Visited family in Boston years ago, one guy talked about German cars all day and how much he would love to drive on the Autobahn. When I was ready to leave he stopped me, one last question, do you have electricity in Germany ? My answer " No, we build all the fantastic BMW, Mercedes and Porsche with candlelight ".
@@anonymerdude4501 friend of mine got asked whether we have hot water in our houses in Germany (about 20 years ago, but yes, we already had that in the 90s).
While visiting a trade fair in Munich, someone told me he had seen fantastic replica of the Disney castle in Florida. ...and was talking about Schloss Neuschwanstein 🙈
I worked in an international high-tech company. Whenever colleagues from the USA came to visit our office, they had problems connecting their electronic devices for charging . Rarely somebody was aware that we had a different plug system and a different mains voltage. Knowing this problem, I always had a box of adapters in my desk. I said please give it back when you leave. Nobody did, however. Secretly I didn't expect that either. When we Germans traveled to our office in Detroit for meetings, each of my colleagues had their US adapters with them. Everyone had them in their laptop bags. And not just for the US, but for many countries. If US citizens cannot find any continents other than their own on a globe, that is no longer cultural ignorance but a capital educational gap.
Gave you a thumbs down, because you match the stereotype for us Germans: „Nörgler, immer der Blick ins Klo! (Translation: Nagger, always looking in toilet where one sees 💩!) I’ve been working in the automotive industry and had strong ties to very esteemed colleagues in Detroit and Alabama , and on through family relations to Canadians in Ontario and Quebec! All wonderful people, very thoughtful! Ignorance is common in Germany too! There are differences, but when you sum up, the relative percentage of cowards will be the same in every country. 😜
@Hey Joe Achso, Albanien ist Deutschlands 5.-wichtigster Handelspartner und exportiert doppelt soviel nach Deutschland, wie Deutschland nach Albanien. Richtig, hatte ich fast vergessen. Weiß immer noch mehr über Albanien als die meisten Amerikaner über Deutschland. Zum Beispiel wo es liegt. Dein Minderwertigkeitskomplex ist ungefähr so groß wie der Größenwahn des durchschnittlichen Amerikaners.
@@wololo696969 Junge, Junge 🤌🏼 Hast du den Kern der Aussage überhaupt verstanden? Ich glaube nicht. Du bist genau der klugscheißende „Deutsche“, für den man sich im Ausland schämen muss. Arroganz gepaart mit Doofheit die klassischen Charaktereigenschaften des Übeldeutschen. Alle Welt muss ticken wie Deutschland. Auweia 👎🏼
@@larlkauterbach5819 Es ist beides schlimm, die Ignoranz mancher (!) Amerikaner und die Klugscheißerei mancher (!) Deutscher. Es ist allgemein bekannt, dass das öffentliche Bildungssystem in den USA nicht sonderlich gut ist, daraus resultiert sicher auch die Ignoranz betreffend andere Länder, oder eben, wie OP schon oben ähnlich geschrieben hat, ist die bessere Bezeichnung vielleicht einfach mangelnde Bildung. Und das ist immer ein Problem, egal wo. LG aus einem Nachbarland
@@larlkauterbach5819 You should just think about yourself. If your knowledge base is low, almost any more sophisticated comment looks like "klugscheissen".
9:05 That's very true! When I still worked at a big German company in Munich, I had to write down every day the time I came and left into an Excel sheet, and it calculated the hours. Every month I had to print a summary and gave it to my supervisor, and when I had more than 40 hours more than I needed, she said: "You need to take a day off or I will go to jail". THAT's what I call work-life-balance!
As a resident Ami in the north of Germany I can concur with many of the statements you made. Most people I've met have the ignorant "fratty-daddy" stereotype of amis resulting from drunk study abroad students who drink to blackout. sidenote: the public education system is definitely a contributing factor to our ignorant stereotype.
