American tells you 10 weird facts about Germany (culture shock)

After living in Germany for a few years I have created a list of 10 Things that “culture shocked” me! Hope you enjoy :)

[emiliajojo]

Of course Sunday was original a religious idea, but at least since 1900 it became more of a social idea

[suserockle]

Actually everything is open on Sundays museum, art galleries, amusement parks, movies, exhibitions, restaurants, cafés, tourist attractions, funpools, the list goes on and on. The only things that are closed are all kinds of shops.

[sexyyxes]

As a brown dude, I love the fact that Germans aren't obsessed with race and that people aren't afraid to ask and learn about my culture, in the states I always get ''omg I love Indian food'', ''I love Bollywood music'' and "I love Yoga" fake people everywhere

[boby]

It's a very good thing that on Sunday's everything is closed because people have 6 other days to do their shopping, doing a little of planing is not that hard

[Rainerjgs]

Das gute Ergebnisse unserer hochwertigen Fahrlizenz ist, daß wir in Deutschland nur ein Zehntel so viel Unfälle im Straßenverkehr, insbesondere solche mit Todesfolgen haben!
Da lohnt sich doch jeder Cent, den wir und die Güte unserer Ausbildung zum Autofahrer investieren! Nicht wahr?

[Rainerjgs]

Erst ab 22 Uhr muß man in Deutschland absolut ruhig sein, aber der höfliche Nachbar reduziert seinen Lärm schon nach dem Abendessen um 18.30 Uhr und noch mehr ab 20 Uhr.

[mirkokaupat]

The thing with you counting with your thumb actually means that you are slowly becoming German. :) Because in Germany (and some other European countries) we start counting with our thumb, in America you use the index finger. And another thing that will shock you: 20-30 years ago, cigarette vending machine didn´t even have an ID check. One day my auntie came to visit us and she sent me to get her a pack of cigarettes. I was maybe 12 or 13 :))

[stirbjoernwesterhever]

I can imagine, that the coulors of the different crafts-men outfits goes way back to the time of the guilds, when those are making specific rules f.e. for clothing.

[Turandot]

Cigarette vending machines were rampant in the US until, I think, around the 80’s. Anyone with money could access them, including minors. The machines did not have an ID check feature. The machines were eliminated after smoking became a known health hazard and there was a push to quit smoking.

[furzkram]

Costs for a driver's license are closer to € 2000 - 2500. You'll notice the difference in driving skills.

[lynnsintention]

You are too young to remember but we used have cigarette vending machines in the USA too when I was a child.

[timvoth]

The Tab water is cleaned to the point where it is what we call dead water not only the bad stuff is filtered out of it but the good stuff like minerals as well

[mathiastemmen]

There is a way to justify vacuum cleaning your apartment on a Sunday. Just tell them I dropped a glass and it shattered. No questions asked. ;-)

[frankmartin]

The only shops that mostly are open on Sunday and also public holidays are ... the bakeries! :-)

[dettmardencker]

Hi Neeva Bee, I just stumled over your video and found it very interesting. I know I´m late, but anyway here some remarks:
1.) Around religion: It´s true, all older places in germany were build around churches and they remained the center over centuries. I wouldn´t say that germans are still very religiuos. But religiuos or not, a lot of "rituals" are taken over as a part of generell culture. I´m not religious at all, but I like the churchbells. I take it simply as a part of life and history. Same with the sundays off: It´s now simply a labours right to relax with the family or friends. I hated it when I was young, because it was boring sometimes. But later when working hard and having kids and a lot of Family events happened, I enjoyed it. The weeks got a kind of "natural rythm". Most of family events happen on Sundays (Weddings, Baptizes, Birthday parties and so on). Most of the people can participate. Even all elections are on sundays.
2. Drinking age: It´s a different concept of bringing up the kids. They learn to handle alcohol earlier and (the most) know how to handle it when start driving a car. It´s the same with sexual education by parents and in school. As a result in germany (and other european countries) the number of underage pregnancies is lower than in the US.
3.) Working outfit: It´s very interesting, because some are simply convenient without any tradition and others are traditional. For example: Garbage workers work mostly alongside roads, so they are safer when being reckognized from far. The tradional thing is different but also convenient. In the old trades the Journeymen were trotting from town to town (beeing on the Waltz) and we´re easily to distinguish from vagabonds and other folks by their dresscode. Working with wood (e.g. carpenters): black costumes, Metall: blue (e.g. blacksmith), Textile: red (e.g. taylors), Stone: grey or light brown (e.g. stonemasons or bricklayers), Food: white and pepita (e.g. millers and cooks). It´s since the middleages (see Wikipedia "Journeyman years" and YT). This tradion is still alive in the germanic countries and is also still echoed in the normal working clothes (you can observe it mostly on bigger construction sites and in restaurants).
4. Driving licence: You´re right, it´s a bit crazy. In generell you can say, driving a car shall be expensive and inconvenient, people shall use public transport (I think this is a kind of hidden agenda in mainstream politics). And btw, it has a huge effect on the discipline in traffic: Loss of drivers licence is very, very painful and expensive. As a result, german (european) car drivers a regarded as very good (disciplined) compared to others. A lot of bike riders regard them self as morally superior and rescueing the world in germany!
Have a nice weekend!
Dettmar

[MastaTutorialz]

the field specific clothes are like "guild clothing" for different professions like roofer plumber etc, because theres a big pride being taken by successfully achieving loosely translated "journeymanship" after being an apprentice for about 3 years. theres all kinds of cultural practices connected with these.

[markschattefor]

Coloured outfits make sense, a plasterer doesn't wear black or any other dark colour, a guy who cleans chimneys doesn't wear white.

[suserockle]

The thing with bottled water is that it is mostly Mineralwasser. Which is something differant than tap water. But you are right, tap water has the same quality than mineralwasser, sometimes even better. For me personally tap water doesn't taste as good as Mineralwasser at least in my region. And putting sparkles into tap water is really bad.
If you buy bottled water make sure it is not 'tafelwasser'. Tafelwasser simply means it is no mineralwater but tap water filled in bottles. And this is kind of a 'Verarsche".

[saschadebie]

In general you are right, we should drink more tap water in germany. But be aware that in some areas, there are lead water pipes (only in old buildings). Since 1973 lead pipes are forbidden for any new building project. Southern germany has prohibited lead pipes way earlier. Water that has rested in lead pipes, can be unhealthy due to lead contamination. But nowadays it is usally not a problem due to new pipe materials (copper, plastic ...). If you are confronted with lead pipes, you can just let the water run for a moment until the contaminated water has passed through. Thank you very much for your videos and your thoughts. Very much appreciated :-)

[FabFunty]

It looks a lot more professional when people wearing "working clothes" than just jeans and T shirt, colors also represent like white stands for purity and cleanliness, blue and grey mark seriousness, orange means caution. Some have historic and often practical reasons. What you wear even makes you feel and act different not for nothing there's the saying "clothes makes the man / people".