Americans should travel more often. This kind of „cultural shock“ makes you more tolerant to other cultures and also helps to get out of your preset mindset. Actually this is true for everybody.
We’re kind of isolated on our own continent sadly and it’s pretty expensive to travel outside of America but I agree people need to get out of their comfort zone the last three years I’ve been in Europe have been amazing
Rita Roork In the Netherlands from the age of 18 I can smoke weed and drink alcohol whilst fucking a prostitute in front of a cop and if I get an STD from that prostitute I can get treatment for free. Don’t talk to me about freedom. You can carry a gun in the US in front of a cop just to get shot there’s your freedom I prefer mine.
Personally, I feel a lot of Americans would like to (and of course I can't speak for every one of them), but it's money to do so and the time to do so that limits their ability. An American friend wanted to come to The Netherlands to meet-up for a short while but basically the moment the travel plan had come together, the place his girlfriend (who had planned to tag along) worked at said she was only allowed 6 days of from work (unpaid as well), which would have meant they had to leave at the end of her work day (his workplace was a little more ehm "permissive"), jump on a plane and go over here, spend 2 days in The Netherlands, might just spend half a day travelling to Germany (which they had planned to visit as well) to be able to be there 2 days and fly back the day after that and with all the jetlag-mess along with it basically go to work the next day. That was one of the problems which made them not come over, but also that the 6 days of from work his girlfriend was able to get, were the 6 days of from work she had available in a whole year to either visit and care for a relative who might be ill or something, attend a wedding or funeral or actually be ill yourself (I was pretty stumped to hear that one).
Let's face it. German are curious, especially about what other nations might think about us. We do like to make a good impression. We wouldn't exactly phrase it like that, but germans are a very proud kind of people.
@ Das liegt daran, dass in Berlin halt viele Sozialschmarotzer leben. Wir (also Schwaben und Bayern) finanzieren euch halt mit. Ich bin logischerweise Schwabe. Und ich kann bestätigen, dass wir sehr stolz darauf sind, Schwaben zu sein.
@ Die Flagge ist übrigens in unserer Verfassung verankert. Wenn man sich jetzt noch mit unserer Geschichte auskennt, dann weiß man auch, wofür die Farben Schwarz-Rot-Gold stehen. Und nein, diesen Menschen war Deutschland nicht egal, denn sie haben für ein vereintes Deutschland gekämpft, friedlich wohlgemerkt. Es ist eine Schande, dass solche Konsorten ihr Andenken in den Dreck ziehen.
But the endboss in "people watching" is of course Japan. Ask Japanese women if they ever got checked from head to toe by an old, grumpy lady when waiting at the traffic light or something like that.
The average German worker works ca 1300 hours a year. The average US American works ca 1700 hours a year. Germans have to cram about 10 weeks of work more into it to keep the pace :D
RoonMian I think the answer is more simple. Germans are more efficient at work, so they can do the same amount of work in less of the time. I think this higher efficiency depends on the larger amount of Holliday they get.
@@RoonMian Do the math again! 1300hours per year means 27 hours a week. No way! If you're LUCKY you only have to work 35 hours a week. Average is about 40. That means that you work average 170 hours per month. In a year that are round about 2.000hours. Even if you substract the vacation time of 21 to 30days you have still 1.800hours per year. 2 month more work a year than you claim. And there are branches like mine, too, where round about 200hours a month is normal and common.... Your 1.300 hours a year are maybe a wet dream but far from reality. You only get this if you divide all worked hours with ALL people (including pensionairs and kids and people without a job). Otherwise you will NOT reach that number of 1.300. I wish you were right! But you are NOT...
Most Buildings were Damaged and not Destroyed but were mostly demolished in the 50/60's because they wanted to rebuild and give the City a new "flavor"
@Steve Slade After the war many people were homeless and they needed houses and living spaces as quickly as possible. Building materials were little, and the need for food and clothing was more important than everything else. Many years later now there are some cities who have rules for renovating houses, they have to be "original" old fashioned, for example in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
@Steve Slade After the war a lot of the buildings replacing the destroyed ones were fairly simple affairs and quite similar (you can spot them easily) as they needed to be quickly planned and built - all the displaced people losing their homes needed new homes. The base of the buildings remained largely the same as the landowners wanted to keep what was theirs. There are of course rebuilt historical buildings etc, but most of the time you will see a mix. (Example of a 50s apartment building: www.staedte-fotos.de/bilder/ein-50er-jahre-wohnhaus-dichterviertel--16964.jpg)
I think you’ll find most Americans are friendly like these guys. Just stay out of the big cities, the suburbs and countryside have fantastic people. Can’t judge them by Wall Street and their govts.
