Feel free to speak English, but don't start shouting if people don't get it right away. Volume isn't the problem, usually. And in general, speak in a lower voice than you are used to in America if you want to avoid the ominous "German stare ".
@@th60of Especially on public transport and if you like to watch videos on your smartphone, listen to music or talk to someone on the phone--> be quiet, use headphones ;) There is (almost) nothing worse than being bothered by these "noises" on public transport. There are days when I want to carry a bunch of inexpensive headphones in my bag to hand out to those people.
Do not come here, rent a fast car and drive on the Autobahn with no clue about the rules!!!! You will either kill yourself or yourself and others...if you aren't used to driving past 100 mph...
One thing i recognised multiple times, when i went to the former Concentraotion Camp Buchenwald is that many tourists are very loud and making jokes with each other, loughing, etc. I get that you want to have fun on your trip, but this is one of our biggest memorials. Tens of thousands of people died there under gruesome circumstances. It is a place for modesty, a statement of what can happen if a society falls. Don't respecting that is equal to make a picknick on the tomb of the unknown soldier or burning model-twintowers. If you want to visit these memorials you are welcome. They represent a very important message. But please, treat them with the respect they deserve.
@@udorechner6846 Native speakers may not consider their everyday language as slang. For them it's just English. How could they guess which kind of English Germans could potentially know or not know?
@@allansnape416 I had *this exact scenario* a few years ago when visiting ROME. Fortunately, I had a lecture on the Scouse/Liverpool accent the day before I went to Rome, so I understood the speakers rather easily.
@@barbarafrings9231 Yeah, but that was when "everything must be privatized!" was the big thing. Funnily enough the results of privatization were so bad it was stopped before it actualyl happened. We are still feeling the aftermath. Oh, and of course Verkehrsminister who think that cars is all they have to care about is another reason.
@@barbarafrings9231 Priorities seem to have finally changed, but there's still a long way to go, and it's going to get worse (because of a lot of construction and maintenance) before it gets better. Also, driver shortage.
I did take he train on a 450km ride every other weekend for a considerable time (more than three handfull of years). Now that I am retired I feel so much more relaxed. Should I attribute it to not using trains for more than two times a year?
Well, that was when the Bahn was still property of the state... I mean *technically* all DB shares are still held by the state... but it's it's totally own totally market dominated private company! ...did you know that if there was a war... completely impossible of course in Europe... oh.. wait... anyway, we could not deploy forces to any frontline because the DB has no longer the means... Best regards Raoul G. Kunz
@Björn Rothe From 1978-1989 I lived in a house that was about 1.5km from the railway line between Frankfurt am Main and Kassel. I could look at my kitchen window and know what time it was by which train was passing by.
What you said about the local language is so true! Knowing how to say "Excuse me?" "Where is ...?" "Thank you!" is better than any insurance or GPS. Bonus tip if you want to go swimming at a lake or the coast: Don't get flustered when you walk across a nude beach. They're still a part of German culture, especially in the North East.
That is also valid in inner city parks. You will eventually stumble upon a very nude person laying in the sun sleeping, reading a book or drinking alcohol. All that is fine. Do not be a Karen here, because then you will be considered the pervert, that's for sure! Nobody cared until you showed up! Well...why do you look at other people's genitals so intensely that you get offended? How about not doing that in the first place? 🙂
Cappuccino? Wattzefack! In Germany you grind coffee-beans with your own teeth and swallow them with nearly boiling water! (Because boiling water makes the "Kaffee as sour as your life") All jokes aside: drink it as you like it, but don't ask me for marshmellow maple leaf vanilla corn syrup with unicorn sparcles while you're at my place, k? 😉
@@PassportTwo Will she come back in front of the camera like she used to? I'd like to hear about her experience of giving birth and being a toddler's mom in Germany. And how it differs from her expectations. Greetings to Aubrey. 😊
Everyone in my family actually has purple hair. But we all coloring them to all sorts of blonde, brunette or red. We hated all the jokes our neighbours with green hair made on us.
I'd like to add to the part of "Speaking English in Germany" that there is a secret door opener, when you are talking to a German. Whatever you'd like to say, start with "Entschuldigung" or "Entschuldigen Sie bitte." Usually you would use this when addressing a waiter/waitress or when asking someone to give the shortest way to the museum. But it does make a difference. Some people even judge it as being rude when you are not using these words.
that's probably also the reason why some shops have a minimum payment amount for card payments... for EC-card payments, the fee is relatively higher for small payments and becomes (relative to the paid amount) "more tolerable" for higher amounts. I don't know how this situation is concerning credit cards.
Pfand is a wonderful thing! I work as a groundskeeper at a Kaufland (a big german supermarket chain) and i allways put Pfandbottles at a certain spot so collectors can collect them =)
Don’t come to Germany expecting ice water or any water free of charge in restaurants. Don’t expect ice machines in hotels. Cappuccino: I love cappuccino and drink it any time I feel like it. And I’ve done that during vacation in Italy too.
I, living in Germany, have never been in any shop or restaurant, which did not take debit cards (except kiosks or the like). Granted, not credit cards, which are not really popular with Germans, but debit cards. So, tourists, just get a standard debit card. Also: all these (usually) Americans going on about Germany being a cash society never mention, that in the US cheques are used all the time and everywhere, being send by post or handed over personally to your landlord on a monthly basis [sic!], and so on … Cheques - can’t get more outdated than that! You won‘t find cheques in Europe.
We’ve been to plenty of stores that don’t take any form of card in Germany. Many in our local area in fact! However, when you mention the stores taking debit cards, you also have to be careful to know the distinction between a debit card in general and an EC Karte. Most of the time when you go in a German store and they don’t accept CC but do accept “DC,” they HAVE to be a German EC Karte. So, no, giving a tourist the advice of “just getting a debit card” would not actually be helpful to a tourist. We have talked about checks in other videos, it just didn’t apply to the situation I was talking about here. Checks are used, like you mentioned, primarily to pay landlords. Other than that, you don’t use checks at all these days and are also considered outdated in the US. So, no tourist would ever consider bringing checks to Europe on vacation, making it unimportant to mention in this video.
My Swiss debit card was declined in multiple locations in Karlsruhe, like in the EDEKA. After the pandemic it is accepted more widely. Seems a few stores changed the setting in their payment systems.
@@remizeeland3505 The Maestro system is just in the process of being disbanded. From next month on they will not be issued anymore. So it is also not a good recommendation, please read the news about this.
To #5: Absolutly yes! We Germans love rules. If there is something without a rule .. we hate it 😄. Even if the rule tells you: Here is the rule to feel free what you like to do 😁
The language issue is no longer as strict as it used to be. For me, it goes without saying that when an American approaches me in Vienna, I immediately speak to him in English. I would never expect someone who has learned English to speak to me in another language. If I go to the Czech Republic, I'll be classified as helpless there in terms of language skills. I can only hope that I will meet someone there who speaks English, you're more likely to meet people there who can speak German. Only locals say ahoi and dobre den there, everyone else should be able to tell where they are from. In Alsace I once tried to use my meager knowledge of French, but of course that was completely unnecessary there. In Holland I once asked for directions in Dutch so perfectly that I got an answer in Dutch that I hardly understood at all. Still, I was proud of myself....
That is not entirely true. In Alsace, between the 90s and 00s when I tried to talk German (since I do speak French but rarely use it so it is not good) I was told in a rude tone that "Ici c'est la France, on parle Francais!". I am talking young people, not old people. I was rather suprised when in Paris I tried to stumble around in French and was at once adressed in English. Also in the Netherland, since I do not speak Dutch, I usually spoke English which worked quite fine. German not so much. Most Dutch people speak at least a little German but do not like to do so.
@@nordveld Must have been non Alsacians! They hate the French and consider themselves Alsacians. So, if in Alsace someone is that rude to you, it was a French person, probably from Paris or Lyon, where rudeness seems to be normal.
Long Distanc Trains don't have to be expensive, as long as you book a "Sparpreis" ticket. You need to buy it weeks before your journey and it is bound to a soecific train.
and it depends on the time / and probably the expected demand for that train. For example, you can travel in a direct ICE from Cologne to Hamburg for only 16,90 € - if you travel at night and buy a "Super Sparpreis Ticket" for the ICE train that leaves Cologne at 3:58 am.
- don't come to Germany and start a small talk with Nazi stuff. The topic is serious and not the weather. - don't come to Germany and think we're behind the world just because we solve things differently than in the states. Yes, our apartments all have electricity, even without an overhead cable. (I actually had this discussion with a US Air Force soldier...) - don't come to Germany and think only American law would apply to you. We have our own laws and will apply them. - don't come to Germany and expect everyone to adore you. You're just a tourist, not a superstar or the pope or anything. - don't come to Germany and tell us how great it is that there are so many us cars driving around here, like BMW, AUDI, VW, PORSCHE ... (also experienced it myself ...)
