True enough - even though of course not all are the same, there are some really shitty people among them. Like seeing a person running for the bus letting them come close and then closing the doors right in their face and driving off. I have witnessed that several times for myself and other people.
Funny thing he might only have said something like: " Na wat denn nu Froilleinchen? rinn oder russ? Ick hab nich'en janzen Tag Zeit! Weihnachten essen wir zuhause zeitig!" Just sounds a little bit scary to the foreign ear. Last time I went to Berlin I directly got: "Nich mit den Fahrrad inn'en ersten Wajjon!" (U-Bahn) I instantly had to think about the Kurt Krömer story and thought: Home sweet home. I think we Germans call that Style: ruppig. One can find the same style of talking in the so called Ruhrgebiet. It's kind of German directness 2.0 enhanced edition.... I love it! And I love people getting offended by it.
@@b.wartree3678 agreed. not pleasant. I witnessed the following short scene personally: I was on a bike on the Kudamm. at a red trafficlight a "taxi" had to stop behind a car from switzerland. the driver was obviously a bit intimidated by the big city and didn´t start immediately, when the lights turn green. so the taxidriver put his head out of the carwindow and yelled: "ey! Wilhelm Tell! the apple doesn´t get any greener!"
I can't complain about them after a very friendly bus driver explained to me how to get home after I got lost very drunken at night on trip to Berlin. He saved me from wondering around for hours and was very helpful and understanding.
The English skills of germans correlate mostly with 3 factors. Education level, age and place. If you are in a bigger city, you are much more likely to meet an English speaking German. Also people below 50 yo. The higher the education, the more likely someone speaks English, or is not afraid to do so. In the company I work, we are about 40 people. About 8 people speak english, or are comfortable doing so.
True. Additionally, 'place' also matters because those who grew up in Eastern Germany pre-1990 had very little opportunity for learning English, and even those who did would have been taught by teachers who due to the Cold War had never spent time in an English speaking country themselves. So among Eastern Germans born before approximately 1975, even the highly educated urban ones are far less likely to speak good English.
I live in Germany, in my company, out of 80 employees, 76 speak English. Some sound horrible of cause, but they can get along. Among my friends its also much more than half of them that can speak English.
In bigger cities in Germany with a lot of Tourist like Berlin , Cologne, Hamburg, Munich, Heidelberg or cities having a university in town you'll find a very high percentage of People speaking english or even unterstands what you want. When i lived in munich i get in Touch with nearly every Person having a City map with them und seemed to find out where to Go. I made so many nice friendly and unforgetable experience. Once i Met an older couple he was an american Professor at a university in america. I ask him whether i can help him. He said yes i want to Go to that area and than to that museum. It was much to complecate to explain him the right way. I said ok come on follow me i'll Show you the right way. During the walk we had such a nice and friendly Konversation i'll never forget. Same experience wirh a Young man and his young daugther from china. He exakt me round about 4km far from hofbräuhaus the way to it . I showed him and he invited me for a late Dinner. We had a nice and for me a unforgetable conversation. Ok some questions i was a little bit annoyed because it was all about the dark histotry of Germany. Like hitler was a good person a good leader of Germany wasn't he. So i explained him the cruel deeds of hitler. Ja had no idea about German history. So i had the Chance to Hallo it to one Chinese guy. And maybe he will tell his experience with me to his family, to his friends and his colleagues. This two experiences i will never forget.
Sauna is awesome. I usually go early and stay the whole day. It's expensive but it's really really relaxing, like a good vacation. I especially recommend saunas with an "Aufguss" ceremony. It creates a bond with the other participants, even if you don't talk to them. Take a good book with you (not into the hot steamy sauna itself of course), get in a hot sauna, cool down and then go to the relaxation area and read your book, maybe take a nap. Repeat until the sauna closes. In between eat something and have a drink.
German live hack regarding the "postal situation": If you have a store on the ground floor or if there are some people (maybe elderly) in your house which are constantly home, you can tell the DHL or most other delivery services to leave your packages at that store or at the other apartment for you in case you are not home. But you should ask the store owners or the elderly people first obviously :DD
I can confirm that. I am German (from Baden-Württemberg, the southwest) and while I was in Berlin people immediately went from friendly to rude as soon as they realised I wasn't from around there. If you want to experience superb German hospitality you need to visit the southwest.
@@philipp1736 You may also experience a generally friendly and open minded attitude of the people in the western part of Germany like Cologne, Bonn or Düsseldorf.
Once you get over the hurdle of everybody being naked and learn to accept that we're all the same in principle. with individual variations that only matter to people attracted to each other - you'll be able to enjoy the sauna and the sun on your body. Body positivity follows naturally, and you'll feel liberated, shedding the burden of body shaming and forced modesty. Just be yourself, and everybody else will accept you.
Jens Goerkhe: you know the Puritanism of and in the USA? Blow Job to a President, most Rapists and Murders in the whole Wide World.... But no naked humans allowed?! That's it.... It's all a big Lie! This is a destroyed Nation, and that is not brutal of me, I 'm not a bad willing Person, but also not someone which is blind for Reality! I hope, that this Governement will become better and look inside of themselves! WE in Germany and Europe will be strong enough to stand against this Bad Influences froh the US-CULTURE! 🍀🍀🍀👍😊
Some of the North Sea beaches have compulsory nudity -the so called "textil-frei" places, some things (such as multi-generation badminton games) cannot be un-seen...
