After 7 Years In Germany This Shocks Me About The USA 

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You call it "friendliness", Europeans call it "I survived smalltalk" 😂😂😂

Now I understand that in Germany people complain when there are chemicals in their food, while in the US there is a hint of food in the chemicals. I'm shocked at how expensive healthy fruit is there.

As an 18 year old, I enlisted in the USAF and was sent to Spangdahlem AB in the Eiffel region of Western Germany. An amazing, maturing experience! I went from living with parents to paying rent, utilities, restaurants etc in (then) Deutsche Marks! I learned how to work on cars, and so much more in German! I knew auto parts and tools in German. I didn't know the English words! I loved the pride in their local community and how well they treat their elders. My reverse culture shock still remains and it's been decades!

After living for almost 5 years in Germany, words can't tell you how hard it was to come back and living in the US. The culture shock when returning to the US was unreal.

I was buying some cheese in an American super market a few days ago. One label proudly exclaimed: "WITH REAL DAIRY!" Geez, dude, what do you make cheese out of BESIDES dairy? And would I wanna EAT it?

I just got back from Japan, shocked at what groceries cost in Japan vs. USA. Food in Japan is healthy, fresh and cost about a third of groceries in the USA. We are doing something very wrong here.

My friend was in the military stationed in Germany. He came back to Dayton Ohio after he was out. He stayed home for about 2 months and left the states and moved back to Germany. He has a job there and said he is never coming back😊

The whole high school/college football thing is so weird. Nobody in Germany would even think about going to a high school/college game of any sport unless a family member or friend was playing.

When I got close to retirement -- in Switzerland -- I had to decide: Move back Stateside? Stay here? And a stupid little sentence started running through my head: "I do NOT want to grow old and frail in a country without SIDEWALKS!" Here, you can walk (or bike) anywhere. If it's too far, there's public transport. In the States, there are many -- just GAPS -- in the net of pedestrian / bike paths -- and everything is SO spread out!

It's kind of bizarre, that raw food prices are more expensive than processed food sometimes. Gives me Orwell vibes that everyone has to take his daily dose of "special ingredients"... X-D But as a German, the biggest culture shock when I visit the US comes from that smalltalk thing you mentioned. I immediately feel very uncomfortable when asked "how are you?" because I'm not used to smalltalk and don't wanna lie to anybody. So I sometimes come up with typical German answers like "tired", "hungry", "in a hurry", etc. - which are completely inappropriate because the anticipated answer is something positive with questioning back to give everybody a good feeling. This type of "constructed dialogue" is very weird for me... 😛

As an American new to Germany, going to the local famers market is a gourmet experience. I was so thrilled to discover that they're everywhere, and every week year round! Real cheese like brie, gouda and roquefort and fresh crusty bread are, for most people, special occasion or restaurant foods, not an every day thing. Its just too expensive. Only mass produced american cheddar, grated mozzarella, and preservative laden packaged bread are in the realm of everyday affordable. And the cost of fruit and veg - especially organic - is a top 10%er type of indulgance.

The culture shock when returning to the US is profound. It's almost impossible to explain to people. Interviewing for positions abroad now. Between the military and later contract work abroad I am more comfortable abroad now than living in the US.

A friend of a friend, who lived in California for a loooong time, summed it up like this: The US are the most drugged up, worst-fed, most consumeristic country, with the most corrupt and insane politics in the western hemisphere - but he loves and misses all the madness terribly.

Fußgängerzone...what a word for an english speaking person. Very well done :)

I was in the US a few years ago. My sons begged me to bring back some flavors of M&m’s that we don’t have in the EU. One of them got a major allergic shock to something that was in them. He never had that before. They all went in the bin. I can also confirm I was shocked by the prices of basic healthy food in the supermarket.

when i went to the US for the first time (as a Swiss who can't drive), i went and asked the receptionist of there is a supermarket nearby and she was very happy to let me know that it was "very close"... shortly after i realised, she didn't even think of the possibility that i wanted to walk there... it was "just" a 20mins walk ;P

This difference between car-centric and made for pedestrians is incredible.

The politics thing interested me. It always gets me that Americans are actually registered as Democratic, Republican or Independent. Where I live your vote is supposed to be secret although you don't have to keep it secret if you don't want to. It's almost rude to ask somebody how they are going to vote, though.