Random answer: I try to avoid cappuccino after 11.00 AM, but am not always successful. Sometimes it is just too tempting, and a Latte has too much milk in it for me. To the cash question: For a two-week tour, I would bring € 500 in smaller bills (50 and under) and arrange for easy access to that amount, when it's been spent. Cash makes life easier here, and even if it's easier to steal than credit cards, you probably won't want to be caught without it, if you want to do some exploring. The nice thing about cash is there is no record of exactly what I buy, and that is what I like. I don't want to add to my cyber consumer profile every time I buy toilet paper.
No need... at least for Germans. We are already frustrated enough. There is already salt, lemon juice, potato liquid and whatsoever in the wound - no need to add acid.
The Deutschland - Ticket is not a bad thing, but it is primarily made for comuters who use public transport very often. Of course you can use it as a tourist as well, but have a close look at the terms & conditions or you might pay for two months even if you used it only for a few days.
1:15 Plastic bottles : Should have delayed the video or just change the info that everything with the logo shown has a deposit on it and you should return it to the store. Every other container goes to recycling be it glass, paper, plastic metal etc. Starting 2024 not only bottles and cans will have that logo, but tetra packs etc. will have the logo too, meaning you have to pay a deposit.
A piece of advice from a very frequent train traveler with ~300 long distance travels per year: - You are free to express your anger and disappointment towards the personell on the train. But please remember that those are the people least responsible for it. Same applies for DB Information counters or DB Reisezentrum. Treating them with respect sometimes gives you an extra compensation. - Prefer direct connections whenever possible. Even if it takes a bit longer. - Check for construction works, which may affect your overall travel time. The DB Navigator app does NOT take delays into account until you are delayed. If the notification says "expect 45 minutes of delay", add another 15 minutes just to be on the safe(r) side. - Do NOT plan connections with less than 15 minutes to change trains. Frankfurt/Main (Hbf) and Cologne Hbf are the worst given my experience. It may happen that your connection is delayed as well, but don't count on it. For Frankfurt and Cologne I plan with 30 minutes minimum which often leads spending time in a Starbucks or something similar. Yes, takes significantly more time, but is way more relaxed. 😉 - If possible, check if your connecting train starts at the station where you want to get on. If yes, the train will most likely not wait as the track is needed for other traffic. Again, I take Frankfurt as an example as I have to change there from time to time. - When you are going on or returning from vacation, don't take it so seriously. Don't ruin your holiday with something out of your control. Yes, you can rage about it, spend all your energy feeding that anger - it changes nothing but ruining your mood - When on a business trip, like I am (~80%), use the "extra" time for something useful. Larger stations offer quiet or working areas (DB Lounge if you have access to it). Yes you may or will be late, make the best of it. I use an ICE connection to commute to Frankfurt/Main, that is why I have so many long distance travels per year. I have to use it for business trips as well due to the Bundesreisekosten-Gesetz. But I do not regret abandoning my personal car and getting a BahnCard 100 (personally paid, not company). I have it for more than three years now and I experience the "struggles" with DB on a more or less daily basis, learning and understanding the causes better and better over time and adapting to them. If I do need a car I use car sharing. AND YES THAT IS VERY INDIVIDUAL AND CANNOT BE APPLIED TO EVERYONE - I am very well aware of that. 🙂 PS: Bruxelles last week without any issues. Berlin next week is a direct connection, anything but a fire and evacuation won't really bother me... Edit: Some minor corrections.
Several people complain about a delay off 5 to 10 minutes on DB. But they do not complain about hitting a traffic jam and be delayed for over a half hour!!!!
@@remizeeland3505 Totally agree! Yes, you could argue that there is a schedule to stick to, but when the infrastructure just isn't there to support the schedule things will go wrong. I learned that the hard way at one point. 😅 Personally for me it is not as bad as last year with the 9€-Ticket, although statistics tell a different story. Or I am more relaxed, take your pick. 😉
Our store registers at the checkout show the Pfand after the beverage has been scanned, if it has Pfand on it. You gotta look for the logo. How is Aubrey doing at the moment? Will she return in future videos? 4:39 Funny that you used Dieter Bohlen there. BTW, you can find pretty much any haircolor in our country since they have changed the view of colored hair for many workplaces. "Germans are excellent drivers": *DDG, Der Fahrlehrer and Sascha Fahrnünftig want to have a word with you*
Was trinken denn die meisten Italiener nach Mittag? Espresso? Ich mag aber kein Kaffee ohne Milch (trinke den schon ohne Zucker und mag den nicht ohne Milch).
I just want to emphasize the part about driving. The rest might be rude or smth. but not that bad. But driving in general is to dangerous to not know what you are doing. So it is really important to at least know how to behave in general while driving and to know the standard rules in Cities and on the Autobahn.
@@susanneostermann6956 I guess that's changed a bit. Two month a go, my car broke down and I had to get a rental (from one of the major rent-a-car companies) for a few days. When I brought that car back to the station (in Munich), I overheard a conversation with a customer (from somewhere in eastern Europe) that specifically requested a manual because he had never driven anything else. I was very surprised to hear them say that the vast majority of their cars was automatic now... So it seems tourists shouldn't have any issues finding a automatic rental car in Germany.
Cappucino is always good. No matter the time. Sadly i moved away from your region 2 years ago. I would have invited you and your family to a BBQ. Another DONT. Dont ask people about their opinion about WW2. I was asked so many times that I stopped counting. It feels like beeing pushed into a stereotype which I dont fit in.
Make that a general about the past, unless you are in a conversation where this is necessary. If you are foreign to Germany, you probably can't relate to many things and occurrences in the past in Germany -- just as we cannot really relate to life in the 1950s in the USA, we only "know" what we have seen in (old) footage.
Many train delays in Germany are due to measures to extend the system and make it more reliable in future. There are several schemes running e.g. to exchange turnouts which tell the railway track maintainance personel when to look after them before it fails. They increase the number of turnouts with electric heating systems to avoid failures on cold days in the winter. Of course an interuption of service is inevitable while the new turnouts are inserted into the track network. Meanwhile they found out that ca. 500.000 sleepers have to be replaced because the concrete they are consisting of got bad ingredients. It is not clear so far if fraud or negligence lead to this problem. The lack of rolling stock has been successfully remedied as far as long distance passenger trains are concerned. Billions of Euros had been invested to order new ICEs and double deck ICs from the industry, it delivers them almost in time now. The lack of qualified staff is still rampant, train drivers (Triebfahrzeugführer) are missing as well as the staff for signal boxes (Fahrdienstleiter, Disponenten) making the ways for the trains. A train operator in the north west of Germany hired 50 men to become new train drivers, but 25 failed their train driver exam. They ended up limiting train services though.
The local city services are desperately looking for bus drivers. Bus services are reduced for the foreseeable future. The driver shortage at pretty much all levels is very real.
I say it is 100% accountable to incompetent management. But to really blame are politicians. They wanted the DB to be a private, profit oriented business. So they put in managers who accomplished that to a degree. What they did was to slim down the system by taking out any redundancy (which accomplished reducing maintenance expenses) AND not investing enough to keep it in a working order (which resulted in even more savings). All with the intent to sell it to the Russians. No joke! Russian Railroads was interested in buying it. So they had to get the price down for the intended IPO. Because if it has to work at 95% capacity (taking out redundancies) it has to be 100% reliable (not investing enough in maintenance). So any defect of external influence wreaks havoc on the system. This even got so far that Deutsche Bahn has shut down rail traffic completely when some inclement weather hammered it. This has happened two times in the last years. Any manager with some honor in him would have committed seppuku.
The "Put the bottle not in the trash, but next to it easily pickable on the ground" thing is an example of how we care about...well...everyone. Why would you force poor people looking for bottles to earn some money to grab through disgusting and hazardous trash, when you could make their life easier, without you being bothered at all? Be nice! It pays back!
yeah wonderful, especially if someone drunk kicks the glass bottle all over and shatters it, so carefully thought, huh? put the damn bottle in the trash bin where it belongs.
@@Zekander You aren't from Germany. It works perfectly here and shattered glass is a rare sight. You do not understand we have deposits on almost everything, do you? Throwing bottles and especially cans in the trash is just throwing away money. A can has a 25 Cent deposit on it, a plastic water bottle as well. You go ahead and throw away money, we won't!
@@Kivas_Fajo I live in Berlin and it´s a mess. There is regularly shattered glass all over the ways, because of this. It´s dangerous for little kids, dogs, bikers and you give me a sermon how good people in germany are, because they would care so much for the homeless... geez a glass beer bottle has a value of 8 cent, so it´s inefficent for people to collect tons of heavy glass instead only lighter plastic or cans with more value. Erklär´ mir also nicht das deutsche Müllsystem, ich weiss wie das funktioniert, im Gegensatz zu einem Großteil unserer zugezogenen Mitbürger.
