid, and others maintain a fibreglass network. They can be very lucrative. 4) Vodafone, the bane of the modern world... In some regions you´re downright forced to sign up with them since there aren´t any viable competitive offerings of other providers. pro: Their Cable Internet offering, and only this, is... okay (he said spitting through his teeth), since connection speeds are what it says on the tin. con: Be aware! They bought germany´s monopoly cable provider 2 or 3 years ago, and even if there is a noticeable positive trend in terms of business practices (reasonable price for a base contract) you will find some legacy bullshit in their contracts like time locking you into a contract, nested and package contracts, mandatory bundling to get some services. You know everything that makes em rub their nipples. Before the take over (I´m signed up with them since 2014) I experienced EVERY SINGLE ISSUE that gives cable companies their bad reputation: -Internet was only bookable in combination with a cable TV and a Landline package.... LANDLINE ffs... -since data and tv signal share the same cable you should be okay with interference in your tv at times -during high demand phases like soccer championships they tend to just shut down Internet connections -auto renewals with 2 year time locks, they will nail you with those. The only legitimate reason for an extraordinary cancelation is, that you´re moving to a region that isn´t serviced by them. -fraudulent business practices: during the merger they tried to shaft a lot of people into duplicate contracts, as well as trying to shaft customers into paying overpriced technician fees under the guise of the customer not beeing home, where in truth, the tech never showed up. -unless you want to crawl the forum for 90 minutes, no info on planned maintenance
In Germany we are very binding on that what we say or what we agree with someone 😊 Be careful if you invite a german to visit you - he/she will probably do it
Being quite after 10pm at night is not only per Hausordnung a rule it is by law prohibited to make noise that's distrubing for neighbours. Also on Sundays and public holidays making too much noise isn't allowed.
Im a Brit in Germany. My favourite way to xonverse is when I speak (not so good) German and they speak (pretty excellent ) English . Thats because my speaking is better than my ability to understand.
Hey Joel, thanks for your content! I don't know what happened, maybe your microphone-setup or something else changed, but since few last videos YT-Autosubtitles (in english) and me are struggling to understand you, but when the videos in the background is playing, then auto-subtitles works well. Sorry, I'm not good at understanding spoken english and I would like not to miss most of the time, what you said. In the past, subtitles in your videos worked much better. Did you change anything or is your Mic the reason?
Passing a police car doing 230Kmh made me a bit nervous the first few times. I am from sweden where the maximum speed limit is 120Kmh (and on some highways only).
Great video and reaction Joel. You're going to have so much fun in Germany! All this preparation is really going to pay dividends for you. As the old adage goes, "time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted." During my travels around Germany, I have always been spoiled rotten by the locals. Wonderful memories!! Like Germany, we have a deposit scheme here for (some) bottles and cans - especially for beer and all aluminum cans. John in Canada
Ok so here my opinions on this as german native: 1. I dont know how common that is in the US with the paperbags for alcohol, but thats not rly typical german cuz therre are alot other countries where u dont need them as well. 2. I had those situations as well where ppl feel themself bother by u standing somewhere..but i had them all over the world as well..so..not only germany again. 3. I never had any problems like that with my internetconnetions. Like 99% of flats or houses have the correct sockets for ur router installed alrdy, so u just get the router delivered, plug it in and ur good to go. Not typical german. 4. Well, in that case i can only talk from my experiences, and if someone ask me in german i answer in german, and if things get difficult to explain and he/she dont understands i switch to english. And as far as i have seen it, most ppl to the same. And here again in thnk its the same nomatter whereever u go. 5. Ok, so i dont know if that is a german only thing, but yes we have rules for that just to keep things simple and the stresslvl low. Cuz if u have to work the next day early but ur neighbor has a day off and plays music loud at nighttime...thats bad! :P But the rule for this is called "Zimmerlautstärke" whitch means u of couse can listen or make music if the volume is turned down. 6. Thats somewhat correct bit not all the way. Of course it makes sense for us germans the make plans when to meet with friends, but that doesnt mean we cannot be spontaneous. In that specific case i guess i would have said "nice lets stay in touch for that" and then ask on monday i.e. "what about thursday" but im pretty sure that happens everywhere around the world as well 7. Well, i know alot of germans that would just cross the street on red as well. In 99% of the time i dont, just as a general rule, cuz it prevents accidents or teach childrens that might see u in a good way. General rules in terms of traffic are important imo. Is that a german thing tho. Might be, but a good one :P 8. Well, i guess that not a german thing either, ive been in other countries on holidays and havent known their wastesystem, threw it in the wrong box and someone picked it out dumped that bag in front of my door. I guess before you try to live in another country it might be a good idea to check the basic rules about basic every day life there 9. Again i have seen that outside of germany as well....sry :P 10. Well that was a thing long time ago so u may still see it with older ppl or ppl that dont care about there sourroundings, but that again have have seen even in the US, so... :P Man too bad i havent found anything to agree right away with "yes, thats what we do :D" In general i guess i would say, yes we germans have alot of rules and yes, we like em. But we like em cuz they make sense in 99% of cases. hehe
10:51 I Germany you separate waste for easier recycling. But if the trash is mixed, the garbage collection refuse to take it and order a special collection. This costs a lot and everybody in the building has to pay for it. So people with less money or a sense for recycling will call out others.
I was born and live in Germany since then but I’m not native German. And the appointment thing is…. Kinda stressful for me. They be like „let’s meet next week Saturday at 4:15pm“ and you know you can’t be late not only bc you guys decided for the time a week before but bc you know exactly that your German friend arrived half an hour before you were supposed to meet up on purpose😭
Well, there are some things I don't know at all, for example, I would blow my nose while eating. My mother would beat me up. That's disgusting and impolite
There's a smart guy,who became a millionaire collecting bottles.he saved for a truck,figured out where to go(Festivals,etc)and made a real business out of it,incl.arrangements with stores to return the huge amount of bottles after working hours.
Regarding the internet connection: I have a contract with O2 and internet via LTE. When I moved (twice), I took the receiver with me and immediately had internet in the new apartment.
