We're shopping experts. For many Germans, shopping is quite like this: 1) Make a list of the items you need. Detailed. Including the exact brand or size of a product if needed. 2) Select your supermarket. If it's just basic groceries, the discount super markets are your cheapest and fastest option. Bigger supermarkets will cost you more, but you'll get more space at the checkout, more time, friendlier cashiers and - of course - a bigger selection in a much bigger market. 3) Go through your desired supermarket. One time. You'll have the perfect route made up in your mind. Oh - and if you're not buying much, instead of taking a shopping cart, take a bag that's just big enough so all your stuff fits in. (Bonus info: The smaller discounters usually don't offer shopper baskets, so take a bag that's big enough. 4) At the checkout, place all the items in the right order to stuff them into your bag. 5) Damn, only one customer in front of you and you forgot the apples? Okay, run through the whole supermarket as fast as you can, get the apples, back into the checkout line. Just hope you didn't take longer than 30 seconds because you don't want to make the other customers wait for you. 6) The cashier starts scanning the items while you stuff them into your bag right after they've been scanned. When paying by card, even use the additional few seconds to stuff more items (pro tip: You can pay by card at most discounters and it will always give you a few additional seconds because the card reader always takes longer than the cashier counting money). Then walk away with your bag still open, a few items and your wallet in hand. At the way out of the store, put the rest of your items into your bag and make sure your wallet is safe. This way, I take ten minutes to get all my groceries for a whole week. It's all about Deutsche Effizienz. ;)
How else would you write it? I also order the stuff on the checkout band in such an order that the heavy things (like cans and bottles) are on the bottom of the boxes.
That's the tricky thing about moving to a new country - you don't know what you don't know! And for those who already live there, it's so normal that they take it for granted and don't think to tell you about it.
And on top of that, getting that experience on your own is the best thing that can happen (if you dont do way too embarrassing stuff ;) ) I enjoy that when i am on vacation.
Mama's Studio I know this from my traves to Greece and and Thailand. Thailand is very hard - you did a mistake and everybody smile only - but nobody talk to you what was or is wrong! So crazy!
Funktioniert auch anders herum: Ich habe in Neuseeland an der Supermarktkasse wirklich mal erzählt, "wie mein Tag war". die haben ganz schön komisch geguckt.😁
minastaros Man wurde gefragt, also erzählt man die Wahrheit. Sonst hätte die andere Person mich ja *nicht* angesprochen, nicht wahr? Aber eigentlich ist es in D doch nur eine Floskel - in NZ jetzt auch? Warum ist sie davon jetzt irritiert?
pro-tip for shopping in the (german) supermarket: dont try to pack everything at the checkout already. just put it back in your cart, pay, step aside and pack your stuff. most german supermarkets have some kind of designated area where you can pack your things. its much less of a hassle this way, especially, if you bought many items
I pre-sort my groceries on the band: cans to the front, fruits to the back. So I just have to throw the items into my shopping bag and all the robust stuff is down and the fragile stuff is on top. Perfect. But even to Germans I look like Adrian Monk.
i think that is only suitable if you buy smaller amounts / not that many items. just imagine shopping with your cart filled to the brim to feed your 4 people strong family ;) no way you keep up with the cashier :P if you only buy a few items then it works fine. if i only buy a few items i even estimate what i will have to pay in my head and have the money ready already, but if i know i will end up with my cart filled up to the brim i don't calculate what i have to pay in my head.
It's mainly to save money to the supermarket. Aldi is super fast, but other supermarkets are slower. No need to hurry, you're the customer nevertheless.
yeah and hence it is ok to annoy everyone else around you, becaue we all know we are the most important person on the planet. why make it easy for everyone and just put it back in the cart like the vast majority of people does....
it's funny how you say that New Zealand sees itself as "green" while Germany is much more so, and on the other hand, so many Germans complain about our country not being green enough
-yep that's Germany Even if it's perfect it's not good enough ^^ Gosh I love this country Being an engineer in the states is so easy, but in Germany you get challenged
You just don't. With complete strangers, which no never see again you need not to build up a sort of relationship. Germany is a society of individual. No team. We are not a big family.
It‘s changes from city to city, I‘m born near by Düsseldorf and this people are smiling. Now, I‘m in the north of Hessen.......and here the most of the peopel are looking of their boots and not in your face. It was a shock, when I first came to north Hessen.
even though i was born / grew up in germany , i always smile when i see other people. and the thing is at first the most germans are a bit confused but they will smile back and keep on smiling (most of the time anyways). i think germany needs more smiles and happieness so please if you visit/live in germany try to smile at random people it'll make their day trust me :D
Although that is right, the smiling in open streets to strangers isn't for me. Firstly, I'm in my thoughts to much to greatly think about them, and secondly, I don't want to disturb them, when I don't want something from them. In a shop or such a smile comes automaticly in my face, I think.
I think it also depends on where you live in Germany... If you live in a smaller city or in a village it should be fine to smile at everybody and you most likely get a smile back. But in a city it would be annoying for me to smile every few seconds to every random stranger :P
i live in a german village and all people say hello to each other and smile at each other or wave. it's just a thing of being in a big city or small city :)
that´s right. and that is the reason why the chance of being lonely in a big city is far greater than in a village. Even if it doesn´t seem to make sense at first. The more people around you the less you care about individuals.
the cashiers in Germany are usually controlled how fast they work. like u can see how many costumers u finished while working. It's the efficiency that matters not the friendly/ nice treating
Yeah, that‘s sad. I think it should be part of the companies ethics and policy that humanity and some friendliness is part of the job and gets honored. Webwould live in a better place with that. 🙂
To learn the differences of cultures is neither a mistake nor should it be embarrassing. You can't make a mistake if you are new to a country, you just learn. Those people who make you feel embarrassed are making a mistake. If someone is new to your culture then show them how to do things instead of barking at them. Especially the cash point at our supermarkets here in Germany are the worst in the whole world. I love it in NZ when they pack your things or at least let you the time to pack it yourself. People like you, who like to learn about new cultures, should never think they are making mistakes. You are making experiences!
having moved to vienna not too long ago, i'm afraid i have to partially disagree. supermarket customer service in germany is heaven compared to some experiences i made over here. there's cashiers in some stores that won't even say hello or goodbye which is something i honestly can't remember ever happening to me in germany. i believe this is a rather unique super market/grocery store thing though. department store staff or employees in little shops for clothing etc are usually very friendly and helpful, but not pushy.