Very self-reflective (and highly likeable) plus it seems like living in Germany gives you the best of two worlds. 👏 Maybe you can do the same after living some more time in Germany with German stereotypes 😊
Here's my problem with America being ignorant of the rest of the world: They constantly say they are the greatest country in the world and act like they have the right to dictate what the rest of the world does. If that's what you think, you should probably inform yourself about the rest of the world. Otherwise you are just inviting yourself to constantly making mistakes and having people become disillusioned with you.
Well citizens of the US can’t really “dictate what the rest of the world does” as the man points out at 8:01. Yes, the people elect government officials, but foreign policy is low on most these peoples agendas.
@@51tomtomtom Switzerland got all the Mafia Money in their Depots. They don't need war to gain influence in oil regions. They are not the world's role model.
I think your definition was perfect. Stereotypes usually are an oversimplification of something that has (or had) some sort of truth. In general I think people who really believe that have some bias towards/against the other country/culture. And the best way to break the idea is visiting the place and getting to know people
Ya, your right I live in Berlin and an American that lives in Berlin for over 40 years. My German wife for over 39 years a great woman too. She still said that I'm loud! So, I agree with you!
My Theory of the 'cultural Ignorance' thing: If you live in the US you have 2 neighbouring countries (3 if you count Cuba) and most of then will be as far away as central Africa is for most Europeans. So of course a lot of your vacations and freetime as well as focus happens in the US. Growing up in Europe you kind of 'automatically' interact with other countries cultures because you are pretty likely to live near a border or that your quick family vacations will be in another country. And these kind of early experiences often shape a lot of the mentality later in life.
Another reason is the American school system. The students are mainly taught American history and American geography. Unlike us they don't learn much about other countries in High school.
@@mojojim6458 There is an abundance of cultures, cuisines, landscapes, and nations on your doorsteps. Maybe opening up to Mexico, Middle America, the Caribbean with all its diversity, might help a little? And do not stay inside US-chain resorts when you are there, but meet the people.
In the 80s, as an Air Force Officer, I was assigned to a multinational NATO unit for four years, where more than a third of all soldiers were US. Later I was an employee of General Electric for a few years and had to work with Americans a lot during that time, and in the last years of my career as a consultant I frequently had to work with Americans as well. Based on my experiences I can say: all those stereotypes are true, the positive ones as well as the negative ones. What sticks the most, was my experience with American Military during my stint at NATO. There were civilians and soldiers of 14 countries. Nobody, except the Americans themselves, liked the Americans. Their attitude and quirks were the topic of many bar talks after duty. There were exceptions, I made some American friends myself, but in general, they were no liked. Guess who were liked most? Well, the Canadians. Having said this: these are stereotypes of Americans. Part of stereotype is, that they are not true for everybody. If you don't behave like the stereotype American, that may make your life outside of America easier, but in America probably a little more difficult. Looks like you have learned a thing or two while living in Germany.
the us may be "wildly productive", but also wildly inefficient. that's why we all work overtime. i hear "work smarter, not harder" a lot, but seldom see it in practice.
Literally the 5th highest gdp for each hour worked in the world, with a working population in the hundreds of millions. The opposite of ‘wildly inefficient’
What I think the "racialism" thing meant the obsession of the US to label everyone with some sort of race or ethnicity. Having mandatory race or ethnicity checkboxes on government paperwork seems very archaic, and almost racist by themselves looking at it from the outside.
What I also don't get is the obsession with heritage. For example on Wikipedia you often read things like "Soandso (born ) is an American actor of Native American, African American, Japanaese, Polish, Swedish, Indian and Andorran decent. His parents moved to the US from Siberia in ." I mean what does it matter?
Racism is more like the systemic exclusion of African Americans, Latinos and indigenous people from equally being a part of society when it comes to the same rights to vote, housing, health care and social services which is a 'left over' from slavery times.
@@grandmak. That is why I explicitly wrote the racialism, not racism. racism is what you are describing, however racialism is the obsession with race and labeling people with different racial identities, whether that be for negative or positive purposes. This type of labeling and usage of race is (from my experience) a very american thing.
