A friend of mine wanted a cold beer when he visited Germany. He asked for ice. The bartender looked at him extremely puzzled. He came back with a beer which had a scoop of ice cream in it: Eis.
Bullshit xD no way a bartender has ice cream at the bar! And would (if he really had some) put it in beer! NO WAY! if this really happened tell me where ? ! in Bars you could get ice CUBES in cocktails ! Ice cubes in beer is weird, but ice cream sounds absolutely insane...
Omg, I love that you mentioned the german stare. I was in germany a few weeks ago and many germans would stare at me non stop with a kinda disgusting face, but whoever did that then came to me and threw in a nice joke or we started a conversation. In my head I literally started thinking that the more they stare, the more they are gaining courage to chat with you. At first I felt extremely uncomfortable, but then I liked it. I've been to many countries but I swear germans are some of the best and nicest people I've ever met. Thanks Feli for mentioning that and kinda proving my theory right 😄
Wish that was the case here. I lost count of times I was staring at a girl in some places because I like what I saw and/or I didn't yet have the courage to go up and talk to them. Either way, I've nearly gotten in trouble for it. Now that kind of looking is a funny Facebook meme. Go figure.
I was born in Germany. My father is German, and my mother's family are Russian Germans who settled in Kansas. Growing up in Europe, I always drank my drinks at room temperature or off the balcony. I have been living Texas since 1994, and still to this day, I drink room temperature cokes or lite ice. I can even drink room temperature beer. I actually prefer it over very cold. I have actually learned a lot about many of my habits, the way I pronounce some words and ways I think and do things by listening to you. Please, keep it up..
As a child, I was naturally curious of the world around me and the people in it, but like many Americans, was harshly reprimanded for staring. I was taught it was one of the rudest things you can do in public. To this day, I am mortified if I lock eyes with a stranger, because that means they noticed that I was looking at them. I quickly divert my eyes and pretend that I was just looking around randomly, but I know it was too late. Is this just me, or do others have this same experience?
It is NOT just you, many inquisitive people do this, especially the great minds! But you should nod friendly and smile, before you divert your eyes, so the person sees you mean no offence. Many cultures don't mind being looked at, others do. Some people mind, some don't. If the person asks you for it, he just reminded you of something (which is usually true), and he interests you. Apologise, if he says he feels offended. But don't feel guilty! You are just who you are! Saying: "it's just you" is just blunt.
As a German, I can't tell how much I do this staring thing myself, but when I visited Thailand and Japan I was really impressed how they manage to completely avoid looking at each other even in crowded subways. You will never accidentally make eye contact with anyone there, or if you do, they are probably weirdos. In Germany it happens all the time. Can be really awkward, can also be a good opportunity to start a flirt. ;)
@@bobbyknight3589 Just saying that in my part of the world, I've never heard it, or maybe very seldom hear it. Instead of saying "He's a flirt", I say "He flirts a lot." YMMV
@@MissDuke2012 no, baby. "Flirt" is a noun, it's an adjective, it's an adverb. Depends on who is SAYING it and HOW it's said. Ranks up with "Bless your heart" from a Southern woman. This can mean about 10 things, ranking from "bless your heart" to "f you and the spider you rode into this fallen world on from the depths of Hell" depending on intonation and posture. Southern MEN learn early and often how to "read" this, by the way. Yankees fail this test a lot...
What's weird is I was born and raised in America and have always hated having ice in my drinks. Like you said, the drinks are already cold, and the ice is just taking up space and making you slurp the drink around it (not to mention how gross the drink gets once the ice melts and makes it watery). I like when I travel to other countries and don't have to add "without ice" to the end of every drink order.
Way back in 1959 I was 12 years old, and while walking with my German relatives, we stopped at a road that had a light and no traffic as far as you could see. We didn't cross the road until the light turned green for us. Here in the states we cross roads no matter if cars are coming.
Your German relatives probably did this because you were still a child. A lot of German pedestrians do not wait for a green traffic light, if there is no or low traffic though you could be fined for it. But it is customary not to do this in the presence of children. However, if you overlook the children present, you will at least be stared at - disapprovingly (with a stare that makes us Germans feel really uncomfortable;).
as a young man i once returned to my village from a daytrip at the middle of the night and the road was empty one kilometer up and down. I crossed a pedestrian light (red) and suddenly a police office came from a hide (whereever that had been) and wanted to fine me for that misbehaviour. We discussed a while since i did find no fault in crossing a red light in the middle of nowhere and he tried to appeal to my shame as "little kid up there on the window could watch and then learn the wrong behaviour". I replied that little kids who are up at 1 oclock in the night could not be helped anymore anyway. That disarmed him and he gave up cursing on the youth of these days and stuff like that :)
I live in Boston and it's similar to Germany in terms of driving vs walking. Parking is always an issue, so if you are going a mile, it's quicker to walk than to drive through traffic and find a parking spot and then walk from the parking spot.
I’m of German Descent, my great grandfather is a first generation immigrant from Munich, and its so vindicating to find out many of my habits would not be seen as odd or weird in Germany. Makes me even more excited to visit.
German here: I stare like this too when I think about some difficult stuff and I don’t realise what I’m watching. That’s it in most cases. Someone here said he thinks we collect courage to start a conversation: no, but watching each other without talking is a clear sign in Germany that you want to talk, especially if the two people don’t know each other
That's correct. Many times I stare intensely not really seeing anything, maybe even seemingly annoyed or angry when in reality I have a nice migraine and am just suffering alone😢
California also has a monetary redemption on bottles and cans, but the redemption process is different (no scan machines). It's done either by count (limited quantity), or by weight (large quantity). There are also a handful of other States that also have some form of redemption process for cans and bottles.
During the early phase of Germany's deposit system, it was common for employees of the grocery stores to count the bottles and cans for you. If you had a large quantity, you could count them yourself since the employees were often occupied at the cash registers. However, some people took advantage of this and included imaginary bottles and cans in their count to receive more money. There were early versions of the deposit machines where you could pick up the bottles and cans again from the back, as they hadn't been crushed yet and mounted into the wall. Nowadays, all machines are securely mounted in walls to prevent manipulation and the unauthorized collection of extra money, which caused grocery stores to suffer significant losses during the early stage of the deposit system.
I expected to see a ton of CRV (recently termed Container Redemption Value) comments on here. Although not the entire USA mandated states are listed on most containers listed thusly in CA, HI, MA, ME, MI, NY, OR, VT as well as many states or local communities (I particularly noticed in MT and UT). Interesting how wine and spirits bottles are not accepted in most instances.
I think the "stare" is just a difference in the cultural convention how long it is considered appropriate to look at strangers (everyone is curious, but people from other cultures seem to learn that they "have to" look away sooner when they grow up, even if they find a person interesting). The same phenomenon as the difference which physical distance to a person you're talking to is considered appropriate differs widely in different cultures.
Nah, In Germany its definitely a long stare. You look away, then look back and still find that person staring at you. Feeli is right, they don't even realize they are doing it. I've experienced it several times when in Germany.
Your videos are so very entertaining ! And your production quality, editing, etc. is really so highly skilled. The vignette for your final point was totally adorable and funny. Love your channel.
Hi Feli. Love your channel and have watched most of them. You have the perfect personality for this. Your English is PERFECT! I too, graduated with a communications degree and worked in television for many years. So I know what is all involved in editing your show. Great job. You could get a job as an on air talent. I visited Germany a few years ago with my wife. Our 1st European country. We loved it. And almost everyone spoke English for us. I was so releived. Very friendly people and great history. Also, our family hosted a foreign exchange student my senior year. He was from Chile and could not speak much English. But he was fluent in just a few months. How? By watching TV shows. Keep up the good work. You are very talented and a joy to watch.
My family came from South west Germany. I have family history back to the 1500s. I enjoy learning more about that area. Some day I hope to visit. I have lived in Shanghai China for 2 months I find that working people of any couture are good people but of course some things was weird to me.
Can't wait, going back to Germany for the first time since '85. Loved the Bavarian people then and looking forward to showing my wife and Son who is doing a study abroad in Vienna and Prauge. I insisted on taking them to Ga-Pa and Munich as well.
Feli. In the 60’s. We made home made ice cream..The salt dropped the freezing temperature from 32 degrees to 18 degrees. On a 90 degree day it was a treat. To drop bottled ski’s ,double cola’s and long necks beers in this salty water. For 30 minutes. Pull the bottle out of this melting ice and open the bottle, drink this cold drink. With a sweet salty taste. But be ready for a brain freeze. I miss the glass bottle , days of a cold beverage. Later. Ps go try it with a bag of ice in a cooler and pour sea salt over the ice then add more ice.
I’m from Czechia. People here usualy don’t put ice in their drinks as well and also hardly anyone has AC at home. I’d probably be happy in the US, as I’m quite the opposite. When it’s 36 degrees outside in summer, I cool my place to 18 and throughout the year I drink all my drinks in glass full of ice (I bought the “american fridge” with ice machine). I even put ice in my beer as I love it ice cold, while most Czechs would rather drink it warm than with ice 😂😂😂
In Ohio, when bottled drinks were king (and glass), returning them for the deposit was the norm up through the 1980s. I think several states (including Michigan) still have deposits on cans and bottles (often marked on the container) where you can get money back if returned.
I was back in Michigan visiting family about a year ago and they still had a bottle return, 10cent. Now that I'm back in California, they have a different type of return, paid by weight. It's really hard to tell how much you will get, six 55gal yard bags only give you about 20-30 dollars when returning plastic bottles.
California did until recently. Aluminum prices fell and the contractors didn't renew their contract, so no one can recycle their cans & bottles anywhere. State still charges the recycle fees.
I live in Upstate NY and we've been doing bottle deposits for decades! I think not getting ice in your drinks is a great idea! More ice the less of your beverage in the glass!
Same deal in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, etc. There was an entire Seinfeld episode where the b plot was Kramer and Newman went to Michigan with a truck full of bottles and cans because the deposit refund was 10 cents instead of 5 cents. Wackiness ensued. I buy maybe 2 or 3 six packs of beer a month. I put the cans or bottles in a special bin and when it's full I bag it up and take it to the grocery store and run them through the machine, it spits out the receipt, and I redeem it inside the store for about $2.50.
The staring thing really creeped me out when I went to Berlin a few weeks ago. I didn't know if the guy staring was interested in me or hated me and I really couldn't tell how to go about it.
I am born and raised in the USA, and I’m 100% on board with no ice. I prefer room temp water, but just having already cold beverages without an entire cup of ice, and a splash of the drink, is totally fine with me! I often ask for no ice anytime I order somewhere.
I like ice, but not the whole glass/cup filled to the top. It's a way for businesses to max profits, but it's annoying when you finish your drink in 4 gulps and are left with a full cup of ice.
Wow, many comments! Just watched your video. I was an Austauschschueler back in the 80s in Hannover! Loved your video on what Americans find weird. Couple things I remember you might like. French fries either with mayo or rot weiss. Got used to it and loved it. Also, the windows in the homes are a unique style over in Germany and the fact that Germans don't use screens to keep flies out. Lot's of other things too but these two came to mind after watching your video. Frohe Weihnachted!
Working vor an international start up with some Americans on board and a working culture heavily influenced by American routines, business communication etc. the first thing I've noticed was the difference in appreciating things. What was "good" or "not bad" for a German was always "awesome" or "genius" for Americans or people who worked longer in the start up world. I don't know if one way is better than the other. While the American way is better to motivate people it tends also to be not completely honest which leads to avoiding to speak about problems or downsides of something. At least that what I've noticed.
Yep, completely normal. They also tend to pretend everything is easy while they hate how Germans point out potential issues. Usually the Germans will be right in the long term... ^^
Remarks like "genius" won't motivate ppl more tha a "good" as soon as they know the respective scale. They know what a "genius" is worth if almost everyone receives one. And i a system, where "good" is a rare exception, it will soon count more than the "genius".
My high school German teacher was quite sparing with praise. He thought that too much praise spoiled people. At the time, that seemed odd and ungenerous to me. But now, I think Americans tend to over-praise each other for little or no reason.