I notice how incredibly POLITE the Americans are! They dont swear for example. Always apologize. I always try to talk more polite when i am in the US part of youtube :D
It's so easy to shock American dads ... German streets with street cafes on the right and left are like a catwalk. Seeing and being seen is the purpose of the thing
Interesting that a slower pace of life would be one. I'm German and I always perceived Germany as a very performance base country. Not as much as many asian countries by any means but still.
"You have to be precise, we missed our train to the netherlands and had to wait for an hour" Meanwhile every german: "I swear the day the Deutsche bahn is punctual is the day the world ends"
I remember reading what DB (Deutsche Bahn) actually means. Daheim Bleiben - Staying at home.😀 I was wondering why, because it seems everything works perfectly and absolutely precisely in Germany.
Claiming that Germans are more relaxed and not in a hurry in general is a bit misleading. Many jobs are quite stressful. But that's not the people you're seeing (they'll be inside of office buildings or on the road). Sitting down for an extended lunch or having a relaxed coffee are usually those people who have a day off or are on vacation (and many senior citizens, of course). German (or European in general) inner cities are not just business districts, but also places that people like to go to in their spare time. Not even counting in the number of tourists in some particularly attractive cities. The majority of people do have quite buzy days, but with the little space we have in Europe, there are always enough others to fill the town squares and cafés and give off the impression of a relaxed lifestyle. Granted, thanks to more powerful unions, Germans tend to have more days off and more vacation time than US Americans do.
Oh no doubt they work hard, Germans are incredibly efficient. It's just different as Americans where we see these incredible social settings. Just watching people interactions over in europe is interesting as compared to the US
bjoern0975 I think they talk about restaurants. In the US you eat an leave the restaurant here I. Germany we stay for a little while even with our ordering anything more.
Not to forget. Padaborn is a small town, with many tourists there. They have time and spend it in the cafe' s and pups and on the street. We all love to visit our towns in our free time, especially in summer. You can sit on the Pader ( little river in Paderborn) and ebjoy your free day.
Why.... its nasty-ish compared to good old german dishes (well subway italian herb/cheese/meatball is nice) but Mc Donalds? Why don't we have Wendy's in europe
@Maste LarssonAmerica You are in the middle of a class/racial..civil war for your very soul.. ( Trump still has the power to infecting democratiy elected America)We in Europe watched for generations with envy your great democracy...but we have caught UP..And have laped you...in socially responsible democracy..that's the system that the entire civilised planet happily works on...get on board America..ASAP.....There are still countries who are care... ..
of course we walk a lot. We have legs. We know how to use them. My both grand pas walked deep into Russia (1940) and walked all the way back from 1943 to 1945. We are well trained. (satire!)
3:22 The contrast of old and new buildings ist because of the war. Where old buildings were bombed, there was space for new buildings. You would have a lot more cohesive old city centers otherwise.
@@ZacSaleski yep. When I go to my native country, I buy a big bottle of it at Albert Heijn, a really good supermarket with lots of fresh food. In the Netherlands you can buy way more Indonesian and Surinamish food (colonial past).
@@ZacSaleski Go to Groningen on a Thursday night when the students are back in town. You can drink and dance until morning. It's the favourite night to go out. The 28th of August is "Bommen Berend", a special day for the city to remember the defeat of the Baron of Münster, a German occupant. The canon, which drove the Baron off back to Germany, was called "Bommen Berend". It was like, I have forgotten, 400 years ago. Check it out. It's a fun day in Groningen.
2 Hour lunches in the Netherlands? No way dad. Those were either tourists or they weren't at work. Most Dutch people don't go out to a restaurant for lunch anyway.
Lovely hearing your experiences of Germany. I've been coming here for 13 years from the UK. I now live in Paderborn since nearly 2 years. Love the German culture and way of life.