The US has adopted a more quantifiable way to measure race. This is how the government aims to make sure things are equal among the people. Because of the history of race, this is seen as a way of making sure there is still a balance. In Europe there isn’t this type of labeling and quantifying as they try to make it seem like everyone is equal. But there are glaring racial/ethnic disparities there as well that may be harder to spot and measure.
The Nalf, demolishing and confirming American stereotypes via his RU-vid Art ;-) We can all see and appreciate the vast fortune of money spent on the high budget background. Additionally it’s fair to say that your Boston Man deserves his own unique stereotype as does the (in)famous Florida Man.
One positive American stereotype I admire is Americans' strong willpower and they never give up. So many comebacks in sports with plenty of movies backing up this positive stereotype, like Miracle On Ice ... commenting from Canada so I had to refer to a hockey movie.
A negative stereotype that wasn't mentioned is the religious fanaticism of many Americans. Their fixation with abortion, their disapproval of non-traditional sexual relationships, their jettisoning of science in favor of biblical explanation for the world, even the belief in American exceptionalism has religious roots. The fact that most are utter hypocrites who only cherry pick those elements of religion that support their prejudices and racism and completely ignore altruistic aspects of religion is also very annoying.
The US certainly has tremendous potential (in a geostrategic as well as a cultural sense). The fact that such a democratic 'supranation' exists itself is pretty astonishing. But I hope I don't offend too much if I say the US also has meneuvered itself into a corner in terms of many of it's structural systems (electoral, social, economic, infrastructural) and if it isn't willing to change/reform here it will block itself from reaching that potential 🤔
@@DarkHarlequin Unfortunately not much of the democracy is left nowadays considering the more than 300 new voting (restriction) laws that have been decided on recently.
While in the US as a student, our foreign affairs guy asked us how our picture changed of the US. My picture changed from a cohesive decision making democracy with a lust for foreign power to a more corporate driven, but still to big to grasp country. I enjoyed the hospitality and i am very greatful for this opportunity but by God get rid of the bias. Church members there went to cambodia and laos to fit prostetics for land mine victims and in that town area was a factory of a known american company whose portfolio contained said landmines. But on a personal level 10 years after i still have contact with many of my american counterparts which i quite enjoy.
@@DarkHarlequin exept that the US is not a democracy and that is the real problem. If the power would be returned to the people, the americans, things would certainly take a different turn to the better, i think.
Very self-reflective and likeable! Well done and kudos to you for confronting your own behavior and US stereotypes. I really appreciate you explaining some of the reasons behind for these negative stereotypes because then we can also understand why we might think about US citizens in that way.
Looking at the thumbnail, I was thinking to myself: This guy looks like he fits many stereotypes, that are made up for americans. Seeing the whole video, I recognize that I'm the prejudiced one. The thing is: If you don't dive into something new or alien, you hinge on your prejudices and stereotypes - which mostly are an oversimplification of damn complex things. They never do justice to a single individual. Confronting yourself with stereotypes, that are made up for you, gives others an insight, whrere these stereotypes origin from. I really like this kind of selfreflection - high tier content *thumbs up*
Everyone has good and lesser good sides. One observation stands out for me as a German, there is a certain absolutism that leads to the toxic atmosphere we can see. It has to be black or white, no shades of grey allowed. Especially in politics this is a common and unhealthy pattern that really bothers people from outside, because that lead eventually to really bad moves in foreign politics and killed a lot of people for no good reason. One thing that is very interesting to that matter, i just learned that there are much more german immigrants in the US than i would have thought off. Before the world wars there were large german communities in the US, and they where really stubborn, religious and unwilling to integrate kinda people. I dont have good sources right now to prove that but some talked about that they made the largest part of immigrant groups in the US. Ironic to some mindsets of germans at home. But the reason why this is so surprising is that because of the world wars those people were forced to blend in because germans got a real bad reputation. I kinda feel that this absolutism i talked above could have been at least partially imported from Germany. Sorry about that... lol