The food in the US meant real suffering for me. Everything tasted so sweet, it felt impossible to find a restaurant that served normal veggies with the food, what was called cheese was inedible and normal cheese cost a fortune, a cheeseburger was dirt cheap but oatmeal with fruit was so expensive. Normal food was just so hard to find and so expensive, but junk food was much cheaper than the food in Germany. It was very weird for me. My mom loved it because she loved that everything was sweet. 😂

To be honest, even those of us who live here (I'm in oklahoma) find the huge numbers of homeless people that started appearing everywhere a few years ago disturbing. It used to be a rarity here but now there are even homeless people camping out behind my neighborhood in the suburbs. They're literally on every street corner. This state has really gone downhill in the past few years by not caring for any but the wealthiest people. I see way more Lamborghinis now too. Coincidence?

Nalf, this was an excellent video. Many Americans have never left the country and some never even left their home state. I’ve been fortunate to have traveled internationally and the things you pointed out are great comparisons. It’s hard to improve things when we have the attitude that the way we do things is better the rest of the world. For example here 24/7 things are politically charged unnecessarily. Thanks for enlightening us all.

Very astute observation on #3. I think this is also one of the main issues the USA currently faces. People are literal fans (as in fanatics) for their political side and get extremely invested, unhealthily so. And because of the two-party system this leads to a total divide. You can also look at how political campaign debates are handled in the USA. It's totally gamified and presented like an action or sport event. It's also crazy how the same phrases are repeated over and over to really hammer catchy slogans and basic talking points into voters brains.

I just got back from Germany a few days ago. I was only there for a week and I saw enough to realize the differences and I even have a slight hint at the culture shock coming home. I cannot wait to go back. I did experience small talk a few times from Germans, which I didn't think they were known for and it was very nice. I was in areas where I don't think many Americans go, so maybe that was it. It's an amazing and beautiful country with very nice people, stunning architecture, great food, and really good beer. I would encourage anyone who can go, to go! It WILL change your perspective on life in the US..

I was stationed in Schweinfurt 70-72 and had the greatest German's as landlords. They did so much for us and when I went out on 2 Reforgers I knew my family was safe. I created a "lot of curiosity " when, as an officer, I rolled up my sleeves and moved mortar and cement blocks in a wheel barrow from the front yard to the back. The landlord laid the blocks in a wall while his son-in-law mixed the mortar in the front yard. The Germans had never seen an American officer do manual labor. I just looked at the project and said they need a third person. At that time many American families lived in military housing and they complained at everything not having ever left the states; "There is no McDonalds here."

Love to hear you miss Schwäbisch Hall a bit, because as a Schwäbisch Haller i can say that we miss you too :)

I'm an American and 8 is a huge culture shock to me too. "Any society where a natural man, the pedestrian, becomes the intruder and an unnatural man, encaged in a steel shell becomes his molester is a science fiction nightmare" -Ray Bradbury

Regarding pedestrians being scarcely considered in the US I must say I had the very same impression. The first time I visited the US, over 25 years ago, I came to Los Angeles on a work trip. It was late may and we were staying in the Beverly Hills area, so what with the good weather and the pleasant neighbourhood we would tend to walk around, as we would usually do in Europe (I live in Italy). First thing I noticed was that, unless we were close to shops or some sort of business area, we would hardly meet anyone else walking around. One evening I walked for about a mile to get to a restaurant from where we were staying and the only other person I met on the pavement during the whole journey was a guy who'd just popped out of the house to put out the bins for collection. The next thing I realised was that to cross Santa Monica Blvd (4 lanes of traffic both ways, which is already incredible to see inside a city to european eyes), you had to take it in two legs, because the green light for pedestrians only lasted around 10 secs. This meant that you had to cross to the centre isle and wait for another green to get to the other side, while the wait in between the two was waaaaay longer. No wonder Carl Lewis and the Santa Monica Athletic Club won all those sprinting medals, you need to be fast if you want to survive crossing the streets down there... 🤣