LOL really? Worse than at the cashpoint in a Penny? hahahaha OMG I feel very sorry for you! Hope you don't stay there forever! I think this is also a bit of a Vienna thing ;-)
it probably is. haha vienna folk are a special brand of people, but my overall impression of the city is a very positive one so i don't mind staying here. for the time being, at least. :)
September Rain where did she say that they barked at her? Sounds to me that this was more about how she felt. She felt embarrassed, she wasn't made to be embarrassed.
In Germany its a "cultural crime" to waste other peoples time. We think that this is really rude behavoir. So asking people how the are when your not actually interested is viewed as time wasting, so were not used to that because no one does it. Same in the supermarket. If the cashier is scanning your things slowly he´s wasting your time. So he does it fast. Thats basicly the main rule, beeing polite here means saying hello and goodbye in a friendly way but not doing more than that except if you really interested in starting a conversation. Another thing that happend to me when i was in the US was people randomly asking me if i need help with this or that thing (like the way to somewhere when they saw i was a tourist). This is rude to germans - if we need help, we ask for help. We dont want other people just approaching us and offering help because if we dont need it, they wasted our time. Of course im overdoing this here, we dont think so straight as "wow this guy wanted to help me, what a waste of time", its more of an unconscious thing but when you (as a german) think about what behavior makes your uncomfortable it mostly comes done to this single argument. Like if your friend asks you for help with anything, you go over and help him and later on you find out that he didnt even tried it himself first before asking you.
I wish I was more German. Watching all these videos from and about people from other Country's has shown me how "superficial" American's can really be all in the name of being "polite". It has taught me a lot. I so respect that about the Germans. If they care enough about you to ask how you are then they mean it. In America it is a lot of the time a "superficiality" especially in the South...But I love Southerners.
It's quite funny to read this. My parents went to Hawaii and when they came back, they were gushing about how everyone was sooooo much more friendly over there than they are in Germany. And they even insisted it was not superficial, but real friendly-ness.
Hm, also bei uns fragen schon viele Verkäuferinnen einfach mal so ob ich was brauche. xD Und wir fragen doch auf oft "Wie gehts dir" und antworten mit "gut", oder nicht?
Naja, Verkäuferinnen fragen halt weil es deren Job ist. Aber generell gesprochen werd ich selten gefragt ob ich Hilfe brauche wenn ich zielstrebig in ein Geschäft gehe und mir nehme was ich kaufen will. Wenn man natürlich im Laden rumschlendert und so aussieht als wüsste man nicht was man haben möchte wittern die ihre Chance auf Verkäufe und fragen nach - das ist klar und auch richtig so. Offensichtlich bist du zum stöbern dort ohne genaues Ziel. Mit dem Hilfsangebot verschwenden sie also nicht deine Zeit sondern die Zeit ist genau dafür eingeplant. Wir fragen nur Bekannte wie es ihnen geht bei denen es zumindest so halbwegs interessiert. Klar, wenn die dann ausholen und dich 20 Minuten volllabern ists nervig und mit einem "gut" sind wir zufrieden aber wann hast du das letzte mal einen wildfremden gefragt wie es ihm/ihr geht ohne, dass du wirklich eine Konversation beginnen wolltest? Lass mich raten - noch nie? Natürlich habe ich bewusst ein bisschen übertrieben aber das Grundprinzip stimmt schon.
At first I was so confused when I was in NZ and People asked me how I was but then gave me this weird look when I actually told them. Germans just aren't into smalltalk. It was so hard for me to get used to all the "How was your weekend", "what did you get up to yesterday" "how's it going" stuff. Especially at work it just feels so wrong (smalltalk in a business E-Mail?!?!)
My husband also found the small talk very confusing when he first came to New Zealand. Small talk in a business E-mail here in Germany would just never happen!
So, as a German who used to live in New Zealand for almost two years, I can tell you the exact same thing about your country. The eftpos/credit card thing is something I stuck to even when I came back to Germany, and still - after 7 years - my friends and family finds it so so odd that I don't carry a lot of cash around me. Sometimes it does get a little awkward (I keep forgetting that a) supermarkets are closed on Sundays, and b) there is LITERALLY no bakery or butcher or whatever which accepts credit cards. Mostly not even eftpos)... When I started doing my own shopping in NZ I didn't know the people packing your bag do it just because it's their job. I thought they'd expect me to tip them. And at first I thought it was the person in front of me who accidntally took my groceries as well. You can imagine the looks I got when I snatched my groceries out of their hand... OOPS! I was that one odd person at the checkout who took "Hey, how are you?" as an honest question, too. I still cringe when I remember that day I told the cashier about my second degree sunburn from working in the vineyards... I've never gotten used to the rush at German supermarkets again. And that being said, I used to be a cashier. I hated the rush - it was a lot of stress for me as well as for the customers. But that's how it's supposed to be and if we checked people out too slowly we would have a chat with our supervisor... German efficiency, right?
In Germany the shops have to pay a fee for every e-Card transmission of Money. So most - especially small shops - wont accept EC-Cards for small amounts cause they would pay more, than they get from your purchasing :)
Yeah. The banks take - I think - around 2 % of price. And maybe there is some smallest fixed amount they take. Therefore it is a little bit unwritten rule not to pay small amounts by card.