Hey i'm German and i'm glad that this woman don't live in my neighborhood. She complain about thinks about anoying neighbor who tell her not to be loud after 10pm or don't use the wrong trash. With the 10 pm rule this not a rule for any appartments it is a law, it is to protect people's sleep. The law says that you have to be not too loud that other people can hear you in your Apartment called "Zimmerlautstärke",it means your noice is so loud thats not interrupt in other appartments. I'm pretty happy with that, if you have to wake up early you are thankfull that not any stupid neighbor play guituare in the middle of the night. But if you live in a good neighborhood and you have a birthdayparty, you just go around and let the people know that you have a party, normally nobody will complain and you can make noise later thn 10pm. And with the trash, i mean if you throw shit in "Biomüll" thats not so good for the nature, but i mean she lives in Berlin the whole city is a big trashcan. But Biomüll is for waste that can rotten and there are special places for this trash to create topsoil if you throw plastic or other shit inside, it is not easy to seperate this and if it is to dificult to seperate this, you need to burn the trash like "restmüll" trash you can't renew. what i saw this women don't give a shit about common rules for a good society and good neihborhood and complain about it that neighbors tell her this thinks and jeah thats anoying when people live in a comunity and don't give a shit about rules and living together. And i hate it too when people stand in the middle of the sidewalk, i dont get it, is it so hard to just (if you're waiting or useyour phone) to step on the side instead of staying in the middle, so people have to step on the road because one asshole stay in the way its is all so not a german think its just selfish
with the provider thats a extrem regional thing, when i moved out from my parents i order my internet one day before and got it after days xD i noticed that i automatically switch to english in such situations without noticing sometimes xD the planning thing ist with view on the younger generation exaggerated...a little planning for freetime yes (maybe 1 or 2 days in advance is for me personally better, but depending how i feel spontanous things are ok too), but not 2 weeks in advance for a coffee xD
in germany constantly sniffling is considered a lot more annoying than just blowing your nose real quick
It always seemed a bit odd to me that in certain English speaking countries where I lived people said a sincere “Sorry” after having to sneeze, but burped wholeheartedly and uttered merely a “fake” sorry after such a noise. From my experience burping is considered vulgar in Germany whereas sneezing is a response to being sick or having hay fever and people don’t feel offended by it. Gesundheit 😉
Yes, but you turn away when you eat with other people.
Blowing the nose at the table where you eat is rude and disgusting. At least where I come from (last time I checked it was Germany).
It's true that this happens, but this is something only the "creepy grandpa" does.
...since the pandemic we get up, take 1,5 Meter distance to the table and blow the nose 😂
Chronic sneeze here, people got used to me sniffing constantly 😅
I think it always a question if you eat in public or with your Family, that makes a huge difference of what you can do or not do
Couple of things:
1. We'll generally switch to English if you speak to us in broken German because we're German and want to be efficient. Most of the time our English will be better than your German, so it's easier and more efficient to speak English.
2. The coffee thing is not so much about planning. You have to be careful with your small talk. We don't really do that. "How are you" is a genuine question to us. If you don't want to know how we are, try "Hello!" instead. Same goes for "we should meet for a coffee some time". If you don't actually want to plan something, don't bring it up or ask if they'd like to go for a coffee right now.
Regarding #1, if someone is in Germany to learn the language it can be exceptionally frustrating to never get the chance to practice speaking German and having a normal conversation in German. I went through this myself long ago so I know exactly how infuriating it is. It may seem "easier and more efficient" to you as a German, but you are not thinking about the other person's needs, and in some cases actually preventing other people from learning German.
@Alice Milne I hope the person can say, I'd like to try and converse in German please. Thank you for the English though
@@alicemilne1444 Sure but if you are on the move you might not want to take so much time for an unknown person. If it is on a party or somewhere else fine. but this specific case is hard to do a German lesson.
@@justTyping If you are on the move and dont have time to make that request its maybe better to be efficient dont you think?😂🙈
@@alicemilne1444 well i dont mind if you speak german to me but if i answer in english well maybe i think i can make clear what i mean better that way or just maybe i want to train my english skills as much as you want to train german so speak german if you want to no need to switch to english too
As an American who has lived in Germany for over 25 years, I can verify that every one of those things has happened to me over time. My favorite story is of my first neighbor. I had plants on my balcony as most do here and I found some leaves neatly tucked into a plastic bag, taped to my apartment door with the request to "please keep your leaves on your own balcony" I got such a laugh out of that. My girlfriend is a stickler for appointments....she keeps an appointment book (not electronic) and most of our weekends are planned months in advance. No joke. Great video!
Until recently when Feli mentioned this in a video I didn't know that blowing your nose could be considered rude. On the contrary: my parents and teachers always told me/us to blow the nose instead of constantly sniffing. I never left the table for blowing the nose just turned away.🤔
This
tunring away is fine. But blowing your nose infront of the food where other people eat is just disgusting. The tissue isn't going to keep the bacteria from spreading.
Yeah the trash checking neighbours would actually be a more positive example. Usually, you'll only have your own bin for the Restmüll/general waste, while others for paper/plastic/bio will be shared **and** there are also fees for them.
So, being shared, they're almost always full- so if one person puts plastic in the bio bin, for example, the company is allowed to refuse pickup and might even add a fine in some places... So if the bio bin is gonna sit there all full for 2 more weeks, esp now as it gets warmer it **is** everyone's problem ... 😂
Not even that, you might get a fee or they will not take the garbage with them if there is "false" stuff in in.
@@justTyping That's what I said... plus _ a bright red sticker for all the neighbours to see 😆
I am from a small town between Hamburg and Bremen and I often think watching videos about Germans/Germany they are speaking about another country. Or it is because many videos are from Berlin and Bavaria 😛Yes such things happen. But not in general. About the rules. It is the same in all countries. Social rules with which we grow up are somehow engraved into our brains. I often smile about rules in France or the Us or England too. And they will point on mistakes as well. As always it depends on the persons character. Don't take all that too serious. Come, visit and experience by yourself. The people and the country. Try to erase many of the stuf you have seen out of your brain. That you can enjoy your trip freely. I really hope you will have an amazing time.
I can imagine her to be talking about Berlin. I studied there and found the population sort of split. There were these "cool", very excentric people who didn't care about anything and on the other hand a lot of very conservative people with what I would call a "prussian mindset". I can't remember any of these situations in the video ever happened to me or anyone I know here in Bavaria, not in my large city nor in the rural area where I lived for a few years. These are just stereotypes that MIGHT happen, but are not really commonly wide spread in Germany.
I was born in Hamburg and still live here but none of these apply to me. Even though I agree that all of these facts are true. I usually am totally hating all of these 😂😂😂 I also think it’s a very German culture thing. What I mean by that is that I believe that it’s basically native Germans doing this stuff.