Als wir in Amerika waren haben wir schnell festgestellt, dass es wesentlich teurer ist sein Essen selbst zu kochen wenn man gute Produkte verwendet. Gut wir haben nur im Bioladen eingekauft weil wir schon wussten, dass alles Obst und Gemüse mit Chemie gespritzt wird und ich das nicht gut vertrage. Was mich allerdings erschüttert hat und das schreibt nie jemand, dass ganz egal ob man Salat, Kohl oder anderes Gemüse kauft, es nach nichts schmeckt. Ich habe fürs Tail-Gatin (ich hoffe das schreibt man so) einen Kartoffelsalat gemacht und auch Kartoffeln schmecken nur nach Wasser, das war mir schon etwas peinlich, ich habe soviel herausgeholt wie es ging aber es fehlte einfach der typische Kartoffelgeschmack. Mein Neffe meinte dann, dass in Amerika alles groß sein muss und darunter der Geschmack leidet.

We went back in August for the first time in 8 years (Pgh). All I can say is YES to all of this! For me, it was also the size of everything in the grocery stores. I literally took pictures of things like a tourist.😂

I am half German, and like to call myself an Ameri-Kraut. If you understand German, I refer toy myself here as Fränkischer-Ami. So I moved to Germany when I was 8 years old, not by choice, and grew up on the German economy. With 18 I joined the US Air Force, and had my culture shock when I was stationed in the US. I felt like a foreigner. After my service, I moved back to Germany, and have stayed since. Yes, I do visit the US now and then. My last trip was to Florida last year, and my feeling was worse than ever before. Frankly, I do not know if I will ever move back to the US, even though it was where I was born, and still love it. But... I have a good paying job, and a loving family. Maybe things will change when I retire. The future will tell.

In my experience, and as somebody who's spend his first half of his live in Germany and the latter half in the USA, I must say that Germans are a lot more interested in politics for all the right reasons. They indeed don't see it as a sport and a winner-loser kind of thing, and they have zero hesitation to talk politics as soon as the first round of beers is served at the pub. I think they are much more engaged in this regard. The other thing I want to mention: before I finally moved to the USA I spent a lot of time traveling between both countries. I never got sick or nauseous from American food after a long stint back in Germany. That seems to be a highly individual kind of thing. Last, but not least, I think you missed one really important cultural difference: the role that money plays in society. I realized this very quickly when I read an article in a newspaper in the USA about some natural disaster somewhere in the world (I don't remember the details.) The damage, expressed in Dollars, is always mentioned right at the beginning of the report. As if everything needs to be expressed in some kind of monetary value.

I have a theory about America and friendliness. With the plethora of guns in America, you 1) never know who is armed and 2) you don't know who has had a bad day. So it's much safer to be nice to everybody just in case you're that one incident too far.

As a Swede who went to upstate New York last Christmas, the preponderance of flags everywhere was definitely the main thing which caught my eye

You nailed it on these things! I am an American who was living in Germany for almost 2 years up until this past September. I now live in England for the 2nd time ( bit more my speed). The shock of what is charged for good meats, fruit and vegetables amongst so many other things in the US is insane and sad. Pedestrian walk areas and bike routes are a true luxury once you have experienced them and then go back to the States . I totally agree with you on the representation of politics and might I add religious beliefs being almost more of a sport in the US. I do not miss being slapped in the face with people's opinions and the lack of respect for privacy in those matters. Job well done on vid here! 🍻

this needs to be shared! great video man!

Nice video. It's always interesting to see the cultural differences in detail, not just big things like gun laws and political system. But as a german I must say. 10:25 the crack in the windshield is a cultureshock for me. I see it so often in foreign dashcam videos. In germany it's like "Oh I got a 1mm (1/32 inch) crack, I need to fix it or even change my windshield." I think it is even law to change it if it is a crack and not just a small stone chip.

Being an introvert, I hate questions like "What are you up to today". And, honestly, I don''t know, how to answer such a question without a) being rude b) making things up c) revealing too much about my personal life to a stranger. Any tips how to handle it? ;-)

Very well put, interesting and fun to watch, thanks!

I must say as a German who went to the US: your last point, the vastness of the US and the crazy size of nature makes up for all the bad things in the US and i miss it here so much. Yes we have a lot of culture and other good stuff over here in europe but a every piece of land belongs to some town close by. I felt so free driving a lonely street in Nevada. I miss that.