As Melvin G. Holli puts it, "Public expression of German ethnicity is nowhere proportionate to the number of German Americans in the nation's population. Almost nowhere are German Americans as a group as visible as many smaller groups. Two examples suffice to illustrate this point: when one surveys the popular television scene of the past decade, one hears Yiddish humor done by comedians; one sees Polish, Greek, and East European detective heroes; Italian-Americans in situation comedies; and blacks such as the Jeffersons and Huxtables. But one searches in vain for quintessentially German-American characters or melodramas patterned after German-American experiences. ... A second example of the virtual invisibility is that, though German Americans have been one of the largest ethnic groups in the Chicago area (numbering near one-half million between 1900 and 1910), no museum or archive exists to memorialize that fact. On the other hand, many smaller groups such as Lithuanians, Poles, Swedes, Jews, and others have museums, archives, and exhibit halls dedicated to their immigrant forefathers" The US likes to erase uncomfortable history, simple as that. An intellectually lazy way of dealing with something so powerful, as history is. But, when you paint your enemy as the ultimate arch-villain, you'll have to follow suit with everything else and that's why everyone thinks of Irish, Italians or whatever, but truth is, it was mostly Germans ;) Roughly a 3rd of all settlers. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Americans#/media/File:Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County.jpg for reference.
7:18 Military Zeal: Another point about military is the reputation of the military in society. In the USA you have military schools, people wear uniform in public (even in TV game shows), celebrating Vetrans Day and so on. Even waring uniform in public (when you're not on your way home or to work or at work) is very uncommon in Germany.
@@emilyc5309 I'm glad that we overcome the militarization of the last century. Do you also thank medical staff, street workers, teachers, educators,police officers, volunteers at envirnmental/sport/culture/(...) associations and so on when you meet them on the street? I prefere to thank those who commit oneself to a better and more peacefull society with every move. Please don't take my statement too harsh. To quote a songtext "War! What is it good for?" War (and soldiers) are the last option and war means total failure.
@@2011GenerationNew why do you guys actually believe you have a much better grasp of what goes on in American Society than you actually do? It's weird. Everyone always talks about the ignorance of Americans but my god the things I've see Germans claim or pretend to understand in these comments sections is blowing me away. It is not all that common for people to just decide to wear their military uniforms out in public. Often times it is in area where there's a base, the person is on lunch, on their way to work etc. Everyone doesn't run around thanking people they might see in uniform for their service. Don't believe everything you see in movies or in the media for Christ sakes. That goes for your media or US media.
First off- love this video. I don´t think I´ve seen such a positive view on stereotypes before. Second- You´re right about every point. I´m an American who moved to Germany ( over a decade ago ) and I, sadly, haven´t been able to sit back and do some stereotype-self-reflection because people here tend to do that for me before I even get the chance to. But it´s fine. I actually enjoy explaining things or setting some records straight. Sometimes you can have interesting conversations about the points you mentioned. "You´re an American, so you´re a good shot." Yes, and yes. But that´s not the case for all Americans. "You´re from the south, so, you hoist the confederate flag in the front yard." Uuhm, actually, we never owned a confederate flag. "You´re ignorant to everything happening outside the US." Well, kind of. But thanks to hippie parents who loved to travel the world in their spare time, I´ve learned a thing or two that most Americans probably would never learn. There´s a long list of things I´ve been confronted with, but it´s really not that big of a deal anymore. I don´t blame other countries for giving us these stereotypes. In hindsight, I think Americans have done a good job to support these claims. There´s a lot more to everything, if anyone is willing to listen.
By actually living outside of the US and mingling with other non-Americans you have already shown that most of the negative stereotypes don't apply to you. You basically are the America I kind of fell in love with during my highschool year in the Pacific Northwest....