Philip Embleton thank you!! I’m glad you had the chance to experience paderborn as well! I’ve been overseas for about three years and Germany has been the easiest to transition to. People are incredibly friendly
The famous German stare😂. We do that subconsciously and hardly think something bad about the people we‘re watching. It’s actually more common to watch someone for a long time and then compliment them on their appearance or something. I think we‘re just naturally curious. But it might seem weird or offending sometimes although it’s not meant to.
its funny because when I go back to the states i catch myself staring without realizing it lol i think most americans just feel weirded out by it which is funny
This was really good. I think this was the first video I've seen focusing on the reaction of family, Kyle's dad in this case, to Germany where the visitor was allowed to come up with the questions and explain them himself. It's easy to see that Kyle's dad is loving his trip, and you two are loving showing him around.
Mojo, damn, you beat me to it! Lol. I think we'll have to inundate the rest of the comment section with non-sensical posts to drive Zac crazy, and then blame it on everybody who hasn't watched/commented yet. 😁
@@religiohominilupus5259 I don't know why we shouldn't do that. Every time he posts a video, I have to handle that all by myself. I could use the assistance. Welcome aboard.
The Allied bombings mainly blew out the doors, windows and brickwork leaving the ancient timbered skeleton of the house standing. It was easier to re-fill those areas and have the house look almost original. (Sanierung)
Das gute alte ruhrgebiet😊 am interessantesten ist was das ruhrgebiet früher war und wie es zu dem geworden ist was es heute ist, aber auch geil isses hier unten bei uns in konstanz einer der städte die fast als grosstadt zählt aber trz so klein und ruhig scheint. Es ist einer der städte die am meisten kultur/geschichte behalten haben vorallem von den gebäuden und ja konstanz hat halt des berühmte konstanzer konzil es ist halt sehr viel geschichte und an sich auch durch die leute einfach was besonderes ich will nie weg von hier 😂
Hi Richard, we had a lot of British friends from the army stationed in Lippstadt close to Paderborn. Some stayed when the army left, and luckily we are still in contact with most of the people who moved back to the UK. Some of them come to visit us for "Herbstwoche" every year which is always so much fun.
Subway and KFC usually have free refills, McDonalds introduced free refills a couple of years ago but some people were literally filling up multiple bottles to bring home. That's why they were quickly phased out again.
Guys, come to Switzerland and be prepared to revise all your expectations on cost of travel, food and in fact anything. Switzerland is one of the world's most expensive countries. Then go to Norway and be prepared for the heart attack.
Great, loved it. nothing demeaning just full of surprises. From Australia, the massive old cathedrals blew me away too. pretty good for the Dark Ages, some of them. History in stone and more inside. If I don't get to Germany then you guys can tell me what I missed. Thanks.
It’s really amazing, every small town in Germany has so much history(far more than the US) it’s just hard to comprehend sometimes 😂. Well worth it though
I was vacationing in Cartagena, Colombia and I went to a mall and bought local clothes. I asked my Colombian friends if I could fit in with the locals. They all laughed! It was my posture, my attitude. I just had "American" written all over me. This video helps me understand that.
No free refills is to stop children from drinking too much sugar and becoming fat. Edit: But restaurants and fast food places are mandated by law to give you free refills of water if you ask for it. Just not sugary drinks. In some European countries it's even illegal to offer free refills of sugary drinks (for the same reason).
You are nice guys, and this is a nice video! Good to see how you embrace the "shocks"! Concerning old and new buildings: Keep in mind that many German towns were hit heavily by airstrikes in WWII. Paderborn was one of the cities, and it suffered almost full destruction (85%) of it's historic center in March 1945. In these towns, some of the "old" buildings have been reconstructed later, and many of the resulting gaps have been closed by modern architecture. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche in Berlin is one prominent memorial of that time, showing the spire ruin next to the new building.
Paul SJ thank you! Yeah paderborn was and still is a big industrial town which made it attractive to destroy to the allies the best part is that there’s little before and after pictures all over paderborn to show what it looked like before the destruction. Love historical stuff like that
Here in Bonn it is similar. The city was the RAF's target practice for the attack on Dresden. Where the actual city center is, the real "old town" nothing remained. What is nowadays called "Altstadt" is not the historical "Altstadt" at all but just the parts of the city north of the center that happened to remain untouched by the bombing run.