I am Canadian and lived in Strasbourg, France, in the late ‘80s. One of the biggest culture shocks was the very different work-life balance which in France was heavily shifted toward life/leisure. This was most dramatically manifested when, one day, I popped out at lunch time to buy some of the delicious-looking lunch offerings at a nearby bakery/charcuterie. My mouth was watering in anticipation. Imagine, then, my horror when I arrived at the shop a few minutes after noon only to be confronted with a locked door and a sign saying they would re-open later in the afternoon. I couldn’t believe it. A shop selling lunch food closed at lunchtime! When I later expressed my exasperation to my French colleagues, I was met with a disapproving frown and the comment, “They have to eat too, you know.” I only lowered my estimation in their eyes further by trying to explain that, in North America, we would eat in shifts or “on the run” in order to keep the shop open during what should be the most profitable period of the day. Of course, what I didn’t appreciate is that all of life in France is organized around a different work/life balance rather than maximizing profits and convenience to the customer. Obviously if I wanted a tasty lunch from that shop I should have bought it earlier, say, on the way into work. 😊 Feli, is it the same in Germany?
I think the french have perfected this lifestyle 😄 But Germany in this point also is closer to France than the US. Just remember our free Sundays. And I also have coffee and cake every day at work a few hours after lunch. But that isn't really the norm 😄
Hi Mark, I'm from Germany, nearby Munich where Feli comes from. I'd say it depends on where you are. In small villages in small shops (and sometimes even in bigger cities) they'll close during lunch. In bigger shops they'll be open. I lived in a very small village, there was no open shop on Wednesday after lunch. In the next village the shops were open from 8 AM until 20 PM *every* day. I guess it's a habit lasting from old times. When I was a little child we've had only one little shop in our village, every mother was at home with the kids and so shopping was mostly done early in the morging when the kids were in school or kindergarden to have enough time to cook fresh before they came home.
Hello, Feli. So I'm American, and I've been to Germany twice and loved it both times. Also, one of my coworkers is from Germany....and she just returned from visiting family there. Your list is amusing, here are my thoughts. 1) Recycling cans and bottles is good. Back in the day, there used to be a similar program here in the US with glass bottles- you could get 3 or 5 cents back for each bottle. I'm not sure if it still exists. ( I'm not aware if a program existed for cans) 2) Ice in beverages. I don't mind less ice, in fact I prefer it, and for all the reasons you listed. I often drink my beverages, especially water, slightly cool or at room temperature. 3) Men peeing sitting down. I worked in early childhood education for 12 years, and helped potty-train the children. We let the boys choose if they wanted to stand or sit, and a good number of them preferred to sit. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. 4) I have heard of VPNS, and may look into using one. I like that you get enhanced protection. 5) American football. I only recently found out that Germans watch it. I never knew. 6) Walking. I got used to walking at my former job as a dietary assistant in a senior care facility. I would average 7-10 miles each shift. When I visit larger cities, I only take transportation if I have to, otherwise I walk. I recently visited Chicago, and walked from Navy Pier to Holy Name Cathedral, and then back to my hotel. Very invigorating. 7) The German stare. I have heard about it, but didn't experience it until recently on my second trip to Germany. I was talking with my table mates at a restaurant. I wasn't being too loud, but the woman at the table near us turned around and stared hard at me. I refused to meet her gaze as I didn't think I deserved it. 🙃
We were having dinner in a restaurant with an American colleague. He ordered a coke, and was surprised it had no ice in it, and asked the waiter for some. The waiter blinked some times, as it was winter too, but obliged. After dinner we had some coffee, and the waiter asked our American guest if he wanted some ice in his.... :)
I'm an American born and raised here and I'm the only person I know who hates having ice in drinks lol, I never understood why everyone else seemed to always want ice in their drinks because it's already poured out cold. If you wait too long to drink an ice-less beverage, it'll warm up to room temperature, not really a big deal in my opinion. But if you wait too long to drink a beverage full of ice, the ice will melt and ruin the drinks taste. And yet I'm the weird one lol
@@dhans9662 Maybe some like the tinkling of the cubes in the glass... and I have seen some eating the cubes... really chewing and crushing them. All in all, Ice Coffee can be nice too... or is it Coffee Ice?
@@eefaaf We call it "Iced Coffee" but you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. Some of my family likes chewing the ice cubes (I've never understood that either) and I guess the presence of the ice makes the drink look more refreshing. I also think Iced Coffee can be good as long as you drink it before it melts, but I overall prefer cold coffee (without ice) over hot coffee and iced coffee. We also put ice in tea and thats pretty much the only drink besides water that I like having ice in.
New to London from Canada. I think the lack of dryers is really the biggest thing for me. Also, people will comfortably walk up to an hour each way to run an errand, I don’t mind walking, I just think about the time. Don’t you have other things to do? What I enjoy is that most shops here are smaller and you get to know your community so much more than in North American with big box stores. I’ve grown accustomed to going to the flower stall once a week and chatting with the girl while I get my fresh flowers for the week, something I’d never have done at home
The no ice scenario cracked me up. I encountered that on my first Europe trip in Latvia. Many restaurants in the US offer free refills, so having a glass full of ice isn't a problem.
Sometimes, when you see an automat pouring something, you can see, that there quite often it is clear in between. And I think, that is (ice-?) water. At least in Germany.
The deposit machines at the German grocery stores were maybe my favourite thing about travelling there! I couldn't wait to take a whole batch of cans and bottles there haha.
South Australia introduced its container deposit legislation in 1977 so is now 45 years old! S.A. has always been progressive, introducing women's suffrage (voting) in 1894.
@@gregblair5139I’m Michigan born and raised and was confused watching this because we’ve always had a deposit system. I didn’t understand why she was talking about it like it’s a German thing
the german stare part had me laugh out loud, it was absolutely hilarious! being from germany i can relate (and probably am guilty too there XD) .. but yeah we think nothing of it and it's just curiosity OR they dont even see you and are thinking of something completely else and are staring into the "void" and it happens you're standing there and become the focus of staring into the "void"... in that case i can 100% guarantee you that they don't even fully see you this moment XD🤣
In Central and South America you have to pay to use the public restroom and ask for toilet paper. You also do not want ice in your drinks unless you want to get sick.
When I was in Bosnia in the military I bought the two local ladies that cleaned my office ice cream. To my surprise instead of eating the ice cream right away they placed it on a shelf and told me they would eat it later when it warms up. They let the ice cream melt and then they ate the ice cream when it was warm. This very much surprised me and they told me that it was in healthy to eat cold things.
I learned to order “Eine Coca mit viel eis” but didnt really like how the bartender stared at me. So my German friend approached the bar and told the bartender that I was an expert Coke drinker. Anyway, the bartender explained that by law, and since the Cola came from the tap, he had to serve me the correct volume according to the size of the glass and ice would water it down. He ended up serving me a glass of warm Coke and another glass filled with ice. So much German culture in one glass of Coke. Hahaha.
I recently saw an article on Google saying that in some fast food restaurants in the US there's a certain amount of ice they have to put in cups or they will give you less soda. There's a fill line I guess and they have to give you that amount of ice. A lot of people are complaining that if I order a large soda, for example, my cup should be full regardless of how much ice I want. It does seem to be a money thing. I haven't had that problem where I live and I hope I never do. Hopefully people will complain enough that those restaurants will have to give you a full cup no matter what. I guess some people are going to the store and buying a bottle instead of ordering soda at the restaurant. We are going to get around it. We have a budget too.
A thing I noticed while traveling Europe (including Germany) when asking for water in a restaurant as an American I'm expecting tap water. Not the case in Europe, if you don't specify tap water you get sparkling water. That was a big surprise to me the first time I ordered water in a restaurant.
Sparkling water is only standard in Germany (and maybe the other DACH countries? I'm not sure). My Spanish friends for example also think that the German obsession with sparkling water is really weird. Usually the waiter will ask whether you want sparkling or still water though. And yeah, when you order water at a restaurant in Europe you'll get bottled mineral water and you'll have to pay for it unlike in the US.
I’m 75 years old. When I was young in Southern California, we also had to pay a bottle deposit, and return the bottles for a refund. That changed in the 1970’s - I think because manufacturers could fabricate bottles much cheaper, and concerns about imperfect sanitation. And the bottle deposit didn’t stop people from throwing them out the car window.
Yep was just going to comment. Also think we had a more "walking culture" than now. (Though varies in different cities--I lived in Chicago, and didn't have a car for awhile. It was common to walk a lot more.)
As a German living in Germany I was teached by my parents not to stare at people, too. But on the other side it is the German way to blend people out because they are someway looking by not seeing, you know. In our populous country you have scarcely a place without looking at people.
I went to the Oktoberfest in Germany and loved it. I have missed Germany over the years and hope to be able to get back for another before I get too old.
Here in NY , we have a $.05 deposit on most beverage bottles that you get back when you return them. That has been in effect for at least 30 years. Some folks just toss their containers on the ground while others put them in the recycle bin , but never redeem the deposit. That opens up an opportunity for people , often homeless or those on welfare , the option of walking a route picking up the discarded containers and turning them in for the deposit. I was one of them - did that in the wee hours as often as possible while I was on welfare. Could make about $150 per year that way. Every little bit helped and it was good exercise. Not all states in the US have the deposit on beverage containers. They are listed somewhere on the container or the top of the can. Those without often simply rely on recycling.
In Germany, if you are at a public place, and don't want to carry empty bottles back home. It's common to put them on the side of a trash can, so homeless can collect them easier.
In Mexico, one thing that I never got used to was what time to show up for a party or for dinner. It is customary there to be late. Gauging how late I should show up was always a puzzle... :)
I'm an American and am always surprised whenever someone says they aren't familiar with bottle deposits. The state I live in has had bottle deposits for so long, I can barely remember when we didn't have them. I've mentioned to a few Germans how I feel the "German stare" was a bit un-nerving and they were totally unaware that Germans do this.
The deposit system for recyclables makes perfect sense! Because it distributes the financial burden equitably: those who create the most mess pay more; those who make an effort to mitigate their impact pay a little; and those who adopt a conservation lifestyle are rewarded for doing their part 😊
@@ジョジョさま It's not a tax at all, since you get a full refund of the deposit. Plus there are public trash cans here and there that have an extra shelf on the outside requesting people who intend to throw bottles away in spite of having paid a deposit to leave those on that shelf, so poor people, especially homeless persons, can pick them up and return them to a store to earn extra money.
@@tillneumann406 It's a tax. You're charging people an extra sum of money for a governmental service. That's like saying that I don't get taxed because I get some back every year.
@@ジョジョさま The government doesn't see any of that deposit money and has no share in it. The deposit/return system is organized by private companies, so it is not a governmental service (not that I would have any problem with it if were). And like I said, if you return the cans or bottles you will be fully refunded and not just partly.
@@tillneumann406 Same here. Our government doesn't see much of the money we pay, they just take out more loans from the fed. And the money we do pay goes straight into welfare. Fundamentally, you're paying for a government service. It's a tax. Doesn't matter what the results are. and the refund acts more like a tax exemption for doing the labor.
The one thing I remember while visiting relatives in Germany was that they expect that you keep your hands above the dinner table. Of course in the US when you are not using your hands that would be considered to be bad manners. Also, here in Iowa we also collect bottles and cans for the deposit. It has been that way here since the 80s, although we only get a nickel back for ours.
What do you do with the hands under the table ? Fingering your balls or one ones of your neighbors ? I really had no idea where to put it there. I mean you always hold your silverware, or a glass, or italians talk with their hands, it looks very weird to hide them.
After living in Germany for three years, I noticed it quite a lot, but to be honest, a lot of Americans do this too, and I noticed I did this as well. Not as strongly in Germany, but we still do it. I think it's a mix of curiosity and some kind of natural human behavior that requires us to acknowledge people around us. Like in ancient times, we needed to make sure the small community we lived in were all accounted for, and nobody was missing from the tribe/community. Maybe it goes way back to that type of social human behavior.
