5 (Small) Things We Love About Germany | American Family in Germany

Sometimes it's the little things that make all the difference. There's so many things to love about Germany, and in this video, we're talking about 5 small things we love about living here.

00:00 Intro
00:36 Saying Goodbye
02:44 Matschhose
04:10 Frische Luft
05:58 Waiting Room Greetings
08:05 Well Behaved Dogs
10:38 Bonus - Traffic Lights
12:07 Conclusion

#lifeingermany #germanlife #whygermany #ilovegermany #americansingermany

About us: At the end of July, after a long time of hoping, dreaming, and planning, we sold or gave away almost everything we owned and left the United States to begin our journey with four children as an expat family. We moved to Leipzig, Germany, a beautiful city in the state of Saxony. This is our story.

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[OnwardMJ]

Thanks for watching! Wherever you live right now, let us know some of the small things you love about your country. Tschüssi!

[rasmusgornandt]

Well, about the dogs, it is mandatory in germany to learn how to educate a dog properly, if you want to own a dog, then you either have to show, that you are experienced in having a dog (mostly for older people) or you have to take lessons and get a "licence" for your dog. After there were a lot of incidents with dog owners, that either didnt train their dogs correctly or not at all. So the government decided to set up rules, to improve public safety and decrease serious accidents or dog bites. It is also mandatory to have an insurance for your dog, so that any damages are covered no matter if you are wealthy or not.

[hape]

As a German, I particularly like one "little thing" here: that in the end, reason almost always wins out and the best solution is found. In other words, there are often long discussions and decision-making processes when it comes to infrastructure or construction projects, but you can be sure that all interest groups will be heard, that the environment and our cultural heritage will be protected, and that a modern, practical and sustainable solution will be found. Many Germans complain that everything takes too long, cost too much and everyone is allowed to put in their two cents, but in the end everyone is (halfway) satisfied. In the long run, this maintains social peace and strengthens trust in the state, the government and the administration.

[DerJarl]

Why is ventilation important (for germans)?
Well, there is a very practical reason. Modern houses in Germany are very well insulated. This saves a lot of heating energy, but it means that humidity remains in the living space. This includes moisture from showering or bathing, doing laundry, or simply breathing. A person loses about a liter of water overnight while sleeping. Therefore, "Stoßlüften" or "shock airing" for maybe five minutes is important to expel the moisture from the living space. Here you open two windows on the opposite side of the house for the purpose of draft. Due to the brief but stronger "shock ventilation", walls and furniture do not cool down and the heating then uses less energy to heat up the rooms again.
The purpose is to drive out the moisture that can otherwise lead to mold growth in damp rooms and cooler areas such as the bath or the windows.

[sandalf]

Fun fact; if you change the air in your house in the winter your heating is more efficient. You air out the condensation and the heating is doing a better job to warm the dryer air. It‘s called „Stosslüften“ just a quick change of air.

[zaldarion]

the greeting is in my optinion to avoid awkward situaions, to relax. most of the waiting rooms are small and soon you hit the personal space of another person. by saying "hi" it indicates that there is no defence needed, you came in peace (I might be wrong but that's what I think, but even if I'm not right, I feel more comfortable sitting next to a person who greeted me)

[spirwes]

Die kleinen Dinge des Lebens, die man schätzt. Danke, das Du mich darauf aufmerksam gemacht hast!

[zanderalex]

I really like your positive vibe and vision. It also helps me to classify myself as a German and our culture and way of living. Through your comments about Germany, I automatically learn something about America as well. But I know - America is big and certainly similarly different as Europe. I'll be in California and Utah for a month this summer. you're in Leipzig. Many of my Hamburg friends like the city very much.

[futuregadget_v.]

About the dogs, you have to differentiate between socializing a dog and training or rather educating it. It's possible to get dogs socialized with other dogs AND to teach them not to do what they want all the time in every situation. Dogs are pretty clever, they can learn to distinguish if you just walk around or if you go to a field for dog-walking where they can play with other dogs.
Our dog learnt that too. It took its time, but now she knows when it's appropriate to sniff on other dogs or people and when not.

[dennismenace]

Hi MJ. You are absolutely right, fresh air is totally a good thing and I love it too and think it's important. Only that is enough reason to open windows. I'm an architect and can tell you the main reason, when you have to open them is, that you don't get problems with too dry air in rooms, which is potentially bad. Today we build so dense and our windows are also so dense, that there won't be any change of air and with the air also water without opening windows or doors. That's also the reason why you often find little grids in the walls of new living buldings, that's like forced and continuously airing cause of that reasons. or you got it directly in the windows, which i have and which i hate, cause the accustic is also bad without like 20cm of sealing in the fucking window :D

Oh and the right behaviour in colder times is to do "stoßlüften" ;) simply open the windows for some minutes totally, all, and that's like 2-3 times a day and everything is fine. which can get cold for a short period of time, but because all of your furniture and building-mass is warm, it shortly get's warm again. Not the case when you open them all the time and you simply do them auf-kipp. This cools down your building-mass and it takes longer to get warm.
Also always cool breeze is not healthy ;)

No proper airing already was often the reason for problems and it is always the question if the tentant/user did air enough. and the first answer you get from a landlord is that you didn't, when you get problems with mold.

[MettPitt]

here is a small thing i enjoy living in leipzig...
having people like you and your family in town..
liked and subscribed..

[agn]

Winter-Frischluft. Stale air isn't heating that good, and bears the risk of mold. And that's the main thing why German's are "Durchlüften" twice a day!
Just replace the staled air with the fresh one (but prevent walls from cooling down!), so 5-10 minutes will do it.

[heha]

I LOVE your radiant eyes while you are speaking about things you like and love! May you and you family never encounter disappointment here! Really well-made video! Thanx! And regarding "frische Luft": Think of this wonderful smell of your laundry dried in fresh and sunny air! :) Liebe Grüße and: Tschüü-üüüs!

[joelgoestohollywood]

In the Rhein-Ruhr Area (Ruhrgebiet) we say Tschö.

[christiankastorf]

When you air a room in winter you only change the warm air for cold one, but the warmth in your walls, carpets and furniture stays. In a short time the room is cosy again. Of course, it might be a good idea anyway to turn the heating down for the night and then do the airing in the morning.

[jennyh]

every single time you said „Tschüssi“ I expect to see a little wave.

Regarding the fresh air: I had an online class in December and the teacher actually told us every hour (when we had a short break) „open up your window, let some fresh air in“.

Why are you so surprised about well behaving dogs? Dogs aren’t usually trained to ignore other dogs, but to keep their attention on their humans. There are usually „dog playgrounds“ in the cities, where the dogs can play with other dogs, where they know they can play and „let go of their job“ for some time.

[JohnHazelwood]

These "little things" sums up ... and makes it a huge different to other countries!

[rolfoleynik]

Nice video, thanks. We also say: tschüüüss.

[Gardner]

you can survive for about 3-4 weeks without food, 2-3 days without water, but only a few minutes without air. So, yeah, fresh Air is important. Great Video!

[Alexandra-dhkl]

Saying Hello when you are the last to enter a room is simply politeness. Likewise, for example, when entering or leaving a lift.