From what you've said, most of the negative stereotypes don't apply to those people you met in the Pacific Northwest. Maybe there's a lesson to be learned here about stereotypes. ;)
My father’s Irish American and born in Pennsylvania & was totally against guns and didn’t even want us to fire a BB gun. In college I did end up firing a shot gun (a college friend from upstate wanted to enlighten his downstate buddies). I grew up in suburban New York & don’t know anyone obsessed with guns. I do know some who grew up hunting & I know some who are obsessed with video games (more that are obsessed with sports).
Hey Nalf, just wanna say keep up that good work. I like the way you work your topics off. Greetings from Nordrhein-Westfalen. ;-) And btw. steretypes on a population of 320 something million people don't say anything about any individual from my pov. ;-)
I think by the European definition you are probably obsessed with guns, and I say that as non-judgingly as possible, myself being an American gun owner. I think they would define obsessed as you own a gun (possibly multiple guns) and fire it on a regular basis for non-hunting recreation. There are a surprising number of Americans who fit the bill. Even liberals here vs. liberals everywhere else are far more likely to own a gun. Families going to the gun range as a fun family outing is something that would probably qualify as "obsessed with guns" to a European.
@@neoliberalerneandertaler9347 As every other culture, society and actually every group and most single people on this world. Who sits in the glas house and throws the first stone? Who will step on the throne and define what’s „normal“?
USA is huge. I just googled Napa,Ca to New York City. I live 5 miles from a road I would need to take. Highway 80. One road 43 hours 2,874.5 miles. How many Country’s would a European pass through in that same distance? A Highway or Freeway in USA,Imagine getting the Autobahn getting on it once,to go 2,874.5 m/4626km. One straight road basically. Amazing,I believe. That’s partly why we don’t have much Cultural awareness. Parts of USA are as if ‘time stood still’. It’s fascinating & creepy at the same time.
If I were to drive on the next highway, and drive 4626km, I would be at the beginning parts of Siberia. If there was a tunnel between America and Europe, I'd be somewhere around where the Titanic sank. Down south, i'd be somewhere around Nigeria (but I would have to cross the mediteranian sea)
The defense for “lack of cultural awareness” is weak, though. Europe is HUGE and has so much going on, cultures and landscapes. Still, most Europeans can distinguish Canada from China on a map and will find Brazil or Australia.
The reason for that is probably that many German schools are making some kind of class contest out of which pupil is able to point out the most country's at the world map. 😅 My score back then was 40 I still struggle hard with the African country's. There are exceptions though I had a colleague who couldn't even point at Russia on a map.
Super selbstreflektierte Gedanken. Wirklich toll! Da hat dein Auslandsaufenthalt ja einen fruchtbaren Denkprozess in Gang gesetzt! 👍 Und ich ahnte gar nicht, dass es bei Wikipedia Artikel über Stereotype gibt. Ist ja spannend. Da liege ich mit meinen eigenen Vorurteilen ja gar nicht so daneben. 🤣 Kleine Randbemerkung: Immer wenn ich dein Gesicht sehe, würde ich am liebsten ein Bürstchen zücken und deine linke Augenbraue etwas höher und in Form bürsten. 😁😂🤣😄 Bitte nicht übel nehmen, ist nicht bös gemeint.
Man kann ein Gesicht auch einfach schön finden, wie es ist - ohne unbedingt etwas daran verändern zu wollen. Also doch bitte einfach das Bürstchen stecken lassen.
AC? what for? 1. Sucks a lot of energy 2. Makes rare sunny days a winter day. I like to sweat in summer, not to freeze to death. 3. AC air is dry and cold .... I'm a child of the sun and like it hot and moist. cold, dry air is not very healthy. I live under the roof. My flat heats up to >35 °C in summer and I love it. My car has an AC, but It's broken. It's btw the first car with an AC. BTW: I know people, who have ACs at their home.
The first thing I ever learned about the us was my father telling me "Die spinnen die Amies" and after living there for some time I have to kinda agree. There are just so many things about america that seem kinda insane to me. Not every american but america in general.