Love your videos! Just want to add one small detail: in Germany we mostly have mailboxes at out front door as well. But it seems to become more common to get packages delivered to a nearby post office so that the mailman doesn't have to drive all around (especially b/c they are not paid by time but by the number of deliveries made, I believe). Also, when you're not home the mailman is not allowed to drop off the package at your front door but has to do the delivery all over again the next day (which is just annoying for both sides)
Berlins Tempelhof Airport has been permanently closed a couple of decades ago, and turned into a public park. EDIT: correction - it closed on 30th October 2008. I remembered this incorrectly. Sorry about that.
Tegel will "soon" be another airport-not-used-as-an-airport whenever the debacle airport (aka BER) opens supposedly now later this year. We'll see how good it will be, as it's kind of far from the city center
I actually never been to a sauna and I don't really like that concept either. Don't know why many people think in Germany we like doing that. I certainly don't.
That's like telling overseas tourists to not visit New York City when visiting the United States, because New York City is too different from the rest of the Country. Same goes for Paris, London, Tokyo, etc..
It is of course difficult to compare England and Germany that way. Next time you are in England, try speaking German to the bus driver and see how friendly he is...
You should try sauna. If you do so search the Internet for "Saunalandschaften" (that's like a big pool area with several different types of saunas I one). ... but be careful don't go to a "Saunaclub" (that is something like a brothel). If you are in, just act normal... people there are used to nudity so they won't stare... you also should not 😉. Have fun and enjoy. Greetings from Cologne, hope your mom liked it.
My first experience with England and People my age i made when i was 14 years oid. I was on a seaside vacation with a Group of germans. We want To do sailing on a small sea. Suddently a Group of Young english People came right up to us rising up their arms and shouted Heil Hitler. We all had nothing to do with that time, because we all had born more than 20 years after World war 2 ended . So is that friendly? But i am Not angry about
I had the impression that 'Berlin has become a cosmopolitan city where English is spoken as frequently as German. It's supposed to have a large population that is international which explains the common use of English among its residents.
Hey LambLike, I've lately found your channel and as a german citizen myself I'am wondering how big your german viewerbase is. Your content is truthful and it's really comfortable to view you vids as they are not provocotive like the vids from other youtubers who were in germany and confronting their friends back home. You are uploading awesome content and I love it that you clean up some rumors about germany. So wow great moves keep it up, proud of you
*By non-english speaking countries nearby" - I meant near to California* So I’ve talked about all of these points before at least once on my RU-vid channel from 2 years ago so I already know in general what you all will comment below in regards to most of these points 😁 but the ww2 topic is something I haven’t talked too much about on my old channel. So let me know your thoughts on that subject below or teach me something I may not know about one of these points. 😊
moin 'Lamblion, schön, dass du deine Erwartungen mit uns teilst. Das erweitert auch meinen Blick auf die USA. Jaja, Paprika Chips.. Dfür gibt es hier nicht deinen geliebten FIREBALL, ich weiß! XD Zweiter Weltkrieg: Ich erinnere mich noch, dass es in meiner Kindheit in Hamburg noch viele kaputte Häuser gab. Und an die Warnung meines Vaters, dort drin nie zu spielen! Weil die Ruinen einstürzen könnten. Oder dort drin eventuell noch ein Blindgänger, also eine nicht detonierte Bombe liegen könnte! Und ich erinnere mich an viele Kriegsverletzte in den Straßen. Viele Männer mit nur einem Arm, einem Bein, oder auch ganz ohne Beine. Oder die im Rollstuhl saßen. Auch heute werden wir ja ständig an diesen furchtbaren Krieg erinnert. Es vergeht ja kaum eine Woche, in der nicht in irgendeiner deutschen Stadt ein Blindgänger gefunden und entschärft werden muss. Es sollte für alle Menschen eine Warnung sein! Oldenburg kenne ich übrigens von meinen Tandemtouren etwas. Zumindest kenne ich die Jugendherberge und den Schloßpark der Stadt. LG Ben
Hi LambLike, I would say we germans in generell have a difficult relation to our history. Great Philosophers, Poets, Composers and other Artists and also Scientists. But on the other side wars and cruelties since 2000 years, with the (hopefully final and worst of all) Holocaust and WWII. So it´s difficult to say I´m proud to be a german. I recently saw the very impressing Video from the Band Rammstein named "Deutschland" on YT. Sure it´s provoking but leads to the same conclusion. It should be taken for history classes and tells a lot about the relation of most of the germans to our history in a very provoking way. It´s a piece of Art for me. Have a nice day! Dedttmar
Your stories are just awesome. I love them! Now … in Germany credit cards are not so accepted. It’s getting better but compared to US it is still at the beginning. The fees are to high for most of the stores. But EC Cards (electronic cash) are accepted almost everywhere and this since a lot of years.
I live in Germany and either pay with credit card or cash. I never pay with EC card. I think credit card is as accepted as EC card. no one has ever told me I cannot pay with my credit card (unless places that exclusively take cash)
I'm from Berlin, and it is true that our,,, uhm,, attitude is a little bit different from the one in southern or western Germany. It is partially because we see thousands of faces every single day, and because we're kinda individualistic and focus on what we have to do. If you compare that to South Germany, people are a lot more talkative there. Bavarians, Swabians and other south Germans also hug you as a greeting, while we prefer a firm handshake, (or nothing due to Corona) They also love scamming us! o.o Anyway, sorry you were shocked like that though, most bus drivers here are in a very bad mood because they have to deal with so much noise.