Please Guys! Dont fly from Paderborn to Berlin. Thats insane, not only is it ecologically messed up, but also timewise its more easy to go by flixbus for example. With all the Check in and Check out time at the airport, thats probably more efficiant to go by bus.
To "stare" at other people means to be interested in other people. Interested in their kind of person, their character, their actions, their appearance or their type. There is something special about them at that moment. And that is why it is not staring, it is "looking at".
Americans be acting like they found out there is a world outside the US lol. Also the Netherlands is not Germany... Dutch people are way more chilled. Believe me most Germans *are* in hurry a lot, especially in the big cities, it’s not a cliche that Germans are known as workaholics.
Both Dutch and Deutsch are good in planning, if I have a train at 9:20 I can be sure it will be there at that time, not sooner not later, I have to walk 12 minutes so leave home at 9:08 not to hurry. If you are well organized and know what you are going to do, at what time and which place, it's like a clockwork. Dutch always have their planner with them, next Thursday... , between 18:45 and 20:15 we could have a drink...
Dutch Man in Germany we also have planners with us, the only problem is that our trains are *never* on time, that’s what the „Deutsche Bahn“ is known for, also one of the reasons why Germans prefer to drive cars basically everywhere.
hahaha this was cute. "You have to be precise". Kyle's dad is such a basic American dad love it XD, hahahah and the staring thing I DIED, yessss! Ppl are gonna comment it's not true.
That's because people are not superficial. So some scrutiny is called for. It shows their compassion. The "worst" encounter with staring occurred to me when I was in Bad Salzufflen. This is a spa resort to where many people are sent for healing/preventive medical treatment. (Means everybody is "bored".) There is a walkway through the parks where _everybody_ is taking a stroll. All, repeat: all people stare at you. Not only for a short moment when walking in the streets but for an extended length of time. That was, not weird but remarkable. Even for a German. You should go there to have that experience. Besides, there are some interesting feats which an American has never seen.
@@ZacSaleski Perhaps. But you have to consider the particular situation: Lots of people spend about 4 weeks (at that time could still be 6 weeks) only having one or two "applications". The rest of the day is free. Even if you are married you are alone with lots of spare time on your hand. Then there is the "Kurpark" and its "catwalk". So what do you do? Go out, be with the people. STARE! In your ordinary park people go in groups or alone in their spare time. They walk about or have a purpose (e.g. picknick) in mind. But usually they lack the humongous amount of spare time over a stretch of 4 weeks. And are not alone in contrast to their ordinary life. Most of them. But let's see what you experience.
@@V100-e5q what I thought was cool was, everyone was just chillin' enjoying the day and watching the people just walking around seemed like a natural every day thing. At first, I wondered if we stuck out like a sore thumb, you know, like... "there are some Americans.."
Of course we walk a lot! There are 83 million people in the space of Texas , plus gasoline is around 7.50 US dollars. We also have a wonderful public transportation system.
Paderborn! So excited to see Americans around here..Usually these videos are made by people in Berlin, Munich, Hamburg or other big cities..German “rural” life is totally different though..I live in Bielefeld so Paderborn is very familiar and it’s nice to see people enjoy our area :)
Depending where you are you do get free refills and depending on where you buy your kebabs, you do have good shops where all is best quality and fresh. But you also get shops that don’t really care, they just want to sell.
I love public transportation in Europe. The quality and reliability is so good you don't have to own a car if you don't want to. Makes me very envious as an American since our public transport is so lacking.
😂 You definitely haven't taken the train in Belgium. Always problems. Trains are to late (not driving on time), strikes, out of service, bad connections, abolished and depending where you want to go trains only drive until 10 pm. So you can't get back home. Taxis are very expensive and uber is very strikt here. So cars are very necessary here. Unfortunately. But it is true in Germany and The Netherlands trains are more punctual.
YT translated Paderborn to battleborn :D Translated this backwards makes "Schlachtgeboren" or "Schlachtgeborener" YEAH... Well this sounds super German :D
We don't need to be in a hurry, apart from the train, which is never on time, everything is scheduled to get easily from one appointment to the next if you're somewhat dedicated/not wasting time.
Hey Zack, good to see you’re having some fun overseas! I came across this on my suggested list for some reason! Your old Home Depot Cashier Coworker, Jacob
Nalf made a video about the staring thing and someone commented about a study (or something) that had been done, which indicated that Germans hold eye contact just a few milliseconds longer than Americans or some other cultures. However, holding eye contact to me is not staring, staring is as you described, walking by someone and their heads are moving as if following a tennis match.