I would agree to your father's statement as far as the present situation goes. When I lived there (1969/70) I didn't notice it that much and when travelling there many times after I was mostly confronted with the positive stereotypes.
ahaha ja. Vllt nicht alle Tassen im Schrank. Ich mag die europäische Lebensweise. z.B sogar hab ich Waffen geschossen. Sie machen Spaß, aber ich bevorzuge die europäische/deutsche Haltung zu Waffen, auch seine Arbeitkultur. Bin übrigens ein Ami. Ich kanns kaum erwarten, dort zu wohnen.
An interesting and honest video Herr Nalf. On the subject of Americans having to learn a lot about their own BIG country, I agree with you. However, Europeans grab the opportunity to learn the geography and history of their own continent PLUS that of the USA. It's quite common on UK quiz shows for contestants to name US state capitals. I doubt very much that Americans could name the 16 German Bundesländer or the 17 Spanish autonomous communities, for example. The USA is very homogenous in many ways which makes learning things easier than here in Europe.
Interesting video, but the aspect ratio worried me the whole time.1920x860 or 1:2.23 you know that not many people have widescreen pc monitors, right?😁
The US als World Police. No, I don't think that this comes from the World Wars. The list of US military operations is long even between and after both World Wars. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_military_operations
In Germany, the main reason for using a small number of cars when going to somewhere often is that less people will have to stay away from alcohol. That environment argument sometimes is a convenient coincidence that serves well as environmental awareness then. Our hypocrisy is just a bit different than in the US.
Ya, your right I live in Berlin and an American that lives in Berlin for over 40 years. My German wife for over 39 years a great woman too. She still said that I'm loud! So, I agree with you!
@@DarkHarlequin True, in public. But Americans are loud everywhere, restaurants, bars, shops, at home. Imagine being in a US shop and hearing constant screams of American girls who found something they like. Awful! That you can follow the conversation on the table ten feet away better than your own companions. Even abroad you can hear US citizens yelling about the paintings in the Louvre, three halls away.
I know USA's well, esp. because I have one in my close family which I know from birth on. And when you came to the workaholic thing I just spake the same word in the same way in the same instant as you: "Ya!" It's so typical. My relative has always at least two jobs while still looking for another one.
Lived in NY for 28 years and not many people had AC there…and why would they? Doesn’t get that hot in the 3 months of summer they have. I’ve been in Virginia for the last 15 years and thought “Virginia isn’t too far south..won’t be that bad”. WRONG. It’s a solid 95, or 35, for 3 months, and 80s (29) for another 3 months with over 80% humidity. I can’t even imagine places like Arizona, Texas, or Florida. But that’s the thing. My Polish wife even pointed this out…is how many different climates are in the states. Tundra, desert, rainforest, swamp, temperate, forest, plains…pick your poison.
We hit 116 F, 46 C, here in Portland,Oregon a couple weeks ago! Blasting ht for 3 days. About 100 people died due to the heat. Glad I did not believe the native Portlanders who said A/C was not necessary when I moved here!
Ay bro I’m looking to relocate to Bavaria with my wife from New York. Any tips? Been googling alot but I’d much rather hear it from an American who’s already done it
Love that video. If everybody was that self reflective, we would be in a better world :) But NALF please so me one favor and keep improving your environmental mindset. In my surrounding nobody is proud of doing the "Mülltrennung" rightfully, it is more of a shame if you do it wrong... so still some more steps to go ;)
And Americans accept things that aren‘t 100% perfect, like „Enviromental IGORANCE“ (6:11) What did we do before spellcheckers?. My son-in-law freaked out when I went with him to a shooting range and we were able to borrow 2 pistols and a machine gun using our German driving licenses! But we had fun. Regarding Workaholism, I think Americans spend more time at work doing less work than I have seen with most Germans. When Germans are at work, they work.
US Exceptionalism certainly one of the most annoying ones. Would also add religious zeal. But don’t get me wrong, then there are of course tons of great characteristics.
Both those things are very overplayed, especially in the last 20 years. It's been in vogue to bash America for at least 5-10 years now. Religion has also been on a steady decline in the US for quite a while.