You have to go to a sauna. It is great, healthy and nobody would look at you. Bädergärten Eibenstock in Saxony or Therme Erding in Bavaria are really great
I think everbody look around the same way, as you sit on the marketplace and watch people, but i guess most people think, if they go to sauna, they are the only naked and everbody will stare, but everyones is nude, so you get lost in nudity ;)
I'm impressed every time about, that special the US-People are always, always looking in TV and learned at School and everywhere about WorldWars II, but nothing (or nearly nothing) about their own Korean- and Vietnam-War with terrible, horrible own Expieriences! 😏 Maybe, it would be a good Lesson to look for own, younger History and Apocalypsis also, not only to others, also to look at/by yourselves?' And don't forget that in our Country we've got a Lot of People from another Nations which are living and working in Germany, also as Service-Maids per Example. If they came very young and go to School here, then they may speak perfect German AND their own Mother-Language AND learned English at our School-System. But if not grown up here in Germany they had no chance to learn another Language. Or many Germans are shamed about her "bad English" and that's why they don't like to speak.... SHAME 😏😏😵😔 How many Languages a "white, normal" US-Citizen may or can speak? English.... and English.... 😂....and some are lucky and speak a bit Spanish, hopefully!, or in the North close to Canada maybe some Words French. That's it...my English is since 20 years nearly not used, and I'm sorry for that, but I understand and speak a little Netherlands and French and Spanish and Portugues and also Italian. Nothing perfect, sad enough 😢😏, but enough to understand and to learn better and order something in a Restaurant a.s.o. AND if I have 4 or 6 Weeks time to learn again, than I will to be used to. And I was in the Age of 16 as I go the First time by Flight to London, alone with my Boyfriend "Fritz", in same age. Allowed by my Parents, of course, but alone, make our own Expieriences, and this was 1971. 🍀🌞💞 Before I was often in Amsterdam, or we go by "hitch hiking" to the North-Sea at the Netherland Coast, because this is jhmore near as our own Coast in the North-Sea. I feel now that I (and my whole Generation, you will know it under the "Hippie-Generation"!) can be very happy and satisfied about, that we live in Europe and that we are breathtaking free! REALLY FREE! 😍🍀🍀🍀👍😊 That's a Gift, and for this I'm totally thankful! I've seen and get (or made? 😏) in very young Years so much Impressions and met a lot of different People of other Cultures and have seen great Nature and this without a lot of Money, because I had to work by myself for my "Adventures" and go to School and did my Studies for Education,! IT seems to me, that not the USA is "the Land of the Free", no, I think in Reality Germany, Europe and the Europeans and our Continent is the better Place to live and to say this! Could be everytime (or all the time? ) better, but we will do our best all together! 😍👏💪👍 Thx for your interesting Video! 👏👏
Don't be ashamed of how your interest in Germany started. Hopefully this made you experience everything else about the country when you finally went there.
I haven't any idea why your friend told you everyone in Germany speaks English. No we don't. Most Germans have never spoken English their entire life. There ist no need unless you have interests in American tourism or business. Most other Europeans don't speak English either. I seldom speak English unless I'm on American social media. Yes, English ist taught in our secondary schools, but it ist a less popular elective than European languages of study. Most Europeans are not mono-literate though, und speak 1 or more other languages quite well, und many different bi-lingual border dialects well enough. Germany has many bordering countries with many different German ethnic groups who speak bi-lingual dialects. You should hear someone living in Bratislava speaking Austrian German Slovak dialect. :-)
so concerning pharmacies: did you find out later on that there is round the clock "Notdienst"? emergency pharmacist roster(?). it rotates through the different pharmacies in your area.
Yes I knew about this which is why in this video I said I knew we could've found an open pharmacy if we wanted to. Someone taught me this on youtube a year ago :) Thank you though for checking^^
So bus drivers in Germany are often... Uhm not that nice. Of course not everyone, i think most of them are just very direct but i have to say some bus drivers are so rude! As a German i think it's funny especially the way Berlins act and talk, i just like the directness, it's kinda funny! But for foreigners i can understand why they are shocked by that. But often it's not meant to be rude or insulting so if you get to learn German and get used to this way you will be fine.