I noticed a big difference between Berlin & Munich. People were much friendlier & easy-going in Bavaria.
You asked for things which happen in Germany: In April I lost my purse with over 400 Euros, my ID , driving license and several credit and debitcards (which I all just had with me at that day) here in Berlin. I waited some days and organized new ID and driving license. Some days later I got a thick letter with the purse and everything in it. Somebody found it and sent it to me. I sent him a letter with the finders reward and a big thank you but sadly couldn’t get him on the phone to check where he actually found it.
People commonly take found objects to the nearest rathouse. I found my bunch of keys there. It was a wonderful and touching experience . It also meant saving a fortune on replacing special keys and some locks as my partner didnt have duplicafes for all of them...not to mention the time involved
@@satsumamoon is your personal Rat-house ok? ;)
ALL is in this video true!
I personally found ( not only once) a purse or a cellphone and I gave it back. I expect the same from the other people. And I have been never disappointed!
It's all for a common good and the better future, ISNT IT????
Greetings from Germany 🇩🇪!
I love the deposit scheme on the bottles. I went to a local festival near me, in the UK, and you paid £5 for the pint and £3 for the plastic cup. I've never seen a festival site so clean!
It was reminding me of the Tom Hanks movie in the airport when he discovers the trolley return money
@@adrianhempfing2042 The Movie is called "The Terminal" btw. :D
@@kaj0t thank you yes I forgot the name. Just remember that he's from Krakhozia or something and he sets himself up pretty good with the chairs and all
@@adrianhempfing2042 yea its a really nice movie!
@@kaj0t and based on something that realy happened
What I’m really excited about is that Joel has really prepped himself on cultural knowledge but I await the application of said knowledge.
I'm so happy about the Hausordnung. The walls in my Berlin apartment are super thin and I'm a light sleeper. :)
The house rules and rest periods in apartment buildings in Germany are taken very seriously . But if you want to celebrate a little longer and let the neighbors know, most of them will understand. And most people are not that strict with their daily planning, they will definitely have time to have a coffee, tea or a beer with you.
Ist ja auch nicht bloß 'ne Hausordnung, sondern gesetzlich geregelt. Und wenn Du werktags sehr früh raus musst, kannste froh sein, wenn diese kleine Regel einfach von allen eingehalten wird ... ist ja kein großes Ding.
Wer schon mal 'n Nachbarn hatte, der auf die Nachtruhe scheisst, weiß wie das ist.
Und wenn Du keinen Bock mehr hast, regeknäßig freundlich um Nachtruhe zu bitten, kannste die Schmiere bestellen, die dann durchsetzt, was Du nicht höflich regeln konntest.
Only thing as a German I am really guilty of is spare time planning. I vividly hate spontaneous "do you have time today", lol. I need days or weeks mental preparation and need to write into my calender a good time before, so I can make sure I am prepared. XD
That sounds very German. It's good to plan, but it's also good to be less rigid & do things on impulse.
9:40 "The coffee is at 4, I'm being there at 3:55"
In Germany we say "5 Minuten vor der Zeit ist des Deutschen Pünktlichkeit", which roughly translates to "5 minutes early is on time for germans", so you already got that figured out perfectly!
Zu früh ist unpünktlich. Being too early is being not on time, too. If someone comes in too early she/he can see how she/he amuses themselves until I have time for them. Obviously being friends or similar varies the reaction, but that doesn't change the fact that being too early is just as rude as being too late.
@@beageler Never heard that before during my time in Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. You don't expect people to arrive 15 minutes early, but 5 minutes early are the standard.
@@dansattah Like I said, they can turn up earlier, but then they should be prepared to wait. Less so in private settings, but very much so in professional settings. That's what waiting areas are for.
Just imagining , next time other person arrive 3.50 , then next time Jps arrives 3.45, as everyone wanted to be 5 minutes early
In a Play by Heiner Müller the saying is "5 Minuten vor der Zeit, ist die _wahre_ Pünktlichkeit" which would translate to "5 Minutes too early is the _true_ punctuality"
7:50 I once had very loud neighbours whose living room was next to my bedroom. They liked inviting family over and their kids were always up late jumping around and shouting. I was rather lenient for them, but be sure that when I wanted to sleep and they were at it, I was kicking that wall. Hard. Always shut them up.
Especially homeless people often walk around asking for bottles, and i think it's quite nice it's basically like their job to collect these bottles :)
I'd be happy to give it to them as they likely need it more than me and they're doing a service
Some of these apply to Denmark, too, especially the house rules, the beer drinking, and the collecting/returning of bottles and beer cans.
Denmark is becomming the master of rules, and bigbrother is watching you 24/7 😞
Denmark is kind of the connection between Germaness and Scandinavian 😂 like compared to the Scandinavians above you, your still somewhat German compared to the German side we envy the Scandinavian organisations and mentality..
1:14 I remember that guy from a previous video. Nice to see them again.
Yes the neighbor problem especisly old people seam to hsve a hobby of watching out the window and looking if u fall out of line 😅
I was really surprised to learn, that the German "Abendbrot" is something special. For be it's perfectly normal to have bread for dinner. (Even when the whole family is eating together.) Eating something cooked at the evening is rare, usually when meeting with friends/business contacts or at holidays.
about the rules to be quiet at night: it's not that we're obsessed with rules and want rules for the sake of rules. this one for example is basically a compromise for apartment buildings where you live very close to your neighbors & you somehow have to figure out a way that works for everyone: the ones who need to practice their instruments & the ones who go to bed early because they maybe work in shifts or have to get up early for other reasons.
reminding people of that is always tough because the ones reminding others are painfully aware of what they're doing. and I wish the ones who were reminded would also be more aware of the fact that they're not alone in the house. 🤷♀
I think most rules in Germany are intended to avoid petty conflicts & aim at people not annoying each other too much. Remember that Germany is smaller than Texas & 84 million people live here.
if you plan to be in berlin during your stay in germany you should think about a side trip to prague. theoretically you could make a one day trip to prague. flixbus runs several times a day from berlin to prague and back (one way about 4 hours). depending on when you go you pay about 50€ round trip. Prague is one of the most beautiful cities with one of the best preserved and largest castles. not to mention good and cheap beer. a lot of information about prague can be found on the channel "The Honest Guide" of which you have already seen a video (differences between America and the EU).