@@AntoinetteEmily The unwritten rule is: No EC card below 10€. And of course the fee is not the only reason; for more cash-intensive services it is easier to cook the books in order to pay less taxes -a fraud for which especially gastronomy is widely known.
Der letzte "Fehler" ist kein "Fehler". Es ist nie verkehrt freundlich zu sein.. Ich finde sowas traurig. Ich lächle auch immer, weil es mich selbst glücklich macht wenn mir jemand so entgegen kommt.
haha this video is awesome. I am german and had to smile all the time when I heard about your incidents. The "How are you" experience happend to me in Australia but basically just exactly the opposite of what happend to you. First I always used to give more detailed answers about my condition or where I am heading to,untill I recognized it's basically just like a hello and they absolutly dont expect any answer at all. Also a similiar example was, the receptionist of the hotel always called me darling, which would be a total "no go" in germany............I would really like to see the facial experession of a German in a Hotel in Germany "Hallo Liebling" :D
So true. Would be thinking "OMG what a creep!", never return to that hotel again and tell everyone about the unprofessional behavior of that receptionist.
it is not illegal not to recycling, specially the big appartments houses have often no recycling dumping place. they just have 2 or 3 different trash cans, sometimes just one. the point is when you dont recyle you will have of course your trash can full more quickly. and in the end you just have to pay more money for the garbage disposal. since you just have to pay to the mixed garbage. so recyling can simply safe your money
Illumin4t I am not completely sure, but I guess you are kinda wrong. If you dont recycle correctly, the rubbish collection service will not pick up your garbage.
he is correct. Restmüll is payed for by you. Packaging/Plastic is included when you buy packaged stuff and paper might be sold of as a resource. So you only pay for mixed, which is most of the time dumped and not processed in any way. Of cause if you spoil resources like plastic/tin or paper with a Banana peal the garbage collectors can choose to not pick it up and mark it to tell you what was wrong with it.
+Max Mustermann Illumin4t is right, Hausmüll is the most expensive, paper, garden waste, and yellow bags are cheaper. So it is in your own interest to sort your trash (so it can be recycled). If you live in a big city apartement, you may not care too much, because you do not have (*) directly for your carelessness, but rather the cost for the whole housing complex are allocated. [Edited:] (*) to pay
Eragon Baffel DMSG1981 Mein Punkt war, dass die Müllabfuhr die Restmüll nicht mitnimmt, wenn es sich offensichtlich um Papier oder Grünschnitt handelt. Mir ist nicht klar, ob das irgendeine rechtliche Grundlage hat. Allerdings sehe ich Recycling schon als eine Art Pflicht an, wenn der Müll nicht abgeholt wird, wenn anstelle einer Sortierung auf die anderen Tonnen alles gemeinsam im Restmüll entsorgt wird.
DMSG1981 Sorry - glass, clothes, garden waste, yellow bag/ box and paper are free! Only the black box and brown box you pay! Okay - correctly you pay yellow bag/box too - with every product what you buy self in every market e.g. Tetrapack. This are products of "Grüner Punkt" system - the trade company must collect all of them back and signal that with the yellow color waste and the "Grüner Punkt" symbol on the product self.
As a German I have to say please don't stop smiling at or greeting people on the street. I absolutely love this in other cultures and usually Germans simply need some time to get used to it but will appreciate it after some time. I started smiling and greeting people I usually meet on my daily way to work after I spent some time in Canada. For the first week people reacted a little confused or not at all. After I kept greeting them every morning for about a week they started returning the gesture and it's spread on to others from there. I can say that my way to work has become a lot more enjoyable just from this small difference.
Janes Witthake It makes a huge difference where you live in Germany. It’s really common to greet people friendly in a small town but obviously less in a bigger city.
Just as kraenk 12 said. In bigger cities that are more anonymous it is uncommon. In villages where most people know each other it is still expected to a point that not greeting the others is considered rude.
I'm from Germany and have been to Australia for over 2 years, and the most uncomfortable situation that I just can't get used to is if the cashier is trying to make smalltalk... they often don't just ask how I am, but more specific questions e.g. what I have been up to today, what I'm up to tonight, commenting on the big amount of certain items I'm buying (sometimes bulk when cheap) etc. That always makes me feel so awkward that when I'm on my own always use the self check out area of big supermarkets :D Mostly because I'm in general not a very chatty person, and also because I'm not used to this at all from Germany. I also find this situation uncomfortable because I know they're small talking because they are told by their employer that they should do this, so it doesn't feel genuine. A simple "hello" and "bye" is totally enough in my opinion...I just want to buy my groceries and get out of the supermarket haha!
mdmm Oh in Berlin It’s quite common the cashier makes some snappy comments, like „Für mehr hat’s wohl nich jereicht?!“ when only buying a pack of cigs and a bottle of Jägermeister :)
Hey ich finde es super spannend wie Fremde die deutsche Kultur wahrnehmen. Ich musste teilweise so lachen bei deinem Video. Besonders als es um das Anlächeln ging. Habe mich da so wieder gefunden. Das Tempo im Supermarkt ist aber sogar für mich als Deutsche manchmal ein bisschen zu flott. :-)
Wenn ich mal im Bahnhof beim Bäcker bin, ist es leider auch oft so, dass die Leute, bei denen man etwas kauft, gar nicht lächeln oder ein offensichtlich künstliches Lächeln aufsetzen. Ich habe dort bisher nur eine getroffen, die mich dabei wirklich offen angelächelt hat. Das war natürlich bei weitem schöner.
Wenn eine Verkäuferin fragt: "Darf es sonst noch etwas sein?" sage ich ab und an: "Ein Lächeln" und das hat meistens die Wirkung, dass man auch ein ehrliches Lächeln bekommt.
