Having watched a few of these Ú.S versus Europe (or wherever ) and 'culture schock '' videos , I realize it's not so much Europe , Germany, Italy, Australia, Japan 'versus' the U.S. It's the U.S being the odd duck out no matter where you go . Work related Emails... In the middle of the night !? How in did employers get away with that in the first place. I can't even imagine responding to work related Emails at 4 in the morning. 😂
The US is definitely the odd one out when it to a lot of 'culture shocks.' We can't imagine some of the culture shocks people experience when moving from Europe to the US. Guns, lack of work-life balance, no vacation, driving everywhere, etc...Many of those are the reasons we left.
@@MYTravelBF Yes ofcourse. I was lucky to have the oppertunity to work in several countries some twenty years ago .Including a year in the U.S. I didn't even bother to check my healthcare insurance. I just assumed it was the same as Europe. Boy was i wrong 😅. Working in a major U.S city however didn't feel that different from say Sidney or London. Asia was the real culture shock for me. Can't read the signs, other behavior. Pfiew.
The way the doorbell buttons are arranged at an apartment building's front door usually corresponds to the building's layout. So if a button is the third from the bottom on the right hand side, then that usually also means that that person's apartment is on the third floor on the right of the building.
@@MYTravelBF I was looking for this comment. From top to bottom. However, when you go to visit someone they will most likely open the door right away once they buzz you in. For example a good friend might buzz you in, open the door and go back to what they were doing if they are in the middle of something.
Also keep in mind, that we count the floors in a different way...our "Erdgeschoss" would be your first floor, while our 1Etage is your second floor and so on...😉
Haven't you forgotten one culture shock? Living through an entire state-election campaign and barely noticing it. Or not seeing long lines at the voting stations. 😉 Our friend Eric just put up a video about his take on this. 😉 Let me tell you, not everything is closed on Sundays. Reataurants, museums, clubs, arenas, fun parks, fuel stations, train stations, cinemas, and basically everything except offices and shops. Oh, and voting booths are open on Sundays as well. 😉
We suppose the election didn't even come up as a culture shock since we barely noticed it was happening! It's way better than the way elections are done in the US. We know that not everything is closed too, but it's mostly the supermarkets that are the big change for us as we grew up going shopping on Sundays.
I'm tiered to hear the phrase "everything is closed on Sundays"! Yes, you can not shop on Sundays (and companies don't work), but almost everything else, that have to do with entertaining people, are open: restaurants, cafés, bars, theatres, cinemas, zoos, museums, fun parks, and the list goes on... so there are a lot of things you can do with your family and friends. So please please please be correct and say "you can't go shopping on Sundays".
We agree with you! We just said it was a shock coming from a culture where shops are open on Sundays and going to the supermarket is common on Sundays. It’s better in Germany, especially for the workers, but it’s different than where we grew up.
@@MYTravelBF I fully understand, that it is a shock for you. Its only the word "everything" that makes me mad, cause it gives a false view of Germany. And sadly everyone use it.
Bottled water became part of posh table culture in the 50ies and 60ies in Restaurants. The habit of offering tab water in restaurants never existed. If you want to have gas, you have to buy bottles, that's kind of normal. In the 90ies french brands (Evian etc) started to sell natural water. It became popular, others followed. It has absolutly no relation to the quality of tab water. Today it's kind of pop-culture to drink enough water, it's considered healthy and it's rather an american culture import, to always walk around with a bottle of water. Just - Germans don't change habits at home. If you want to drink in public, you go in a restaurant. Or if you go on travel you bring what you need, including food and water. This might be an undiscovered habit, to make sandwiches when going to travel. Although this habit is getting lost. Restaurant density is increasing. Restaurants used to be places to celebrate, to party. We went maybe 5 times a year. Today it's more or less food supply.