Hahaha, exactly, let's teach him how it's done. He can't just visit Germany or even just one city for the first time in his life and then just spontaneously explore one thing after another. He has to be as efficient as possible and needs to visit as many different countries near Germany as he can fit into his schedule. Not a single minute must be wasted, true to one of German's favorite saying: " Gut geplant ist halb gewonnen." 😂
s/he is right though. Prague is great, but IMO worth to be explored with more time than just a few hours during a day trip.
@MoreJps
2 things that haven't been mentioned in these educational videos about Germany
1. We always have a suitable saying ready for every imaginable and even the smallest situation and love to annoy other people with it.
2. We love sarcasm. Preferably delivered with a straight face, topped with irony and sprinkled with cynicism.
Btw. I love how excited you get about visiting Germany and how much thoughts you put into it. Even though some things might be for video content reasons, but don't worry about doing anything wrong as a visitor in Germany. Especially here in Berlin there is not much that you can actually do wrong or out yourself as a tourist, because it's much harder to spot an actual German and original Berliner are actually unicorns.
I never experienced someone dragging my rubbish back to my door, and if someone did it I'd be quite upset.
The parts with Nalf were filmed in my Hometown in Schwäbisch Hall. Shoutout to Nalf and his former Team the Unicorns.
2:23 This reminds me of a saying. Its a walkway (Gehweg) and not a standway(Stehweg). And you are standing in my walk way (Geh Weg)
You can also put empty bottles next to trash cans. Then the bottle collectors can take them directly with them. In some cities there are even rubbish bins with extra holders for bottles. Old people who only get a small pension often collect.
Just today one of my neighbors taped a notice on our recycling bins, because I don't clean out my food containers or milk containers in other recycling containers before I throw out , because when they get to the recycling station destination, they get cleaned anyway.I don't wanna waste drinking water from the tap. so I taped a notice from the Internet on the other bin stating that it is not mandatory to clean out your recycling containers and that it actually does only waste water. But most people in Germany think it is only proper to clean out everything you throw away because of the smell and because of insects and so I always have problems with people because of this everywhere I live even though I'm actually right and they're wrong
LOL, waste one natural resource whilse saving another...I'd put a notice on my bins, sorry you just can't fix stupid, now go away.
Well actually the neighboors thing depends always on where you exactly live and what neighboors you have.
The same goes with several other things like when she said "you are in the way". That's something that would rather happen VERY rarely and I don't recall it to have happened to me after over 39 years living in Germany. :) People also differ from place to place and she mostly brought up things that happen in Berlin.
Same goes with the planning and meeting people. Yes, we plan a lot because we also have to at parts (depending on the work, family situation, age and more) but it doesn't rule out that if you ask if we have time tonight to go watch a movie, or drink a coffee or have a gaming session or whatever, we will say, yes, let's go! :)
As about the noise thing I must say I was one of these neighboors that went upstairs and told them to finally stop it because I have to wake up at 5am for work and they kept being VERY loud at 2am in the morning so I couldn't sleep the whole time.
If someone in my house risked me having to pay fines because the garbage wasn't separated, I would say something, too. I often have the feeling that people from other countries thinking Germans are rude for mentioning things is just entitlement.
13:42 Gargling and blowing noses loudly are not unusual sounds for me lol
This thing with speaking English happens to me all the time. As a German, I am asked something by a foreigner, and I see that he makes an effort to speak the language. What happens: I answer him in English - happens all the time and all the time.
Not every german need s a calendar 😂
I disagree with o lot of points of the video that you are watching. There are a bunch of countries in which people switch to your language as soon as they detect your accent. People in the Netherlands do it a lot. People in France almost never do it, even if they speak other languages. People of English speaking countries are simply seldomly able to speak any other language and are therefor not able to switch.
In Germany people do not "love rules". People are simply more aware of the rules and fall back to them when they are bothered by something. Instead of being socially competent while asking for something, they mention the rules. The other side of the coin are people who have no awareness of people around them at all. Be that being loud in the middle of the night during a work day, or standing around at the narrowest spot of a busy walk way with a huge crowed around them trying to pass. The woman in the video seems to be one of those people if people come to her all the time telling her that she is in the way :D That only happened to me once and I was actually standing in the way.
But there are also valid points. Lots of Germans really do plan there weeks like crazy. You actively have too look for spontaneous people.
I experienced the quite opposite behavior here with Germans. When I randomly meet German tourists in Victoria or Vancouver, they seem (according to the claim in the video) to be polarized differently. Most often, at least in my little cosey Canadian roam, they are happy to communicate in German, even I notice that their English is quite fluent.
I live in a multi appartment building and i feel like you have to read your neighbours a bit. Give them a bit of freedom and then you get some for yourself. Like, if they have friends over after ten and it's a bit louder, just let them have it and they will probably recognize that you didnt complain and wont complain on their part when you listen to slightly louder music on a sunday. But everyone has their individual limits and you just have to figure that out a bit. And some people just arent good at that or even worse, complain all the time while also doing a lot of annoying things themselves.
The part about complaining about throwing trash in the wrong bin absolutely makes sense. If the collectors spot someting in the bin that doesn't belong there, they will leave the full bin behind. Then you can either go through the whole bin and take everything out that got wrongfully in there (which noone wants to do, especcially in the bio disposables) or order an, expensive, special tour for the collectors so it goes into the "various" type of trash. So if your neighbour scolds you for not following the rules in that case he/she is in the right because everyone in the house will have to pay for it.
TBH you know when you're going to move so you can make an appointment with a network technician beforehand. Plus, it's not even necessary to have a technician at home anymore, if the appartment has an existing network connection and you've got a router that can be accessed remotely. You'll just have to allow the remote access and the provider can install the necessary data remotely.
right, the only "occasion" you need a technican is, when they need to install new lines, like upgrade copper-low-bandwith to glasfiber-high-bandwith, maybe even complete new wires need to have ground-works too
I'd like to add here: I'd say most of those rules, like Nachtruhe, are most often enforced by older people. Of course there are exceptions and of course you always try to be reasonably loud/quiet after 10pm. If you ever want to throw a party, just inform your neighbours beforehand and it should be okay. English is also exceptionally easy for German people since English is very close to German and we learn it from a young age. So you will always find people who'll talk to you in English, especially in bigger cities. If you're not sure - OFTEN it is "safer" to talk to younger people in that regard but I do know a lot of older people who speak crystal perfect English!
I've never heard someone complain about noise in my whole life when it wasn't at 2 AM and really really loud music since hours.
Of cause there are this odd guy complaining, but you got strange people everywhere.