H.P. Vogel als jemand, der an der Kasse arbeitet, kann ich dir sagen dass das ziemlich gemein ist. Wenn die Strichcodes beschädigt sind müssen wir die Nummer unter den Strichcodes (EAN) von Hand eintippen und das dauert lange und ist umständlich. Ich kann gut verstehen, dass es manchmal ein bisschen zu schnell geht, aber eine freundliche Bitte das Tempo etwas zu reduzieren wäre mir viel lieber als dass meine Arbeit sabotiert wird. Denn wie gesagt, die Strichcodes absichtlich zu beschädigen finde ich einfach nur gemein weil dadurch so viel mehr Arbeit entsteht - als Kassierer ist man sowieso schon gestresst und wenn dann noch gefühlt die Hälfte der Strichcodes beschädigt ist geht das Stresslevel durch die Decke.
Das ist so lustig diese 'Fehler' als Deutsche zu hören für mich ist das ja normal :D Ich träume davon, dass mir mal die Verkäuferin die Tasche packt - selbst für mich als 'Ur-Deutsche' ist das Einpacken der Einkäufe immer ein riesen Stress😬 Wie lange lebst du denn jetzt schon fest in Deutschland? :) (Du kannst gerne auf englisch antworten :))
Ich muss sagen: ICh packe mit System auf das Band und dann vom Band direkt in mitgebrachte Kisten und Tüten: Außer im ALDI und LIDL komme ich mit dem packen problemlos mit. ^^
ALDI muss spezielle Trainings-Center haben, wo arme Kassiererinnen tagelang durch tausende Test-Kunden-Käufe gejagt werden, bevor sie an echte Kassen dürfen. Anders ist das Tempo nicht zu erklären! :D (Im Ernst: In Wirklichkeit ist das viel heftiger. Die langsamsten Kassierinnen - in Anschlägen/"Pieps" pro Minute - einer jeden Filiale bekommt regelmäßig Ärger und Druck, so schnell zu werden wie die anderen. Sobald sie das ist, gibt es eine neue "Langsamste"... :/ )
QemeH stimmt. Eine Kollegin war früher bei Lidl und sie sagte man muss eine gewisse Zahl an Anschläge/ min schaffen. Also so und so viele Teile in der Minute waren dann mind. vorgegeben.
Wenn man die Leute länger kennt, unterhält man sich auch mal. Im Supermarkt sind ständig wechselnde Leute, die Schlange ist lang mit ungeduldigen Leuten die nicht in der Stimmung sind übers Wetter zu reden; und die Kassierer haben auch Druck , weil sie mit den Regalen einräumen noch nicht fertig sind und die Schlange nicht noch länger werden soll....
I love how you want to intregrate into German culture, I find it extremely respectful (I'm not German, I'm English), but I think it's important that people do so. From what you've said though, it makes me really want to move to New Zealand. Everyone over there sounds so friendly and kind!
Das kommt aber glaube ich auch drauf an wo in Deutschland man unterwegs ist. Ich wohne in der Pfalz, in einem kleinen Dorf (wo entsprechend auch die Bevölkerungsdichte niedriger ist) und hier grüßt sich jeder, egal ob man sich kennt oder nicht, geht also sogar noch weiter als nur ein Lächeln.
Avvisoful Aber stell dir mal vor, du würdest jeden im Supermarkt anlächeln. Die würden sich fragen ob du unter Drogen wärst. Natürlich hast du recht dass auf dem Dorf schneller mal Hallo oder hier Moin gesagt wird.
Wenn sie zum 30. mal von Kerlen angemacht wurde aufgrund des Lächelns, lässt sie es wohl lieber. Deshalb laufen auch die meisten sehr attraktiven Frauen mit nem "bitch face" durch die Gegend. Hat alles seine Gründe.
I teach German kids in cape town and the one thing I notice in general is that they will always say a big "hello" every few minutes when they see me and then carry on with what they are doing, no further conversation just straight to the point.
As a German I really had problems to understand, that Americans and Australians just say "How are you?" and not really being interested in how I REALLY am. It was just like "Why do they ask me if they do not want to know it?" It feels rude, just like saying "I love you" and not meaning it! ;) If a German asks you how you are he/she really wants to know, that's true. Yeah, and we do not smile at strangers, if you do so, they might think you are nuts - or if you do smile at a man, he might think you are interested in him. ;)
It's a cultural thing, it's just a greeting, not meant to be a literal question. In most of the English speaking world we say things like "what's up?" "how ya doin?" "how's it going?" I lived in Germany for years and I heard people all the time greet someone by saying "Na?" What's up with that? Nobody seemed bothered by it.
As a Kiwi living in Germany, I can confirm every single one of these things. Especially the honest answers to 'how are you?' Cool video. Glad I found you.
Haha! The supermarket thing is soo true. I love how you point out things that we might not even think about as they are just normal for us (germans) 😂😂 but it's just true!! I am living in Spain for 7 years now and the last time I visited my family in Germany I was amazed by how fast the cashier was 😂😂 in Spain they are a lot more relaxed as well. 😂 I really love your videos! Just subscribed a few days ago 🤗😉
I am currently in NZ (just 3 weeks to go) and will miss all this things you just mentioned back in GER. I like friendly smiling people and smalltalk with the cashier. I will miss the more open people thar are not just keeping to themselves. The 'how are you' question annoy me sometimes because I, as a German, want to answer honestly and not just say good, when its actually not good. I like more honesty 😉 good video Antoinette. I will miss NZ so damn much but at the moment its so cold, so I can look forwars to the warm wheather in Germany. How do you feel about having a warm house in the winter in Germany? It so freezing cold inside the houses here. I miss the central heating system extremly. Best greetings from Christchurch cheers
I would just like to say you are very pretty and your videos are very informative and I thoroughly enjoy watching them. I learn a lot from them. I was stationed in Berlin during my time in the U.S. Army from 1979 to 1981. Keep up the great work and keeping us informed. You also have a very lovely daughter.