Well, the benefit of carbonated drinking water is actually quite simple to explain. In Germany, the low mountain ranges are often of volcanic origin and there are still numerous thermal springs there today. These were used early on and even in Roman times they built baths here and made use of the healthy water. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the benefits of mineral springs were rediscovered by the High Middle Ages at the latest, and mineral baths and the first spa facilities were established. At the end of the 16th century, drinking cures became popular in addition to bathing, although the same motto was followed. The bathers drank incessantly from the mineral fountains from dawn to dusk. Drinking medicinal water became so popular with the wealthy that in the 17th century the well water began to be filled into jars and shipped. Since the bottled mineral water was not cheap, doctors came up with the idea of producing artificial healing water. The decisive breakthrough came from the German doctor and pharmacist Friedrich Adolph August Struve. He managed to chemically analyze various waters, and also to imitate their smell and taste. In 1820 he opened his own mineral water establishment in Dresden. As far as it was good, this water was considered healthy and a luxury good. This goes hand in hand with the natural displacement of this spring water with carbonic acid. This, too, was finally integrated into industrial production and was ultimately regarded as a sign of quality. That is why the carbonated drinking water has now established itself as particularly desirable over the proverbially centuries.
Wow! This was really interesting to hear the history behind the sparkling water in Germany. Thank you so much for sharing as we love learning things like this!
@@MYTravelBF You are welcome. In fact, the history of sparkling water is very similar to the history of white bread, such as baguette bread, in France. White bread consists mainly of multi-milled, finely sieved wheat flour, the production of which was more complex and therefore more expensive than, for example, rye flour. As a result, white bread was always a sign of prosperity and reserved for the richer sections of the population. After the French Revolution, this was reversed for political reasons and white bread as such was also made available to the broader sections of the population. Like sparkling water, it was a coveted prestige product that was now accessible to large parts of the population. This has been preserved as a respective cultural characteristic in both peoples. However, sparkling water is also widespread in Europe beyond the German borders for the same reasons. In France and Italy, too, there was a bathing culture based on thermal and mineral springs and thus regional suppliers of sparkling water. In 1783, the German Jacob Schweppe patented a process in Switzerland to carbonate water. Englishman Joseph Priestley experimented with the substance in drinks and was awarded the British Royal Society's Copley Medal in 1772 for the invention of soda water. However, Germany is considered a real pioneer here.
Yes, but's thats more or less good advertisement today. People still call it mineral water, as a fixed term, but they don't drink it because of the minerals. Other waters just were not sold in bottles. It just changed in the last 30 years.
As a old German I can tell you that drinking water is a rather new concept for us. Centuries ago people would drink only wine and beer and the most common drink in rural areas was apple cider. Of course you would drink water outside a meal, but it was regarded a suitable drink during a meal. My mother told me that when she was working pregnant on the fields in hot august, even then she only go alcoholic apple cider to drink. Water was not regarded safe, only sparkling water was, but that was too expensive.
It's fascinating to hear the history of water fountains and drinking water in Germany. Thank you for sharing! Maybe with public drinking fountains water will become more accessible and affordable.
"... but that was too expensive" One reason it is still popular. The first sparkling water came from well-tasting mineral springs, e.g. in Selters and Gerolstein. This was indeed luxury. With the technology to carbonize normal water, sparkling water became much cheaper. And a luxury everyone could afford now. Other reason is that it is popular to create things like an Apfelschorle (apple juice mixed with sparkling mineral water).
That's because Hannover is that pretty. It's a very under-appreciated city. There are other places that are way more famous in Germany & you go & step away from the one tourist attraction the place is famous for, you step into blant, boring ugliness. Hannover doesn't have that famous old palace or medieval downtown (it has both, they're just not world-famous) but it's a really nice city to live in, almost anywhere.
We do have a lot of (historical) fountains in our cities, and they certainly were for all water-related needs of the citizens. I guess they fell out of favor with the advent of private water supplies in every house and haven't been brought up to date in regards of food security. Awareness of staying hydrated is also a relatively recent trend.
As heat waves have become more frequent in recent years, the additional public "drinking fountains" may be placed in areas with the highest average temperatures. *Remembering the last cholera epidemic in Hamburg in 1892, although there were public drinking fountains, the population increased rapidly and people used the Alster canals for all sorts of things. (sewage, laundry, cooking water, etc.) After that, the sewage and drinking water network in Hamburg was rapidly expanded. Since the water supply pipes were laid in the houses and you have to look carefully where the hydrants for the fire-fighting water are located, it can be cumbersome in some areas to install an extra branch from the pipe for drinking water wells.