The reason many small businesses don't accept credit cards is because the credit card readers are really expensive (about 5000€ or so) and I think shops need to pay a monthly subscription fee to the credit card companies and/or they have to pay a fraction of the payment to the credit card company. Also they obviously need an internet connection (so definitely no credit cards for e.g. a small kiosk). For many small businesses the investment doesn't really pay off or not that much. Shops are closed on sundays I think in all over Europe. It's a christian thing ("God rested on the seventh day")
@@ag4444 in germany we use more debit cards because thats the default bank account you get. Kreditcard is diffrent account and costs a fee so germans stay with the cheaper debit account. So for small shops its an expensiv service to provide for travelers
@@ag4444 each country has its own rules and fees. And as Buddy correctly says, debit cards are much cheaper in Germany (for shops and also for customers), which is why they are much more common than credit cards
And regarding the structure of university programs: Everyone finds it extremely stressful. There is actually a not-talked-about pandemic going on right now where many students get addicted to performance enhancing drugs like amphetamines or speed, jist to keep up with the pressure to perform. Also, it's almost impossible to finance a university degree on your own if you're young, since tax laws forbid a full time student to work >20h per week. And most living situations are more expensive than whatever amount of money you could possibly earn under these restrictions. And, as you noticed, university is excessively difficult in many disciplines. Especially the STEM fields. It's very common for people to either burn out due to the constant pressure and stress, or either quit their degree or finish it late. Some of the people I met took upward of 12 semesters to finish a Bachelor's degree that *on paper* is designed to last 6 semesters. The history behind this extreme pressure is what's known as the "Bologna Prozess" in Germany, a reform to make degrees from Germany more internationally comparable. In the past, Germany didn't use the Bachelor / Master hierarchy. Instead we had what's called a "Diplom", which historically was designed to take 8 to 10 semesters time. Due to the Bologna Prozess, universities got pressured into compressing their degrees into this Bachelor / Master system. But in many disciplines this compartmentalization just doesn't make for an adequate education. Quite annoying.^^
Well, i believe that the situation with the drugs and with the limitations by the tax laws strongly depends on the field you are studying in. I am studying Wirtschaftsinformatik (Computer Science and Business Management) and i would say most of my friends are able to finance their studies on their own and as an alternative you can still just get Bafög to finance your degree. Also i never met anyone in my field of studies who takes drugs to enhance their performance. But i have heared that this is more common amongst law and medicine students.
It also makes for a worst education imho. We desperately need to reverse those reform. In the past, students might have needed a little bit longer to finish, too, but when they did, they had learned to actually USE the knowledge retained. Nowadays a lot of students suffer under "lern bulemie"...meaning they cram a lot of information into their brain for a test, but they forget it immediately after they have it "ausgekotzt". The old system which was largely based on holding referates and writing papers was more difficult to compare, but it actually was the basis for the creative thinking German engineers are known for. We are already running into problems due to those reforms, because they actually lowered the quality of those who finish university.
It is not all Bologna (though I am the first to say it is stupid.) Take the study of another country e.g. Japan. Their writing system isn't the easiest in the world, so under the old 4 year Magister you were expected to learn it in the first two years (and of course do other stuff) and after that your real study would begin, with primary sources. How to do that in 2 years? First Semester onyl language, nothing else? Pure hell! But back to the point: A reason many people are overwhelmed is also because instead of the top 10% of students like a few decades ago, you now have 30%, and of course the 20-30% part is a lot less able than the top 10%. Not to mention the financial side - it is good to have poorer people in University, but those have it additionally hard.
2015 was no major soccer event where the various countries participate. You got the European Football Championship and the world cup both of them are every 4 years. World cup 2014 European Football Championship 2016 World cup 2018 European Football Championship would've been 2020 So there is an offset of 2 years. But please don't call it soccer in Europe ;) its football ;)
Hey I am a german myself I got interested in your videos because at some point in time I want to go to America And I want to share fun So if you are looking for a hobby, try looking up "Segelflugplatz" Segelflieger I belief in englisch are called gliders Well they are planes without an engine and fly with "Thermik" wich is something like thermal updraft So they are only flying with mother nature, it is pretty interesting And even if it won't be your hobby I would like to see a video how you react if you would take a flight with one These are mostly hobby pilots, you get to know really nice and crazy people And surprisingly a flight about an hour cost mostly only 20 Euro And most of the time at least one crazy head does know some aerobatics And if you want mostly even the aerobatic planes have two seats so, take the seat and have some fun (only if you wan't, there is always the option to only get a normal flight cause even the usual ones are amazing) And if possible try to get a "Windenstart" this is one of the best parts for the people wich didn't knew this bevor But if you want to do aerobatics it could be that a second Plane with engine will get you to the safety height. Maybe you have them in america or not, but I belief it's not this casual as it is in german But even the most german don't know this, I belief Well that's a really crazy and funny hobby I want to share, so pls look it up And see ya
15:13 "the airport that was closed" ... The airport, where the freedom of Berlin was defended by Amerika against Russias attempt to take over the Allied Parts of Berlin(West) into East Germany after WW2. Thanks a lot for that, Amerika! As you said your are interessed in history: the de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftbr%C3%BCckendenkmal (Hungerkralle ) is one of Berlins monuments to remember the airbridge de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliner_Luftbr%C3%BCcke Without that the small Gaulish village, who knows how things would had tuned out - look to todays Hongkong.
The thing about Germans and their English skills is mostly pretty straightforward: If you're young, say, under maybe 30-35, most likely you speak at least basic English. Once you go over that threshold, my experience has been that most older people either never bothered or had the chance to learn English, or just forgot everything they learned in school.
I’ve heard that stereotype too which I think in general seems to be true... but also, living in a smaller town in Germany... and on the outskirts of the city center... I found it to be not true. Which I don’t mind one way or another, the less English, the better for me :D since I want to actually use the German I studied haha.
@@HiFromHamburg Not true in the sense that older people speak English or that young people don't? I'm from a village near Trier (southwestern Germany), so I'm genuinely curious about how English skills are dispersed in other regions.
@@TheNotoriousDUDE I've come across many young people that don't speak English, mostly those who don't travel (also because of financial reasons, so not necessarily their fault)
@@linusfotograf Yeah my parents lived in the DDR and they learned russian at school. But they are also 100% fluent in english these days because of their jobs :)
I live in an area where I have 6 foreign languages in a 2.5 hours drive radius(3 of them only 1 hour or less). I think that's such a wonderful thing about Europe. Because you drive over a border and you know that after that moment almost nobody speaks your mother tongue and every country is so different to your home.