Hey Antoinette. Cool video and nice to hear a fellow kiwi's perspective on funny old Germany. This is my 4th year here and I'm also married to a German woman. The speed of the supermarket checkout still blows my mind!!
I totally agree witn September Rain. I'm sorry for you that you were embarrassed. You are so open minded, friendly and willimg to learn - shame on the people who made you feel bad in the situations you describe. Do you live in Northern Germany? Here it's more likely to get a long story as an answer on "wie geht es dir" as in Southern Germany. I yoused to live in Frankfurt and eben there, the people don't really expect an answer on how you are really feeling, when they ask "wie geht es dir". They eben take a short wording and only ask : Ey, wie? :D
Haha, bin ich die einzige, die an der Kasse Spaß daran hat, selbst bei Aldi die Sachen schnell wieder in den Einkaufswagen zu räumen? Ich seh das eher als wöchentliche Herausforderung und komme inzwischen auch problemlos mit dem Aldi-Tempo klar😅
Nein, bist du nicht. :-) Ich mache mir jede Woche den Spaß und liefere mir mit der Kassiererin ein Wettrennen. Meist muss ich auf sie warten, was dem Umstand geschuldet ist, dass sie den einen oder anderen Barcode erneut rüberziehen muss.
oh my gosh the same thing happened to me at the supermarket in Spain with the fast lines, I got super overwhelmed. also with the smiling at people on the street!
okay, I'm from Germany and I'm totally with you when it comes to those hyperfast cashiers in supermarkets. It's almost like they're trying to test you how fast you can put your groceries in your cart/bag. No matter how fast I am they're always faster. We don't like to waste time in Germany and there's no reason to be slow; it's a supermarket; do your thing and get out as fast as possible; people got shit to do; I get it. But those cashiers, man. They're not human :| The funny thing is, they don't care when you visibly struggle to keep up. They all have this 'deal with it' look on their faces
... it is always funny to see / hear contributions of this kind - these always reveal more about yourself than about those who make the contributions - again a nice one :-)
During my first year in the US after having moved from Germany I was confused about always being asked ‘how are up you’ but no one really wanted to know. So, one day, being asked again I answered ‘I am dying’ instead of the normal response one usually gives. The other person did not even hear me and answered, ‘great, I am glad all is fine’.
The cashiers at my hometown ALDI are really twice as fast as the cashiers at the REWE nearby. I am getting crazy when seeing their slowliness. Even when your are the 2nd in line you waste 5 min waiting. That's why I do not go to REWE anymore. I use to go to the supermarket to get stuff I require, not to spend the whole day. Just thinking about complaining in writing to REWE, because their cashiers are drastically unefficient. On the other hand ALDI cashiers are said to get the highest wages.
I'm german and I'm currently in the Netherlands and get a lot of smiles from strangers and really like it it makes your day a little bit happier :D And I wish a lot of germans were'nt so stiff with just being nice with strangers.
In case you were wondering: “Electronic funds transfer at point of sale is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, at payment terminals located at points of sale. EFTPOS technology originated in the United States in 1981 and was adopted by other countries. Wikipedia”
The relaxing NZ attitude is something the world can learn from. I miss this so much, everywhere you go people great you, chat with you. Makes life so much more positive. Germans are nealry offended if they don't know you and simply smile at them. God I miss NZ so badly.
Ooh yes, the "smiling Problem"... in Sweden we smile at everyone, aswell. When I moved to Austria I learned pretty quickly whom to "normal" smile to (- the swedish way) and whom not to smile to at all, as people sometimes thought I was flirting.
Hey you know I just wanted to say that your other video about how you met your husband was really encouraging for me. There's a girl who I'm getting to know(who's also German) and I guess it's kindof the inverse situation. My german is good but not fantastic. (I guess like your husband's english used to be). and honestly I was feeling anxious that that would impede things too much with getting to know her and all of that. But watching your video about how things went for you guys was super encouraging and I'm appreciative of that. Thank you.
I'm a Scottish immigrant of 42 years. New Zealanders are really shy I find, and not at all self confident about chatting. However they tolerate me and I have learned to chat anyway and I've never really been snubbed. But any chat that is at all above inconsequental is not a good idea. Overseas Immigrants too feel that way,and if you express interest in their original land they're good. I thought for years after arriving in Auckland that there was a factory producing "Kiwi"s some where like Cambells soup cans. A bit wet but a great climate. Miss Scottish strife and passion though! Passionless People still applies, A lot of Miss Emily's in New Zealand and keep yourself to yourself.
As a German, I would consider it hypocritical asking others how they are if you are not interested. Why ask "how are you" if you are not interested in, if you do not want them to give you a proper answer? "How how you?" - "Fine" - "Ok good bye". Wow. I prefer a friendly Hello, a nice smile and then "have a nice day" over that :) But I grew up like that, so of course I am used to it. The difference sure is shocking in both directions tho :D
I was laughing so hard about the supermarket story 😂 it is so true !!! I was living in Australia and NZ for quite a bit of time. At first I taught there are not many differences between Germany, OZ and NZ. but if you look closely there are so many cultural differences. 😄 Germany is always attempting to be as efficient as possible 😆 we always say "time is money"
You should have witnessed to pay at Aldi about 10-15 years ago when they didn't yet have the scanner cash registers: It was as fast as today (maybe faster) - but the cashiers had to know all the prices by heart and to type them in really, really fast. Aldi was one of the latest big retailers in Germany to introduce scanner cash registers.