It is necessary to sort the trash right. If it's not done correctly, there is a good chance it wouldn't be taken by the trash workers. To avoid getting stuck in trash one has to be annoying to some neighbors.
Once I got mad at a moving neighbor. He threw all his crap in the trash, filling two containers by himself, leaving no space for everybody else. It wasn't normal trash but pieces of furniture, old carpets and so on. For these things he should have made a special appointment and put it on the sidewalk the night before. It doesn't cost extra money if done right. But putting it in the normal trash containers causes extra load and the whole house is charged.
No it's not necessary. I don't sort my rubbish and it's fine.
@@xaverlustig3581 True. It's not a crime to be an unneighbourly a-hole. But it should.
@@xaverlustig3581 Sure, but you still don't throw your general waste into the bio waste container, like it happenend in the video.
Also, paper, plastic and bio waste is cheaper than general waste. But, it's your money.
@@marcromain64 Don't be so hard on yourself.
@@5thElem3nt No I put everything in the generic bin. I'm prepared to give them my plastic and paper for recycling if they pay me for it, but not for free.
I usually always answer in German when someone asks me in German even if I know they’re maybe not rly from here or struggling. If they begin talking in English I switch to English too. I really don’t want someone to think their German sucks and I‘m acknowledging their effort by responding in German. Also we‘re all used to ppl talking to us that don’t really speak perfect German since a lot of older (not necessarily OLD) ppl may have a migration background and still aren’t used to talk in German since their social circle is made of ppl speaking the same first language as them. So I think Germans don‘t get flustered when it comes to broken German. Though there are some making racist discriminating comments too
Take it easy in Germany, when you have an appointment for coffee and you come late … no problem the coffee will be on you 😅
At least if you stay inside of being 15 minutes late. If you’re later, you might have to pay for food as well or drink your coffee alone.
@@jennyh4025Und wenn das 3 oder 4 mal passiert,dass jemand viel zu spät kommt verabredet man sich nicht mehr mit ihm
Watching your vlogs from UK and Germany you are a decent guy. You have done your homework and looked at the places to visit and culture before you go. Very comprehensible and great to see from a young generation your parents must be really proud of you.
I hope you´ll be enjoying your time in Germany and you´ll be visiting not only Berlin but other places, too - Berlin is not examplary for life in Germany. Berlin is rather considered a "failed state" by many Germans and one should get a wider view. The Baltic Sea by the way is just a 2.5 hours ride north of Berlin with wonderful landscapes, beaches, small towns and villages and so on...
They show the first scenario and we have an idea of what might happen lol
I literally would love to see ur face the first time you see someone in a Berlin U-Bahn with a beer bottle in the back of their baggy jeans. In some places it is not as present but in Berlin everyone drinks beer no matter of place, time or Pegel ( engl. “level” of drunkenness). I wish u a great time here! If you want to go partying you might want to go in a bigger group, maybe you think about making a party Discord for those who are available in Berlin/Hamburg :)
Literally the waste separating thing never happened to me, but to my best friend! The neighbor came over with all their trash and a handout about the right way of waste separation. He was especially furious about the pizza boxes bc since they have grease stains they can’t go into the paper trash. Yep to that instinct xD
In my town, citizens have to separate their recyclables as follows: milk cartoons (TetraPack), plastic cups (yoghurt etc.) plastic packaging and plastic foils separated, Aluminium, cans (dog food, tuna etc) - it is driving me crazy. I live on the third floor, so I have 6 containers in my kitchen. And once a month I drive it all to the recycling station of the city council. And the plastic packaging has to be separated again when it had fresh animal products like ground beef or chicken breasts and the foil on top, otherwise the staff at the recycling station is telling you off - and not in a nice way.) it really has gone super crazy with all this recycling. And the system is different from council to council. Aaaaarhh
If you have similar people in the garbage collection as we do, there is nothing left but to pay close attention to the garbage separation. They leave the barrels full, with a "re-sort" note on it.
And that's bullshit because you can't get rid of the newly sorted barrels until the next emptying.
Nobody likes being corrected. On the other hand, how are you going to learn if nobody corrects you? With the waste separation it is probably even important. If non biodegradable things are going to the compost, it either gets detected and the whole compost will get throne on the landfill, or it does not get detected and the waste contaminates the soil created by the recycling process. Then you get plastics and toxins in nature and the food supply.
If you get grease and oil in the cardboard recycling it can effect the properties of the recycled paper to a point where whole batches are unusable (you cant write on it, or they disintegrate, or they just start molding). Tonns of material needs to be throne away then, instead of being in the recycling system over and over. I would rather be a little uncomfortable once because I was caught making a mistake, than be oblivious about the mistake.
@@woedendstewadpier4922 Yeah of course I am totally with you! And I do get it, the way the neighbor interacted with her was just insanely rude. You know an 18 year old in her first own flat getting yelled at by a man in his 40s in the hallway instead of being talked to I an informative way is just the point where I draw the line :/
@@woedendstewadpier4922 Put everything in "Restmüll" and you're done. If companies want to make a profit from my stuff, I want payment otherwise they don't get it.
To be honest; if you live in a 7 storey house with 6 flats each floor, the least I can expect from people is to be quiet at night. Night starts at 22:00.
Hello!! I watch and love the videos on your RUclips channel, and I recommend that when you come to Germany, visit Dresden! The city is considered the cultural city of Germany (the Florence of the Elbe) and is located less than 1 hour and a half from Berlin, either by train or by bus (the tickets are quite cheap). Also from Dresden you can easily go to see Saxony Switzerland, Leipzig and even Prague (less than 1 hour away).
I was once stuck in traffic on the German autobahn. it got closed because there was an endangered animal on the street x.x
A few years ago I was in London, it was the middle of the night. Small street, red traffic light, no cars far and wide.
On the other side stood a man.
A minute or two later, Traffic light red, still no car.
Traffic light turns green, still no car.
I go, he goes. As if we were about to meet us in the middle and were a little on the same level, he says as we pass: "Auch deutsch?" Me: "Jap."
wow, such an amazing story, thanks for sharing
If it happens very often, that people tell you, you were in the way, maybe, you shouldn't blame the others, but at least take into consideration, that you are at least part of the problem and frequently block the path of others, which can be a nuisance if the other one is in a hurry.
2:57 BRB praying that you never have to call Customer Service in Germany.