Bundesbahn ran pretty well until 1994. Then, thanks to the politicians and hello Deutsche Bahn, the railroad was privatized. Fillet pieces were formed and so on. You know the process. The privatization wanted to be pushed forward. Maximize revenues and cut expenses at the same time. Good. Or not so good. Today, 30 years later, you see the result more and more. So, the moral of the German story: don't believe the privatization wave. Some basic things simply belong in the hands of the state. 🤐
I really dont know any germans under the age of 70 (western part) or the age of 40 (eastern part) that doesnt speak englissh at least to a lvl to answer simple questions or help you out with things like directions. If they dont do so its mostly because they dont want to speak englisch(a few) or they dont feel comfortable (a lot of the older people). Englisch will be spoken by most/all (younger) (western) europeans, so dont bother to learn some phrases in german or the other languages because if youre not at least b1 it adds nothing to the experience of visiting europe.
about the english thing , we start to learn english in elementary school , some of us like i'am in Kindergarten. So most people below 60 pretty fluent . We are getting grades in English it is a Main subject in school. Dont expecting Air Condtioners in every House , it very comon not to have one. I dont care when you drink your Capuchino , feel free to procedd as you wish Cash is also a main thing when you visit Flea Markets, they a big culture in germany.
Bike lanes suck in Germany, pretending that a normal footpath is a bikelane. They do have some nice and propper bike lanes in Germany too, but the fake footpath one is the worst in the world. Sorry nicht ordentlich oder effektiv und sehr faul von der Stadt, they need to change that yesterday and at least mark it properly. Better is to completely separate it from the footpath like a proper bike road where possible.
Nein, kaputtgespart wurde die Deutsche Bahn nicht, sondern als Resterampe aussortierter Politiker zweckentfremdet. Bei der Deutschen Bahn wird vieles gemacht, aber definitiv nicht gespart. Die weisen fast jedes Jahr einen satten Gewinn in ihrer Bilanz aus, nehmen aber umgekehrt durch Subventionen durch den Bund, dem die Deutsche Bahn AG wiederum zu 100 Prozent gehört, ein Vielfaches dessen ein, sodass der Bund jedes Jahr einen hohen Verlust dadurch erwirtschaftet. Geld steht also mehr als ausreichend zur Verfügung, man wirft es eben nur durch Missmanagement regelrecht aus dem Fenster, weil man kein Interesse hat, sich mal um ein auch nur im geringsten kompetentes Management zu kümmern und es lieber durch Expolitiker besetzt.
And dont use Google translator, englisch is ok but i was asked from Chinese ppl. Once if they are on the train to the airport i couldnt get it because the Translation makes no sense at all 🤣
To the topic of booking a train ride with DB to Paris and the price: you know wenn your friends are coming over. Just plan it out with them and book in advance. You get a much better price like this. About Italian Coffee ? I drink a latte macchiato for breakfast and in the afternoon. There's mo rule for it in Germany.
@@bernhardschwarz6792 The Italian wife of a German business partner once told me that in Italy it is frowned upon drinking cappuccino after noon. But it is tolerated for elder women. I'm just the messenger here and please, don't shoot the messenger.
I personally would not expect to speak any german from a tourist. It is another thing if someone comes to germany to life there and does not attempt to learn any german.
honestly... most of the things are nothing specific to german, but widespread around the world. don't throw away money. don't expect public infrastructure to work probably.. okay i guess japan is not having that problem... ALL HAIL JAPAN :D respect their culture and try to make them feel comfortable... but it's not like those are specific "don't"s. if you feel learning german is too challenging, just don't, most of the germans won't feel offended, as long as you're a tourist. remember: most germans are no nazis. nobody will speak about you behind your back and saying "oh man what an asshole, coming to german without learning german." and don't come to other countries attempting to drive a car there without knowing the local traffic rules. i mean honestly, if you come to england and drive on the right side, you need to prepare to get eradicated. :D
Even stores that accept credit cards do not accept all of them. Visa and Mastercard are always o.k., American Express mostly too, but not always, the others are mostly not accepted in Germany.
It mostly depends on how they process the cards. Most card reader here are Chipcard readers only. Some US cards still have all information on the magnetic strip, and no EMV-chip, so these readers wouldn't work.
I am German, I do not care when you drink your coffee of choice. So yeah, for me afternoon capuccino would work. Just do not do that in Italy! You know, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Go pick a ... beverage that is acceptable for your host nation. (You did not expect me to go for the old pick-pocket routine, did you? We do not do those kind of jokes anymore these days!)
Haha, although I was still served one, I was once laughed at by all the waiters in a restaurant in Italy when I ordered a cappuccino after dinner one evening 😅 Maybe I should switch to your method!
German right-of-way rules are difficult for U.S. residents. Basically, it is not "first come, first served" but "right before left" with many exceptions. Most learner drivers fail because of right-of-way rules, and most accidents happen because of them.
I would say that is one of the most important, perhaps THE most important rule for Americans to learn. It can seem very counter-intuitive. I have been driving in Germany for more than 20 years (originally from USA) and I still repeat to myself over and over when driving in residential areas: "Right before left, right before left!" It still seems crazy to me that if you are driving on the straight road at a T-intersection, you have to stop if someone is coming from the right.
RQothW: Perhaps not done in Italy, but I drink my capuccino after lunch, and a few times have done this in Italy too. Don't invite people over if you don't mean it. As in "let's get together", Do come over and visit us sometime". Don't ask people how they are if you don't want an honest ( sometimes long-winded) answer. Don't ask them how much they earn. If you have learned a bit of German, don't use the DU with adults you do not know. Don't come empty-handed if you are invited to dinner at their homes. At least some flowers, or wine or chocolates.
14:20 fixing the card reader is expensive, especially since its also often a rented mashine who costs a lot money for each transaction done, so of cause stores do not want to replace the mashine if they don't make enough money to make a good use of having it repaired
I'd like to add: Don't pretend to be more proficient in German than you actually are. While I worked at a supermarket checkout I was happy to speak English to customers when they spoke English and happy to be accommodating to customers speaking broken German. But every once in a while someone came in, dropped some phrases in perfect accent-free German and then they struggled without letting me know. Turns out, they arrived in Germany a few days earlier and don't know any German apart from a handful of phases they practiced to perfection. One example was a customers who bought his first drink in Germany and was confused I wanted 25 cent more. It took me ages to figure out not only that he wasn't familiar with the Pfandsystem but that I can explain it in English.
2:36 Only Plastic bottles and aluminium cans have this return logo on them. Glas bottles you can return have the word Pfandflasche written on them somewhere. You get 8 Cents back for them. For example, if you bought milk in a glas bottle, it likely is a Pfandflasche; I see so many people throwing away such Glas bottles rather than returning them. Beer glas bottles are generally Pfandflaschen.
I did have purple hair for years, but not anymore 😁 For traditional clothes from different regions in Germany and other countries come to Gotha in July and visit the Europeade. As a German, I don't think it's rude when you don't speak german as a tourist. That only turns when you stay for some month / years / forever.
You definitely shouldn't get drunk in Germany or in any other country abroad. As for cappuccino in the afternoon: if you have to, go for it, but don't do this in Italy 😂
@Bernhard Schwarz They are not, at least there is no official text stating this. But you will be immediately be classified as "not Italian" if you order a cappuccino in the afternoon 😉
This probably isn't something Americans need to hear but I've witnessed it a few times with tourists in general: don't haggle with the cashier in stores. If the product isn't damaged, or the food doesn't reach the "MHD" the next day it's pointless. In case of a product being damged you should approach the topic of a price reduction carefully tho, since they might tell you pick one that is intact. I usually say something along those lines "excuse me, I wanted to ask if it's possible to give me a discount for this. It's damaged, but I would like to take it anyway." If they look confused i just add that I don't have much money.
I am German and living in France over 20 years. When going back to see my sister I invited her.... and she had to pay as the restaurant took no credit card. Here in France you can even pay your baguette (0,35 €) with the card. OK, exceptionnally, if you know the baker 😁. But over 1 € it is common.
One important thing about the unrestricted parts of our Autobahn: If you drive faster than 130 km/h (80,78 freedoms/h) and you get into an accident, you will get partial fault even if it was not your fault at all. You could TRY to give a very good and plausable reason on WHY you had to drive faster than 130 km/h but its unlikely you get away with it. Also a word of caution: Only drive as fast as the conditions allow it at that time. If the traffic is very high or it pours, I would not drive like a lunatic.
Please don't tell Americans who just want to travel here to learn some German before coming here. You might feel guilty, no need though because I actually prefer to get approached in English by english native speakers. I live in Munich which has lots of American tourists so I get approached in German by Americans every so often. And no offense, but most of the time it's barely understandable. In Europe, whenever someone leaves his home country unless knowing the native tongue, English becomes the universal language to communicate. A German in Denmark speaks English to locals, and Danish people in Germany do the same. It's perfectly normal and really nothing to feel bad about. It's an almost exclusively American thing to believe that learning 2-3 phrases by heart somehow gives you the respect of the locals, while for us it's just a hassle to figure out what you mean before switching to English anyway. I guess it's because it's special for Americans to be in a country with another language, while Europe is used to this by now. Now this is just my personal opinion. Others might disagree. But in my bubble, almost everyone thinks like me regarding this.