A crazy fact about the US infrastructure is that there is more space allocated to parking lots than actual residential space. And of that residential space, in a typical household you will still more often than not have a closed garage due to car dependency. And often times a household will have at least 2 cars, aka a double width garage - which on average equates to roughly 30% of a house footprint on its land. If you said "to hell with car dependency" in suburbs and similar urban areas, you could on average reduce space needed by 40-50% without actually lowering usable living space - meaning all the vast urban areas could be shrunk down to a size that could accommodate local grocery and goods stores within walking/cycling distance, thus removing the need for strip malls entirely, and the general car dependence as a whole. It's crazy what a little city planning can do, if you don't presume that a car is mandatory to live an average lifestyle.

6:28 it completely shocks me how little pride schools and universities take in their academic achievements and how strong the emphasis is on sports. Thats not what schools are for, at least not in Germany.

Really fun to watch, thx. Greetings from Bremen

The size difference between people in the US and Europe (and most of the world) always gets me when I first land in the US and am walking through the terminal.

It is hard to describe the homeless situation in the US to Germans, especially how it is in the Portland and Seattle areas. Like for Seattle before they took down the Alaskan Way Viaduct, it was like lining an entire side of say, Marienplatz with tents. I've used that to describe that to Germans and you can see on their faces that it just doesn't compute for them.

As a German from old Europe, I can only absolutely agree with you in every detail, exactly and no other. When it comes to the relationship to cars, it's fair to say that the distances in the USA are of course considerably longer than here. Thanks for the nice review.

I like it, when your videos are less poetic and more just depiction of what you experience and what you think. Like this!

Recently watched Unicorn Town and really enjoyed it! Keep up the great work! (It also made me fondly remember my time as an exchange student in Germany many years ago. 😄)

Hi Nalf, just wondering. Did you ever seen something from "Not Just Bikes". He's Canadian and also talks a lot about "car centric" America. Greetings

A new NALF Video, you Made my day! When I saw the price of the pepper, I wasn‘t surprised at all because here in Austria grocery prices also went up enormously. It is pure greed by the producers and absolutely not justified by elevated energy prices. Very often, higher prices are disguised by asking the same price for a smaller package. The difference is often about 20 to 30%. It was so nice to hear from you guys again, I wish you a pleasant stay with the Alfieris, stay safe and healthy and come back to good old Germany😍

well deserved success on this video. That was so intereseting to watch!

Now, that vid was very interesting and informative. Thanks.

I live in the north of England where people are known for being friendly and chatting to strangers is normal. You get a lot of banter in shops. I still feel uncomfortable though if a shop assistant starts asking me specific questions like what I'm up to for the rest of the day. It seems weird. Why would they want to know what I'm doing?

Thank you so much! As a german who lived in Florida for a couple of years I share your observations 100%! I was shocked to learn the prices in the US and especially by the fact how dirt cheap all this unhealthy crab is over there. It’s so unhealthy!! People always made fun of me because I started every conversation with the comparison of the pepper prices 😂

Funny video! As always verry well edited and thought. But we can see, that you have other priorities: rushing through the last point to get the video finished as quick as possible! 😂

Welcome Back! I am from Germany and live in the US for 7 years. I can relate to most of what you said. 😅

Totally get you! I lived in Germany most of my life being the son of a German mother and a US soldier. I love visiting the states but two years living in Florida back in the early 90’s plus many visits thereafter, make me wanna stay here in Europe.

In Germany it depends in which supermarket you buy your stuff. And when I buy groceries I always go to the cashier I like. And because of that they recognize me and we do a little bit of small talk. In other shops (even when I am there for the first time) I mostly have small talks with the people there because I start it. When you're friendly and have a smile on your face you can have this little chats with them. It's just like they normally don't start this conversations.

Hallo, guten Tag! Pretty accurate video I’d say. I have felt the same when I come back to visit family in the states. Still living in Germany and you were one of the first Americans I followed on RU-vid when I first moved here in 2018. Actually went to first Football game in Potsdam a couple months ago. Hab einen tollen Tag!

At 8:15 you show the center of a really nice town called Landshut, situated 70 km north of München (Munich). And Belstner (the house far right) makes fantastic cakes and pies. Thanks for this sweet memory!