Yes, I agree...this will also tell me if I can relax or have to be concerned about. Just look at the shootings in the USA. One can never be to careful and therefore be aware of your surroundings as much as possible❣
I have to say, I have (sadly) never had the opportunity to visit Germany and have spent mt entire life in the US; with that said, all of these "German" things sound 100% normal to me. I do realize that the deposit thing is an oddity as my state (Michigan) is one of the few with a deposit systems (this has really thrown me off whenever I have stayed out of state). The rest just seem like everyday truths for me though. Maybe I am just the weird one, but I can't say for sure where any of those habits really come from (other than the deposit being a real thing here).
12:26 We have a similar thing in Australia. I'm not sure about other states, but in NSW we have similar machines that issue a receipt that can be redeemed at a supermarket, but even better is the St Vincent de Paul Society have warehouses with a number or large centrifuges that sort dozens of cans and bottles all at once. The operator simply pours you box of recyclables into the machine, which spins and collects them onto a short conveyer, reads the barcode, and shoots them into one of the bins for the different types of bottles/cans/containers. Once your load is done you go to the checkout, swipe your debit card, and the money is deposited directly into your account. A car load is usually $30 ~ $50 @ .10c per item. Much better than one at a time.
Fountain soda is usually already cold, so I avoid ice. Also, I would rather have a greater volume of liquid soda than solid ice. I never got that from other Americans and their obsession with ice.
We have the same recycling system in Canada, but it defers from province to province. While Quebec has the same machines, where you need to put the cans and bottles one by one, Ontario let you crush the cans and you will returned to the Beer Store and they will either count them for you or just ask you how many cans you´ve got. We also tend to walk more than South of the Border. You will never catch a Canadian guy peeing while sitting! :)
Eating barely hot food from plastic plates with plastic silverware at family dinners or hotel breakfast is one of the weirdest things I encountered in the US.
I can see how that would be seen as completely wasteful. I used to use paper plates sometimes when I was a bachelor and my girlfriend would point out how lazy and wasteful I was being. I stopped, but sometimes when no one is looking. Shhh.
The stare is just a cultural difference. It’s like the personal bubble. Some cultures have a smaller personal bubble and don’t mind standing close to a stranger. And then there are other cultures where they would feel uncomfortably close being a meter or even more apart. Usually the farther north you go the bigger the bubble gets. It’s probably also related to population density. The stare is similar. Different cultures have different lengths of eye-contact before they start to feel uncomfortable. German society just happens to fall more on one side of this spectrum. It’s culturally ingrained as well, like you should make direct eye-contact when you drink with someone and say cheers. Because in German culture direct eye-contact is seen as honest, respectful and open while averting your eyes seems shifty or dishonest. That’s why you say „they can’t even look me in the eye“ when someone has done something to you that requires an apology for example. For other cultures looking at you too long seems rude and they feel awkwardly in the spot light. But in German culture you look a little longer to respectfully acknowledge the other person. Averting your eye could actually mean there’s something wrong with the other party. Like they caught you looking and you avert your eyes, which means you tried to hide a disapproving look and got caught. If you find yourself being stared at by a German the best thing to do is look at them briefly, nod slightly or hint a small smile by pressing your lips together a bit. That means you acknowledge each other and nothing about either of you is out of the ordinary.
I had the pleasure of living in Germany for three years. It had its ups and downs. The culture shock was tough to grasp at first until I made friends with local Germans who will be friends of mine for a lifetime now. Watching some of your videos really does make me miss my time there, but I am glad I get to be home again. The cans and bottles thing was strange at first for me, but it wasn't too crazy. It was nice to get a little money back lol. The ice thing at restaurants didn't really bother me(I like my drinks room temp anyway or the temp they're served at is generally fine). The weird part for me was the lack of refills lmao. Lastly, the stairing thing... mostly among the older folks from what I noticed. Like, OLD old. They'll watch you. It's kinda creepy. I never got that vibe from my younger German friends in my age group.
I used to do that with my beer bottles. My in-laws used to think I was a drunk. But if you waited and stacked up 5 cases the 6th one I considered free.( It was). But when I was a child all sodas were in bottles and they were all deposit everywhere. That changed as aluminum cans started being sold. Now you can gather the aluminum and sell it for scrap. Though it’s only about 15-20 cents a pound.
I’m a traveler in the US and many of my friends from abroad have these same reactions and now I know why! Thanks for the info. I need to travel abroad to get the proverbial bird’s eye view one day! 😊
I lived most of my life in the US, and the idea of there being available parking anywhere baffles me. Living in Los Angeles I often had to park half a mile from my own house at night. Traffic was also so bad that public transport was usually faster (unless you were going a really long way), and I often had nightmares about forgetting where I parked.
It's the same in many German cities too, at least when you live in the city centre. We also have to park around 600m away from our house at a public parking area. Especially in old city centres houses often don't have their own parking slots because, well, you didn't need them back in 1800 when the street was built.
For a lot of northwestern Europeans (German, Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Scandinavia etc.), if you live in a city, it's not really that uncommon to not own a car at all. It's usually cheaper, faster and safer to travel by public transport or bike. And the concept of the giant parking lots is something I really do not understand. City centers usually have parking garages with multiple stories instead of entire flat parking fields...
@@jeffafa3096 true, but most households (at least in Germany) do own at least one car, even in big cities. But people still use public transport, bikes or their own feet despite having a car. It's especially necessary if you have stuff to do outside of big cities where the public transport tends to be abysmal. Or if you're working shifts.
@@Eagle_Owl2 if you think public transport in rural areas of germany is abysmal, i invite you to come to Atlanta Georgia. This will fix your view instantly. :)
I think the extension to our German “stare” is the discussing of others in a public place - if you are afraid of our stare than beware, you might not have noticed that if two people stare at you then you’re definitely going to be the centre of their conversation!! 😂 We’re just really interested in observing people 😊
Lived in Berlin a couple years and the thing that stood out for me is the lack of elevators in residential buildings -- notably the case in East Berlin. Even when there is an elevator, as our building had, most Germans would not use it unless they were going to the top floors. Received many annoyed glances in the elevator when taking it to the 4th floor! Oh, and in Europe, that actually means the 3rd floor. Hahahah.
I live in a state that has a bottle deposit system, and a friend of mine was recently surprised that it's not a thing in every US state. Most people I know have some sort of system for collecting and returning their various recyclable containers.
The staring segment was hysterically funny. The thing I found most disturbing in Italy were the toilets, basically a toilet seat covering a hole on the floor. Now Italian women tend to wear dresses. I had pants on and I had to take off my pants and underwear to pee! AWFUL!!!
I am dying laughing here! Especially the ice in drinks! I live in the US for 28 years now and still can’t stand the bucket of ice they put into drinks. As a side note: here in New England we do have a bottle recycling program just like in Germany. Greetings from Maine and Happy Thanksgiving 🦃
Might sometimes be daydreaming but Germans and Americans simply have different ideas of where looking borders staring. Germans will find staring rude, too. We just consider some things looking that, to US Americans, would already be staring. It's like people in the US requiring less personal space or being less conscious of speaking volume. Just different boundaries.
Sometimes.but sometimes it's also a competition between kids. Who can stare the longest without blinking. Or it's just a boring look around without avoiding other's glance. And sometimes it's amusement sitting in a cafe or anywhere else and watching people.
When you have writings on your shirt, they could even try to read that. When you have longer text on your shirt, the "stare" can be longer. I don't know, if that is with many Germans, but with me it is.
Other than in downtown areas you never see anyone walking in the US. everywhere you look it’s completely dead and lifeless and dystopian. You might see the occasional person walking their dog.
I spent a couple years in southwest Germany and we kept 'racks' of empty beer bottles in our barracks room until we decided to return them when we bought the next full 'rack'.
Some people in the UK would view a glass full of ice as a scam. If a waiter produced a glass full of ice, say with Coca Cola in it, you would have a greatly reduced amount of drink in the glass.
Yea well coke refills are pretty much free in the US so if anything you in the UK are getting scammed. In 1994 I studied at Lancaster Uni in the UK. I went to KFC in town, ordered a meal with a coke and asked for extra ice in my coke..because I knew how stingy they were with ice and I’m not a fan of lukewarm soda. They gave me 2 tiny ice cubes…no joke. I didn’t say anything, just laughed to myself. Maybe ice is like gold or something.
@@HamburgerHelperDeath Too much ice cubes in your drink will ruin its taste when they melt And refilling for free is an American thing, we (usually) don't have that in Europe 😉
70 year American here who always has to ask for no ice. Also born and raised in Ohio. Um, maybe I am a little strange, I do ask for ice in my coffee, not to make it cold but to make it so I don't melt my lips off.
I lived in Northern Chile back in the mid-90s. The weirdest (and probably grossest) thing to me was that I had to get used to putting my used toilet paper (after a bowel movement) in the waste basket instead of flushing it.
I see this in Southern California (USA). There are often trash cans in the stall. The reason is that in Mexico and other Latin American countries, the sewer systems are so poor quality that that can’t handle anything other than human waste. The convention of not flushing toilet paper and “ass gaskets” is still followed even though the sewers will handle it. The system will even handle dead Gold Fish and illegal drugs during a police raid. However, I’ve heard that the same old sewer systems in places like New York have the same problem. There are codes there prohibiting Garbage Disposal units on kitchen sinks to prevent dumping kitchen waste into the sewer system.
This is still a thing in many older buildings in Korea (where I've been living for the last 7 years). Old buildings have small pipes. So there are typically signs that say to throw tissue in the trash
I lived in Nurnberg for almost 4 years and loved it. You’re absolutely correct that the adjustment wasn’t all that difficult as you pointed out. There were definitely some things to get used to, and I even had some real adjustments when I came back to the US. It was to Cincinnati which did have a lot of German influences which I noticed far more than had I moved there from a US town.
We loved Nurnberg when I was stationed in Vilseck 96-01, we tried to make a weekend family trip there at least monthly the entire time we were there. Most other weekends were in Amberg or Sulzbach.
I prefer no ice in my drinks. I do like blended drinks, but otherwise no ice for me. Many people think I'm weird, but I also find it uncomfortable to drink most drinks that cold. I had a British friend get me a drink, bring it back and realize he forgot the ice, so he was relieved that I actually preferred it that way.
When I was a little kid in the 70's, we (USA) had glass bottles of soda, not plastic, and we got a deposit back on each bottle we returned to the store.
My (Boomer) stepfather had a lot of them saved for making homemade beer in. Was that a fad in the '70s? This deposit system arrived in the 1850s with commercial breweries and soda works.
Worked in Germany, made the mistake (one time) of normal speed unloading my shopping cart. Looked behind me to see Death Ray Stares from the 3 people behind me, I didn't make that mistake again.😊 Luv your videos.
I am smiling at your comment...Your "normal speed" is way to slow Michael. Married in Canada now for some time....most people are very slow including my Husband. 🤣I am reading you comment again and get the picture. LOL 🌍😉💝
Feli really does a great job of production in her videos. Here, not only the stare, but the tense spaghetti western music just made me laugh. She really knows how to inform and entertain at the same time.
The beverage with ice strategy is the glass is now half ice,the near zero cost and only half beverage, so in effect you have paid double the price for half as much.
Enjoyed this topic. I am an American, but I have spend time working in Germany, especially in 1980's and 1990's, so your observations are quite familiar. Being from TX made me sort of a celebrity because of US TV shows. Crazy. Tschüss
I've have been to Germany several times and I never sat down to pee once nor was I ever asked to. We stayed with distant relatives and they never once mentioned it or asked us to do it. This is the first time I've heard of that. Not saying she is wrong, just not my experience. Every public bathroom I went to had a urinal. They do leave tips out in the open in a tip jar in public bathrooms though. I thought that was weird because you could never do that in America, it would be stolen in an instant. Last time I was there was in 2011, so some things may have changed.
The urinal ist for standing, but on the toilet you have to sit down... Because the normal toilet isn't designed for standing, it is a mess when everyone stands to pee.
Actually men peeing sitting just a thing a minority of women insist on. Interesting enough there are actually laws in sone areas which say you aren‘t allowed to pee standing after ten o’clock at night if you live in an apartment building.