Don't jaywalk! Don't plan to go shopping on a Sunday! And don't chit-chat loudly in public! (TBH I don't know if this still valid or just my stereotype about Americans.)
Relatives of mine came from the USA, landed at Frankfurt Airport and rented a car there. After about 50 kilometers they drove to an SOS post on the right and asked for help. They didn‘t want to drive another kilometer on a German highway. The speed at which others were traveling really scared them. 😮😅😂
Recycling: As a German who has studied the subject for years, I'm sorry to say that most of the recycling hype is nonsense. It works for paper, glass and biological waste, and more recently for disposable beverage bottles returned to supermarkets. Except for a minimal amount, most of the old plastic is "thermally recycled" (= incinerated) or shipped to East Asia and dumped into the landscape (and then often ends up in the ocean)! So it is best to always throw plastic waste into the normal (=residual waste-) garbage can. It is burned also then, but thereby warmth and electric power are produced as well as the exhaust gases optimally filtered. The bottom line is that Germany is not better than most other countries, but only more mendacious! Translation by deepl
A cappuccino after 12 o´clock is a no go. I met two people from the US in my whole life, and the older I get the more Americans appear to be a riddle to me. It seems that they don´t say straight what they think, but they try not to hurt your feelings, they work very hard, they have to pay for things that should be free... and I wonder why they are still staying in the US, if there are much better life conditions outside their country. I will never understand them.
Another thing not to do: please do not speak gibberish instead of speaking English if you don't speak German. At least give the other one a chance to find out that English is the language we can communicate with you. I remember a situation in a rather full beer garden, where I just wanted to ask a person if two of the seats at their table could be used by me and my husband. The answer I got was "No Deutsch", and then the person was looking away from me. Now, as you can see here, I'm fully capable of dealing with such a situation in English, and I do even speak a bit Spanish and French. But what on earth shall I do with such a reaction?
Don't speak not at the checkout. Please tell the cashier, that you are an english speaking person. Please. I'm working at the supermarket REWE. So, I'm begging to speak without being shy
Bike lanes: You nailed it, @PassportTwo, you don't walk on the street and complain about cars honking ... so walking on bike lanes ... (and, yes, in Berlin hearing this infamous "Halooo!" is meant as "good day" ;))
Actually, I'd prefer good English over bad German from an American any time in a conversation (that lasts over mere seconds). A little "bitte" and "danke" is alright though.
Cappuccinos are great. You can enjoy there profound appealing flavor in the morning. You can feel your well being with them in a moment of calm and self care at a beautiful starry night and also in every other joyful situation or challenging moment in between. Cappuccinos are great.
If a place only accepts debit cards then they accept European cards not German cards. The banking system for most of Europe was beginning to unify in the 90s (before the euro) and is the same for all euro countries. so you can pay with a French card but not with an American.
Most Americans don't know how to drive a manual transmission vehicle. Rental cars with automatic transmission are available in GER, but they're really expensive. So, if tourists are on a budget, taking a driving lesson in a stickshift car beforehand is going to save a huge amount of money. Addressing traffic rules: the most important one in GER IME is the meaning of the Crosswalk sign which makes a stopp compulsory when a pedestrian is in the vicinity. Cappuccino: all day long, I'm not Italian!
If you can't speak german most people wouldn't be angry, but you shouldn't expect others to understand you perfectly and try to ask nicely if you need something.
As long as you're not in Italy, it's perfectly okey to drink cappuccino whenever you want. Howerver, don't ever try drinking one in the afternoon in Italy. 😂
Your random question: I do not think you should drink cappuccinos at any time. The only way to drink coffee is black. If you don't like your coffee black, maybe you should try another brand of beans.
I'm not living in a city, but in a rural area, so bike-only lanes are not a thing here. But sharing pedestrian side walks and bike lanes are a thin instead...
You should not try to speak German if you can't. That might cause misunderstandings. I am German and in my life, I made a different mistake even twice. A few decades ago I addressed an Asian-looking teenager, who seemed to have lost his way, in English. It turned out that he was confused since he spoke German on a native level. Two years ago in the late evening, I arrived in my hometown on a train from another town at a suburban train station and two Korean students also left the train and stood in front of the train station in the empty street and obviously couldn't make any sense of out of their navigation app since the station had two exits to different streets. So I assumed they wouldn't speak German and addressed them in English. And again they were confused since they were speaking perfect and fluent German.
11:35 exactely. That's the least most Germans expect. Most foreigners in my vicinity don't even attempt to learn even though they're living here, which comlpicates things a lot. I find this very important and I'm glad you've mentioned it. Great content as always. Greetings.
The German really master their recycling system. Rumors have it that this only exists to keep the Swiss away from Germany, the system is too complicated for the average Swiss. Ours is also complicated but far less than the German system 😅
It doesn't matter which time you want to drink cappuccino. When you like to drink a cappuccino then let's go.. it's not a kind of bad manner. So don't let stop you to drink your cappuccino no matter what time it is.
![7 Culture SHOCKS of DATING a German [as a Latina]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/_mp6_nEvMmk/mqdefault.jpg)
Anything else that SHOULDN’T be done in Germany?? 😅
Don't screw the Finanzamt
Don't make Nazi or Hitler jokes in Germany without knowing your audience. Could lead to awkward situations.
Feel free to speak English, but don't start shouting if people don't get it right away. Volume isn't the problem, usually. And in general, speak in a lower voice than you are used to in America if you want to avoid the ominous "German stare ".
@@th60of Especially on public transport and if you like to watch videos on your smartphone, listen to music or talk to someone on the phone--> be quiet, use headphones ;)
There is (almost) nothing worse than being bothered by these "noises" on public transport.
There are days when I want to carry a bunch of inexpensive headphones in my bag to hand out to those people.
Do not come here, rent a fast car and drive on the Autobahn with no clue about the rules!!!!
You will either kill yourself or yourself and others...if you aren't used to driving past 100 mph...
One thing i recognised multiple times, when i went to the former Concentraotion Camp Buchenwald is that many tourists are very loud and making jokes with each other, loughing, etc. I get that you want to have fun on your trip, but this is one of our biggest memorials. Tens of thousands of people died there under gruesome circumstances. It is a place for modesty, a statement of what can happen if a society falls. Don't respecting that is equal to make a picknick on the tomb of the unknown soldier or burning model-twintowers.
If you want to visit these memorials you are welcome. They represent a very important message. But please, treat them with the respect they deserve.
To No. 6: if you only speak English, please speak more slowly, it helps a lot to understand you!
If you have a Liverpool accent speak even slower🥴
Another good advise, please speak without a chewing gum in your mouth and prevent us typ slang speech that nobody in Germany could understand..
@@udorechner6846 Native speakers may not consider their everyday language as slang. For them it's just English. How could they guess which kind of English Germans could potentially know or not know?
@@allansnape416 I had *this exact scenario* a few years ago when visiting ROME. Fortunately, I had a lecture on the Scouse/Liverpool accent the day before I went to Rome, so I understood the speakers rather easily.
No, it sounds just weird
There is a German word for what has happened to Deutsche Bahn, it has been " kaputtgespart ", in English: economize on something to the point of ruin
Thirty years ago, the Deutsche Bahn was much more reliable.
Sad.
@@barbarafrings9231 Yeah, but that was when "everything must be privatized!" was the big thing. Funnily enough the results of privatization were so bad it was stopped before it actualyl happened. We are still feeling the aftermath. Oh, and of course Verkehrsminister who think that cars is all they have to care about is another reason.
@@steemlenn8797
Kann ich nur zustimmen.... 👍🏼
@@barbarafrings9231 Priorities seem to have finally changed, but there's still a long way to go, and it's going to get worse (because of a lot of construction and maintenance) before it gets better. Also, driver shortage.
I did take he train on a 450km ride every other weekend for a considerable time (more than three handfull of years). Now that I am retired I feel so much more relaxed. Should I attribute it to not using trains for more than two times a year?
6:52: and trains that are canceled don't count as delayed at all - makes sense, if they don't run, they can't be late.
Trains that are cancelled are good trains - according to the Big Data statistics of the Deutsche Bahn.
Funny that americans start loathing "Deutsche Bahn" as well. I mean, it's completly justified and the ultimate sign for being integrated😂
There was a time, where the term "Pünktlich wie die Bundesbahn" ("punctual like the german trains") was a compliment. But that was long ago.
@@HalfEye79 i know. Da konnte man die Uhr nach der Bundesbahn stellen.