We had to fight for work-life-balance Not everything is closed on sundays. Gasstations are open and mostly have a small variety of groceries for people who forgot to go shopping on Saturday. The same with big train stations. Fountans for drinking water may be a big thing in mediterranian countries like Spain or Italy. But Germany is as far north as Canada (New York is at the latitude of Rome) and public drinking fountains are nowadays getting popuplar due to climate change.
We’re from the northern part of the United States and there are still drinking fountains. They just get shut off in winter so the pipes don’t freeze, but they’re great 75% of the year. As for things being closed on Sunday, we like it, especially for the workers. It’s just a change from where we grew up.
Bakers, kiosks, cafes, cinemas, Zoos, Themeparks and restaurants are also open on Sundays. On, I believe, 4 Sundays a year (these are determined by the government, often before Christmas) all shops are allowed to open.
@@MYTravelBF Well, if you work two or three jobs to sustain your life's cost, you need to shop on Sundays. Here people only work five days a week and they are off work during regular shop opening hours, everyone has their chance to shop. On the other hand, we don't buy groceries for a fortnight's time, two or three days are enough. We buy meat, bread, and produce fresh. Occasionally you will see people with a full shopping cart, especially on weekends or when a public holiday is suddenly approaching, but this is not the norm. Our shops are often closer to our living quarters and shopping is done more often. -- As with sparkling water: culture!
@@McGhinch The more consistent grocery shopping is a positive culture shock, and again, not all these shocks are negative. They're just different from the culture we grew up or where we have lived before. There are a lot of things we love about living in Germany, including some of these!
Since the last summer with temperatures +40°C,there are some Shops/Stores were you can refill your Waterbottles for free....you see stickers on the windows or doors...REFILL HANNOVER-FREE TAP WATER...walk in and ask for a free refill
Waterpipes used to be out of lead (till 1945) so drinking from the tap wasn't safe. Since 1973 it's not allowed anymore and in most buildings they have been replaced. So today it is safe
True, but if the water is good from the tap, why not make it available for everyone in public spaces? We think it would encourage reusable water bottle use more too instead of buying bottled water.
1878 lead pipes were forbidden in the kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg 1909 lead pipes were forbidden in the grand duchy of Baden 1973 lead piples were forbidden in (the rest of) West Germany (East Germany only since 1989) 2013 the "Trinkwasserverordnung" requires less than 0,010 mg lead per 1 liter water. Not possible with lead pipes. At this time also old fountains providing (running) drinking water were labeled with "Kein Trinkwasser". Not necessarily due to lead pipes. Even if their water has the required quality - it's simply too expensive to proof this permanently. Thus some "Kein Trinkwasser" fountains are safe to drink from. Albeit many are not (esp. the ones powered by pumps and with circulating water). The Trinkwasserverordnung is also the reason why normal taps at public restrooms are labelled also with "Kein Trinkwasser". Here the taps do not fulfill the special requirements. The demands of the Trinkwasserverordnung are very high. Bottled mineral water won't fulfill it either (due to the bottling process).
deposit is 25 Cents for pet-bottles and 8 Cents for glass. Quiet time is from 10 pm until 6 am. On sudays you are not allowed to make any noise at all, incl. mowing the lawn with a machine.
as far as I know, I was longer not there, you may able to shop at the Hauptbqhnhof im Hannover. But the shops at the airport are open. there are a lot of Kiosks and Patrolstations that are open too, where you can buy things you need.
The Hauptbahnhof has all of its shops open, as well as all kiosks and most cafes and restaurants. There are also plenty of other things to do on Sundays. It's mostly the supermarkets being closed that is a change for us to get used to based on where we grew up. It's not bad, just different.
That's true. The Hauptbahnhof has everything you would need almost all the time. It's mostly the supermarkets being closed that is a change based on where we grew up, and going all the way to the Hauptbahnhof just for groceries can seem like a pain some Sundays. Luckily, we're getting used to doing it on other days of the week.
On sundays germans go to Zoos, swimming parks or Therme, amusement parks, Museums, cinemas or visit other cities for example.and yes gasstations offer some food or germans go to Restaurants on sundays a lot!