You're only supposed to sit when peeing in a normal toilet and not a urinal. Of course no one would sit down on a urinal. However, sitting while peeing in a normal toilet is considered common courtesy because it can often result in a mess when people pee standing up. I think you weren't asked to do that because it's just expected in Germany.
Being a German living in Germany I don't really know what that staring thing is you talk about. I, too, would be either intimidated or even irritated if some stranger kept staring at me. Maybe it's different across different regions in Germany? I live near Cologne and people here, in the Rhineland, are usually said to be a bit more sociable. Maybe that has something to do with it.
The acceptable length of eye contact varies between cultures and in Germany people tend to hold eye contact just a few milliseconds longer than in the US, which then can feel like staring to someone not used to the culture
I think its different from different regions honestly. I from the East (Brandenburg) near Poland borders and I have friend from america and canada that was intimidated because of our so called german stare. People have told me that we seems rude and cold.
When I travelled to the US a few years ago, I received weird looks for asking to have my drinks without ice. Foe me, it' s way to cold and I don't want tp pay only for ice cubes either. In this point, I can't fight the swabian german in me 😂
Also, completely filling up the glass with ice and then pour the drink in it means that there is waaaay less drink in it which saves some money for the restaurant.
@@Delostacia I wonder if they calculated it with this in mind. Are there studies on how many refills people usually take? If it's two for example, and the ice displaces 50% of the drink it's basically not "free" :)
@@Linuxdirk Think it depends on the person. Years ago when I would go out with friends, usually 8-11 fountain drinks over the course of a meal. Nowadays maybe 2 (I no longer drink soda so it dropped precipitously).
My theory is that tap water is cheaper than fizzy soda for the American restaurant. It's a scheme to put twelve ice cubes in the glass of fizzy soda in order to save the restaurant owner a few cents per serving. If water is one cent per ounce and fizzy soda is five cents per ounce, the more ice that is stacked in the glass, the less room there is for the soda.
Could the 'German stare' one vary geographically? I've recently spent 3 weeks in northern Germany and never noticed any staring, even though I'm very self-conscious.. Everyone seemed much more polite and gaze-averting as opposed to the rude staring where I'm from :)
Very interesting! I had no idea about the "German stare". I wonder if that is is a German thing, or if other countries/cultures do that. A friend of mine recently completed his corporate harassment training at work. The updated version of the training had a section about how "staring or prolonged looking" can be considered a form of harassment. He was floored! I was as well.
I've been to Germany three times and never noticed the "German stare." But I probably wasn't even paying attention to others and their long periods of inactivity. If I subconsciously noted it, I probably chalked it up to urban city behavior, or they were just some silent weirdo. Now of course, I'm going to look for it the next time I am in Berlin or the Rhineland.
I am Dutch and live in California with my Mexican family in law. The biggest confusion constantly is birthdays and fathers/mothersday. In the Netherlands we congratulate multiple people with someone's birthday, like this person's parents or partner. Something they really don't do here 😆 On the other hand, for something like mothersday I'm used to only getting a gift for my own mom, and no one else. Maybe a partners parents if you're on good terms and that's it. My family in law however, celebrates ALL moms/dads for these holidays. They literally go and message/call multiple people they know that are a mom/dad and even get them little presents. Not sure if this is American or Mexican though. 🙃
Interesting. In germany we only congratulate the person who is actually having his/her birthday. Mothers day is probably like in the Netherlands: if you celebrate it, it is only your own mother.
That's probably American. I'll definitely wish a happy Mother's Day to almost every adult woman I interact with on that day, whether I know they are a mom or not. Less so for Father's Day, sadly...
There used to be a deposit system here for bottles. Pepsi, Coke, etc used to come in glass bottles, not plastic. You could return the bottles to the store and get a deposit.
I think my anxiety disorder prevents me from doing the German stare. I'd rather not get any attention because I always feel like if I get any attention from a stranger it must be negative (I know it's not but I can't help it) so I avoid looking at other people longer than a second. But my mom literally stops walking to stare at people lol
*Go to expressvpn.com/felifromgermany and find out how you can get 3 months of ExpressVPN free!* Have you ever experienced any of these scenarios? 😅 Or other things that you found pretty weird but that seemed to be normal to the locals? Let me know in the comments below! 👇 Also, make sure to check out my counterpart video about _"5 Things Americans Do That Germans Find WEIRD!"_ ▸ua-cam.com/video/sRLI0T7PV10/v-deo.html
Feli you would fit in over here in Oregon. We have a flat (back in the early 1970's it varied by container) $0.10 deposit on all beverage containers "soda, beer, water" with the exception of wine and liquor.
Guten Morgen Feli! Leider treibt hier @davidsonugonnaya mit deinem Kanalfoto in den Kommentaren sein Unwesen. Habe ihn bereits gemeldet, aber vielleicht solltest du das auch selbst noch mal machen. Danach kannst du meinen Kommentar hier gern entfernen. :) Danke für das schöne Video und liebe Grüße!
Hey wollte dich nur wissen lassen das da ein(vermutlich) Bot Nachrichten mit deinem Namen und Foto schreiben in denen es heißt man soll an diese WhatsApp Nummer schreiben. Hab den Kommentar gemeldet aber wer weiß ob das wirklich was bringt
Is it true Germans don't eat turkey? I knew an Asian lady who wanted to make a turkey dinner for her mainland Chinese friends. She went out and bought a 34 pound turkey! (Maybe in was found frozen in the tundra.) She found she couldn't get it in the oven!
The bottle recycling is similar in Canada to Germany, we don't crush them either and keep the bottle cap on and we take them to a bottle depot and get cash back. Seeing the machine at the grocery store in Germany was new to me, but my ex showed it to me. Filling up cups with ice, money saver here to use less product of the drink. walking around in Europe is my favourite!! I love it and can see so many places and take cool pictures, north america people are lazy and because of how they build our communities and shopping centres, usually makes sense to drive. The German stare, I really didn't notice or it didn't bother me. When I'd visit China I was stared at constantly being the only white girl around, I noticed that more than in Germany so my next visit I'll pay attention more just out of curiosity.
I spent a month biking all over Scotland, what I was surprised by was all the train service. What annoyed me, was EVERY TIME I got directions - they were "just over there", turns out that mean 2 miles down the road, take a left go 2 more miles and you're there. What I loved, was everywhere I went someone gave me beer - it was room temperature, but it was GOOD BEER, so it's fine.
I'm a German living in the US (NYC) for 5 years now and I love watching these videos! I must admit the "German stare" (looking at people) is something I still do. My friends here have told me that I can't do that and I've noticed that Americans get really uncomfortable about it. Sometimes it's daydreaming but I also just like looking at people. Occasionally I get a smile back and then I wonder if they thought I'm flirting with them. Btw, NY state has a bottle deposit system so you see people with shopping carts and huge balloon like plastic bags of bottles that they collected from the trash.
Not feeling comfortable with smiling at strangers might be part of the riddle. Americans see you looking down and thight you must have been caught staring, when you just don‘t like smiling.
French people feel uncomfortable with stares too, because when they happen to stare at you, it's usually with hostility, to make you understand you're the one who's weird, or trying to flirt with you
I understand the German stare. I’ve had to learn to actively look at random stuff to try avoiding making people uncomfortable. Allot of people in America tend to see just looking as people as staring
I have almost always drank my sodas at room temperature more so since I left Germany. The biggest thing I miss most of Germany is walking around Munich and Rosenheim
As a Belgian having travelled to the US I indeed recognise the ice in the drink matter. I think it has to do with the fact that in the US drinks are not kept in the fridge, as is done in Europe. Also the staring. I think all over Europe it is normal to stare at someone, and we do not really realise we do it, while in the US it is not done. People in the US are frightened when you stare at them.
@@ramoncastaneda8432 Maybe we should formulate it that Americans try to avoid looking straight to someone's face, also if it is only for a short moment, while Europeans do not have problems with that.
I am so relieved that we are not the only ones who look at other people 😀 Greetings to Belgium ....seeing your post reminds me that we wanted to visit Antwerp again. 🙂
In Vietnam, they put huge chunks of ice even in beer (or at least they used to, 20 or so years ago when I last visited.) In my hotel in Dalat they kept several cans in the fridge specifically for me. In our McDonalds here in Zagreb, Croatia they do put quite a lot of ice in your soft drink, but i always specifically ask for no ice (because I don't want my drink watered down, and it is adequately chilled as it is.) OTOH, i like my water (ordinary tap water, usually) ice cold - this time, I have to specifically ask _for_ ice in cafes.
A friend of mine wanted a cold beer when he visited Germany. He asked for ice. The bartender looked at him extremely puzzled. He came back with a beer which had a scoop of ice cream in it: Eis.
Beer with ice is crime! Sorry
In England this would not be okay too 😂😂 get out!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
It's NOOOT a Coke !!!!
@@ingobund8793 na USA weird how they want ice with everything in Europe na na I’m Not about that life 🤣
Bullshit xD no way a bartender has ice cream at the bar! And would (if he really had some) put it in beer! NO WAY! if this really happened tell me where ? ! in Bars you could get ice CUBES in cocktails ! Ice cubes in beer is weird, but ice cream sounds absolutely insane...
Omg, I love that you mentioned the german stare. I was in germany a few weeks ago and many germans would stare at me non stop with a kinda disgusting face, but whoever did that then came to me and threw in a nice joke or we started a conversation. In my head I literally started thinking that the more they stare, the more they are gaining courage to chat with you. At first I felt extremely uncomfortable, but then I liked it. I've been to many countries but I swear germans are some of the best and nicest people I've ever met. Thanks Feli for mentioning that and kinda proving my theory right 😄
Wish that was the case here. I lost count of times I was staring at a girl in some places because I like what I saw and/or I didn't yet have the courage to go up and talk to them. Either way, I've nearly gotten in trouble for it.
Now that kind of looking is a funny Facebook meme. Go figure.
That is actually “the look.” MAJOR difference.😂
I was born in Germany. My father is German, and my mother's family are Russian Germans who settled in Kansas. Growing up in Europe, I always drank my drinks at room temperature or off the balcony. I have been living Texas since 1994, and still to this day, I drink room temperature cokes or lite ice. I can even drink room temperature beer. I actually prefer it over very cold. I have actually learned a lot about many of my habits, the way I pronounce some words and ways I think and do things by listening to you. Please, keep it up..
My friend likes his beer warm. He is multiracial guy. 50% white
As a child, I was naturally curious of the world around me and the people in it, but like many Americans, was harshly reprimanded for staring. I was taught it was one of the rudest things you can do in public. To this day, I am mortified if I lock eyes with a stranger, because that means they noticed that I was looking at them. I quickly divert my eyes and pretend that I was just looking around randomly, but I know it was too late.
Is this just me, or do others have this same experience?
It's just you.
It is NOT just you, many inquisitive people do this, especially the great minds! But you should nod friendly and smile, before you divert your eyes, so the person sees you mean no offence. Many cultures don't mind being looked at, others do. Some people mind, some don't. If the person asks you for it, he just reminded you of something (which is usually true), and he interests you. Apologise, if he says he feels offended. But don't feel guilty! You are just who you are!
Saying: "it's just you" is just blunt.
As a German, I can't tell how much I do this staring thing myself, but when I visited Thailand and Japan I was really impressed how they manage to completely avoid looking at each other even in crowded subways. You will never accidentally make eye contact with anyone there, or if you do, they are probably weirdos.
In Germany it happens all the time. Can be really awkward, can also be a good opportunity to start a flirt. ;)
How about a good conversation on good books?
Native Southern American English speaker here. I think this is the first time I've thought about using "flirt" as a noun.
@@davidpatrick2163 how about “he’s a flirt” ?
@@bobbyknight3589 Just saying that in my part of the world, I've never heard it, or maybe very seldom hear it. Instead of saying "He's a flirt", I say "He flirts a lot." YMMV
@@MissDuke2012 no, baby. "Flirt" is a noun, it's an adjective, it's an adverb. Depends on who is SAYING it and HOW it's said. Ranks up with "Bless your heart" from a Southern woman. This can mean about 10 things, ranking from "bless your heart" to "f you and the spider you rode into this fallen world on from the depths of Hell" depending on intonation and posture. Southern MEN learn early and often how to "read" this, by the way. Yankees fail this test a lot...