Well, that was when the Bahn was still property of the state... I mean *technically* all DB shares are still held by the state... but it's it's totally own totally market dominated private company!
...did you know that if there was a war... completely impossible of course in Europe... oh.. wait... anyway, we could not deploy forces to any frontline because the DB has no longer the means...
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
@@RaoulKunz1 They use trucks and planes, trains only to bring some equipment to the army.
@Björn Rothe From 1978-1989 I lived in a house that was about 1.5km from the railway line between Frankfurt am Main and Kassel. I could look at my kitchen window and know what time it was by which train was passing by.
What you said about the local language is so true!
Knowing how to say
"Excuse me?"
"Where is ...?"
"Thank you!"
is better than any insurance or GPS.
Bonus tip if you want to go swimming at a lake or the coast:
Don't get flustered when you walk across a nude beach. They're still a part of German culture, especially in the North East.
"Help!" is also always a good idea.
That is also valid in inner city parks. You will eventually stumble upon a very nude person laying in the sun sleeping, reading a book or drinking alcohol. All that is fine.
Do not be a Karen here, because then you will be considered the pervert, that's for sure!
Nobody cared until you showed up! Well...why do you look at other people's genitals so intensely that you get offended? How about not doing that in the first place?
🙂
The trains used to be on time and reliable but has not been for several years now.
Cappuccino? Wattzefack! In Germany you grind coffee-beans with your own teeth and swallow them with nearly boiling water! (Because boiling water makes the "Kaffee as sour as your life") All jokes aside: drink it as you like it, but don't ask me for marshmellow maple leaf vanilla corn syrup with unicorn sparcles while you're at my place, k? 😉
Newly designed Danish trash cans even have a special "shelf" or cupholders, where you can place cans and bottles with "pfand" 😊
That's a great idea. Hope we get them as well.
We have them in some cities for roughly 29 years, maybe a bit less, we introduced Pfand for nearly all bottle in 2003
I have seen those trash cans before ... so it can't be newly designed.
@@henningbartels6245 Everything is relative!
But you're right, they are decades old 😆
Where exactly is Aubrey? Do we see her again?🥰 greetings from northern Germany
She is at home taking care of our baby 😊 She has popped into videos here and there, just gotta keep an eye out for her random cameos these days 😊
@@PassportTwo Will she come back in front of the camera like she used to? I'd like to hear about her experience of giving birth and being a toddler's mom in Germany. And how it differs from her expectations. Greetings to Aubrey. 😊
Everyone in my family actually has purple hair. But we all coloring them to all sorts of blonde, brunette or red. We hated all the jokes our neighbours with green hair made on us.
🎶Purple hair.. purple hair🎵
- famous Prince song
The Italian answer is: No capucchino after noon! The German answer is: Nobody here cares.
I'd like to add to the part of "Speaking English in Germany" that there is a secret door opener, when you are talking to a German. Whatever you'd like to say, start with "Entschuldigung" or "Entschuldigen Sie bitte." Usually you would use this when addressing a waiter/waitress or when asking someone to give the shortest way to the museum. But it does make a difference. Some people even judge it as being rude when you are not using these words.
You know why some restaurants say that the card mashine is not working? The owner doesn't want to pay a fee to the credit card company
that's probably also the reason why some shops have a minimum payment amount for card payments... for EC-card payments, the fee is relatively higher for small payments and becomes (relative to the paid amount) "more tolerable" for higher amounts.
I don't know how this situation is concerning credit cards.
Do not only go to Neuschwanstein, there are plenty other castles you can visit and do not have to wait ages 😉
Also way more historically interesting because Neuschwanstein is comparatively young.
Fun fact: Germany has more castles than the US have McDonalds restaurants.
Also sad fact: A female tourist was killed at Neuschwanstein castle today. I was shocked, this should not happen. I feel sorry.
@@klaus2t703 in the newspaper is written: A 30-year-old US tourist is in custody. ua-cam.com/video/vF4L1Fa8isk/v-deo.html
In Germany noone cares if you drink Cappuccino in the afternoon. In Italy on the other hand ...
Pfand is a wonderful thing! I work as a groundskeeper at a Kaufland (a big german supermarket chain) and i allways put Pfandbottles at a certain spot so collectors can collect them =)
Don’t come to Germany expecting ice water or any water free of charge in restaurants.
Don’t expect ice machines in hotels.
Cappuccino: I love cappuccino and drink it any time I feel like it. And I’ve done that during vacation in Italy too.
I, living in Germany, have never been in any shop or restaurant, which did not take debit cards (except kiosks or the like). Granted, not credit cards, which are not really popular with Germans, but debit cards. So, tourists, just get a standard debit card.
Also: all these (usually) Americans going on about Germany being a cash society never mention, that in the US cheques are used all the time and everywhere, being send by post or handed over personally to your landlord on a monthly basis [sic!], and so on … Cheques - can’t get more outdated than that! You won‘t find cheques in Europe.
We’ve been to plenty of stores that don’t take any form of card in Germany. Many in our local area in fact! However, when you mention the stores taking debit cards, you also have to be careful to know the distinction between a debit card in general and an EC Karte. Most of the time when you go in a German store and they don’t accept CC but do accept “DC,” they HAVE to be a German EC Karte. So, no, giving a tourist the advice of “just getting a debit card” would not actually be helpful to a tourist.
We have talked about checks in other videos, it just didn’t apply to the situation I was talking about here. Checks are used, like you mentioned, primarily to pay landlords. Other than that, you don’t use checks at all these days and are also considered outdated in the US. So, no tourist would ever consider bringing checks to Europe on vacation, making it unimportant to mention in this video.
A Debit Card with the Maestro logo on should be accepted thru all of Europe.
My Swiss debit card was declined in multiple locations in Karlsruhe, like in the EDEKA. After the pandemic it is accepted more widely. Seems a few stores changed the setting in their payment systems.
@@remizeeland3505 The Maestro system is just in the process of being disbanded. From next month on they will not be issued anymore.
So it is also not a good recommendation, please read the news about this.
There are some restaurants that are cash-only, so watch out for signs saying so.
To #5: Absolutly yes! We Germans love rules. If there is something without a rule .. we hate it 😄. Even if the rule tells you: Here is the rule to feel free what you like to do 😁
The language issue is no longer as strict as it used to be. For me, it goes without saying that when an American approaches me in Vienna, I immediately speak to him in English. I would never expect someone who has learned English to speak to me in another language. If I go to the Czech Republic, I'll be classified as helpless there in terms of language skills. I can only hope that I will meet someone there who speaks English, you're more likely to meet people there who can speak German. Only locals say ahoi and dobre den there, everyone else should be able to tell where they are from. In Alsace I once tried to use my meager knowledge of French, but of course that was completely unnecessary there. In Holland I once asked for directions in Dutch so perfectly that I got an answer in Dutch that I hardly understood at all. Still, I was proud of myself....
That is not entirely true. In Alsace, between the 90s and 00s when I tried to talk German (since I do speak French but rarely use it so it is not good) I was told in a rude tone that "Ici c'est la France, on parle Francais!". I am talking young people, not old people. I was rather suprised when in Paris I tried to stumble around in French and was at once adressed in English. Also in the Netherland, since I do not speak Dutch, I usually spoke English which worked quite fine. German not so much. Most Dutch people speak at least a little German but do not like to do so.
@@nordveld Must have been non Alsacians!
They hate the French and consider themselves Alsacians.
So, if in Alsace someone is that rude to you, it was a French person, probably from Paris or Lyon, where rudeness seems to be normal.
Long Distanc Trains don't have to be expensive, as long as you book a "Sparpreis" ticket. You need to buy it weeks before your journey and it is bound to a soecific train.
and it depends on the time / and probably the expected demand for that train. For example, you can travel in a direct ICE from Cologne to Hamburg for only 16,90 € - if you travel at night and buy a "Super Sparpreis Ticket" for the ICE train that leaves Cologne at 3:58 am.
- don't come to Germany and start a small talk with Nazi stuff. The topic is serious and not the weather.
- don't come to Germany and think we're behind the world just because we solve things differently than in the states. Yes, our apartments all have electricity, even without an overhead cable. (I actually had this discussion with a US Air Force soldier...)
- don't come to Germany and think only American law would apply to you. We have our own laws and will apply them.
- don't come to Germany and expect everyone to adore you. You're just a tourist, not a superstar or the pope or anything.
- don't come to Germany and tell us how great it is that there are so many us cars driving around here, like BMW, AUDI, VW, PORSCHE ... (also experienced it myself ...)
Random answer: I try to avoid cappuccino after 11.00 AM, but am not always successful. Sometimes it is just too tempting, and a Latte has too much milk in it for me. To the cash question: For a two-week tour, I would bring € 500 in smaller bills (50 and under) and arrange for easy access to that amount, when it's been spent. Cash makes life easier here, and even if it's easier to steal than credit cards, you probably won't want to be caught without it, if you want to do some exploring. The nice thing about cash is there is no record of exactly what I buy, and that is what I like. I don't want to add to my cyber consumer profile every time I buy toilet paper.
that cyber consumer profile might help later with dating, though :) uses toilet paper!