De de de de de de de deeee de de de deeeee… 15min later…”Leider, sind alle unsere Angestellten in Gesprächen. Versuchen Sie es zu einem anderen Zeitpunkt wieder.”… aufgelegt! If you know, you know! :)
Most people I know already planned New Year's Eve
Hello Joel. The family l was with bought me a sliced loaf, like at home, assuming I would not rather try what they ate, similar to the speaking English but of the video. I hope you had a good Memorial Day.
ha this is the same in switzerland but a little more phased, noise should be reduced at 8pm to a normal level "moving chairs" not excessivly loud tv etc" and from (depending on where you live) 10 or 11, in side or out, you have to be as silent as possible. for example if your caught revving your engine after hours in a neighbour hood, you might loose your license.
With the internet connection - its critical, one tip which I would always do if I take over an apartment or house for renting - discuss with the former owner and take it over, its seamless - worked for me. You can do that with your local provider. Not a new connection just take over.
The planning of free time sounds so weird when they show it like this but yeah I do it, everyone I know does it.
Before I visit my parents who live just a few minutes from me we make up a time.
Who knows what I would run into if I just come around uninvited..
7:05 TBH my Night ends at 05:30, so the 22:00+ quiet time is pretty appreciated by me.
I din't know if I am not living in that germany but all my friends are always late and if I'm not planing a bigger trip (have to buy tickets for a show or a train) or an event (birthdayparty or wedding) i don't plan weeks in advance and most people i know don't do this eather
Blowing the nose is a real thing, but the most people do it in the opposite direction (Away from people and food).
Blowing the noise while eating is a reason to overthink the friendship.
I always remember my German grandparents in Hamburg making me wait at the pedestrian crossing, until the walk light turned green. Even when the street was completely empty. When in the UK we treat pedestrian crossing on minor roads as mainly there for mothers with children and old people.
Very nice video! I maybe you can meet with them! They already contacted other reacters who do germany reactions 😀
I've lived in Japan for a couple of years and the cultural shock is probably even higher than the one between Germany and Japan. Especially the blowing your nose thing.
One thing you'll notice in germany is that unfortunately very many people smoke. And they DONT GIVE A SHIT about their surroundings. Around kids, in parks, in front of buildings, on their own balcony. Basically they contaminate the whole city and everyone is ok with it. Even non-smokers tend to take their side (and I'm sure someone is gonna react to my comment to defend them lol)
Yes, we separate our garbage but if someone tells you, that you sorted it wrong, it has a reason: The garbage disposal might look into the garbage bin and won´t dispose it when there is, for example, plastic in the paper bin, because it can´t be recycled then properly
People commonly take found objects to the nearest rathouse. I found my bunch of keys there. It was a wonderful and touching experience . It also meant saving a fortune on replacing special keys and some locks as my partner didnt have duplicafes for all of them...not to mention the time involved .
so.if you lose.your thing and dont find it there, ask where else someone migght have handed it in, and try another day if still not found. If your think has fallen behind a bench into a bush then it couod be there a few days before being seen or someone might find it and not have time immediafely to take it to the rathouse.
Also put your phone number or email in your wallet if travelling.
Hi, don't take the video too seriously. While there are people who are uptight, there are plenty of easygoing individuals, especially among the upcoming generations. However, it does make sense to follow rules in public because we Germans want to be good role models, and safety is important to us. As for noise disturbance, it depends on the area. There are plenty of student areas or houses outside of residential complexes where making a little noise isn't a big deal.
Greetings from Germany
PS.: You have to visit Heidelberg :D the castle is *chef's kiss*
Regarding the red light: don’t cross on a red light during the day (late at night can be acceptable) - you (everyone) has to be a good example for any children, who might see (even if you don’t see them).
But you can cross a street everywhere else without a traffic light, just make sure to look in all directions first.
That depends on the city. At most places people just cross if there are no children around.
@@woedendstewadpier4922 really? Where? Nowhere, where I lived or visited. In those places people always seemed to have a „children might be looking out of a window, I just can’t see them“ on their minds. Which is very understandable for parents, we know, that children are at home more than non-parents would expect.
ROFL - with the speaking english to americans asking for the way in german you just got me trapped.... 🤭
On the other hand there are also some kind of stereotypes that may hit the nail directly to it's head for some persons - but definitely not for all. There are some people that love to "educate" others in the form of telling them what would be allowed and what not. But that's far off from ""the usual Germans" and these persons are not at all that much popular in germany among their neighbours too. The calender thingy for planning your leisure times - hugh.... I never had that amongst any of my friends... 😀
its a bit late to answer 3 months later but lol why not: basically if someone approches me with german i speak german to them and if they ask in english i reply in english. BUT if the convo is dragging on for ages because we stuggle with words I usually start speaking english so they can understand what i mean, then if they dont understand what i mean i think its probably because they are a bit unsure, if they keep talking in german thats fine by me aslong as we get to the point. Even if not id ask politely if we could switch to english because They certainly want to get to their destination and so do i
Well, maybe it also depends on the provider. I'm with Telekom, but I also had to wait a few days because I had to lay the cable to the house telephone connection beforehand, as I didn't have a connection.
Since a buddy of mine is a telecom technician, I was able to call him and he accepted the order and called me at work in the morning: "Got your connection ready.
I was totally surprised, it didn't even take 5 minutes to connect and activate it.
My mother has all her doctor's appointments and birthdays of family and relatives in it.
Oh, it's not so bad now with the nose blowing.
My father liked to burp and fart a lot with hearty food and beer.
My mother used to say: "Why don't you burp and fart, don't you like it?😂😂😂
Telekom is a prime example of an ISP that is just crappy in every regard. At least there's the chance with them that, if you can reach second level service and make a stink, things change. That is where you can see the higher price of their products working.
Back when DSL first came around, I had to make them restart the gateway server every couple of days. And how I had to argue for them to connect me with second level/a local technician without going through reboots and downloading drivers and all that drivel. After a couple of weeks I demanded to talk to a supervisor and told him that I had that problem every few days and that I was fed up with having to spend 20 minutes holding first level's hand before I got through to someone who could help me within a minute. Afterwards the gateway crashed much more seldom and first level accepted it when I told them that I knew exactly what the problem was and that a local technician could solve it with the flick of a switch.
@Joel and other Americans: I wonder how everyday German sounds to you? Is it really as harsh as it is portrayed in the movies?
Seing people with beer is so normal that you don't care anymore, i see people really drunk at 7 o'clock in the morning and don't care tbh.