What's weird is I was born and raised in America and have always hated having ice in my drinks. Like you said, the drinks are already cold, and the ice is just taking up space and making you slurp the drink around it (not to mention how gross the drink gets once the ice melts and makes it watery). I like when I travel to other countries and don't have to add "without ice" to the end of every drink order.
Don’t forget how it waters down the fever of the drink
Yes I love paying for refills.
@@tailsprowerfan2729 nope it makes it just right as you gulp it down
Same here. I've always ordered my drinks without ice. Many people I know do the same.
@@HamburgerHelperDeath who pays for a refill?
Way back in 1959 I was 12 years old, and while walking with my German relatives, we stopped at a road that had a light and no traffic as far as you could see. We didn't cross the road until the light turned green for us. Here in the states we cross roads no matter if cars are coming.
Your German relatives probably did this because you were still a child.
A lot of German pedestrians do not wait for a green traffic light, if there is no or low traffic though you could be fined for it. But it is customary not to do this in the presence of children. However, if you overlook the children present, you will at least be stared at - disapprovingly (with a stare that makes us Germans feel really uncomfortable;).
as a young man i once returned to my village from a daytrip at the middle of the night and the road was empty one kilometer up and down. I crossed a pedestrian light (red) and suddenly a police office came from a hide (whereever that had been) and wanted to fine me for that misbehaviour. We discussed a while since i did find no fault in crossing a red light in the middle of nowhere and he tried to appeal to my shame as "little kid up there on the window could watch and then learn the wrong behaviour". I replied that little kids who are up at 1 oclock in the night could not be helped anymore anyway. That disarmed him and he gave up cursing on the youth of these days and stuff like that :)
Rot gänger ist tot gänger!
Red lights are a waste of time and fuel, if there's no traffic in any direction. Slow way down, and then go.
I think it's American culture to push the limits of the law. How you think it was created to begin with?😂
I live in Boston and it's similar to Germany in terms of driving vs walking. Parking is always an issue, so if you are going a mile, it's quicker to walk than to drive through traffic and find a parking spot and then walk from the parking spot.
I’m of German Descent, my great grandfather is a first generation immigrant from Munich, and its so vindicating to find out many of my habits would not be seen as odd or weird in Germany. Makes me even more excited to visit.
Me too !! And I have this too I didn't know where that came from jajaaj it's my German blood
What is it, do you stare at people?😅
German here: I stare like this too when I think about some difficult stuff and I don’t realise what I’m watching. That’s it in most cases. Someone here said he thinks we collect courage to start a conversation: no, but watching each other without talking is a clear sign in Germany that you want to talk, especially if the two people don’t know each other
That's correct. Many times I stare intensely not really seeing anything, maybe even seemingly annoyed or angry when in reality I have a nice migraine and am just suffering alone😢
California also has a monetary redemption on bottles and cans, but the redemption process is different (no scan machines). It's done either by count (limited quantity), or by weight (large quantity). There are also a handful of other States that also have some form of redemption process for cans and bottles.
During the early phase of Germany's deposit system, it was common for employees of the grocery stores to count the bottles and cans for you. If you had a large quantity, you could count them yourself since the employees were often occupied at the cash registers. However, some people took advantage of this and included imaginary bottles and cans in their count to receive more money. There were early versions of the deposit machines where you could pick up the bottles and cans again from the back, as they hadn't been crushed yet and mounted into the wall. Nowadays, all machines are securely mounted in walls to prevent manipulation and the unauthorized collection of extra money, which caused grocery stores to suffer significant losses during the early stage of the deposit system.
I expected to see a ton of CRV (recently termed Container Redemption Value) comments on here. Although not the entire USA mandated states are listed on most containers listed thusly in CA, HI, MA, ME, MI, NY, OR, VT as well as many states or local communities (I particularly noticed in MT and UT). Interesting how wine and spirits bottles are not accepted in most instances.
I think the "stare" is just a difference in the cultural convention how long it is considered appropriate to look at strangers (everyone is curious, but people from other cultures seem to learn that they "have to" look away sooner when they grow up, even if they find a person interesting). The same phenomenon as the difference which physical distance to a person you're talking to is considered appropriate differs widely in different cultures.
Nah, In Germany its definitely a long stare. You look away, then look back and still find that person staring at you. Feeli is right, they don't even realize they are doing it. I've experienced it several times when in Germany.
There are old woman in germany who extra prepair a pillow to the windowsill to have it more confortable when starring to people out of the window.
@@jefflewis4 Na! Das schon gecheckt?:
ua-cam.com/video/8hNjEx6wJTw/v-deo.html
Yes. Just like personal space conventions and norms.
Your videos are so very entertaining ! And your production quality, editing, etc. is really so highly skilled. The vignette for your final point was totally adorable and funny. Love your channel.
I'm sitting on a plane about to depart for Munich. I'm so excited!
Hi Feli. Love your channel and have watched most of them. You have the perfect personality for this. Your English is PERFECT! I too, graduated with a communications degree and worked in television for many years. So I know what is all involved in editing your show. Great job. You could get a job as an on air talent.
I visited Germany a few years ago with my wife. Our 1st European country.
We loved it. And almost everyone spoke English for us. I was so releived. Very friendly people and great history. Also, our family hosted a foreign exchange student my senior year. He was from Chile and could not speak much English.
But he was fluent in just a few months. How? By watching TV shows.
Keep up the good work. You are very talented and a joy to watch.
I totally agree with the ‘no ice’ in beverages! Born & raised in the US. It makes drinks too cold, and I don’t like watered-down soda. 😊
Bottled Soda is already watered down.
My family came from South west Germany. I have family history back to the 1500s. I enjoy learning more about that area. Some day I hope to visit. I have lived in Shanghai China for 2 months I find that working people of any couture are good people but of course some things was weird to me.
Can't wait, going back to Germany for the first time since '85. Loved the Bavarian people then and looking forward to showing my wife and Son who is doing a study abroad in Vienna and Prauge. I insisted on taking them to Ga-Pa and Munich as well.
Feli. In the 60’s. We made home made ice cream..The salt dropped the freezing temperature from 32 degrees to 18 degrees. On a 90 degree day it was a treat. To drop bottled ski’s ,double cola’s and long necks beers in this salty water. For 30 minutes. Pull the bottle out of this melting ice and open the bottle, drink this cold drink. With a sweet salty taste. But be ready for a brain freeze. I miss the glass bottle , days of a cold beverage. Later. Ps go try it with a bag of ice in a cooler and pour sea salt over the ice then add more ice.
I’m from Czechia. People here usualy don’t put ice in their drinks as well and also hardly anyone has AC at home. I’d probably be happy in the US, as I’m quite the opposite. When it’s 36 degrees outside in summer, I cool my place to 18 and throughout the year I drink all my drinks in glass full of ice (I bought the “american fridge” with ice machine). I even put ice in my beer as I love it ice cold, while most Czechs would rather drink it warm than with ice 😂😂😂
In Ohio, when bottled drinks were king (and glass), returning them for the deposit was the norm up through the 1980s. I think several states (including Michigan) still have deposits on cans and bottles (often marked on the container) where you can get money back if returned.
I was back in Michigan visiting family about a year ago and they still had a bottle return, 10cent. Now that I'm back in California, they have a different type of return, paid by weight. It's really hard to tell how much you will get, six 55gal yard bags only give you about 20-30 dollars when returning plastic bottles.
Oregon also has deposits
California did until recently. Aluminum prices fell and the contractors didn't renew their contract, so no one can recycle their cans & bottles anywhere. State still charges the recycle fees.
In NY, we've been doing bottle recycling for ages, so this isn't weird.
Yes! I remember this too in Ohio and Michigan!! Why did it stop?
I live in Upstate NY and we've been doing bottle deposits for decades! I think not getting ice in your drinks is a great idea! More ice the less of your beverage in the glass!
Western New Yorker here and I totally agree!
Syracuse here. Yeah, we've actually started separating out bottle glass, too - no deposit, but you can recycle them at the bottle return.
I was going ro say, yeah, if you live in the northeast, bottle deposits are common.
Same deal in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, etc.
There was an entire Seinfeld episode where the b plot was Kramer and Newman went to Michigan with a truck full of bottles and cans because the deposit refund was 10 cents instead of 5 cents. Wackiness ensued.
I buy maybe 2 or 3 six packs of beer a month. I put the cans or bottles in a special bin and when it's full I bag it up and take it to the grocery store and run them through the machine, it spits out the receipt, and I redeem it inside the store for about $2.50.
When I don’t want to pay for a beverage glass full of ice, I tell the server “no ice”.
The staring thing really creeped me out when I went to Berlin a few weeks ago. I didn't know if the guy staring was interested in me or hated me and I really couldn't tell how to go about it.
I am born and raised in the USA, and I’m 100% on board with no ice. I prefer room temp water, but just having already cold beverages without an entire cup of ice, and a splash of the drink, is totally fine with me! I often ask for no ice anytime I order somewhere.
I like ice, but not the whole glass/cup filled to the top. It's a way for businesses to max profits, but it's annoying when you finish your drink in 4 gulps and are left with a full cup of ice.
Wow, many comments! Just watched your video. I was an Austauschschueler back in the 80s in Hannover! Loved your video on what Americans find weird. Couple things I remember you might like. French fries either with mayo or rot weiss. Got used to it and loved it. Also, the windows in the homes are a unique style over in Germany and the fact that Germans don't use screens to keep flies out. Lot's of other things too but these two came to mind after watching your video. Frohe Weihnachted!
Working vor an international start up with some Americans on board and a working culture heavily influenced by American routines, business communication etc. the first thing I've noticed was the difference in appreciating things. What was "good" or "not bad" for a German was always "awesome" or "genius" for Americans or people who worked longer in the start up world. I don't know if one way is better than the other. While the American way is better to motivate people it tends also to be not completely honest which leads to avoiding to speak about problems or downsides of something. At least that what I've noticed.
Yep, completely normal. They also tend to pretend everything is easy while they hate how Germans point out potential issues. Usually the Germans will be right in the long term... ^^
Remarks like "genius" won't motivate ppl more tha a "good" as soon as they know the respective scale. They know what a "genius" is worth if almost everyone receives one. And i a system, where "good" is a rare exception, it will soon count more than the "genius".
My high school German teacher was quite sparing with praise. He thought that too much praise spoiled people. At the time, that seemed odd and ungenerous to me. But now, I think Americans tend to over-praise each other for little or no reason.
I am Canadian and lived in Strasbourg, France, in the late ‘80s. One of the biggest culture shocks was the very different work-life balance which in France was heavily shifted toward life/leisure. This was most dramatically manifested when, one day, I popped out at lunch time to buy some of the delicious-looking lunch offerings at a nearby bakery/charcuterie. My mouth was watering in anticipation. Imagine, then, my horror when I arrived at the shop a few minutes after noon only to be confronted with a locked door and a sign saying they would re-open later in the afternoon. I couldn’t believe it. A shop selling lunch food closed at lunchtime! When I later expressed my exasperation to my French colleagues, I was met with a disapproving frown and the comment, “They have to eat too, you know.” I only lowered my estimation in their eyes further by trying to explain that, in North America, we would eat in shifts or “on the run” in order to keep the shop open during what should be the most profitable period of the day. Of course, what I didn’t appreciate is that all of life in France is organized around a different work/life balance rather than maximizing profits and convenience to the customer. Obviously if I wanted a tasty lunch from that shop I should have bought it earlier, say, on the way into work. 😊 Feli, is it the same in Germany?
I think the french have perfected this lifestyle 😄 But Germany in this point also is closer to France than the US. Just remember our free Sundays. And I also have coffee and cake every day at work a few hours after lunch. But that isn't really the norm 😄
Hi Mark,
I'm from Germany, nearby Munich where Feli comes from. I'd say it depends on where you are. In small villages in small shops (and sometimes even in bigger cities) they'll close during lunch. In bigger shops they'll be open.