Yes to all of this!! I am an American married to a German. We live in the US now but I did all of these things when we were in Germany. We are coming on Monday for 3 weeks and I thank you for the reminders. :) I find it hard not to smile at people and ask how they are? LOL
Regarding the 'minimum amount for being able to pay with a cash card': in Germany there are 2 direct debit schemes. 1st is a very basic one where you have to sign a small piece of paper. With your signature you allow the store to transfer the money from your bank account. The problem is, if you don't have enough money, the bank will not allow the transaction to go through. So the store can't get it's money.2nd is where you have to enter a PIN. This is more secure, since there are several checks that determine if you can afford to pay or not. But of course the banks don't offer this service for free, the shops have to pay for it. Usually it is something like 0.019 percent of the amount. But since shops can't just charge their customers to pay the extra amount, they pay it themselves. And here's the twist: there usually is a minimum amount they have to pay (something like 7 cents per transaction). So if you buy something that only costs like 50 cents, the shop would have to pay a relatively high price just so you can have some chewing gum. Tl;dr paying for small amounts with a cash card is too expensive for the shops.
As a german child I actually learned from my mother to put the heaviest things on the conveyor belt first so you could just throw everything back inside your shopping cart as soon as the cashier had scanned them. If you put your vegetables first they would be smashed by the heavier stuff :D So basically just throw everything in and then step away and bag your things or just take the shopping cart with you to your car and then pack everything into bags :D
Das Video ist so lustig anzuschauen :D Ich habe all diese Erfahrungen selbst erlebt, nur genau anders herum! Habe ein Jahr in NZ gelebt und muss sagen, dass ich bis auf die Mülltrennung nichts vermisst habe...:D Die Kiwis sind einfach viel freundlicher und offener. Natürlich kommt es auf die einzelne Person an und ich habe auch gerne meine Ruhe aber wenn ein Kiwi dich einlädt und sagt, dass du auf jeden Fall vorbei kommen sollst, dann meint er das auch so und freut sich darüber. In Deutschland unmöglich ^^
Freeda Hab das in Amerika komplett anders erlebt. Ein Ami sagt das nur so ohne es zu meinen. In D meinen es die Leute auch so. Vielleicht biste nur nie hin gegangen ;)
it's amazing how in germany, we have all internalized ways to make our grocery shopping more efficient/ effective. the ultimate goal is to have generated so much time at the register that you can actually throw in a nice small talk (other than thank you, have a great day) with the register person. happens seldom. :D
Wow so many things that are common in NZ are the same in Western Canada. I can't even imagine not smiling at strangers..but people do expect you to move fast in a cashier lineup. I love that islanders often are more laid back about time.
It's so funny to hear all your Mistakes because its normal to us xD i live in a small village in Germany and i do understand what you are saying about talking to strangers, in big cities like Berlin or Hamburg its stange to talk to ppl u dont know but in a small village u get to know them by the time.
German supermarket: We like to be fast and efficient. ;) - Paying by card not cash : depends on where you are. Large chains, gas stations, ... they'll mostly accept your card even for small payments. If they don't there'll be a sign, stating that paying by card will be accepted for 10 Euros or more. (the thing is, that the have to pay a fee for taking payments by card, so they rather take cash). I'm a pay by card guy, which is sometimes hard in we-love-cash-Germany.
Interesting: I couldn't handle these "attitude" in the USA because I knew they actually don't care how I am. So I just passed by with a big awkward smile looking like Sheldon Cooper.
The cash/card thing goes both ways, too. My friend and I (both German) had the opposite experience on a recent road trip. Being used to carrying cash almost exclusively, we had a really hard time finding a gas station in Belgium, because they're almost all "card only" and you need the actual physical card to "unlock" the pump. Since we didn't carry any cards but were running really low, we eventually had to speak to a cashier who then had to get permission from his manager for us to get gas with his employee code card and pay it back in cash. Whoops.
The "how are you" thing has changed over time in Germany. When I was a child (about 50 years ago) it was normal to ask "wie geht es Dir/Ihnen" (how are you) and people would answer "gut und Dir/Ihnen" (good and yourself) and that was the extent of the exchange. No one expected an honest answer. I remember that it was impolite back then if you didn't start a personal letter with the phrase "how are you". One could go into detail with family and friends, but it usually wasn't done. Over time things changed and people started answering honestly or going into small talk if asked and since most people didn't really care and often didn't have the time or patience to listen to something they weren't really interested in, the whole thing started to go the way of the dinosaurs and these days people only ask of they really want to know.
At the supermarkets here, in North Germany, they won't start processing the next customer's purchases until you have finished packing yours away. Again, I haven't had problems greeting strangers. When walking the dog, I always say hallo to everyone I pass, I generally get a hallo back.
I think smiling at people could never be a mistake. I agree that smiling at strangers is not very common in Germany, but it puts people in a good mood, so please keep doing it!! 😊
First of all, I want to say that I enjoy your videos. What I find interesting about your videos, besides the content, is the kind of English that you speak. I had never heard New Zealand English before. I had to watch your first videos multiple times because I couldn't understand everything right away. There are several sounds or words that you pronounce differently and that's why I sometimes understand something entirely different. Here are some examples: rules -> roles; check -> chick; get -> git; ten -> teen; reason -> raisin; bedding -> beating; sense -> since; gas -> guess; f-word -> if-word. Anyway, your English sounds really cute, particularly when you say "GermaNAY" instead of "Germany". Perhaps you could make a video about how New Zealand English differs from US English or British English. What I have also noticed is that English speakers say "recycling" when they actually mean "waste separation". I don't know about other German speakers, but I would never refer to the mere waste separation that I (have to) do as "recycling". In my opinion, waste separation is a prerequisite for recycling - or, at most, the very first step of recycling. But it's definitely not the entire process of recycling. I don't melt empty plastic bottles at home and form new stuff out of them. That is done elsewhere by professionals. It probably didn't occur to your German boyfriend to inform you about waste separation, because he assumed that waste separation is standard practice in all countries of the so-called "First World". Explaining waste separation to you although you already know about it from your own country would have been extremely insulting to you. He didn't want to risk this. I am reminded of a story told by some other UA-camr: He spent an exchange year in the USA. The host family took him on a tour through their house. In the kitchen, they explained: "This device is called 'refrigerator'. We use it to keep our food cool." A few months ago, my aunt had the idea to stop using cash. At first, she liked it, because she didn't have to go to the ATM all the time and her wallet wasn't heavy from change. But then she realised how the lack of cash limits her, e.g. she couldn't make small donations to people who ask for money. Furthermore, she lost track of her expenses. With visible and touchable money in your wallet, you can't accidentally spend more money than you have. So, after a few weeks, my aunt ended her experiment and went back to using cash. You also need to consider that in a cashless society all your purchases are traceable, e.g. by companies or state authorities. There's the danger of becoming a "gläserner Mensch". In such a society the following scenario is theoretically possible: You use your Girocard to buy a bit of junk food or a pack of cigarettes at the supermarket. This information is sent right to your health insurance company, which then decides to increase your contribution rate due to your unhealthy lifestyle. Would you want to live in such a surveillance state? Probably not. That's why it's important to show our government that we refuse to give up cash. Cash gives you some degree of freedom from surveillance.