Yes! We like that people are out and about on Sundays. It’s great places are closed for the workers to get a break. It’s just a change based on what we grew up doing on Sundays and what we’re used to.
In. Laatzen there is a backshop that sells bread and stuff fromnthe day before from other bakerys but extremly cheap a bread cost 1.10. And its still taste verry good but you need to heat or bake it a little before eating. Best way for that is and toaster or a airfryer
I was 16 when I did my first vacation in the US, so at legal drinking age for beer in Germany. I was visting relatives and my cousin was only 6 months older than me. When we where hanging out with her friends there was always a sixer of beer available.
Alcohol is definitely available to people under 21 in the US, especially if you have the right connections. However, it is illegal, which is different than in Germany.
I got my shock in 2002 in Pottsville PA USA, instead of drinking water, chlorine water came out of the tap and on the streets you didn't see any people and only Sandwitch...
Why do the Germans drink sparkeling water? Quite simply... normal non-carbonated water comes out of the tap. Drinking water is the best controlled foodstuff in Germany. In many areas, drinking water from the tap is of better quality than water from plastic bottles.
@@MYTravelBF Only because taste and not because quallity. The old Romans search for spezial sources with Water with spezial tast... see some aquädukte in france.
It's definitely better having stores closed on Sundays, especially for the workers. However, when we first arrived it was a change in routine since we were used to going shopping on Sundays.
The problem of the drinking fountains are the extreme legal regulations, because drinking water and the drinking-facilities is highly regulated by law. You have to clean it, check it, test the water regularly and this is very labor-intensive, so most fountains were dismantled in the 70s.
The legal drinking age for beer and wine consumption in public is 14, as long as that person is accompanied by his/her parent(s). In France, it's common to see children of maybe 10 or even younger to drink watered down wine.
Drinking age: it is 14 when you're accompanied by your parents and they allow it. Edit: in public! At home you can drink at any age any alcoholic beverage -- if your parents allow it.
People are afraid that people or animals (doves, pigeons) might contaminate drinking fountains with their bacteria. And you may go into a public toilet to refill a drinking bottle. That may cost a coin but then you know that place is kept clean.
bubble water or Sprudelwasser is kind of a culturally acquired taste. It started all out with Jacob Schweppe (yes, the guy who founded the Schweppes brand), a German jeweler and clockmaker living in Geneva. Based on the resarch of others he developed together with two friends (a pharmacist and a mechanican) a process to carbonize water to enlarge the shelf life of bottled spring water. Their dependance in London did not do well until they won Erasmus Darwin (the grandfather or Charles) as customer and propagandist. Besides enlarging the shelf life carbonated water was thought to be healthy - not least because many famous mineral water springs in Germany were used for medical (or wellness) purposes, and many of them had naturally bubbling water. So while for the producers the longer shelf life was the impetus to carbonize their water while bottling it, many customers thought (and sometimes think to the day) it to be more healthy than "still" water (and more fancy than tap water, because it is not as cheap), and nearly all Germans grew up with bubbling water for generations. Actually tap water is however more heavily regulated and controlled in Germany than bottled "mineral water".
The number of public drinking fountains will increase drastically. With a change of the "Wasserhaushaltsgesetz" this year, which will become valid in January 2023, the communities will be required to put up public drinking fountains in public spaces (if feasible and affordable). "... dass Leitungswasser zur Nutzung als Trinkwasser an öffentlichen Orten durch Innen- und Außenanlagen bereitgestellt wird, soweit dies technisch durchführbar und unter Berücksichtigung des Bedarfs und der örtlichen Gegebenheiten, wie Klima und Geografie, verhältnismäßig ist."
@@MYTravelBFThe EU demanded this in 2020, it was only put now into German law. My (remote and small) hometown overworked the pedestrian zone anyway in 2020 during the Covid lockdown. Not planned this way. Just "Glück im Unglück" (blessing in disguise) as we say in German. And a private donator donated a sculpture (nothing special) to the town. Thus we have since 2021 a new sculpture in the pedestrian zone which is working also as a public drinking fountain. I'm no lawyer, but I guess the new law allows them to delay this until some works have to be made anyway. Only then it will be really difficult to argue why this wasn't done. But it will surely bring a boost over the next few years.