I lived in a very small village, there was no open shop on Wednesday after lunch. In the next village the shops were open from 8 AM until 20 PM *every* day.
I guess it's a habit lasting from old times. When I was a little child we've had only one little shop in our village, every mother was at home with the kids and so shopping was mostly done early in the morging when the kids were in school or kindergarden to have enough time to cook fresh before they came home.
Thank you Cleo and SusA! 😊
Geez, no wonder Germany marched in and took over France like it was nothing. France was probably closed for lunch.
@@1946luke 🤣
Hello, Feli. So I'm American, and I've been to Germany twice and loved it both times. Also, one of my coworkers is from Germany....and she just returned from visiting family there. Your list is amusing, here are my thoughts.
1) Recycling cans and bottles is good. Back in the day, there used to be a similar program here in the US with glass bottles- you could get 3 or 5 cents back for each bottle. I'm not sure if it still exists. ( I'm not aware if a program existed for cans)
2) Ice in beverages. I don't mind less ice, in fact I prefer it, and for all the reasons you listed. I often drink my beverages, especially water, slightly cool or at room temperature.
3) Men peeing sitting down. I worked in early childhood education for 12 years, and helped potty-train the children. We let the boys choose if they wanted to stand or sit, and a good number of them preferred to sit. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
4) I have heard of VPNS, and may look into using one. I like that you get enhanced protection.
5) American football. I only recently found out that Germans watch it. I never knew.
6) Walking. I got used to walking at my former job as a dietary assistant in a senior care facility. I would average 7-10 miles each shift. When I visit larger cities, I only take transportation if I have to, otherwise I walk. I recently visited Chicago, and walked from Navy Pier to Holy Name Cathedral, and then back to my hotel. Very invigorating.
7) The German stare. I have heard about it, but didn't experience it until recently on my second trip to Germany. I was talking with my table mates at a restaurant. I wasn't being too loud, but the woman at the table near us turned around and stared hard at me. I refused to meet her gaze as I didn't think I deserved it. 🙃
We were having dinner in a restaurant with an American colleague. He ordered a coke, and was surprised it had no ice in it, and asked the waiter for some. The waiter blinked some times, as it was winter too, but obliged.
After dinner we had some coffee, and the waiter asked our American guest if he wanted some ice in his....
:)
Don't piss off the white girls here in America they love their iced coffee 😂 like a cult
I'm an American born and raised here and I'm the only person I know who hates having ice in drinks lol, I never understood why everyone else seemed to always want ice in their drinks because it's already poured out cold. If you wait too long to drink an ice-less beverage, it'll warm up to room temperature, not really a big deal in my opinion. But if you wait too long to drink a beverage full of ice, the ice will melt and ruin the drinks taste. And yet I'm the weird one lol
@@dhans9662 Maybe some like the tinkling of the cubes in the glass... and I have seen some eating the cubes... really chewing and crushing them.
All in all, Ice Coffee can be nice too... or is it Coffee Ice?
@@eefaaf We call it "Iced Coffee" but you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. Some of my family likes chewing the ice cubes (I've never understood that either) and I guess the presence of the ice makes the drink look more refreshing.
I also think Iced Coffee can be good as long as you drink it before it melts, but I overall prefer cold coffee (without ice) over hot coffee and iced coffee. We also put ice in tea and thats pretty much the only drink besides water that I like having ice in.
@@dhans9662 Melting cubes can't spoil your drink if the drink IS water already :)
New to London from Canada. I think the lack of dryers is really the biggest thing for me. Also, people will comfortably walk up to an hour each way to run an errand, I don’t mind walking, I just think about the time. Don’t you have other things to do? What I enjoy is that most shops here are smaller and you get to know your community so much more than in North American with big box stores. I’ve grown accustomed to going to the flower stall once a week and chatting with the girl while I get my fresh flowers for the week, something I’d never have done at home
The no ice scenario cracked me up. I encountered that on my first Europe trip in Latvia. Many restaurants in the US offer free refills, so having a glass full of ice isn't a problem.
With basically a full glass of ice I would be expecting many free refills
it amazes me how many homes i go to in USA that have NO ICE in their freezer ... like WTF..? i always ask if they lost the family recipe for it.......
Is there a reason you need ice in your beverage in a cold country? Have you ever thought of the energy needed for freezing water until it becomes ice?
Sometimes, when you see an automat pouring something, you can see, that there quite often it is clear in between. And I think, that is (ice-?) water. At least in Germany.
So you get several watered down drinks instead of just one?
She is so happy! This channel is infectious!!!!
I wish she would teach me German.
The deposit machines at the German grocery stores were maybe my favourite thing about travelling there! I couldn't wait to take a whole batch of cans and bottles there haha.
Deposit. Introduced in Sweden in the early 1980s, introduced in Germany in the early 2000s.
You can visit New York State to find the same type of machines.
South Australia introduced its container deposit legislation in 1977 so is now 45 years old!
S.A. has always been progressive, introducing women's suffrage (voting) in 1894.
@@gregblair5139I’m Michigan born and raised and was confused watching this because we’ve always had a deposit system. I didn’t understand why she was talking about it like it’s a German thing
the german stare part had me laugh out loud, it was absolutely hilarious! being from germany i can relate (and probably am guilty too there XD) .. but yeah we think nothing of it and it's just curiosity OR they dont even see you and are thinking of something completely else and are staring into the "void" and it happens you're standing there and become the focus of staring into the "void"... in that case i can 100% guarantee you that they don't even fully see you this moment XD🤣
In Central and South America you have to pay to use the public restroom and ask for toilet paper. You also do not want ice in your drinks unless you want to get sick.
I feel like the stare is being zoned out more than anything else
When I was in Bosnia in the military I bought the two local ladies that cleaned my office ice cream. To my surprise instead of eating the ice cream right away they placed it on a shelf and told me they would eat it later when it warms up. They let the ice cream melt and then they ate the ice cream when it was warm. This very much surprised me and they told me that it was in healthy to eat cold things.
I learned to order “Eine Coca mit viel eis” but didnt really like how the bartender stared at me. So my German friend approached the bar and told the bartender that I was an expert Coke drinker. Anyway, the bartender explained that by law, and since the Cola came from the tap, he had to serve me the correct volume according to the size of the glass and ice would water it down. He ended up serving me a glass of warm Coke and another glass filled with ice. So much German culture in one glass of Coke. Hahaha.
it's obviously not against any law when requested as such
I recently saw an article on Google saying that in some fast food restaurants in the US there's a certain amount of ice they have to put in cups or they will give you less soda. There's a fill line I guess and they have to give you that amount of ice. A lot of people are complaining that if I order a large soda, for example, my cup should be full regardless of how much ice I want. It does seem to be a money thing. I haven't had that problem where I live and I hope I never do. Hopefully people will complain enough that those restaurants will have to give you a full cup no matter what. I guess some people are going to the store and buying a bottle instead of ordering soda at the restaurant. We are going to get around it. We have a budget too.
@@edithputhy4948 not in America maybe, but I wouldn't be too sure about Germany.
Of cause you get your coke with exactly as much ice as requested in Germany.
Seems legit AF!😂
I am an American, but I don't like ice in my drink unless it is a very hot day and I am trying to cool off.
A thing I noticed while traveling Europe (including Germany) when asking for water in a restaurant as an American I'm expecting tap water. Not the case in Europe, if you don't specify tap water you get sparkling water. That was a big surprise to me the first time I ordered water in a restaurant.
Sparkling water is only standard in Germany (and maybe the other DACH countries? I'm not sure). My Spanish friends for example also think that the German obsession with sparkling water is really weird. Usually the waiter will ask whether you want sparkling or still water though. And yeah, when you order water at a restaurant in Europe you'll get bottled mineral water and you'll have to pay for it unlike in the US.
I’m 75 years old. When I was young in Southern California, we also had to pay a bottle deposit, and return the bottles for a refund. That changed in the 1970’s - I think because manufacturers could fabricate bottles much cheaper, and concerns about imperfect sanitation. And the bottle deposit didn’t stop people from throwing them out the car window.
Yep was just going to comment. Also think we had a more "walking culture" than now. (Though varies in different cities--I lived in Chicago, and didn't have a car for awhile. It was common to walk a lot more.)
Thank you for sharing this interesting fact. Greetings from GER. Have a nice Adventszeit
In America, we are scolded as children for staring at people. "It's rude to stare!"
As a German living in Germany I was teached by my parents not to stare at people, too. But on the other side it is the German way to blend people out because they are someway looking by not seeing, you know. In our populous country you have scarcely a place without looking at people.
Recycling varies from state to state, and even community to community. My community has been recycling for many years.
The cool thing about a Nation wide Recycling is that I can return a beverage can from my trip to Berlin in Munich. Or where ever I stop on my ride.
I went to the Oktoberfest in Germany and loved it.
I have missed Germany over the years and hope to be able to get back for another before I get too old.
Roseville Cali., we do recycle. We have collection stations, but they do it by weight. Three big bags of plastic bottles(kept in my backyard) $55. ✅
Here in NY , we have a $.05 deposit on most beverage bottles that you get back when you return them. That has been in effect for at least 30 years. Some folks just toss their containers on the ground while others put them in the recycle bin , but never redeem the deposit. That opens up an opportunity for people , often homeless or those on welfare , the option of walking a route picking up the discarded containers and turning them in for the deposit. I was one of them - did that in the wee hours as often as possible while I was on welfare. Could make about $150 per year that way. Every little bit helped and it was good exercise.
Not all states in the US have the deposit on beverage containers. They are listed somewhere on the container or the top of the can. Those without often simply rely on recycling.
In Germany, if you are at a public place, and don't want to carry empty bottles back home. It's common to put them on the side of a trash can, so homeless can collect them easier.
In Mexico, one thing that I never got used to was what time to show up for a party or for dinner. It is customary there to be late. Gauging how late I should show up was always a puzzle... :)
I'm an American and am always surprised whenever someone says they aren't familiar with bottle deposits. The state I live in has had bottle deposits for so long, I can barely remember when we didn't have them.
I've mentioned to a few Germans how I feel the "German stare" was a bit un-nerving and they were totally unaware that Germans do this.
The deposit system for recyclables makes perfect sense! Because it distributes the financial burden equitably: those who create the most mess pay more; those who make an effort to mitigate their impact pay a little; and those who adopt a conservation lifestyle are rewarded for doing their part 😊
It's just another poor tax.
@@ジョジョさま It's not a tax at all, since you get a full refund of the deposit. Plus there are public trash cans here and there that have an extra shelf on the outside requesting people who intend to throw bottles away in spite of having paid a deposit to leave those on that shelf, so poor people, especially homeless persons, can pick them up and return them to a store to earn extra money.
@@tillneumann406 It's a tax. You're charging people an extra sum of money for a governmental service.
That's like saying that I don't get taxed because I get some back every year.
@@ジョジョさま The government doesn't see any of that deposit money and has no share in it. The deposit/return system is organized by private companies, so it is not a governmental service (not that I would have any problem with it if were). And like I said, if you return the cans or bottles you will be fully refunded and not just partly.
@@tillneumann406 Same here. Our government doesn't see much of the money we pay, they just take out more loans from the fed. And the money we do pay goes straight into welfare.
Fundamentally, you're paying for a government service. It's a tax. Doesn't matter what the results are. and the refund acts more like a tax exemption for doing the labor.
The one thing I remember while visiting relatives in Germany was that they expect that you keep your hands above the dinner table. Of course in the US when you are not using your hands that would be considered to be bad manners. Also, here in Iowa we also collect bottles and cans for the deposit. It has been that way here since the 80s, although we only get a nickel back for ours.
What do you do with the hands under the table ? Fingering your balls or one ones of your neighbors ? I really had no idea where to put it there. I mean you always hold your silverware, or a glass, or italians talk with their hands, it looks very weird to hide them.
After living in Germany for three years, I noticed it quite a lot, but to be honest, a lot of Americans do this too, and I noticed I did this as well. Not as strongly in Germany, but we still do it. I think it's a mix of curiosity and some kind of natural human behavior that requires us to acknowledge people around us. Like in ancient times, we needed to make sure the small community we lived in were all accounted for, and nobody was missing from the tribe/community. Maybe it goes way back to that type of social human behavior.