Great topic. I just moved back here last week to Germany to raise my child. Thanks for the information. Let me know any advice that you might have for what I need to do
Ooooh just discovered the channel! I live in Paderborn :D - need to see some more Videos. Damn lets see for how long youve been living here and if there are more Vids with the Dad :D
Funny you mentioned the free refills. I’m half American and grew up in Europe. After visiting USA couple times I do miss the free refills in restaurants. But in American chains like McDonalds, subway or Burger King I refill my drink always as it’s soda machine anyway. Never had any problems
You are the first American that says that the food at Mc Donalds tastes the same in Germany like in the USA. The others say that it is higher quality meat and bread here.
That was just kyles dad reaction, I can taste the difference especially being in poland last year i know there are some strict rules on food. Big reason why i love europe for that :)
Mimi, I will say I had heard the same things, it will taste different. I don't equate that to quality, just taste. I could tell the quality control is much higher in Europe. It was really good meat etc. but it tasted the same, i.e. didn't have a different "flavor". Bread and meats were noticeably of a higher quality.
@@ZacSaleski Well, if you get your German on point, Dutch will be a breeze. Their grammar is way too easy (due to their efforts to simplify their language ), so your only real challenge will be the pronunciation... tog?
Lmao when dad talks about people sitting around watching people.Im a foreigner and l suffer a great deal from being watched by people 🤣🤣🤣But lm getting used to it gradually 🤣🤣
Ate my first Döner Kebap in Germany in '88. Back then Döner Kebap was absolutely new and it did taste great. What they sell you today as Döner Kebap is usually of much lower Quality. I wish they would still do those like back in '88...
@@ZacSaleski Closest you can get today would be greek Gyros made of beef even they don't use the same special spices of the original Döner Kebap... but taste is closer to the original Döner Kebap than modern Döner Kebap is... after all it is not original german food at all ;) (Döner Kebap was Invention of turkish-germans) If you wanna have great original german food eat "Maultaschen" (Mouthbags) in south west germany :) south german kitchen overall is lightyears ahead of north german kitchen ;)
I spent 5 years in the British army in paderborn in the 1970s had a fantastic time went back in the 80s to visit friends an discovered my favourite pub the take five was now a car park absolutely gutted 😆
As an American who has lived in Germany for almost 2 years I can attest to the culture shock. It's something else. But then, something I have noticed is that really the biggest difference is the language. Sure life is slower, and the whole Sundays where everything in Germany is closed, that's odd. But really with enough time in Germany the biggest difference is just that people speak a different language. But DONER!! OMG Doner "man muss Doner essen" (Everyone has to eat Doner) it's spectacular!
You're my man :) I'm from Germany and I'm currently lifing in Canada and one of the things I miss the most is Döner or Yufka. It's just the best thing for a quick Lunchbreak.
Germans stare. Get that a lot. Yes, they are sitting there, watching you and other people crossing by, but most of the time they're spaced out, when doing so. You are just something moving to look at, while enjoying their beverage or what ever. "Sehen und gesehen werden."
Regarding cup sizes: Do you see the correlation between 5 liter of sugary beverages cups and obesity in the society? Regarding free refills: in the US the drinks are often 50% ice, while in Europe it is just a few rocks. So with one cup you already get more of the beverage you orderd than with refills.
Titamiva oh god you just did a math equation with a McDonald’s cup, but to answer it yeah there’s a correlation between size and obesity I think we’re surprised at the overall portion size
Tita But to test that hypothesis, we'd have to do a study to determine why people in Europe are obese when the sugary serving sizes are so much smaller there.
@@Titamiva American soda servings sizes are bigger, and there is no charge for refills. That's our established fact. One person can look at that fact and say that's the reason why Americans are obese. Another person can look at that fact and say that's a sign that European restaurant owners are cheap. Both conclusions are too simplistic; nevertheless, they are revealing choices. The European points the finger at the Americans to obscure the stinginess of their restaurant owners; the American points the finger that the Europeans to obscure the higher rates of obesity in the States. But there are a multitude of reasons why both conditions exist. Thanks for having this discussion with me. This is a lot more interesting than many simple comments we come across here.