That would be one way to get drinkable water on the go without having to buy bottles. LifeStraws work well if you are ever looking for a mobile water filter.
I don't understand sparkling water either. It just tastes bitter and weird. Have been living in hannover, germany for twenty years now and I have become pretty german at this point, but this one I still can't make sense of. In the past I thought people were straight up lying and only pretending to like it haha
Our trade unions had to fight hard that emails that are sent outside work- or office -hours need not be read or answered. Clinics that treat burnout-syndroms and depressions are full of people in higher positions that are driven mad and got their marriage and family life ruined by that force that "glues" them to their mobiles or laptops.
We absolutely love the work-life balance in Germany, especially compared to the US where it is a joke. The fact that medical professionals even treat burnout and take it seriously shows how great work-life balance is in Germany compared to the US.
@@MYTravelBF Public healthcare, partly paid for by the employers plus the fact that employers have to pay the full salary of a sick worker or clerk for six weeks before the healthcare funds take over, are a huge motivation for companies to see to it that their staff stays in good shape. Bullying an employee will therefore backfire financially if that leads to a stay in a mental clinic plus rehabilitation center.
I assume the shock you've encountered was not too strong because you don't seem that type of guy or at least you've adjusted fast especially when it comes to drinking in public.🤣 One thing is for sure, the US way of doing or approaching things is not the default setting for the world. Perhaps that is the biggest shock.
We knew the US way of doing things is not the world's default before arriving here. The 'culture shocks' are more of things that are different from the culture we grew up in, which even includes Spain where we lived before Germany. And thankfully, the world doesn't follow the US culture or we'd all be in a much worse place.
@@MYTravelBF My apologies, did not meant to sound harsh. I'm aware that you aren't a newbie when it comes to exploring new countries and the habits there. Your video got me feeling you'd like to (if you could) implement certain 'convenience' aspects (shops open 24/7) that comes for the price of working poor labour, which no one consideres or cares cause it is always 'the others' in these jobs. Perhaps I was a little overreacting in my assumption about your mindset. 😁 So again, welcome to Europe, welcome to Germany, welcome to Hanover.
Another commenter said there was a lot of history behind why sparkling water was so popular, which was really interesting and made sense. We just don't like the taste compared to normal water 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏽♀️
@@MYTravelBF No problem -- I prefer still water over carbonated water. When, seldomly, I drink a coke, I usually shake it to let the CO2 out first. Yes, I know it foams but I have my technique to not spill any.
Immer dieses Gejammere über die fehlenden Wasserbrunnen. Nehmt euch doch einfach eine Flasche mit oder kauft euch eine. Ich erwarte doch nicht, als Tourist in einer Stadt oder einem Restaurant, dass die mir alles kostenlos zur Verfügung stellen. Sowas geht nur, wenn man Abstriche bei der Qualität und beim Personal macht... Ach so, ja... Genau so ist es ja in den USA.
Ich verstehe Ihren Standpunkt zu Wasser in Restaurants in Bezug auf die geringere Bezahlung des Personals, aber ich bin mir nicht sicher, wie es sich auf öffentliche Trinkbrunnen bezieht. Es ist nicht schlimm, dass es sie in Deutschland nicht gibt. Es ist nur ein Schock, basierend darauf, wo wir zuvor gelebt haben
😂🤣 We don't drink soda or beer for the bubbles, but rather the other flavors. Although now, I'm thinking about other drinks that could have bubbles added. Sparkling coffee?🤔
Culture shocks aren't complaints, just how things are different between cultures around the world. Since we grew up in another culture, there will obviously be differences and "culture shocks," of which not all are bad. There are many things we love about living in Germany, and maybe we should make a video on that in the future as you suggested. Thank you!
@@MYTravelBF Yep, but imagine anarchy where everyone does what they like? I personally like clean streets and greeneries. So, if someone litters I ask them nicely to pick it up and throw it in the trash and if they act up like assholes I ask them again with the addition, if they do not comply instantly I will let their tongue do the job. This usually works fine.