People in their twenties and younger often use 'Was geht?' meaning something like 'sup?' not really expecting an answer giving you these nice 10 second conversations. I really like that.
I loved your video. I was in New Zealand for 7 months and I had some embarrassing moments as well 😂 for example I forgot saying thank you when I left the bus and everyone thought I was so rude but I wasn't just used to it and I had the cash/efpos Problem the other way around, the cashier thought I was a drug dealer or something when I payed my 200 dollar shoes by cash :D
Hi, I remember one thing related to New Zealand - I was in my german hometown around christmas in my favourite bar, and a NZ Kiwi visited obviously some german friends, and has been asked to do a favour - then he removed his upper clothes and jumped on a table and started a Haka - this was sooooo amazing !!! The audiance gave a big applause and asked for second time, and he did it - oh well done !!! Biiiiig applause :-) :-)
thats all so very true haha. im from germany and worked in a small store where ONLY cash is accepted. i liked that in that small store i could take my time to talk to my customers, to help them find what they need and always tried to be friendly and open so they feel welcome at this store. which led me to get hit on just oh so many times. sometimes even 3 times a day. and i always just thought "dude, my dude, i like you as my customer but i wouldnt even give you my number if i would get paid for it :)" when it comes to grocery shopping, and packing real fast i think its because its seen as bad service if the employee is slow and the customers are seen as rude if they make those behind them wait for paying their own stuff. generally its seen as very rude in germany to make people wait be it in business on appointments or privately if you meet friends. time is the most valuable thing after all because it keeps running like tick-tock haha~
This was very amusing :) When I visited New Zealand I definitely came across sort of rude being so typical-German on-point, took a few days till I realized that I should get more into the small-talk thing :D
Love the videos, you're doing a GREAT job. BTW the compliments I say to you are real, I 100% mean what I say(I know it's not normal from an American)lol, but you are great. Keep it going! Love it!
I always smile at people because I’m always reminded of Momo and the gray Men when I see how everyone walks quickly, with a straight face and only looking at the destination. Then all the decorated streets seem so useless, since nobody seems to appreciate them (We actually do, but it doesn’t look like it). So I always smile at people when we accidentaly get eye contact. It almost always makes them smile back, or smile to themselves.
A bunch of nice observations. As for the smiling /outgoing or keeping for themselves part, though, I think there are quite substantial regional differences.
Most of our Banks actually now offer cards that allow you to pay small sums (I think up to 50€ or so?) without "contact", just by holding it close to the thing. I don't like it, since it's not that secure, but it's kinda common. As for our supermarkets: we have supermarkets and discounters, size aside, discounters will have just one belt, while supermarkets will usually have two and/or some corner where your stuff goes if you don't pick it up in time, rather than having you "jam" the line... but yeah, it was quite a traumatizing expirience for a japanese friend of mine. xD
First of all: I *love* your accent! I keep watching your videos just to soak it up :-) I haven't been to NZ but vey much enjoyed Australia, and i guess it's safe to compare the two in terms of super friendly people. Being Swiss I totally get the "hi, how are you?" it's the same here. We take this question seriously and get into what's going on health-wise, at our job or at home... On the other side when we first experience this while on vacation (eg in the U.S.) we are a bit offended when the taxi driver doesn't really want to hear what we have to say ;-) Please be a smile ambassador in Germany :-) They can use a good splash of genuine friendliness, and as you were saying in terms of not speaking the language very well, being kind will go a long way in your favor!
Super interessant! Ich bin Deutsche und versuche immer gute Laune auszustrahlen und lächel auch viele Leute an, sich fremde. Also habe ich das gleiche Problem, wie du. Die Leute sind verwirrt. Bei Männern in meinem Alter mache ich das nicht, es sei denn, sie arbeiten gerade, in einem Restaurant oder Shop zum Beispiel. Tolles Video. Sehr interessant, dass aus einer Perspektive zu hören :)
something to inform you about credits cards and such stuff In Germany most banks take a fee for any change to youre bankaccount + or - which is based on theire specific conditions so most stores will prefer cash and only allow other ways to pay with a minimum limit of 5 to 10€. However Germany is a typically "cash is king" country.
Well, recycling is really just the better option. It can save you money, it´s better for the envorinment and it also reduces the smell. If you put all of the stuff in just one trash can, it really starts to smell badly, some of it das molder, or start to ferment, things start to get wet and it´s really not a pleasant thing to clean the trashcan after, because there will always be that one little hole in the trash bag that allows some stinking garbage to get out. However, if you separate it, it´s just not that bad.