@@chickenfishhybrid44 yeah, and it depends on what part of the country you’re in too - different parts will hold to older ideologies, but I think it’s harder for our very online generation to think of America as the beacon of anything when we can easily compare our living standards to other countries and facepalm.
The "holidays" are spent in the first hours of the morning in the office, reading news articles, etc. online and discussing with coworkers where to go to lunch that day.
Actually, worker productivity in the U.S. still excels that of Germany. I used to tell my German brothers-in-laws that Germany should have even more holidays and vacation time. When they do, they make more work for Americans. Mercedes and BMW now have major plants in America. Why? The labor is cheaper!
Environmental awareness plays a part of German gas/petrol conservation, but gas prices certainly have to be an incentive. The US produces most of its own while Europe imports most all of theirs. This American has a Prius C and walks or bikes where and when I can, and I like living in the Chicago burbs where trains are an option.
Gas has historically been higher priced in Europe because they have had less native sources of oil. It was taxed to discourage its use and the drain on a countries foreign exchange. It obviously does not cost more to produce gas in Europe. It is mostly taxes.
I hate comparing countries like this. Every individual is different and should addressed accordingly. Every country has his pros and cons but at certain level we all want the same. Greetings from The Netherlands
@@grandmak. I was expecting a comment like that. What i actually was trying to point out, at least in my experience all US American I have met have been better at expressing/reading and naming their emotions and expressing on how they feel than most germans I have met. Which I believe goes back to the effect described in Kinder der Kriegskinder. Of course knowing your feelings does not mean the action/course you take is the right way to Deal with it
@@mercyluna7899 I agree with you on the latter. And I'm also aware of the fact that the majority of Americans are not what the world has been seeing during the last 5 years. When I lived in the US and later when I travelled there I always liked people's friendliness and openness and yes, their self confidence. Expressing / speaking about your emotions and feelings really is a matter we Germans have to do better on. Since it requires self reflection many of us have difficulties here. Thank you for your reply !
Overall very well balanced viewpoints and thoughts. Didn't disagree with any of them. As an American who lived over 13 years in various parts of Europe, 11 of that in two parts of Germany in the 80's and 90's -00's, I feel qualified to give my opinion on your views and you've obviously pretty quickly got most of it figured out. It's a shame more Americans either can't or don't travel to experience other places as you or I have. It's truly the most world-opening thing along with languages a person can do. I could comment on many of the points you made, but I'll just stress one. The US definitely needs work on better quality of life in the sense of people working to live rather than living to work. Compared with most developed nations we have less time off to do other things rather than work, work, work than anyone else. What the hell is that about even? Those at the top can still get richer, lol, without having to "slave labor" everyone else to death! Why is it every time we come up with a new national holiday we take another away? Lol! Both obviously rhetorical questions. 😁 On another note with many good friends there and having lived so long there too, for me Germany is like my second home!
@@alexandersessler5958 I don't know about butter, but Wikipedia cites a legend according to which the Bretzel was actually invented in 610 AD by Italian monks -- pretiola means "little reward" in Late Latin ....
I was in the US, in SC in 1988, my host-mom (I was kind of an exchange student), introduced me, M. from Germany. The most hilarious question wasn't where is Germany, it was, what is Germany? I have multiple expiriences with, let's call it limitations, with Gringos. But, nevertheless, I do love a few of them.
It's true. We visited America this year and when we told someone we live in Germany, the lady just stood there blankly. I swear she had no idea what we were talking about.
@@margretwillems8824, I was asked in 1988, how is it to live in a warzone? Excuse me? We are fighting against Nazi-Germany. You won already more than 40 years ago. Ohhh...
My father was on a business trip in the Midwest in the late 90s, and was asked wether he could fly over the (Berlin) Wall or had to tunnel under it. Not only was he from western Germany, but surely news of the end of the cold war would have reached even the most remote parts of the US within 6 years.