About the Trains... you better come to Switzerland to see how Train Travel should work. 🙂
No need... at least for Germans. We are already frustrated enough. There is already salt, lemon juice, potato liquid and whatsoever in the wound - no need to add acid.
The Deutschland - Ticket is not a bad thing, but it is primarily made for comuters who use public transport very often. Of course you can use it as a tourist as well, but have a close look at the terms & conditions or you might pay for two months even if you used it only for a few days.
Cappuccino: in Italy: only in the morning; in Germany: egal; in Austria: never, you should drink a Melange instead. 😉
1:15 Plastic bottles : Should have delayed the video or just change the info that everything with the logo shown has a deposit on it and you should return it to the store. Every other container goes to recycling be it glass, paper, plastic metal etc. Starting 2024 not only bottles and cans will have that logo, but tetra packs etc. will have the logo too, meaning you have to pay a deposit.
A piece of advice from a very frequent train traveler with ~300 long distance travels per year:
- You are free to express your anger and disappointment towards the personell on the train. But please remember that those are the people least responsible for it. Same applies for DB Information counters or DB Reisezentrum. Treating them with respect sometimes gives you an extra compensation.
- Prefer direct connections whenever possible. Even if it takes a bit longer.
- Check for construction works, which may affect your overall travel time. The DB Navigator app does NOT take delays into account until you are delayed. If the notification says "expect 45 minutes of delay", add another 15 minutes just to be on the safe(r) side.
- Do NOT plan connections with less than 15 minutes to change trains. Frankfurt/Main (Hbf) and Cologne Hbf are the worst given my experience. It may happen that your connection is delayed as well, but don't count on it. For Frankfurt and Cologne I plan with 30 minutes minimum which often leads spending time in a Starbucks or something similar. Yes, takes significantly more time, but is way more relaxed. 😉
- If possible, check if your connecting train starts at the station where you want to get on. If yes, the train will most likely not wait as the track is needed for other traffic. Again, I take Frankfurt as an example as I have to change there from time to time.
- When you are going on or returning from vacation, don't take it so seriously. Don't ruin your holiday with something out of your control. Yes, you can rage about it, spend all your energy feeding that anger - it changes nothing but ruining your mood
- When on a business trip, like I am (~80%), use the "extra" time for something useful. Larger stations offer quiet or working areas (DB Lounge if you have access to it). Yes you may or will be late, make the best of it.
I use an ICE connection to commute to Frankfurt/Main, that is why I have so many long distance travels per year. I have to use it for business trips as well due to the Bundesreisekosten-Gesetz. But I do not regret abandoning my personal car and getting a BahnCard 100 (personally paid, not company). I have it for more than three years now and I experience the "struggles" with DB on a more or less daily basis, learning and understanding the causes better and better over time and adapting to them. If I do need a car I use car sharing. AND YES THAT IS VERY INDIVIDUAL AND CANNOT BE APPLIED TO EVERYONE - I am very well aware of that. 🙂
PS: Bruxelles last week without any issues. Berlin next week is a direct connection, anything but a fire and evacuation won't really bother me...
Edit: Some minor corrections.
Several people complain about a delay off 5 to 10 minutes on DB. But they do not complain about hitting a traffic jam and be delayed for over a half hour!!!!
@@remizeeland3505 Totally agree! Yes, you could argue that there is a schedule to stick to, but when the infrastructure just isn't there to support the schedule things will go wrong. I learned that the hard way at one point. 😅
Personally for me it is not as bad as last year with the 9€-Ticket, although statistics tell a different story. Or I am more relaxed, take your pick. 😉
And that's why I hate changing trains and I always try to get a direct connection. xD
Our store registers at the checkout show the Pfand after the beverage has been scanned, if it has Pfand on it. You gotta look for the logo.
How is Aubrey doing at the moment? Will she return in future videos?
4:39 Funny that you used Dieter Bohlen there. BTW, you can find pretty much any haircolor in our country since they have changed the view of colored hair for many workplaces.
"Germans are excellent drivers": *DDG, Der Fahrlehrer and Sascha Fahrnünftig want to have a word with you*
😂😂 He should watch RLP dashcam - lot of "excellent" drivers there😂
@@peterdonecker6924 I knew there was another. But I couldn't remember the name without leaving the video.
Aubrey is great! Loving being a mom and staying home with our boy 😊 She pops in videos here and there, just gotta keep a sharp eye out for her 😅
Moment: The Deutsche Bahn is punctual. At least by their standards.
As german i'm only here to answer one question.
I'm a Moccahino guy.
any place, any time .
But not after 7pm.😂
I like chocolate Coffee. 😋
Was trinken denn die meisten Italiener nach Mittag? Espresso? Ich mag aber kein Kaffee ohne Milch (trinke den schon ohne Zucker und mag den nicht ohne Milch).
@@kinzer1756 ...Rotwein? Oder Grappa?
I just want to emphasize the part about driving. The rest might be rude or smth. but not that bad. But driving in general is to dangerous to not know what you are doing. So it is really important to at least know how to behave in general while driving and to know the standard rules in Cities and on the Autobahn.
AND important to add: dont expect the german cars to be automatics.... most of them are manual. 🙂
@@susanneostermann6956 I guess that's changed a bit. Two month a go, my car broke down and I had to get a rental (from one of the major rent-a-car companies) for a few days. When I brought that car back to the station (in Munich), I overheard a conversation with a customer (from somewhere in eastern Europe) that specifically requested a manual because he had never driven anything else. I was very surprised to hear them say that the vast majority of their cars was automatic now... So it seems tourists shouldn't have any issues finding a automatic rental car in Germany.
many rental cars are automatic now. have been for years. Americans typically can't drive anything else.
Cappucino is always good. No matter the time. Sadly i moved away from your region 2 years ago. I would have invited you and your family to a BBQ.
Another DONT. Dont ask people about their opinion about WW2. I was asked so many times that I stopped counting. It feels like beeing pushed into a stereotype which I dont fit in.
Make that a general about the past, unless you are in a conversation where this is necessary. If you are foreign to Germany, you probably can't relate to many things and occurrences in the past in Germany -- just as we cannot really relate to life in the 1950s in the USA, we only "know" what we have seen in (old) footage.
Many train delays in Germany are due to measures to extend the system and make it more reliable in future. There are several schemes running e.g. to exchange turnouts which tell the railway track maintainance personel when to look after them before it fails. They increase the number of turnouts with electric heating systems to avoid failures on cold days in the winter. Of course an interuption of service is inevitable while the new turnouts are inserted into the track network. Meanwhile they found out that ca. 500.000 sleepers have to be replaced because the concrete they are consisting of got bad ingredients. It is not clear so far if fraud or negligence lead to this problem.
The lack of rolling stock has been successfully remedied as far as long distance passenger trains are concerned. Billions of Euros had been invested to order new ICEs and double deck ICs from the industry, it delivers them almost in time now. The lack of qualified staff is still rampant, train drivers (Triebfahrzeugführer) are missing as well as the staff for signal boxes (Fahrdienstleiter, Disponenten) making the ways for the trains. A train operator in the north west of Germany hired 50 men to become new train drivers, but 25 failed their train driver exam. They ended up limiting train services though.
Completely true. The current mess with Stuttgart and connecting lines all represent necessary upgrades. It's just an enormous pain in the ass though.
The local city services are desperately looking for bus drivers. Bus services are reduced for the foreseeable future. The driver shortage at pretty much all levels is very real.
I say it is 100% accountable to incompetent management. But to really blame are politicians. They wanted the DB to be a private, profit oriented business.
So they put in managers who accomplished that to a degree. What they did was to slim down the system by taking out any redundancy (which accomplished reducing maintenance expenses) AND not investing enough to keep it in a working order (which resulted in even more savings). All with the intent to sell it to the Russians. No joke! Russian Railroads was interested in buying it. So they had to get the price down for the intended IPO.
Because if it has to work at 95% capacity (taking out redundancies) it has to be 100% reliable (not investing enough in maintenance). So any defect of external influence wreaks havoc on the system. This even got so far that Deutsche Bahn has shut down rail traffic completely when some inclement weather hammered it. This has happened two times in the last years. Any manager with some honor in him would have committed seppuku.
The "Put the bottle not in the trash, but next to it easily pickable on the ground" thing is an example of how we care about...well...everyone. Why would you force poor people looking for bottles to earn some money to grab through disgusting and hazardous trash, when you could make their life easier, without you being bothered at all?
Be nice! It pays back!
yeah wonderful, especially if someone drunk kicks the glass bottle all over and shatters it, so carefully thought, huh? put the damn bottle in the trash bin where it belongs.