When we visited Berlin and been drinking in public there was constantly someone asking for our bottles. It was really annoying. Especialy when we just opened cans and took just few sips. And till you finish your drink, there will be other two persons asking for your bottle.
I am German, my Wife is turkish! When we go to vacancies we go to turkey, where our neighbours are british! When i first met them, after 2 weeks, the wife asked me when we would return to the USA...Damn man...I am f ing proud of that story...
The consumption of alcoholic beverages in public is quite common in quite a few other countries in Europe, It´s nothing specific German! My Internet connection was available on the day I moved into my new apartment. The Germans, providing theyx spek English, are not the only ones answering Engliosh, the Dutch do that, too.
It feels like yesterday that you went on the UK Trip. Good luck in Germany! Can’t wait to see the vlogs. 👏🏽
He will go to Berlin and he will probably encounter some rude people, then that’s when he gets the idea that everyone in Germany are rude, Just like he did about Scotland.
If you say: let's meet sometimes and a German says yes he or she means it. You'll get a text message or a mail to set up a date. If you don't mean it don't say it. If you don't want to if someone asks you say no. That you have no time. It's not rude. It's better than ghosting or let the other person wait for nothing.
Don't ask a German how he's doing if you are not prepared to listen. If you are not don't ask. But it's almost hurting if someone asks me and them I realize that he or she is not really interested or it's not the right moment. Don't ask then. It's ok. We understand that sometimes people are not in the mood to listen or are not interested. But asking: How are you? means you are and you have time. It's a serious offer to be open to what the other person has to say.
And be prepared to schedule enough time to listen to complaints about the weather even though it has literally nothing to do with the intention of the original question. 😂
Okay but the trash-thing does actually make sense. 1. Biomüll (vegetables etc) are brought to compost and back into the cycle.
2. if the waste-company finds too much stuff in the Biotonne that doesn’t belong there, they will eventually stop picking up the trash.
Visiting someone and bringen my OWN HOUSSHOES!
That is much appreciated.
Yeah, they should have kept those cans in the bag...
"God sees everything, the neighbours see more."
"Gott sieht alles, die Nachbarn sehen mehr."
I feel like the people, who are so strict with the rules are an annoying minority.
Usually you try to not break the rules or to not overdo it if you have to break them. So for example if you have friends over for drinking and you make noise past 10pm, try to not do it to often and if a neighbor complains, because he has to get up early the next morning, you either try to turn the volume down or better you go to a bar or some other place.
In return if a neighbor has guests over and is a bit louder past 10pm or starts to drill something on a Sunday, you don't complain. It's just give and take.
However there is this small minority of people, that are so strict with the rules, they will just wait until you break one of them so they can start complaining.
If you move in next to somebody like this it's really bad luck, because you either have to be extra careful with everything you do or they will complain all the time.
Maybe there are more people like this in Germany than in other countries, but it's definitely not like this is the norm in Germany. Most germans dislike people like this aswell.
That rule with 22:05 is not exactly right - you can still play your keyboard, but it has to be to a moderate volume. Also you have Mittagsruhe - a time between 12:00 and 14:00, it' basically the same but not that harsh as in the evening. Most germans go early to bed, because they leave the house pretty early in the morning for work and that is often also why they are annoyed, when people are loud after 10pm. Blowing your nose so loud is also a bit different now - because of corona
As a born south african ive noticed ive become rather german because i too will walk up to you and tell you what rules you broke and why they are important. The reason is simple. Id rather fix the problem than complane all day, everyday.
i think planning our free time kicks in, when efficiency is playing a more important role in our lives. When we getting competitive in sport or job or getting a parent.
…we want to squeeze all the free time possibilities or friendships in our free time to make the post out of our life. Of cause this is a very specific point of view. For a lot of cultures this would be quite the opposite experience.
Pro Tip for expats that run into the internet technician issue.
1) There are mobile carriers who offer modestly priced LTE routers that come with a flat rate dataplan. The offering of Congstar seems quite decent to me, the router itself will cost roughly 50 euros, and it is simlocked for Congstar. The dataplan they offer is one of the fairer plans you can find in germany. When I last checked it was around 50 euros for 50GB Datavolume per month, and you can cancel the plan at the end of each month.
2) The DSL infrastructure is still very strained in germany, although the modernization efforts have increased in the last years, odds are that you´ll either hear something like "I´m sorry, we can´t service anymore customers in your neighbourhood". Avoid the downtown shops like Freenet or more obscure stores, they will sell you a connection no matter what, but since the Infrastructure is already strained you´ll be paying a full price plan, but your connection will only have 50-60% of the nominal transfer rate.
3) Check if there are regional providers, the come in many shades. There are some electrical providers that offer Internet via the elecrical grid, and others maintain a fibreglass network. They can be very lucrative.
4) Vodafone, the bane of the modern world... In some regions you´re downright forced to sign up with them since there aren´t any viable competitive offerings of other providers.
pro: Their Cable Internet offering, and only this, is... okay (he said spitting through his teeth), since connection speeds are what it says on the tin.
con: Be aware! They bought germany´s monopoly cable provider 2 or 3 years ago, and even if there is a noticeable positive trend in terms of business practices (reasonable price for a base contract) you will find some legacy bullshit in their contracts like time locking you into a contract, nested and package contracts, mandatory bundling to get some services.
You know everything that makes em rub their nipples.
Before the take over (I´m signed up with them since 2014) I experienced EVERY SINGLE ISSUE that gives cable companies their bad reputation:
-Internet was only bookable in combination with a cable TV and a Landline package.... LANDLINE ffs...
-since data and tv signal share the same cable you should be okay with interference in your tv at times
-during high demand phases like soccer championships they tend to just shut down Internet connections
-auto renewals with 2 year time locks, they will nail you with those. The only legitimate reason for an extraordinary cancelation is, that you´re moving to a region that isn´t serviced by them.
-fraudulent business practices: during the merger they tried to shaft a lot of people into duplicate contracts, as well as trying to shaft customers into paying overpriced technician fees under the guise of the customer not beeing home, where in truth, the tech never showed up.
-unless you want to crawl the forum for 90 minutes, no info on planned maintenance
In Germany we are very binding on that what we say or what we agree with someone 😊 Be careful if you invite a german to visit you - he/she will probably do it
Being quite after 10pm at night is not only per Hausordnung a rule it is by law prohibited to make noise that's distrubing for neighbours. Also on Sundays and public holidays making too much noise isn't allowed.