What most people don't know about what the main problem with credit cards was in Germany back in early 21st century or earlier is, that they were HELL OF EXPENSIVE for the shops offering the payment (unlike for huge international concerns ofc.) ... in our shop we would have had to pay 4% to 6% costs for basically nothing compared to accepting cash or the "EC card" (debit card). For most little shops that basically is, from what they live and exist, while in the USA it was late 20th century already costs of under 1% as i was told. It got way cheaper today and therefore you see more and more shops accepting credit cards.
Wow, when I discovered your channel just now, I did NOT expect you to have lived right next to my hometown! (I went to school in Oldenburg and study linguistics in Bremen.) I really enjoyed the videos I've watched so far and I'm quite impressed by your German pronunciation. New subscriber!
Nothing wrong about being interested initially because of WW2 history (I'm very interested in that, as well). Everyone has his or her own "spark" to get interested in a different country. I agree, that making friends is not easy in Germany. But, if a German calls you friend, he or she usually really means it and will be there for you, if you have a problem. At least that's what I experienced throughout my life. The credit card thing I find also interesting. I think one of the reasons, aside the high cost for companies to just offer the choice, is that Germans really don't like to be in debt. So it's not a matter of refusing technology, they just like to be in control of their money and this works best with cash and the EC card. You don't want build up a huge debt on your normal bank account because the interest rate is extremly high (10%+). By the way, I was in Tokyo last year and Japanese are actually using cash even more than Germans do. So we are not the only ones. :D
5:00 / 9:00 Creditcards Yes not nice but true. Sometimes u only can pay cash. The gates came up as more and more thiefs where steeling foods and other stuff also at small stores. So u have to get throu the checkstand so they can see u got nothing to buy. But it is not in every store like that. At the most stores u will not find such a gate mostly at the "discounter". 6:00 English is the first foreing language u learn at fourth grade 7:00 Signs the great "S" (S-Bahn/Stadtbahn) stands for the citytrain which ist comparable with the Metro or the Underground signed with a great "U" (U-Bahn/Untergrundbahn). Also u can find the "DB" sign standing for "Deutsche Bahn" signing the trainstations for interregonal transportations. All three trainsystems are usable by buiing only one ticket if u only ride in Berlin, but of course its much more complcated, its Germany. 8:00 The City is not prepared for such an amount of tourists and therfor everybody is simply irritated about the foreingers. Sorry for that but we are working hard to fix this. 10:00 Sunday is for timeout and taking breath for the next week and its in the most of the other countries of the old world that way i think. Its the heritage of the Religion to rest on sundays for praying and saying thanks to our gods. The US should do it to, may be there will another president if the people would rest one time a week and go to vote seriously on that day like we do...sorry 11:30 Education is one of the mayor basic needs and therfor its free for all and u only have to pay a lil amount of money if u can. If not u get financial help from the state. (Bafög, Bildungsförderung) 14:00 Uber is challanging the Taxidriver and therfore Uber isnt common in germany that time but it grows and more and more citys accept that Uber is needed for puplic transportation. 15:10 Tempelhofer Feld / Flughafen Tempelhof Here the allied planes called "Rosinenbomber" where suppling food and stuff for nurishing the germans at West Berlin at the blockade of West Berlin by the Russians. Now the field is closed and open for the public since 2010. 17:20 Starring Just wave, smile and say "Hello" to the staring Germans. But but some of use may be a lil bit on edge of the many foreingers. But the germans does have not a good opion from the US Amaricans esspecially since they voted for Trump. My picture of a typical US Amarican people: Fat, lazy, stupid, ugly in style and dont have any clue about what is going on in other cultures ... sorry for starring 20:00 Im not shure which soccer game u might have been watching at. In 2015 u have possiblly seen the Women's Worldcup but Italy was not qulified for this. 20:40 Vacation/Urlaub The Lecturer who are teaching in the Universities may be teaching at full time or it is only one of he or she's job. Sometimes its a professor who is an employee of the university or guest professor or it is someone who only teach as a parttime job. It depends. So they have some days by law to make vacations. I dont understand ur point. To be on time is still a good thing to show ur professors how earnest ur wish is to learn something. But it is also coming up that u dont have to visit the lessons for exam. I know about many students who learn by their selve or in groups and have many time for their jobs and so on. 21:10 U can also buy BBQ Chips here in Germany everwhere so i dont know why u made this expersience. And more and more "fat" things are coming from the US but also many vegitarian and vegan food is coming up these days. 22:27 Mail - Yes it would definitly helps a lot if we could have a mailroom in every house but in fact there is no space at the most buildings for that. Especilly at the apartment or mansion blocks. It looks like we never have planned with that amount of mail only with letters. But u can choose a parcel box where the delivery service can place it and where u can pick it up. 26:00 Sauna To be naked is more common in Germany as in the US of course. But this is how we all are and humans look simply that way. What is the problem? It is a part of our culturall heritage and esspecally more common in east germany - google for FKK . Also the Nazis have linked this cultural fact to their ideology and missused it for theire own goals.