@@Zekander You aren't from Germany. It works perfectly here and shattered glass is a rare sight.
You do not understand we have deposits on almost everything, do you?
Throwing bottles and especially cans in the trash is just throwing away money.
A can has a 25 Cent deposit on it, a plastic water bottle as well.
You go ahead and throw away money, we won't!
@@Kivas_Fajo I live in Berlin and it´s a mess. There is regularly shattered glass all over the ways, because of this. It´s dangerous for little kids, dogs, bikers and you give me a sermon how good people in germany are, because they would care so much for the homeless... geez
a glass beer bottle has a value of 8 cent, so it´s inefficent for people to collect tons of heavy glass instead only lighter plastic or cans with more value. Erklär´ mir also nicht das deutsche Müllsystem, ich weiss wie das funktioniert, im Gegensatz zu einem Großteil unserer zugezogenen Mitbürger.
@@Zekander Ja Alter, Berlin ist eine Müllhalde. Berlin ist aber nicht Deutschland, Du Vollhorst.
Cappuccino is an all-day drink ö.ö
And as a tourist please do not feed pidgeos or ducks in cities
Bundesbahn ran pretty well until 1994. Then, thanks to the politicians and hello Deutsche Bahn, the railroad was privatized. Fillet pieces were formed and so on. You know the process. The privatization wanted to be pushed forward. Maximize revenues and cut expenses at the same time. Good. Or not so good. Today, 30 years later, you see the result more and more. So, the moral of the German story: don't believe the privatization wave. Some basic things simply belong in the hands of the state. 🤐
I really dont know any germans under the age of 70 (western part) or the age of 40 (eastern part) that doesnt speak englissh at least to a lvl to answer simple questions or help you out with things like directions. If they dont do so its mostly because they dont want to speak englisch(a few) or they dont feel comfortable (a lot of the older people). Englisch will be spoken by most/all (younger) (western) europeans, so dont bother to learn some phrases in german or the other languages because if youre not at least b1 it adds nothing to the experience of visiting europe.
about the english thing , we start to learn english in elementary school , some of us like i'am in Kindergarten. So most people below 60 pretty fluent . We are getting grades in English it is a Main subject in school.
Dont expecting Air Condtioners in every House , it very comon not to have one.
I dont care when you drink your Capuchino , feel free to procedd as you wish
Cash is also a main thing when you visit Flea Markets, they a big culture in germany.
Bike lanes suck in Germany, pretending that a normal footpath is a bikelane. They do have some nice and propper bike lanes in Germany too, but the fake footpath one is the worst in the world. Sorry nicht ordentlich oder effektiv und sehr faul von der Stadt, they need to change that yesterday and at least mark it properly. Better is to completely separate it from the footpath like a proper bike road where possible.
There is a German word for what has happened to Deutsche Bahn, it has been " kaputtgespart ", in English: Saved to the bone
Nein, kaputtgespart wurde die Deutsche Bahn nicht, sondern als Resterampe aussortierter Politiker zweckentfremdet. Bei der Deutschen Bahn wird vieles gemacht, aber definitiv nicht gespart. Die weisen fast jedes Jahr einen satten Gewinn in ihrer Bilanz aus, nehmen aber umgekehrt durch Subventionen durch den Bund, dem die Deutsche Bahn AG wiederum zu 100 Prozent gehört, ein Vielfaches dessen ein, sodass der Bund jedes Jahr einen hohen Verlust dadurch erwirtschaftet. Geld steht also mehr als ausreichend zur Verfügung, man wirft es eben nur durch Missmanagement regelrecht aus dem Fenster, weil man kein Interesse hat, sich mal um ein auch nur im geringsten kompetentes Management zu kümmern und es lieber durch Expolitiker besetzt.
And dont use Google translator, englisch is ok but i was asked from Chinese ppl. Once if they are on the train to the airport i couldnt get it because the Translation makes no sense at all 🤣
To the topic of booking a train ride with DB to Paris and the price: you know wenn your friends are coming over. Just plan it out with them and book in advance. You get a much better price like this.
About Italian Coffee ? I drink a latte macchiato for breakfast and in the afternoon. There's mo rule for it in Germany.
RQOTW: In Italy, it depends on your gender and age. It's okay for older women (up from around 50) to drink cappuccino in the afternoon.
Whoops...I drink coffee like an old woman by those standards 😅😂
whew, OK, then I qualify!
@@bernhardschwarz6792 The Italian wife of a German business partner once told me that in Italy it is frowned upon drinking cappuccino after noon. But it is tolerated for elder women.
I'm just the messenger here and please, don't shoot the messenger.
@twinmama42 why only women? 😮
@@Hagarius2000 Ask the Italians.
I personally would not expect to speak any german from a tourist. It is another thing if someone comes to germany to life there and does not attempt to learn any german.
honestly... most of the things are nothing specific to german, but widespread around the world.
don't throw away money. don't expect public infrastructure to work probably.. okay i guess japan is not having that problem... ALL HAIL JAPAN :D
respect their culture and try to make them feel comfortable...
but it's not like those are specific "don't"s. if you feel learning german is too challenging, just don't, most of the germans won't feel offended, as long as you're a tourist. remember: most germans are no nazis. nobody will speak about you behind your back and saying "oh man what an asshole, coming to german without learning german."
and don't come to other countries attempting to drive a car there without knowing the local traffic rules. i mean honestly, if you come to england and drive on the right side, you need to prepare to get eradicated. :D
Even stores that accept credit cards do not accept all of them. Visa and Mastercard are always o.k., American Express mostly too, but not always, the others are mostly not accepted in Germany.
It mostly depends on how they process the cards. Most card reader here are Chipcard readers only. Some US cards still have all information on the magnetic strip, and no EMV-chip, so these readers wouldn't work.
Talk slower, you Sound like that caren, i never want to have.
I drink espresso,Cappuccino,etc,anytime I like and I feel everyone should do the same.
I am German, I do not care when you drink your coffee of choice. So yeah, for me afternoon capuccino would work. Just do not do that in Italy! You know, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Go pick a ... beverage that is acceptable for your host nation. (You did not expect me to go for the old pick-pocket routine, did you? We do not do those kind of jokes anymore these days!)
I do it like the Italians, Cappucino in the morning and past 10:00 am I switch to Espresso😅
Haha, although I was still served one, I was once laughed at by all the waiters in a restaurant in Italy when I ordered a cappuccino after dinner one evening 😅 Maybe I should switch to your method!
The Plankton „Halloohoo!“ was hilarious!
Is there a reason why you overpronounce so many words?
I m happy to meet English speaking people here, without speaking any German. So i can use my English with nativspeaker
Same here :)
German right-of-way rules are difficult for U.S. residents. Basically, it is not "first come, first served" but "right before left" with many exceptions. Most learner drivers fail because of right-of-way rules, and most accidents happen because of them.
I would say that is one of the most important, perhaps THE most important rule for Americans to learn. It can seem very counter-intuitive. I have been driving in Germany for more than 20 years (originally from USA) and I still repeat to myself over and over when driving in residential areas: "Right before left, right before left!" It still seems crazy to me that if you are driving on the straight road at a T-intersection, you have to stop if someone is coming from the right.
RQothW: Perhaps not done in Italy, but I drink my capuccino after lunch, and a few times have done this in Italy too.
Don't invite people over if you don't mean it. As in "let's get together", Do come over and visit us sometime".
Don't ask people how they are if you don't want an honest ( sometimes long-winded) answer. Don't ask them how much they earn. If you have learned a bit of German, don't use the DU with adults you do not know. Don't come empty-handed if you are invited to dinner at their homes. At least some flowers, or wine or chocolates.
Cappuccino all day!
14:20 fixing the card reader is expensive, especially since its also often a rented mashine who costs a lot money for each transaction done, so of cause stores do not want to replace the mashine if they don't make enough money to make a good use of having it repaired
I'd like to add: Don't pretend to be more proficient in German than you actually are.
While I worked at a supermarket checkout I was happy to speak English to customers when they spoke English and happy to be accommodating to customers speaking broken German. But every once in a while someone came in, dropped some phrases in perfect accent-free German and then they struggled without letting me know. Turns out, they arrived in Germany a few days earlier and don't know any German apart from a handful of phases they practiced to perfection. One example was a customers who bought his first drink in Germany and was confused I wanted 25 cent more. It took me ages to figure out not only that he wasn't familiar with the Pfandsystem but that I can explain it in English.
2:36 Only Plastic bottles and aluminium cans have this return logo on them. Glas bottles you can return have the word Pfandflasche written on them somewhere. You get 8 Cents back for them. For example, if you bought milk in a glas bottle, it likely is a Pfandflasche; I see so many people throwing away such Glas bottles rather than returning them.
Beer glas bottles are generally Pfandflaschen.
There are glass bottles with the Einwegpfand-Symbol as well 🍺
American on the Autobahn: "120 mph! I'm the king of the .... WTF, where did that Porsche come from????"
