Reaction To 10 INCREDIBLE German Culture Shocks!

Reaction To 10 INCREDIBLE German Culture Shocks!

This is my reaction to 10 INCREDIBLE German Culture Shocks

In this video I react to Germany culture and culture shocks that people get when living or travelling in Germany.

[mr.j]

I LOVE sundays. chillin out, hanging out at a cafe and NO WORK :D

[nettcologne]

As a German I find it strange when people talk about "culture shock" when their habits are only slightly different.

[kvas]

Cafes, Restaurants, Pubs etc.are Open on sundays, even petrol stations and shops in train stations or airports.

[bambulkomccloud]

For a family, it's just terrible if one of the parents have to work on Sunday. And if you are starving because the shops are closed on a single day in the week, you should consider your life choices anyway.

The 'Hello' thing is mainly in smaller cities and villages. That rarely happens in big cities.

[MichaEl-rhkv]

3:00 "This day of rest is" _NOT_ "rooted in times when everyone attended church on Sunday". Actually it started with social reforms in the 1890s intended to thwart the socialist movement by making some concessions. In 1891 the Imperial government introduced an amendment to the trade law limiting work on Sundays to certain trades and situations, because forcing employees to work on Sunday had become commonplace. In 1919 the Sunday as day of recovery with the family became a constitutional right. The idea behind was that families need at least one day per week when they can be together without anyone having to leave to go to work. This article was one of a handful formally adopted by the new (West) German constitution in 1949, the Basic Law; and the first East German constitution of 1949 also included the work-free Sunday in its civil rights charta (Art. 16 about entitlement for holiday and pensions). (Afaik the second East German constitution of 1974 does not contain some specific statements regarding the Sunday.) There were always some exemptions regarding some services (restaurants, traffic, emergency and health services) and industries which are technically not able to shut down for one day without big damages. Bakeries are allowed to open in the Sunday morning to provide bread rolls, shops in railway stations and gas stations mostly providing to travelers can also open.
5:10 In my street I know about two "zu verschenken" (for free) shelves, permanently installed by the people living there. You can find books, household goods, toys and other stuff there - and you can also deposit your own books, toys and so on there. My sister regularly looks for new books there and "posted" herself some tableware.
5:20 Cash is not as everywhere as it was some years before. Card issuers and payment providers have lowered the fees and provisions for handling card payments (paid by the seller) and for card readers and so on, so more shops accept cards even for smaller amounts. Apple and Google Pay are also accepted by most super markets, and even some stalls at farmer's markets start to accept it. Germans however generally prefer debit cards over credit cards, and most use the girocard system provided by the German Banking Industry Comittee. Visa and MasterCard are also widely accepted, other providers only rarely.
7:50 Sparkling water is kind of an acquired taste since in 1780 watchmaker and silversmith Jacob Schweppe (born in Hesse, emigrated to Geneva/Switzerland) invented a method to carbonate water to prolong its shelf life. Even before naturally sparkling water like that from Selters at river Lahn (Hesse) had got a reputation to be especially healthy. (The village got its name from the Roman "aqua saltare" = dancing water for springs of sparkling water.) So drinking sparkling water became first a fashion and then a habit over the generations.

[bramscheDave]

As a Brit living in Germany, I love Sundays. It reminds me of my childhood in the UK, where everything was closed. It is lovely, a relaxed day with friends and family. It is better now, when I first moved here, everything closed at lunch time on a Saturday, if you slept in on Saturday morning, you probably didn't have time to go shopping! Now most are open to 4pm or supermarkets until 8pm.

My parents started me on beer and wine before I was a teenager, a watered down glass of wine at Christmas or at a dinner party or a small glass of beer. I had learnt to drink moderately and only in company. By the time my friends were old enough to start drinking in the park (14 or so), I couldn't understand why they were so intent on getting absolutely ratted, instead of just enjoy it in moderation...

I love the bakers. One of the few things open on a Sunday morning as well. I love the range of fresh breads and rolls, as well as things like Teestangen.