Greetings from Bavaria😊

Unfortunately, politics in the U. S. has become a branch of show business. Voters seem to want entertainment rather than representation.

Just Altstadt Landshut randomly at 8:17 :D looked so familiar right away living there.

We made a 3 month Road Trip from Seattle to San Diego a few years ago and i have to say Portland (Oregon) felt like half way between Berlin (our Home) and the other American Cities we visited on the West Coast. Portland has, at least in the City center, sidewalks, bike lanes, public transportation, farmers markets, small bakeries and cafés and also streetart and -culture similar to Berlin.

Your low grade nausea, yes, could be due to food additives and food processing, but could also be related to your immune system being used to different general bacteria and germ populations that are prevalent in the different countries/regions. Like yeasts and bacteria that aren't per se pathogenic but just different strains that demand some adjustments of your immune system regarding your specific microbiome.

The 2nd time I went to the US I went to San Franciso (for the job). Once we had some free time, my colleague and I strolled " through the city".... We didn't even walk approx. 500 Meters from the fair (Moscone) and we saw people with tents living ON/OFF the street... ... and I remember all the electictiy cables running over our heads. Mein Gott...Edit: first time I've been to Calif./ Nevada ws very revealing, too....

I love your content. I’m looking forward to the chiefs game this Sunday. I hope you’ll have some content, live or otherwise.

Getting sick coming back. Welcome home :>

I love the nature of the pacific coast states as a tourist from Germany 😉 And I like the friendly american small talk

I am a German living in the US since a couple of years and everything you said is true.

When I drive 30’ north I am in the Netherlands, 1h15 east in Germany, 45’ south in France and Luxembourg is a bit more than an hour southeast. London is about 1h45 by train via the Chunnel. People here think it is far when they drive to the coast 1h15 away.

The prices here in Germany went crazy up in few last months as well.

If there is no zebra crossing in your hometown, Laura can "Germanize" the place a bit. Give her some white paint and a brush. That's not a problem.

Oh yes, I remember the incredible prices for healthy meals in the US too. I think I paid 4 times as much in the US when I cooked my favorite meal there for my friend. But for 5 US-Dollars I got the biggest chinese All you can eat buffet of my life (at least 11 years ago.)

This is an awesome video. It's not only jet lag that gets you!! Give your self time to adjust🕊️

When I lived in the US from 1991 - 2008 ( Colorado, Utah, Oregon ), it was exactly the other way around - everything was so much cheaper there. But it all tasted the same - veggies and fruits - like plastic - I only realized when I moved back to Germany :):):):):):)

Another thing about stores, like the strip malls, or the stores with the huge parking lots. I remember all the people I know that would drive around, circling the lot looking for a parking spot close to the entrance----doing this for up to 10-15 minutes...sigh.

As a Body and mind health conscious and sustainable thinking squad of 4 ecology students (2 horticulture, 1 ecological agriculture, 1 biochemistry) we had a Roadtrip: eastcost from JFK to Florida and back to Jfk through the BlueRidgeMountains. 14 Days + before 5days NYCity. Unbelievable. Limping people, spirits drugged by medications, Mentally insane/incompetent people, the closer you turn to the south. Beautyfull Forrests. Awesome friendly peoples, best wishes to Steven with a "V" from Cincinnati Ohio. Nearly no Crops, Garden, fruitTree, Flowers, wild Wheat or Bushes on property land. Insane Without those lots of SickManipulated, To be mourned and pitied people it would be better. Grow your own plats bro. Nature is not your enemy its your everthing, its your planet to live as living on it, not as a shy plastic electricity gasoline humanDisgust. Be human not american. Maybe never again. Becaus there are a lot of more countries with same or less same beautyfull nature and way less mentalweak or sick people and healthier freshcooked food without unknown stimmulizers. Poor poor country. Im sorry for you

I remember as a kid moving back to the United States from Okinawa, Japan. I started to regret telling my parents how much I wanted to move back to the state's.

Nalf , Where are you ? Been a few weeks since an upload , Have a great Christmas

Thanks!