Exchange Porsche with a station wagon, then it fits.
Porsche? Granny in a VW Passat station wagon.
I did have purple hair for years, but not anymore 😁
For traditional clothes from different regions in Germany and other countries come to Gotha in July and visit the Europeade.
As a German, I don't think it's rude when you don't speak german as a tourist. That only turns when you stay for some month / years / forever.
You definitely shouldn't get drunk in Germany or in any other country abroad. As for cappuccino in the afternoon: if you have to, go for it, but don't do this in Italy 😂
@Bernhard Schwarz They are not, at least there is no official text stating this. But you will be immediately be classified as "not Italian" if you order a cappuccino in the afternoon 😉
Why does it matter when you drink what beverage tho. I never understood this
This probably isn't something Americans need to hear but I've witnessed it a few times with tourists in general: don't haggle with the cashier in stores. If the product isn't damaged, or the food doesn't reach the "MHD" the next day it's pointless.
In case of a product being damged you should approach the topic of a price reduction carefully tho, since they might tell you pick one that is intact.
I usually say something along those lines "excuse me, I wanted to ask if it's possible to give me a discount for this. It's damaged, but I would like to take it anyway." If they look confused i just add that I don't have much money.
I am German and living in France over 20 years. When going back to see my sister I invited her.... and she had to pay as the restaurant took no credit card. Here in France you can even pay your baguette (0,35 €) with the card. OK, exceptionnally, if you know the baker 😁. But over 1 € it is common.
So sad that you have to leave Germany, you're always welcome. It's always ok to drink capouccino in German, you don't have to care about the time.
Personally I dont have anything against people just speaking english with me. Imo thy can just say "excuse me ....." and I would not fell offended.
One important thing about the unrestricted parts of our Autobahn: If you drive faster than 130 km/h (80,78 freedoms/h) and you get into an accident, you will get partial fault even if it was not your fault at all. You could TRY to give a very good and plausable reason on WHY you had to drive faster than 130 km/h but its unlikely you get away with it.
Also a word of caution:
Only drive as fast as the conditions allow it at that time. If the traffic is very high or it pours, I would not drive like a lunatic.
Please don't tell Americans who just want to travel here to learn some German before coming here. You might feel guilty, no need though because I actually prefer to get approached in English by english native speakers. I live in Munich which has lots of American tourists so I get approached in German by Americans every so often. And no offense, but most of the time it's barely understandable.
In Europe, whenever someone leaves his home country unless knowing the native tongue, English becomes the universal language to communicate. A German in Denmark speaks English to locals, and Danish people in Germany do the same. It's perfectly normal and really nothing to feel bad about.
It's an almost exclusively American thing to believe that learning 2-3 phrases by heart somehow gives you the respect of the locals, while for us it's just a hassle to figure out what you mean before switching to English anyway. I guess it's because it's special for Americans to be in a country with another language, while Europe is used to this by now.
Now this is just my personal opinion. Others might disagree. But in my bubble, almost everyone thinks like me regarding this.
Don't jaywalk!
Don't plan to go shopping on a Sunday!
And don't chit-chat loudly in public! (TBH I don't know if this still valid or just my stereotype about Americans.)
Relatives of mine came from the USA, landed at Frankfurt Airport and rented a car there. After about 50 kilometers they drove to an SOS post on the right and asked for help. They didn‘t want to drive another kilometer on a German highway. The speed at which others were traveling really scared them. 😮😅😂
Concerning the cash thing, I recently saw a video someone using the public bus in a town in the USA. And guess what? Only cash accepted.
Recycling: As a German who has studied the subject for years, I'm sorry to say that most of the recycling hype is nonsense. It works for paper, glass and biological waste, and more recently for disposable beverage bottles returned to supermarkets. Except for a minimal amount, most of the old plastic is "thermally recycled" (= incinerated) or shipped to East Asia and dumped into the landscape (and then often ends up in the ocean)! So it is best to always throw plastic waste into the normal (=residual waste-) garbage can. It is burned also then, but thereby warmth and electric power are produced as well as the exhaust gases optimally filtered. The bottom line is that Germany is not better than most other countries, but only more mendacious!
Translation by deepl
A cappuccino after 12 o´clock is a no go. I met two people from the US in my whole life, and the older I get the more Americans appear to be a riddle to me. It seems that they don´t say straight what they think, but they try not to hurt your feelings, they work very hard, they have to pay for things that should be free... and I wonder why they are still staying in the US, if there are much better life conditions outside their country. I will never understand them.
Another thing not to do: please do not speak gibberish instead of speaking English if you don't speak German. At least give the other one a chance to find out that English is the language we can communicate with you. I remember a situation in a rather full beer garden, where I just wanted to ask a person if two of the seats at their table could be used by me and my husband. The answer I got was "No Deutsch", and then the person was looking away from me. Now, as you can see here, I'm fully capable of dealing with such a situation in English, and I do even speak a bit Spanish and French. But what on earth shall I do with such a reaction?
Don't speak not at the checkout. Please tell the cashier, that you are an english speaking person. Please. I'm working at the supermarket REWE. So, I'm begging to speak without being shy
Bike lanes: You nailed it, @PassportTwo, you don't walk on the street and complain about cars honking ... so walking on bike lanes ...
(and, yes, in Berlin hearing this infamous "Halooo!" is meant as "good day" ;))
Actually, I'd prefer good English over bad German from an American any time in a conversation (that lasts over mere seconds). A little "bitte" and "danke" is alright though.
Cappuccinos are great. You can enjoy there profound appealing flavor in the morning. You can feel your well being with them in a moment of calm and self care at a beautiful starry night and also in every other joyful situation or challenging moment in between. Cappuccinos are great.
Don't park your rental scooter in middle of sidewalk, in front of U-Bahn stairs, or blocking a door! Maybe just a Berlin thing but ....
I think cappuccino should be drank whatever time of the day the person wants 😂
If a place only accepts debit cards then they accept European cards not German cards. The banking system for most of Europe was beginning to unify in the 90s (before the euro) and is the same for all euro countries. so you can pay with a French card but not with an American.
Most Americans don't know how to drive a manual transmission vehicle. Rental cars with automatic transmission are available in GER, but they're really expensive. So, if tourists are on a budget, taking a driving lesson in a stickshift car beforehand is going to save a huge amount of money. Addressing traffic rules: the most important one in GER IME is the meaning of the Crosswalk sign which makes a stopp compulsory when a pedestrian is in the vicinity.
Cappuccino: all day long, I'm not Italian!
In italy Cappuccino is only drunken until 11 in the morning btw
If you can't speak german most people wouldn't be angry, but you shouldn't expect others to understand you perfectly and try to ask nicely if you need something.
As long as you're not in Italy, it's perfectly okey to drink cappuccino whenever you want. Howerver, don't ever try drinking one in the afternoon in Italy. 😂
Your random question: I do not think you should drink cappuccinos at any time. The only way to drink coffee is black. If you don't like your coffee black, maybe you should try another brand of beans.
I'm not living in a city, but in a rural area, so bike-only lanes are not a thing here. But sharing pedestrian side walks and bike lanes are a thin instead...
You should not try to speak German if you can't. That might cause misunderstandings.
I am German and in my life, I made a different mistake even twice. A few decades ago I addressed an Asian-looking teenager, who seemed to have lost his way, in English. It turned out that he was confused since he spoke German on a native level. Two years ago in the late evening, I arrived in my hometown on a train from another town at a suburban train station and two Korean students also left the train and stood in front of the train station in the empty street and obviously couldn't make any sense of out of their navigation app since the station had two exits to different streets. So I assumed they wouldn't speak German and addressed them in English. And again they were confused since they were speaking perfect and fluent German.
Great video! Heading to Deutschland soon. Gig'em!
11:35 exactely. That's the least most Germans expect. Most foreigners in my vicinity don't even attempt to learn even though they're living here, which comlpicates things a lot. I find this very important and I'm glad you've mentioned it. Great content as always. Greetings.
Can't you be fined for littering in Germany for putting a deposit bottle next to a trash can. You would get a 250€ fine in Belgium for littering.
The German really master their recycling system. Rumors have it that this only exists to keep the Swiss away from Germany, the system is too complicated for the average Swiss. Ours is also complicated but far less than the German system 😅
I guess this "Halloooo?" at around 8:56 is Faisal Kawusi? Compare with this one: ua-cam.com/video/ROtNJi1OLvY/v-deo.html 🙂
You are so funny: Germans are excellent drivers ...🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Almost everybody in germany will understand a simple sentence like "Can I have some ketchup, please?" 😉
I have never understood the concept that coffee is “only for breakfast”, LOL! So, yeah, go ahead and have it any time you want.
It doesn't matter which time you want to drink cappuccino. When you like to drink a cappuccino then let's go.. it's not a kind of bad manner. So don't let stop you to drink your cappuccino no matter what time it is.