Yes, I agree...this will also tell me if I can relax or have to be concerned about.
Just look at the shootings in the USA. One can never be to careful and therefore be aware of your surroundings as much as possible❣
@@sonjagatto9981 I'm not saying it's not a problem (cause it definitely is) but I really think you're exaggerating how dangerous the US is
I have to say, I have (sadly) never had the opportunity to visit Germany and have spent mt entire life in the US; with that said, all of these "German" things sound 100% normal to me. I do realize that the deposit thing is an oddity as my state (Michigan) is one of the few with a deposit systems (this has really thrown me off whenever I have stayed out of state). The rest just seem like everyday truths for me though. Maybe I am just the weird one, but I can't say for sure where any of those habits really come from (other than the deposit being a real thing here).
Remember that Seinfeld episode when Kramer and Newman were going to "make big money" by loading a truck full of recyclables and driving to Michigan? 🤣
12:26 We have a similar thing in Australia. I'm not sure about other states, but in NSW we have similar machines that issue a receipt that can be redeemed at a supermarket, but even better is the St Vincent de Paul Society have warehouses with a number or large centrifuges that sort dozens of cans and bottles all at once. The operator simply pours you box of recyclables into the machine, which spins and collects them onto a short conveyer, reads the barcode, and shoots them into one of the bins for the different types of bottles/cans/containers. Once your load is done you go to the checkout, swipe your debit card, and the money is deposited directly into your account. A car load is usually $30 ~ $50 @ .10c per item. Much better than one at a time.
Fountain soda is usually already cold, so I avoid ice. Also, I would rather have a greater volume of liquid soda than solid ice. I never got that from other Americans and their obsession with ice.
We have the same recycling system in Canada, but it defers from province to province. While Quebec has the same machines, where you need to put the cans and bottles one by one, Ontario let you crush the cans and you will returned to the Beer Store and they will either count them for you or just ask you how many cans you´ve got. We also tend to walk more than South of the Border. You will never catch a Canadian guy peeing while sitting! :)
The peeing while sitting started a few years ago when women were fed up to clean their husbands pee from the walls 😅
Eating barely hot food from plastic plates with plastic silverware at family dinners or hotel breakfast is one of the weirdest things I encountered in the US.
I can see how that would be seen as completely wasteful. I used to use paper plates sometimes when I was a bachelor and my girlfriend would point out how lazy and wasteful I was being. I stopped, but sometimes when no one is looking. Shhh.
The stare is just a cultural difference. It’s like the personal bubble. Some cultures have a smaller personal bubble and don’t mind standing close to a stranger. And then there are other cultures where they would feel uncomfortably close being a meter or even more apart. Usually the farther north you go the bigger the bubble gets. It’s probably also related to population density. The stare is similar. Different cultures have different lengths of eye-contact before they start to feel uncomfortable. German society just happens to fall more on one side of this spectrum. It’s culturally ingrained as well, like you should make direct eye-contact when you drink with someone and say cheers. Because in German culture direct eye-contact is seen as honest, respectful and open while averting your eyes seems shifty or dishonest. That’s why you say „they can’t even look me in the eye“ when someone has done something to you that requires an apology for example. For other cultures looking at you too long seems rude and they feel awkwardly in the spot light. But in German culture you look a little longer to respectfully acknowledge the other person. Averting your eye could actually mean there’s something wrong with the other party. Like they caught you looking and you avert your eyes, which means you tried to hide a disapproving look and got caught.
If you find yourself being stared at by a German the best thing to do is look at them briefly, nod slightly or hint a small smile by pressing your lips together a bit. That means you acknowledge each other and nothing about either of you is out of the ordinary.
I had the pleasure of living in Germany for three years. It had its ups and downs. The culture shock was tough to grasp at first until I made friends with local Germans who will be friends of mine for a lifetime now. Watching some of your videos really does make me miss my time there, but I am glad I get to be home again.
The cans and bottles thing was strange at first for me, but it wasn't too crazy. It was nice to get a little money back lol.
The ice thing at restaurants didn't really bother me(I like my drinks room temp anyway or the temp they're served at is generally fine). The weird part for me was the lack of refills lmao.
Lastly, the stairing thing... mostly among the older folks from what I noticed. Like, OLD old. They'll watch you. It's kinda creepy. I never got that vibe from my younger German friends in my age group.
I used to do that with my beer bottles. My in-laws used to think I was a drunk. But if you waited and stacked up 5 cases the 6th one I considered free.( It was). But when I was a child all sodas were in bottles and they were all deposit everywhere. That changed as aluminum cans started being sold. Now you can gather the aluminum and sell it for scrap. Though it’s only about 15-20 cents a pound.
I’m a traveler in the US and many of my friends from abroad have these same reactions and now I know why! Thanks for the info. I need to travel abroad to get the proverbial bird’s eye view one day! 😊
I lived most of my life in the US, and the idea of there being available parking anywhere baffles me. Living in Los Angeles I often had to park half a mile from my own house at night. Traffic was also so bad that public transport was usually faster (unless you were going a really long way), and I often had nightmares about forgetting where I parked.
Half a mile from your own house? You don't have a driveway or garage? Sorry 'bout that, that must really suck.
It's the same in many German cities too, at least when you live in the city centre. We also have to park around 600m away from our house at a public parking area. Especially in old city centres houses often don't have their own parking slots because, well, you didn't need them back in 1800 when the street was built.
For a lot of northwestern Europeans (German, Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Scandinavia etc.), if you live in a city, it's not really that uncommon to not own a car at all. It's usually cheaper, faster and safer to travel by public transport or bike. And the concept of the giant parking lots is something I really do not understand. City centers usually have parking garages with multiple stories instead of entire flat parking fields...
@@jeffafa3096 true, but most households (at least in Germany) do own at least one car, even in big cities. But people still use public transport, bikes or their own feet despite having a car. It's especially necessary if you have stuff to do outside of big cities where the public transport tends to be abysmal. Or if you're working shifts.
@@Eagle_Owl2 if you think public transport in rural areas of germany is abysmal, i invite you to come to Atlanta Georgia. This will fix your view instantly. :)
I think the extension to our German “stare” is the discussing of others in a public place - if you are afraid of our stare than beware, you might not have noticed that if two people stare at you then you’re definitely going to be the centre of their conversation!! 😂 We’re just really interested in observing people 😊
people watching can be fun.... !
@@csnide6702 Yes, somehow it is our "sport" and very enjoyable with a cup of coffee etc.
Lived in Berlin a couple years and the thing that stood out for me is the lack of elevators in residential buildings -- notably the case in East Berlin. Even when there is an elevator, as our building had, most Germans would not use it unless they were going to the top floors. Received many annoyed glances in the elevator when taking it to the 4th floor! Oh, and in Europe, that actually means the 3rd floor. Hahahah.
Yes, because the first is Parterre!
I use the Elevator every time, but manny of Friends use the stairs 😅 I’m a little bit lazy 😉
In the Netherlands buildings only require an elevator they're more than 3 (or for an American 4) floors
@@ennemuk in Germany too 😊
@@ennemuk That checks out. :D
I live in a state that has a bottle deposit system, and a friend of mine was recently surprised that it's not a thing in every US state. Most people I know have some sort of system for collecting and returning their various recyclable containers.
The staring segment was hysterically funny. The thing I found most disturbing in Italy were the toilets, basically a toilet seat covering a hole on the floor. Now Italian women tend to wear dresses. I had pants on and I had to take off my pants and underwear to pee! AWFUL!!!
I am dying laughing here! Especially the ice in drinks! I live in the US for 28 years now and still can’t stand the bucket of ice they put into drinks. As a side note: here in New England we do have a bottle recycling program just like in Germany. Greetings from Maine and Happy Thanksgiving 🦃
I lived in Vermont and they have it there. I don't see it in the New York area now.
@@RuleofFive well yes - NY is not part of the New England States - so this makes sense.
@@dagi72164 Yes I am aware of that. I mentioned it because I live in the NYC area now.
I live in one of the bottle deposits US States now, it took a while to get used to but now it’s just habit
Isn't the 'German stare' just day-dreaming? Meaning inside your imagination and not paying attention to the outside world?
Yes and staring and looking are two different things. Americans are just too sensible.
Might sometimes be daydreaming but Germans and Americans simply have different ideas of where looking borders staring.
Germans will find staring rude, too. We just consider some things looking that, to US Americans, would already be staring.
It's like people in the US requiring less personal space or being less conscious of speaking volume. Just different boundaries.
Sometimes.but sometimes it's also a competition between kids. Who can stare the longest without blinking. Or it's just a boring look around without avoiding other's glance. And sometimes it's amusement sitting in a cafe or anywhere else and watching people.
When you have writings on your shirt, they could even try to read that. When you have longer text on your shirt, the "stare" can be longer.
I don't know, if that is with many Germans, but with me it is.
Yes I do this all the time. It is day-dreaming. Sometimes for fun we would go to malls and watch people for entertainment.
Other than in downtown areas you never see anyone walking in the US. everywhere you look it’s completely dead and lifeless and dystopian. You might see the occasional person walking their dog.
I spent a couple years in southwest Germany and we kept 'racks' of empty beer bottles in our barracks room until we decided to return them when we bought the next full 'rack'.
Some people in the UK would view a glass full of ice as a scam. If a waiter produced a glass full of ice, say with Coca Cola in it, you would have a greatly reduced amount of drink in the glass.
but you can have as many glasses as you want so what’s the problem?
Yea well coke refills are pretty much free in the US so if anything you in the UK are getting scammed. In 1994 I studied at Lancaster Uni in the UK. I went to KFC in town, ordered a meal with a coke and asked for extra ice in my coke..because I knew how stingy they were with ice and I’m not a fan of lukewarm soda. They gave me 2 tiny ice cubes…no joke. I didn’t say anything, just laughed to myself. Maybe ice is like gold or something.
@@HamburgerHelperDeath Too much ice cubes in your drink will ruin its taste when they melt
And refilling for free is an American thing, we (usually) don't have that in Europe 😉
No problem cause you got free refills
@@goldflo91 I am glad we don't...it is mostly sugar. 👎
70 year American here who always has to ask for no ice. Also born and raised in Ohio. Um, maybe I am a little strange, I do ask for ice in my coffee, not to make it cold but to make it so I don't melt my lips off.
What about slurping the first sips and then after 5-10 minutes you are good to go to enjoy your coffee in a reasonable temperature. Thats how I do it.
@@ritterderkokosnuss3379 Cancer surgery, lost part of my upper lip, no slurping for me.
I lived in Northern Chile back in the mid-90s. The weirdest (and probably grossest) thing to me was that I had to get used to putting my used toilet paper (after a bowel movement) in the waste basket instead of flushing it.
I see this in Southern California (USA). There are often trash cans in the stall. The reason is that in Mexico and other Latin American countries, the sewer systems are so poor quality that that can’t handle anything other than human waste. The convention of not flushing toilet paper and “ass gaskets” is still followed even though the sewers will handle it. The system will even handle dead Gold Fish and illegal drugs during a police raid.
However, I’ve heard that the same old sewer systems in places like New York have the same problem. There are codes there prohibiting Garbage Disposal units on kitchen sinks to prevent dumping kitchen waste into the sewer system.
This is still a thing in many older buildings in Korea (where I've been living for the last 7 years). Old buildings have small pipes. So there are typically signs that say to throw tissue in the trash
I lived in Nurnberg for almost 4 years and loved it. You’re absolutely correct that the adjustment wasn’t all that difficult as you pointed out. There were definitely some things to get used to, and I even had some real adjustments when I came back to the US. It was to Cincinnati which did have a lot of German influences which I noticed far more than had I moved there from a US town.
We loved Nurnberg when I was stationed in Vilseck 96-01, we tried to make a weekend family trip there at least monthly the entire time we were there. Most other weekends were in Amberg or Sulzbach.