I went to the US during my high school days. It was just a two weeks trip, but at the end I was so glad to be back in Germany. I liked the American people and their friendliness, but I couldn’t stand their food. Even the sheer amount of it when I ordered just a small cup of ice cream made me feel uncomfortable, let alone all of the fried foods there was. The first thing I did when I was back and out of the airport was buying some bread at a bakery.

People who know more than just their own culture enrich everybody ❤

Good vid. Thumbs up.

Also when you compare the prices, you have to also remember in the US the price you see is NOT the price you pay. You also have to pay additional sales taxes that aren't shown on the price sticker

What shocks me as a German: How much we change more and more into the direction of the US.

One reverse culture shock he doesn't mention appears at :23 - cars parked neatly inside the lines. TSGO

In rural Bavaria, you can find such Malls quite often. For the villages or "towns" are too small to put certain shops in every one.

As European having lived in the US some time ago, I fully agree with you regarding the food topic.

With regards to the marijuana legislations in the US: On one of my many road trips I spent a night in Trinidad, CO in 2009. It was a nice little town near the border to New Mexico and Texas isn't too far away. There were many restaurants and bars and a micro brewery with a riverside garden. I stayed in a fairly regular motel which was cheap but very pleasant. Really nice. In 2019 I was passing through again and decided to stay in the same motel. That was a mistake. It had become terribly run down and the guests were of a very different "class". The town itself had changed completely. No more nice restaurants and bars. The micro brewery was gone. All that was left were weed shops with armed security in each. It was really awful to see how the legalizing of Cannabis had ruined this town. With regards to the size of the States: In 2009 and again in 2019 I drove 'America's Loneliest Highway', highway 50 in Nevada. Started in Ely and travelled west to Reno. The evening before the trip in a bar in Ely I was talking with the Bartender. He told me driving out in the West was like being a seafarer in the middle ages. You stock up your ship (car) with all you need (water, 'vitals', gas, etc) before setting sail (driving off). After that you just follow the stars (the highway) until you reach the next safe haven (town). It truly was a bit like that. I swear I was driving for more than 3 hours without seeing another car in either direction, let alone a house or village. It's a big and very different country and I loved your video.

I’ve had similar experiences when traveling back to the USA. One thing though, legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Germany has been widely discussed in the past couple of years and has even gone through a vote and is pending EU compliance approval. New laws are anticipated to go into effect in the first quarter of 2024. When this happens individuals will be able to buy upto 30 grams. People will also be allowed to grow up to six plants for personal use. There are a few curiosities about how it will work. For example, purchases may only consumed at approved purchase sites or at home. Legally speaking, you may only possess marijuana while in the act of bringing it to your home from the point of purchase. You may not take marijuana to the homes of theirs, nor may you share your pot with anyone. The only way you can legally purchase marijuana is by being a member of a “pot club” which will be organized as an e.V., the German equivalent of a non-profit organization. The e.V. Will be responsible for obtaining product from authorized wholesalers, the in turn distributing to its members. A little weird, possibly inconvenient, but big steps in right direction.

oh nice 8:15 good old Landshut

You said it!

You are correct Nick, fresh vegetables cost more than chips and other junk food. Your body was having an interaction with all the nasty chemicals in our food. Living in Europe has been very good for you. Nice to see Mickey, what's he doing now?

It only takes so long to drive in the US because in the land of the „free“, the speed limits are very restrictive…🤷‍♂️😜

I am terribly sorry you are back but love this video! 🇮🇹

Srip malls also exist in Europe - though in general, those kinds of stores seem to always be outlet store centers.

As far as the "political bumper stickers" go: Part of it is that politics in Germany is generally speaking a matter of topics (which, granted, immediately feeds back into party affiliation in some sense), so IF there are stickers, they are usually in regards to a position on a topic rather than a party or even less a candidate. on top of just less "bumper stickering" in general

Wow that could be it I am in Hawaii right now and expected to feel nothing but happy but really struggling with the food and feel a bit depressed which is so out of character for me. Felt the same way last summer in Miami 🤷‍♀️ and yes I am German. Started cooking my own things here in my tiny hotel kitchen because I cannot even stand American restaurant culture. But you’re right probably paid as much for my veggies as I would have in a restaurant

I worked in Schwäbisch Hall myself :D , just for a short period of time, when I moved back to Berlin. Im impressed, you made it 7 years!