There is one thing I will never undestand: Why do people from the US call them self "Americans". America is a continent with plenty of different countries and cultures. For me as an example, I'd call myself either a "German" when I want to refer the culture I live in or "European" when I want to express my continental alliance. To hear "I'm American" confuses me and it sounds so arrogant. As if all the other countries in America are less significant than the US. Why it's hard to say "I'm from the US"? Wouldn't this small verbal change show that we're all just a part of a bigger ecosystem and no one is superior to the other?
That’s what I like about your channel... good vibes and fun stuff (and high quality film making); but also a pretty high level of self reflection... not a thing many people can do! And I’m a psychologist. I know, I’ve looked...😉
Sooo, ich was in Miami and on an American Cruiseship for a while. As a German it is somehow interesting to see so Many heavily overweight People, who tend to Fill their plates with a lot of food at the Cruise Buffet and Than Leave half of it on the Plate and get another one, and another one. In the end you throw away leftovers you could easily Feed a Whole Family with. THIS WASTE !!!.
The Americans deep-fry everything(food):D But I guess,it's the same thing like...Germans are always on time.I can say...no😅 🤷♀️ I watch your Videos cause I want to improve my English. I love the english language❣
I was like wow new shoes mhm how cares as long they don't cost 500 bucks if he had shown us his smartphone it would be an easy task (you know the newest and best of the best without any real advantage over a older model would be a great flag for materialism)
Every German town has it´s gun club (min. one) and you can shoot there guns, but to get a gun owning license you have to be member of the club and participate in the club life. You usually start in the gun club with non leathal guns (air) and if you have shown that you are really interested in gun/shoting sports you can apply for a gun ownership license. If you have no criminal records, known alcohol or drug problems the license is usually granted by the officials - the gun club confirms your regular gun sport activity and presence. You than get a Gun ownership license, this allows you to buy and own non automatic guns and rifles. You have to store them unloaded at home in save/security class cabinet and can trasnport them to a shooting range for shooting. But you are not allowed to wear (holster) the gun elsewere esp. not loaded you can only use the gun at the point of purpose - shooting range or hunting district for hunter. Every hard wrongdoing can lead to the los of the gun ownership license - esp. not obeying the gun rules, alcohol and drug problems. By statistics, every 10th German has a gun ownership license and also guns. More less common in urban regions, but many people on the country side have a hunting license wich include a gun ownership license. (Btw. the German hunting license is as hard to get as a high school degree, nicknamed therfore in Germany as the green Abitur). I started with 16 in a local gun club with a air rifle (Match quality - provided by the club), upgrade with 18 to full caliber and also made a hunting license. Today is have the max availabel gun owner card wich includes sport shooter, hunter and gun collector license. The only topping is a full gun licsense wich allows you to wear 24/7 a loaded gun, but this licenses are rare like a unicorn - i think also in the USA, except some regions in Texas.
I don't know why you would label Canada with such an insult. You evidently have never been in the USA on a black Friday. Please clarify what you mean. Canadians simply do not consume like the Americans, we do not have their wealth or their lifestyle. It's as simple as that!
I remember working with US tourists in the Caribbean... Easy going, as long as you offer "free booze", excellent tips, loud, always this: I am a real man-stuff from guys that scream for Mami if there is any little accident happening:-) "I will sue you!!" LOL...I noticed a lot of overcompensating father and son stuff... Like in all US movies...("The Walking Death": Carl...Carl... Dad, Dad... He is my son... Carl...:-) What is the point to "we are from New York"?? These groups had the idea that we treat them different? Well, they were a bit complicated to say, at least... My staff called them stupid;-)... And endless stories with: "I am your customer, you must satisfy me" LOL... We liked the Ami´s... Most of them were kind, easy to inspire and, as long as they got their "booze", easy going.
Aw, Nalf, you’re an exception to most of the bad stereotypes. Re work, Germans are probably better at getting balance vs being preoccupied with work. My time as a student reading books in my room on the schwabisch Alb was a treasure. No distractions