It is really nice to hear that you initially got interested in Germany because of world war|| and especially Berlin offers a lot of cultural and historical information for that topic. But as a German, I think what actually annoys us about the American mindset, when they think of Gernany is that a lot of people are still judging the Country and it’s people by the fact it has been one of the causes of world war|| and then, aren’t interested to learn anything original ore authentic about us
Haha I watched one video that is quite similar to that one and youtube spams me now with differences of Germany and America :) but I'm glad to find your channel, so hey you have a new subscriber greetings from Austria
haha welcome to my channel :D That's too funny! I know youtube does that to me too. I watched one ASMR video and now my whole feed is ASMR videos XD now I'm just tempted to always take naps and watch these sleep-inducing videos... xD
In 2013, Chancellor Merkel stated: "Das Internet ist für uns alle Neuland" (The Internet is new territory for us all), which really sums up germanys relation to digital technology up to this day. If it's not made of at least 10 pound of solid steal, it's suspicious. I'm a (german) computer scientist, I've been dealing with the internet just before there was a world wide web. So Merkels remarks were awfully strange to me and made me feel quite estranged to my fellow citizens (but at the same time actually reflected my experiences with my fellow citizens). With credit cards it's quite a similar thing. There are banks and "Sparkassen" (especially significant to germans), and there are credit companies. "Sparkassen" usually are none-profit, public law banks in municipal sponsorship, so assumed to be "banks of the people". (Commercial) Banks, well they're just companies wanting to make money from your money. Where, Credit Card companies, they want to make money out of your debts. See the order of trust here ? Yeah well, credit card companies are definetely at the bottom end. So, you're wondering, why you most likely cannot pay with credit card ? But do you only can you pay with cash in germany ? Definetely no. Just use your debit card from the Sparkasse or Bank (aka "Eurocard"). There're only few exceptions where those won't be accepted, and this is mostly with "penny-shops", where the usual paying price doesnt raise above some Euros. Like bakeries, your local butcher or news stand. Everywhere else, you can pay cashless with your Eurocard. And the Eurocard - as the name says - is usually accepted in the whole of the EU. But, of course, as a none-EU citizen, you don't have a bank account within the EU and so you don't have a Eurocard. You just have some plastic card from one of those untrustworthy credit card companies. So, yeah, you're fu**ed. But - maybe one of the benefits of the Coro*** crisis - the government recommended to use cashless payments during this time to avoid spreading the virus by touching coins and bills. So, also my lokal bakery now has an electronic reader for my Eurocard (of course only for those ;). Nobody uses it, of course. But I'm quite sure, if one of the german car manufacturers were to build one with their brand name on it (from solid steal and with appropriate gap dimensions (insider joke)), it would spread like wildfire...
Honestly, I feel that Merkel was needlessly maligned for this remark. Because she was absolutely right. The internet is about more than just paying cashless or writing software. It is a huge space which is currently mostly controlled by companies, and in which rules we consider a given in RL are often subverted. I actually think that Merkel understood that better than most and foresaw the problems we are now dealing with, where the Internet has become a weapon which is used against our democracies. Otherwise, sorry to disappoint you, but I used my card for perhaps four weeks before reverting back to cash. It just feels better, I feel more in control and I have observed that most people are the same way. I guess Germans will refuse to go cashless as long as possible.
True...Germany still has many places where you can only pay with a bank card...or even cash...and not a credit card...BUT...Germany has been far more advanced in eCommerce than the US...I remember doing online banking and paying bills online back in 1992. Ask someone for a cheque and they'll wonder what you're talking about...haven't existed for eons.
You seem nice but you are an American. What you said about being taken out of your comfort zone by having to self-motivate displays exactly the lack of initiative most Americans are trained to have. Americans are not taught to think for themselves. Is that fair?
I personally don't mind when the first thing that comes to mind about Germany is Bier, Bretzel, WWII, Nazis, etc. What I am having a little harder time to get around, again personally, is when foreigners expect germans to be some kind of homogenous mass, like we behave all the same all the time. But then I doubt germans are any different in that regard when it comes to other countries as well. And I don't want to start a huge political discussion, and I am fully aware that the impression I have is solely from media since I never have been to the US so far, nevertheless I find it funny, ironically even, when Americans (or foreigner in general) have a train of thought that goes like: Germany -> WWII -> Nazis -> Germany must be still full of racist, when in fact it looks like racism is practiced much more openly in many different countries including the US than in Germany, but unfortunately does not always get recognized as such. But just to be clear, Germany has a very alarming trend where racism becomes more common, accepted even, in the public and in politics, there's no denying that. Also I don't mean to say that I have the impression that you or anyone I've seen/heard in your videos so far has the train of thought ;-) Anyways, love to watch your videos, they are funny and interesting but not diving too deep into any specific topic (which is a good thing!). Last but not least, even though you might be out of practice speaking german for a while now, you're german still is pretty good. I am sure my spoken english is way worse than that, mostly because I seldom have the chance to do it ;-) One thing, which I am sure you are already aware of, that helps me (english in my case though) get a "feel" for the language, learn words, and keep practice the language somewhat is read alot. This post ended up much longer that I originally planned for it, nevertheless keep the videos coming ;-) and stay healthly
Gosh coming from GER living in Berlin I am so embarassed hearing these stories... Berlin bus drivers can be horrible. Towards a tourist, that is even more rude. And not accepting card at a HOSTEL, that is ridiculous...
Hamburg is the best city in Germany hands down. Berlin is very different to Hamburg. There is a car-ride app called Mitfahrgelegenheit to hop on rides with drivers that log a route in advance. The ICE train between HH and Berlin gets you from end to end in about 2h. ...saving at least 1h compared to driving.