I prefer no ice in my drinks. I do like blended drinks, but otherwise no ice for me. Many people think I'm weird, but I also find it uncomfortable to drink most drinks that cold. I had a British friend get me a drink, bring it back and realize he forgot the ice, so he was relieved that I actually preferred it that way.
When I was a little kid in the 70's, we (USA) had glass bottles of soda, not plastic, and we got a deposit back on each bottle we returned to the store.
Ok Boomer.
My (Boomer) stepfather had a lot of them saved for making homemade beer in. Was that a fad in the '70s? This deposit system arrived in the 1850s with commercial breweries and soda works.
@@dorfkind8571 Okay Zoomer.
@@chitlitlah LOL
Worked in Germany, made the mistake (one time) of normal speed unloading my shopping cart. Looked behind me to see Death Ray Stares from the 3 people behind me, I didn't make that mistake again.😊 Luv your videos.
I am smiling at your comment...Your "normal speed" is way to slow Michael.
Married in Canada now for some time....most people are very slow including my Husband.
🤣I am reading you comment again and get the picture. LOL 🌍😉💝
@@sonjagatto9981 Me too 😅🤣😂
Your stare at 10:07 was disturbing and hilarious Feli! 😅Becoming an actress is in your future!👌
Yeah, Feli's little roleplay there had me laughing out loud too.
Feli really does a great job of production in her videos. Here, not only the stare, but the tense spaghetti western music just made me laugh. She really knows how to inform and entertain at the same time.
The beverage with ice strategy is the glass is now half ice,the near zero cost and only half beverage, so in effect you have paid double the price for half as much.
Enjoyed this topic. I am an American, but I have spend time working in Germany, especially in 1980's and 1990's, so your observations are quite familiar. Being from TX made me sort of a celebrity because of US TV shows. Crazy.
Tschüss
I've have been to Germany several times and I never sat down to pee once nor was I ever asked to. We stayed with distant relatives and they never once mentioned it or asked us to do it. This is the first time I've heard of that. Not saying she is wrong, just not my experience. Every public bathroom I went to had a urinal. They do leave tips out in the open in a tip jar in public bathrooms though. I thought that was weird because you could never do that in America, it would be stolen in an instant. Last time I was there was in 2011, so some things may have changed.
The urinal ist for standing, but on the toilet you have to sit down... Because the normal toilet isn't designed for standing, it is a mess when everyone stands to pee.
Actually men peeing sitting just a thing a minority of women insist on. Interesting enough there are actually laws in sone areas which say you aren‘t allowed to pee standing after ten o’clock at night if you live in an apartment building.
You're only supposed to sit when peeing in a normal toilet and not a urinal. Of course no one would sit down on a urinal. However, sitting while peeing in a normal toilet is considered common courtesy because it can often result in a mess when people pee standing up. I think you weren't asked to do that because it's just expected in Germany.
Being a German living in Germany I don't really know what that staring thing is you talk about. I, too, would be either intimidated or even irritated if some stranger kept staring at me. Maybe it's different across different regions in Germany? I live near Cologne and people here, in the Rhineland, are usually said to be a bit more sociable. Maybe that has something to do with it.
The acceptable length of eye contact varies between cultures and in Germany people tend to hold eye contact just a few milliseconds longer than in the US, which then can feel like staring to someone not used to the culture
Then there's also the classic "old german lady leaning on the window sill and watching passerbys"
Also germans being naturally unable to mind their own business there's the "what's all this ruckus"-stare whenever something unusual happens
I think its different from different regions honestly. I from the East (Brandenburg) near Poland borders and I have friend from america and canada that was intimidated because of our so called german stare. People have told me that we seems rude and cold.
@@666rsrs Americans do this too.
When I travelled to the US a few years ago, I received weird looks for asking to have my drinks without ice. Foe me, it' s way to cold and I don't want tp pay only for ice cubes either. In this point, I can't fight the swabian german in me 😂
Also, completely filling up the glass with ice and then pour the drink in it means that there is waaaay less drink in it which saves some money for the restaurant.
@@Linuxdirk that's my point 😀
Most places have free refills though so the ice displacement is negligible since you can just get it refilled again.
@@Delostacia I wonder if they calculated it with this in mind. Are there studies on how many refills people usually take? If it's two for example, and the ice displaces 50% of the drink it's basically not "free" :)
@@Linuxdirk Think it depends on the person. Years ago when I would go out with friends, usually 8-11 fountain drinks over the course of a meal. Nowadays maybe 2 (I no longer drink soda so it dropped precipitously).
My theory is that tap water is cheaper than fizzy soda for the American restaurant. It's a scheme to put twelve ice cubes in the glass of fizzy soda in order to save the restaurant owner a few cents per serving. If water is one cent per ounce and fizzy soda is five cents per ounce, the more ice that is stacked in the glass, the less room there is for the soda.
This "staring" scene was so hilarious!!! This music.... just wonderful! 😂😂😂😂
Could the 'German stare' one vary geographically? I've recently spent 3 weeks in northern Germany and never noticed any staring, even though I'm very self-conscious.. Everyone seemed much more polite and gaze-averting as opposed to the rude staring where I'm from :)
Very interesting! I had no idea about the "German stare". I wonder if that is is a German thing, or if other countries/cultures do that. A friend of mine recently completed his corporate harassment training at work. The updated version of the training had a section about how "staring or prolonged looking" can be considered a form of harassment. He was floored! I was as well.
i am from germany and never noticed that (only rarely from some migrant kids in the subway) so at least for me this isn´t a thing
I've been to Germany three times and never noticed the "German stare." But I probably wasn't even paying attention to others and their long periods of inactivity. If I subconsciously noted it, I probably chalked it up to urban city behavior, or they were just some silent weirdo. Now of course, I'm going to look for it the next time I am in Berlin or the Rhineland.
i live in Sweden for three yrs now and didnt take notice of any difference in "staring behaviour".
Maybe it's a Bavarian thing...
I am Dutch and live in California with my Mexican family in law. The biggest confusion constantly is birthdays and fathers/mothersday. In the Netherlands we congratulate multiple people with someone's birthday, like this person's parents or partner. Something they really don't do here 😆
On the other hand, for something like mothersday I'm used to only getting a gift for my own mom, and no one else. Maybe a partners parents if you're on good terms and that's it.
My family in law however, celebrates ALL moms/dads for these holidays. They literally go and message/call multiple people they know that are a mom/dad and even get them little presents. Not sure if this is American or Mexican though. 🙃
Interesting. In germany we only congratulate the person who is actually having his/her birthday.
Mothers day is probably like in the Netherlands: if you celebrate it, it is only your own mother.
That's probably American. I'll definitely wish a happy Mother's Day to almost every adult woman I interact with on that day, whether I know they are a mom or not. Less so for Father's Day, sadly...
I love this - I spent a ton of time in Germany when I was young and really enjoy your videos ❤
There used to be a deposit system here for bottles. Pepsi, Coke, etc used to come in glass bottles, not plastic. You could return the bottles to the store and get a deposit.
I think my anxiety disorder prevents me from doing the German stare. I'd rather not get any attention because I always feel like if I get any attention from a stranger it must be negative (I know it's not but I can't help it) so I avoid looking at other people longer than a second. But my mom literally stops walking to stare at people lol
*Go to expressvpn.com/felifromgermany and find out how you can get 3 months of ExpressVPN free!* Have you ever experienced any of these scenarios? 😅 Or other things that you found pretty weird but that seemed to be normal to the locals? Let me know in the comments below! 👇
Also, make sure to check out my counterpart video about _"5 Things Americans Do That Germans Find WEIRD!"_ ▸ua-cam.com/video/sRLI0T7PV10/v-deo.html
ja guten morgen auch
Feli you would fit in over here in Oregon. We have a flat (back in the early 1970's it varied by container) $0.10 deposit on all beverage containers "soda, beer, water" with the exception of wine and liquor.
Guten Morgen Feli!
Leider treibt hier @davidsonugonnaya mit deinem Kanalfoto in den Kommentaren sein Unwesen. Habe ihn bereits gemeldet, aber vielleicht solltest du das auch selbst noch mal machen. Danach kannst du meinen Kommentar hier gern entfernen. :)
Danke für das schöne Video und liebe Grüße!
Hey wollte dich nur wissen lassen das da ein(vermutlich) Bot Nachrichten mit deinem Namen und Foto schreiben in denen es heißt man soll an diese WhatsApp Nummer schreiben. Hab den Kommentar gemeldet aber wer weiß ob das wirklich was bringt
Is it true Germans don't eat turkey? I knew an Asian lady who wanted to make a turkey dinner for her mainland Chinese friends. She went out and bought a 34 pound turkey! (Maybe in was found frozen in the tundra.) She found she couldn't get it in the oven!
Men sitting down to pee must be a German thing, never heard of this in the UK or in Norway.
It's kinda humiliating for their men...
The bottle recycling is similar in Canada to Germany, we don't crush them either and keep the bottle cap on and we take them to a bottle depot and get cash back. Seeing the machine at the grocery store in Germany was new to me, but my ex showed it to me. Filling up cups with ice, money saver here to use less product of the drink. walking around in Europe is my favourite!! I love it and can see so many places and take cool pictures, north america people are lazy and because of how they build our communities and shopping centres, usually makes sense to drive. The German stare, I really didn't notice or it didn't bother me. When I'd visit China I was stared at constantly being the only white girl around, I noticed that more than in Germany so my next visit I'll pay attention more just out of curiosity.
I spent a month biking all over Scotland, what I was surprised by was all the train service. What annoyed me, was EVERY TIME I got directions - they were "just over there", turns out that mean 2 miles down the road, take a left go 2 more miles and you're there.
What I loved, was everywhere I went someone gave me beer - it was room temperature, but it was GOOD BEER, so it's fine.
I'm a German living in the US (NYC) for 5 years now and I love watching these videos! I must admit the "German stare" (looking at people) is something I still do. My friends here have told me that I can't do that and I've noticed that Americans get really uncomfortable about it. Sometimes it's daydreaming but I also just like looking at people. Occasionally I get a smile back and then I wonder if they thought I'm flirting with them.
Btw, NY state has a bottle deposit system so you see people with shopping carts and huge balloon like plastic bags of bottles that they collected from the trash.
Not feeling comfortable with smiling at strangers might be part of the riddle. Americans see you looking down and thight you must have been caught staring, when you just don‘t like smiling.
French people feel uncomfortable with stares too, because when they happen to stare at you, it's usually with hostility, to make you understand you're the one who's weird, or trying to flirt with you
I understand the German stare. I’ve had to learn to actively look at random stuff to try avoiding making people uncomfortable.
Allot of people in America tend to see just looking as people as staring
In the US staring is considered rude, and it's something we're all taught as children.
Why do you stare??? I don't get it! I mean why not just look and then carry on looking at someone/something else lol
I have almost always drank my sodas at room temperature more so since I left Germany. The biggest thing I miss most of Germany is walking around Munich and Rosenheim
As a Belgian having travelled to the US I indeed recognise the ice in the drink matter. I think it has to do with the fact that in the US drinks are not kept in the fridge, as is done in Europe. Also the staring. I think all over Europe it is normal to stare at someone, and we do not really realise we do it, while in the US it is not done. People in the US are frightened when you stare at them.
Staring at someone means you tryna catch these hands 🤣😂
@@ramoncastaneda8432 Maybe we should formulate it that Americans try to avoid looking straight to someone's face, also if it is only for a short moment, while Europeans do not have problems with that.
I am so relieved that we are not the only ones who look at other people 😀 Greetings to Belgium ....seeing your post reminds me that we wanted to visit Antwerp again. 🙂
In Vietnam, they put huge chunks of ice even in beer (or at least they used to, 20 or so years ago when I last visited.) In my hotel in Dalat they kept several cans in the fridge specifically for me.
In our McDonalds here in Zagreb, Croatia they do put quite a lot of ice in your soft drink, but i always specifically ask for no ice (because I don't want my drink watered down, and it is adequately chilled as it is.) OTOH, i like my water (ordinary tap water, usually) ice cold - this time, I have to specifically ask _for_ ice in cafes.
As someone who lived in Munich, Germany 🇩🇪, thank you for this video!