Im a Brit in Germany. My favourite way to xonverse is when I speak (not so good) German and they speak (pretty excellent ) English . Thats because my speaking is better than my ability to understand.
Hey Joel, thanks for your content!
I don't know what happened, maybe your microphone-setup or something else changed, but since few last videos YT-Autosubtitles (in english) and me are struggling to understand you, but when the videos in the background is playing, then auto-subtitles works well. Sorry, I'm not good at understanding spoken english and I would like not to miss most of the time, what you said. In the past, subtitles in your videos worked much better. Did you change anything or is your Mic the reason?
Passing a police car doing 230Kmh made me a bit nervous the first few times. I am from sweden where the maximum speed limit is 120Kmh (and on some highways only).
It really surprised me when I realized the video got made in my city.
Great video and reaction Joel. You're going to have so much fun in Germany! All this preparation is really going to pay dividends for you. As the old adage goes, "time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted." During my travels around Germany, I have always been spoiled rotten by the locals. Wonderful memories!! Like Germany, we have a deposit scheme here for (some) bottles and cans - especially for beer and all aluminum cans. John in Canada
Ok so here my opinions on this as german native:
1. I dont know how common that is in the US with the paperbags for alcohol, but thats not rly typical german cuz therre are alot other countries where u dont need them as well.
2. I had those situations as well where ppl feel themself bother by u standing somewhere..but i had them all over the world as well..so..not only germany again.
3. I never had any problems like that with my internetconnetions. Like 99% of flats or houses have the correct sockets for ur router installed alrdy, so u just get the router delivered, plug it in and ur good to go. Not typical german.
4. Well, in that case i can only talk from my experiences, and if someone ask me in german i answer in german, and if things get difficult to explain and he/she dont understands i switch to english.
And as far as i have seen it, most ppl to the same. And here again in thnk its the same nomatter whereever u go.
5. Ok, so i dont know if that is a german only thing, but yes we have rules for that just to keep things simple and the stresslvl low. Cuz if u have to work the next day early but ur neighbor has a day off and plays music loud at nighttime...thats bad! :P But the rule for this is called "Zimmerlautstärke" whitch means u of couse can listen or make music if the volume is turned down.
6. Thats somewhat correct bit not all the way. Of course it makes sense for us germans the make plans when to meet with friends, but that doesnt mean we cannot be spontaneous. In that specific case i guess i would have said "nice lets stay in touch for that" and then ask on monday i.e. "what about thursday" but im pretty sure that happens everywhere around the world as well
7. Well, i know alot of germans that would just cross the street on red as well. In 99% of the time i dont, just as a general rule, cuz it prevents accidents or teach childrens that might see u in a good way. General rules in terms of traffic are important imo. Is that a german thing tho. Might be, but a good one :P
8. Well, i guess that not a german thing either, ive been in other countries on holidays and havent known their wastesystem, threw it in the wrong box and someone picked it out dumped that bag in front of my door. I guess before you try to live in another country it might be a good idea to check the basic rules about basic every day life there
9. Again i have seen that outside of germany as well....sry :P
10. Well that was a thing long time ago so u may still see it with older ppl or ppl that dont care about there sourroundings, but that again have have seen even in the US, so... :P
Man too bad i havent found anything to agree right away with "yes, thats what we do :D" In general i guess i would say, yes we germans have alot of rules and yes, we like em. But we like em cuz they make sense in 99% of cases. hehe
10:51 I Germany you separate waste for easier recycling. But if the trash is mixed, the garbage collection refuse to take it and order a special collection. This costs a lot and everybody in the building has to pay for it. So people with less money or a sense for recycling will call out others.
I was born and live in Germany since then but I’m not native German. And the appointment thing is…. Kinda stressful for me. They be like „let’s meet next week Saturday at 4:15pm“ and you know you can’t be late not only bc you guys decided for the time a week before but bc you know exactly that your German friend arrived half an hour before you were supposed to meet up on purpose😭
guilty 🤭
It took my internet provider 3 months to replace a broken router because a technician had to take a look at it first.🇩🇪
Well, there are some things I don't know at all, for example, I would blow my nose while eating. My mother would beat me up. That's disgusting and impolite
There's a smart guy,who became a millionaire collecting bottles.he saved for a truck,figured out where to go(Festivals,etc)and made a real business out of it,incl.arrangements with stores to return the huge amount of bottles after working hours.
Regarding the internet connection: I have a contract with O2 and internet via LTE. When I moved (twice), I took the receiver with me and immediately had internet in the new apartment.
Hey i'm German and i'm glad that this woman don't live in my neighborhood. She complain about thinks about anoying neighbor who tell her not to be loud after 10pm or don't use the wrong trash. With the 10 pm rule this not a rule for any appartments it is a law, it is to protect people's sleep. The law says that you have to be not too loud that other people can hear you in your Apartment called "Zimmerlautstärke",it means your noice is so loud thats not interrupt in other appartments. I'm pretty happy with that, if you have to wake up early you are thankfull that not any stupid neighbor play guituare in the middle of the night. But if you live in a good neighborhood and you have a birthdayparty, you just go around and let the people know that you have a party, normally nobody will complain and you can make noise later thn 10pm. And with the trash, i mean if you throw shit in "Biomüll" thats not so good for the nature, but i mean she lives in Berlin the whole city is a big trashcan. But Biomüll is for waste that can rotten and there are special places for this trash to create topsoil if you throw plastic or other shit inside, it is not easy to seperate this and if it is to dificult to seperate this, you need to burn the trash like "restmüll" trash you can't renew. what i saw this women don't give a shit about common rules for a good society and good neihborhood and complain about it that neighbors tell her this thinks and jeah thats anoying when people live in a comunity and don't give a shit about rules and living together. And i hate it too when people stand in the middle of the sidewalk, i dont get it, is it so hard to just (if you're waiting or useyour phone) to step on the side instead of staying in the middle, so people have to step on the road because one asshole stay in the way its is all so not a german think its just selfish
with the provider thats a extrem regional thing, when i moved out from my parents i order my internet one day before and got it after days xD
i noticed that i automatically switch to english in such situations without noticing sometimes xD
the planning thing ist with view on the younger generation exaggerated...a little planning for freetime yes (maybe 1 or 2 days in advance is for me personally better, but depending how i feel spontanous things are ok too), but not 2 weeks in advance for a coffee xD
10:35 omg please no!!! This scene with the trash hurts, as a german 😅