Interesting video. My family left Germany several generations ago in about 1880. I went to Munich for Octoberfest 7 years ago and liked it a lot. The idea of free University, for my kids is very compelling.
Yeah, Germans and credit cards... While working in Munich, many people at the cashier haven't seen a contactless card ever before... and I come from the eastern Europe... :D
Sundays for "chillin": Yeah, I agree. That's pretty cool. Or at least it is when it's a *cultural* thing. When it's the *law* , it takes on the flavor of Jim Crow laws that existed half a century ago in America. The reason we had those laws was that many establishments would have let blacks in if those laws didn't exist and those establishments would make more money than the racist ones. Blacks were the primary riders of public transportation and if there were no Jim Crow laws that forced blacks to move to the back of the bus, then a competitor would have allowed blacks to sit wherever and they would have overwhelmed the government transportation. In Germany, I hear there are laws that force all businesses to close at a certain time of day. This prevents some establishments with high energy owners or owners who are more competitive from staying open longer and making more money than their competitors. Those laws are designed with anti-competition in mind. They are about constraining business from offering what customers want so that other businesses don't have to work any harder to be competitive.
it's baffling to me that americans DON'T use cash all the time. aren't they hugely suspicious of their government and all kinds of data collection done by the government? cash allows for anonymous transactions, which is the main reason people in europe like it. to me it seems dystopian if everything is digital and easily being read by others ... take my cash from my dead cold hands.
In germany we dont use creditcards as much as americans. We just use EC-Cards so normal electronic cash cards. And on sundays and at nights there are some pharmacies open, they have the notdienst (emergency) so you can look up which one is open. They will usually just have an window where you tell your order.
Germany mainly uses EC/Maestro card for store payments which is a debit card issued by Mastercard. Credit cards are not common mainly due to the high transaction rates and the fact that credit cards are not really that prevalent anyway. Everyone will have an EC card that will work throughout Europe at stores and ATMs.
So if you're interested in german electric music you definitely want to hear the most melancholic techno artist Christian Löffler. This experience changed my world completely. Ich wünsche dir weiterhin viel Erfolg mit deinem Kanal und hoffe du bleibst gesund. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OijrlItssOc.html
1) In Germany we‘re happy, when the bus drivers speak german that we can understand, english would be a nice to have, but we take, what we get. ;) 2) Credit Card is still not a thing in Germany. We have electronic cash cards, that get used more and more, but credit cards like Visa or American Express are still for online shopping and big companies only. Smaller hostels, shops and restaurants don‘t want to afford the risks and costs coming with using credit cards.
The problem with credit cards is, that in America the customers finance the credit cards through high interest rates. In Germany there is a law against such practice called "Zinswucher". So to compensate for the lower interest rates the credit card companies charge the stores with a fee for every transaction. And that's why small stores don't accept credit cards, because it's too expensive for them.
@@skayt35 NRW. I exclusively pay with credit card and not once had a problem paying at a grocery store chain like Aldi, Lidl, Kaufland, Edeka etc. All of them also take mobile payment with smartphone or smartwatch and accept Apple Pay. Same goes for Hamburg and Berlin where I’ve never had a problem paying with credit card. Can’t really comment on other states since I have no experience grocery shopping there.
English and Germany: it depend were you are, because in the eastern part they had russian in school in the time before reunion and of cause, we have 25% migrant rooted people in Germany that also often didn`t learn english in school...
You would think with the history of Germany they would go out of their way to be nice to everyone else on the Planet for the next few hundred years..This is why we really could care less about them or what they think....and that's just the truth..nothing more,nothing less.
Chris CB: nee, bitte nicht, ich glaube dieser Sound ist für dieses sensible zarte Wesen wohl nicht das Richtige! Wer schon auf der Autobahn und in der sicheren Kanzel von der Kölner Rhein-Seilbahn nen halben Herzinfarkt bekommt, für den ausgerechnet RAMMSTEIN! Nooo! Better NOT !! 😂😂😂👎😵
Summary of nudity: You have nothing that not everyone of your gender has. If you have seen a woman / man naked, you also know how all other women / men look naked. Therefore, there is no relevance to be ashamed of your body or to find this embarrassing.
in the 70 ties I was a student and a taxidriver uber is a nightmare for taxis in the 50 ties when I was a little boy America Soldiers often gave me dollar it was 5 Marks I could live a whole week maybe I loved American Soldiers until today
no offense to those who are, but busdrivers and cashiers mostly don't have the best education and therefore can not speak english as well as the average German at least in my experience.
You might have a biased idea of the average german. Maybe 25% are used to speak it - mostly academics and some tourist industry people. Another 25% will understand you and give you some words in return. About the half cannot help you. It's getting a little better in the last 20years due to computer games, and the habit to watch Netflix shows in original English. We hadn't had the chance to do so, before Netflix.