We have an old English phone box around the corner, which is a book exchange "library", you bring your old books and leave them there and pick up new ones. A local mini-market has just closed & they left their shelves & cooled meat counters out on the street, they were quickly snapped up. We usually take our clothes to the charity bins around the town.

Cash only is disappearing, most places now take debit cards as well, although, due to the very high fees, most hate people using credit cards, even if they grudgingly accept them. We have a new Ice café and it is the only one in town that accepts cards, the other 3 are cash only.

It isn't that common to greet people. As a Brit, I have always said hello, but it took a long time before people started responding. My German wife still finds it odd that I greet strangers, when we go past.

[Heisenberg-Blue]

America is the stupidest, you can buy an assault rifle at 18 (with which you can easily end a life), but you can't smoke or drink until you're 21. That's just absurd.

[pietermanpiet]

We still place a lot of emphasis on occupational safety and similar issues..People also want to be with their families sometimes. Especially on weekends.

[dschanriihl]

The greeting of strangers is mostly done out in the green.
It is mostly done to show awareness of one another.

[D-ir]

A old german phrase is: Nur Bares ist wahres. = Only Cash is true/real.

[Sonofthebits]

"Zu verschenken" - Many things in our household we picked up from the alley right in front of our flat. Chairs, a Wok, Wineglasses, a 1930`s Cupboard, Books, Cutlery.... etc...
We also placed many things that we want to get rid of on the same benches where we get the it works!

[petebeatminister]

Thing is, the opening hours in Germany are not a matter of a "custom". We have a proper law that defines opening hours, called "Ladenschlußgesetz". For many years in the past it was even more strict: allowed opening hours were Mo - Fr 9 to 18.00 and Sat 9 - 14.00 hours. And that was it. Exceptions only for Petrol stations and pubs/restaurants, and something that we call Kiosk (originally a "walk by" sale point for cigattes, papers, sweets and such). But that was 40 or so years ago. Since, the law has been softened a lot. Opening times during the week were extended, and exceptions for Sundays were added. Like bakeries being open on Sunday mornings. May be more conveniant for the customers - but certainly not for the staff.

[wietholdtbuhl]

Hello 👋 with a smile on my face 😊it's time for a journey to Germany 🇩🇪

[MartinAmbrosiusHackl]

How about watching a video about bomb disposal of WWII Bombs. That is an everyday matter in Germany.

Construction workers have always to keep in mind they might meet an unexploded bomb in the ground

[tosa]

For a long time I only drank sparkling water, but I've switched to tap water some time ago. Just as you have to get used to sparkling water, you quickly get used to tap water again.

[Chuulip]

Half my kitchen supplies and books are from these "for free" boxes. I have nice mugs, plates, bowls... I think it's great!

[-V]

Yeeeaah... weekends in Germany are great and were even better 20/30 years before, cause Saturday afternoon, when the last lawnmower stopped their work, Germany went silent til Monday morning! Good ole times... but the industries and the shoppingworld wanna to get rid of this health- and relaxation-barrier! Back then you knew, most of your friends and family has time to meet, play and party from Friday til Sunday eve, but it is getting more common, that friends have to work on Saturday - soooo, only one day - instead of 1 1/2 days before - ist left for balancing our lives and relax your brain! D/A/G

[DvdV]

Actually you can now pay by card in most shops / restaurants. It changed during the pandemic. You actually find more and more "card only" shops and restaurants.

[healthtrooper]

regarding the free stuff in a box thing:
when I walk home I come across a house which regularly has such a box in front filled with mostly books and some small miscellaneous items, never saw something I wanted to take though

regarding the greeting of strangers:
this is more of a village custom, you won't really see that in the city. I live in the city and the only strangers I greet are those I see somewhat often because they live in or around my house. Additionally my grandpa told me a story of one of his relatives from a village visiting him in the city once and keeping the village tradition up greeting anybody he came across, but he almost never got an answer and grew tired quickly because there where so many strangers to greet^^.

[michelaushier]

In the area I live in (Ruhrgebiet) the people are known for their direct and unfriendly way, like in Berlin. Once a friend of mine said "Hallo" to a stranger because he was in a good mood and the stranger said "Don´t you have friends you can say "hello" to?" 😀