MAKING FRIENDS IN GERMANY | My Experience Abroad

Making friends in Germany is NOT always easy. In this video I share a lot about my experience as an exchange student moving to Germany and trying to make friends as well as what kinds of things I did with my friends for fun. There are a few struggles I came across when meeting new people, and a few of them are definitely intertwined with the German culture and school setting. From language barriers to German “coldness”, I often felt sad at the beginning, but now I am so grateful for both my German and international friends I met abroad.

Current Sub Count: 66,800


Who am I?
My name is Montana Showalter, and I was a participant of the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange program in 2019-2020. I started my Youtube channel while living in Germany and continue to make videos on German vs American culture. I love finding aspects of German culture in the US as well as producing videos in German as practice! In the future, I hope to live abroad again :)
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[wernholttempelhoff]

Nobody in Germany will ask a person he is not familiar with "how was you day?" 😂😂😂 This idea is very funny for Germans because it's a very American kind of small talk that doesn't exist here. So better don't expect such a question. Instead of smalltalk ask questions about things you need to know. Wether it is better to go by bike or by bus to school. Where is the best ice cream shop in town, is there a café or kiosk near the school. Which baker is good? What can you do on Sundays? And so on. Most Germans are helpful and grateful when they can talk to you about factual topics and when they are not asked such intimidating small talk questions like about their right to live, or "how their day was", 😂😂😂 .

[Volvoxx]

First comment 😊 Like your „Alles hat ein Ende, nur die Wurst hat Zwei“ sign in the background 😍

[Schwuuuuup]

"Alles hat ein Ende nur die Wurst hat zwei" 😂😂😂

[liamodonovan]

Just found you're channel and i thought you were german when i came across your channel but i realized you were an exchange student you're beautiful love you and Love your honesty awesome video

[julianhollmann]

You said it yourself, once you get behind the walls, you see the person. So we Germans aren't cold, we are reserved. Being over friendly like you Americans seem to us, is something we sometimes find to be an ugly trait. It gives us a feeling of dishonesty, while our walls are as we are: direct and for strangers sometimes painfully honest. Does that make sense?

[Theo_T.]

Hi Montana, es liegt aber auch an einem selbst. Ich bin sehr introvertiert, habe 2 oder 3 richtige "Freunde", Für die würde ich alles tun, ja, alles, solange es erlaubt ist. Alle anderen in meiner Freundschaft sich dann doch eher "gute Bekannte", mit denen ich zwar gut auskomme, die mich aber nicht für irgendein Problem nachts um 3 Uhr wecken dürfen.
Meine Schwester ist anders. Extrovertiert. Die wird von wildfremden Menschen angequatscht, die trinken ein Bier zusammen und schon ist es der/ die "neue" beste Freundin/ bester Freund.

[georgesmith]

You have a million dollar smile and you seem so friendly.

[olivermath]

I like your Videos in English and in German 👍😊

[TheChillaTV]

Thank you for your insights. I’ve never experienced it for myself that some exchange students like you came into my class. I’m going to study in 2 months and then I definitely have to meet new people.
I would love to meet exchange students etc. because I love to hear about different cultures and build up my english skills…

[mkshaiz]

Hope we can keep the numbers down till Autumn, so that you don‘t have to cancel your travel plans.

[achimschroter]

You must be a truly optimistic person launching a video right before the soccer final 😀

[Tb]

Lovely video and cultural insight as always ;)

[Sockenmodulator]

Hi Montana, I finally visited your German home base in Passau a few days ago. You were really lucky because the old town of Passau is really very beautiful and unique. On the one hand, Passau is also a typically German (smaller) city with a historic core and many beautiful churches and castles all around, quite similar to Heidelberg by the way. On the other hand, Passau - at least when it's sunny - also has a rather Italian flair, which is due to the fact that there is so much water all around, but mostly due to the architectural style, which is very Mediterranean and unusual for Germany. Except maybe in Wasserburg, which is a kind of miniature Passau... When you come back to Germany, I'd recommend visiting such smaller cities with historical sights or going hiking in the Alps. Bigger cities like Berlin, after visiting the main sights, which is done in a few days, are really only worth it for partying in clubs or festivals, but you can forget about that at the moment (or forever?) because of Corona...

[hendrik]

Can you make a video about how you arrived and what the check in was at the airport?

[calvin]

Ich unterscheide auch sehr strikt zwischen Bekanntschaften und Freundschaften. Just for safety reasons not to get hurt.

[boyanrd]

I live in germany for 11 years now. If it was the only country in the world, I don't know if I'd still be motivated enough to stay alive. I wanna move out SO BAD...

[nathanjaerhard]

How to make Friends in Germany: 1. Understand that Germans take friendship VERY seriously. That isn't a topic to be taken lightly here. 2. Connect through HOBBIES, and the same interests, like musik, sports, cooking, knitting (Vereine!) Always follow, were the germans disapear to... :-) 3. Ehrenämter: Connect with other people who want to commit oneself to the same cause, like saving animals, human rights, soup kitchens, etc. 4. Local independent churches. They are often very family like and warm hearted and welcoming to strangers. 5. Try going to pubs with germans. When drinking beer, germans loosen up. I personally as a german don't like alcohol, but at least go to the pub and drink something else!

[juricarmichael]

Hi.
Being open for everything should be a basic for your whole life, stay curious. For exchange or life: it is, what you make of it.
If you suppose some people don't know their impact on your life: Tell them!!
Life's too short, to wanna be everybodie's darling. But it would be nice to tell the poeple you like or love, about your feelings. Not only on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day or Christmas. Sadly i realised that at an much older age than you now. But who am i, telling you these things, maybe i'm wrong. Try to talk with a "Vertrauensperson"/ person you trust completly about that.
Bye

[alexdreFalke]

Being put in 10th Grade at age 17 isn't even all too bad. A guy in my class (10th Grade) is actually close to turning 18. Also one of my friends was put in 5th Grade and lived with a 5th Grade Exchange student in France once. Idk how she did that or how that happened but it did lol.
Interesting Video as always, keep it up!

[Paulettchen]

I don't know If you did this already, but how about a Video about things that you expected about Germany before you went there and If they were true or not