6:10 All Germans can speak English to a certain extent if they went to school after reunification or if they went to school in West Germany. However in East Germany all school children had Russian as their second language. Obviously not everyone from the West Germany school system or the unified German school system has mastered English, but they all have studied English for many years. Clearly if you are talking to someone who is not confident in English they will say they don't speak English. The trip your describing was in Berlin, where it's highly likely you were meeting people who had grown up in East Germany and they would have the ability to speak Russian instead of English. But because of a general hatred of what the USSR was doing at that time, even if someone has the ability to speak Russian doesn't mean they will be willing to speak Russian. I went into a Finanzamt (tax office) in Bonn and the woman told me she couldn't speak any English. My German is absolutely awful, so I sat that and tried to speak German. She could see that I wasn't going away until I had spoken to her regardless of how long that took. So as if my magic this woman who couldn't speak English at the beginning of the conversation was then speaking English by the end of the conversation.
Interesting shocks. My first cultural shock almost had me washing dishes. It was in 1965 and I had been posted by the US ARMY to the former East-west German border to monitor Russian military communications. On my first day off, I explored the nearby city of Luebeck. While there, I went to a restaurant and ordered a roast chicken dinner. Waiting to be served, I ate 3 or 4 delicious broetchen. When it came time to pay, I was shocked to see charges for all the bread I had had. I barely had enough
You can really upset a (+25) german by saying that their way of handling money in terms of a credit cards is not world standard. To handle money with care was kind of a cultural thing here until the first businesses started accepting them as well. Since then many have started drifting towards the so called "modern" way of handling money - in dept.. :( I really like you so just a small advise :)
You know, the thing is that most venues don't offer credit card payment, and some won't even allow EC debit card payment. I'm German and think it's perfectly okay to pay in cash, but it's really bad when a person with credit or debit card is NOT ABLE to pay with that. It's really a throwback thing. I hope you can understand the difference. Germany is almost third-world standard in handling credit cards, debit cards and electronic payment, and extremely slow at getting compatible with first-world standard. And being German, I don't hesitate to tell that right into your face, in no uncertain way ;)
Probably you didn't mean wrong at 6:30, but come on... You USA people ARE close to non-english-speaking countries... Like 20 or so... Like the whole latin american list of countries...!
my favourite experience about Germany: me, as Hungarian exchange student, with a fairly good command of English, and much worse German, coming out of a public swimming pool or something, when a guy about my age (16) with Down syndrome stops me if I have cigarettes, I said no, we exchanged a couple of wordws, and as he found out I was a foreigner, he started speaking better English than me.
I really wonder what soccer tournament you’re talking about. They are every 2 years European championship and World Cup, but always in even numbered years. And Germany played against Italy in 2016.
Yes, my interest in Germany started with those same History Channel WWII documentaries you watched. Then on my own from WWI to the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9 where the Germanic tribes destroyed 3 Roman Legions invading their territory. I find the German people, the German language and German history fascinating too. I hope you get back there soon.
Hello from Germany. I know, I am not the first german writing a comment under one of your videos. I just wanted to tell you, that I like, how you talk about your experiences. It's very interesting to see Germany through the eyes of someone else. A recommendation regarding documentations and so on, because you like them: There is a swedish metal band singing nearly only about historical things, especially the world wars, without glorifying anything. Sabaton, maybe you will like them.
You have spent enough time in Germany that you're word order and praising changes to German order and you drop prepositions from time to time like " a year in Germany" vs "for a year in Germany".
Stores usually aren't cash only (an exception would be bakeries), but I think having credit card isn't THAT common in Germany, or at least using it in your everyday life. Everyone uses a debit card and you also don't have to worry about cash when shopping for groceries when you have that.
Only cash, unfriendly bus drivers, profs in the sauna, etc.: You call it cultureshock and I call it just shock, cause I'm from germany and for me it's shocking too :D
Paul Kalkbrenner favorites: 1. Aaron 2. Atzepeng Thanks for another Vlog. Love your pov on German behavior etc. It is true what you mention, Germans often let you know in what mood they're in pretty straight forward. It's nothing personal : )
I would say in a youth hostel it's cash only and anywhere else you can pay with plastic money... as long as it is not a ridiculously little amount... and about the rudness of the bus driver... he probably didn't know English and since you did not know German yet... he probably said that he is the driver and not the tourist info the 1000st time of the day :-) Germans are very friendly and they need their dark crispy bread :-) btw very good pronunciation! no need to be scared of speaking it... and in my country (also German speaking) we make business in the sauna... meaning business deals are discussed in the sauna ;-)
Hello, I´m coming from Germany and I´m interested in how people from the U.S. regard a German writer, who enjoys writing poems in English and in German. If you are interested, I would like to chat with you via e-mail or in a different way. If not, the sun is still going to rise in Greenport. ;)
If you havnt yet, next time ur in berlin, check out the berlin underground tours. they r offered in a bunch of languages. english language tours go every few hours( not that u need id but hey, take fam of friends along). u get to check out one of the old FLAK towers, a bunch of cold war ear bunkers and other noteworthy sites below the streets of Berlin. iv done most of their tours with my father and i can highly recommend them
When we were pupils, we wanted to make tshirts saying "busdrivers are pigs". Because they were and still are, and the funny thing of the idea was, that they wouln't understand the english words. We never made these t-shirts, and today I wouldn't dare...
Instead of looking for a pharmacy that is on duty, you can ask friends, neighbors, or someone on the street if they can give you a headache pill. That should generally work.
If you ever want to try out a Sauna, go in the summer time. In summer you will not see a lot people there and it is still wonderfull. I would especially recomend the Graft Therme in Delmenhorst. It has a wide open space outside. It's like public open air bath, but with no people their :-D The OLantis in Oldenburg is also good, but in summer I would prefer the Graft Therme.