This video just convinced me to move to New Zealand everything seems better over there 😄 Also we went to England last month with our English class and the cashiers were really slow too and we were so confused because in Germany it's like a race 😂
Antoinette, I had a good laugh. As soon as you mentioned "recycling policy" I burst into laughter because it reminded me of LifeSwap. Have a look here: ua-cam.com/video/R2Bk-4bhWeY/v-deo.html ..... and that supermarket experience 'boom-boom-boom', that's so right, we just love to get things done fast and in an efficient way..... yes and that 'how are you' is so different, but I actually still like it ....... and that smile thing, I believe it depends on in which region in Germany you are. I have adopted this friendly smile (as a German living in NZ) and whenever I am in Germany I just put on my smile, and yes, sometimes they are still grumpy but guess what often you get a smile back (after a split second showing some irritation) :-)
I think it can depend. Some people say "How are you" just to be nice and they don't expect a huge answer and I feel like they don't really want to hear anything other than positive stuff, so most of the time I just say "I'm good how are you" Not everyone takes it literally. I honestly wish Germans would be nicer to each other and smile more. I really wish I was born in a country like yours.
I hope you don't stop smiling at people, because if there's one thing I miss in Germany, as a German, it is this small way of "acknowledgement", if that's the right word. Whenever I go to France for example, people on the streets or anywhere in public really, seem to be so much more friendly, just because they smile. I lived in the UK for a few years and another thing that made them seem much more friendly, apart from the smiling, was the way total strangers would add things like "love", "sweetheart", "dear" when they were addressing me, in a very casual way. I think both smiling and the "pet names" are signals as to say: "Hi, nice to see you, I kinda like you", and we should definitely have more of that in Germany. =) Those two things made people there seem much more open-hearted.
Honestly, this was so interesting to watch :D and so accurate! I went to New Zealand a few years ago and noticed the same things, just the other way around 😂 Also Germans hardly ever say thanks to the bus driver and oh so many more things that I would love to become more common around here - so go on, keep smiling at everyone :) I do the same! By the way I work at a supermarket as a side job - the speed still stresses me out when I go there as a customer as well :D especially as I often buy not enough things to use a cart, so I always think I'll be fine (and quicker) with just a bag, but then I'll still be struggling when it comes to re-packing everything. Also I don't really care if people pay cash or with eftpos, no matter how small the amount of money is. It doesn't take considerably more time and we don't get told that one or the other is "worse" concerning the sales of the market. Maybe that's because you went to a smaller supermarket? What's more, some supermarkets advertise with customer satisfaction and speed, and even offer vouchers if you wait in the queue for more than such and such time. Enjoy your time in Germany :)
At my internship in Australia i´ve been also greeted with: hey, how are you doing? and I thought they really want to know, because I am new and was surprised, when they just walked by. I thought that this is so rude. Why are they even asking, if they don´t pay attention. ^^ Took me some days to understand that this is just a greeting and doesn´t mean anything. Also explaned why some people had this confused look, when I start talking about how I feel. So same experience as yours, just the opposite :D
At the checkout counter: don't be the person who first puts everything in the trolley and only then remembers that they have to pay too and only then starts to search for his/her wallet. to prevent being this person at the cashier put some item(s) last on the conveyor belt that you will recognize later as your last things. so when the cashier scans your stuff and you put it in your trolley and these last things come in sight, it will be the sign for you to stop putting stuff in the trolley and instead get your wallet out. that way after the cashier has scanned your last 2-3things you are ready to pay. while the cashier gets your change (when paying cash) or while the card-machine does its thing (when paying with card) you have enough time to get your last items and put them in the trolley. if you are somewhere where they weigh fruits/vegetables at the checkout counter (like Netto) you can make these your last things on the conveyor belt to get the weighing time for packing up your remaining stuff. also a big rule for everyone in a supermarket: keep moving or go to the side to stop and talk with someone you know or look at your grocery list or cat pictures or whatever. why do people stop right in the middle of the aisles where nobody can pass by? keep moving or go to the side.
I just take my wallet out while I'm waiting in line, put the wallet in front of me while I'm putting away my groceries and that way I always have my wallet ready as soon as the last item has been scanned. I also pre-sort my groceries when I put them on the conveyer belt. It's kinda funny how we all have our ways of dealing with super fast cashiers ;)
What? I always thought supermarket queues here in germany are slow... Especially when old ladys trying to pay the exact amount and searching in their purse for it -_-
That was so funny. That 'How are you?' culture is predominant in all English speaking countries I guess. I still remember when I was a kid and we started learning English at school teacher spent half of class time to explain 'How are you?' culture and that it is not an honest question and we should not give an honest answer. Actually when teacher mentioned we should reply back as also 'How are you?' to 'How are you?' we got so shocked and actually totally confused so we decided that it was kind of stupid (we were 13 year old kids at the time). Moving some 8 years ahead I had my first encounter with British person who asked me 'How are you?'. I guess I forgot that lesson as I replied I was tired haha It took some time and more exposure with different cultures to understand it is just a small talk. Same like in Poland we ask each other about weather, my husband is Indian they greet each other by asking 'Had lunch?' or 'Had food?'.
I'm not sure if it's still like in the past: paying with cards is partly only allowed for amounts above 10 or 20€ due to the banking fees the supermarket has to pay. On the other hand there are also advanced banking systems where you can use your banking/giro card at the supermarket casheer like an ATM to get up to 200€ cash from your bank account without any banking fees. And: grocery shopping is quite cheap due to the efficient cashing process that needs less time/staff. Everyone knows that it's cash time and what to do and that you don't wanna waste time standing in a queque. But even the fast ALDI casheer is far more friendly and helpfull than 20 years before cause they were trained to do so. Wasting others time is seen a shame and you are trained to avoid that from your childhood on like in sports. If a quad or an eight rowing team has an appointment for training at 2pm all have to be there at 2 pm and already prepared otherwise up to 9 people (incl. cox and coach) have to wait until the last arrived. If you train up to 7 times a week you'll get pretty annoyed if mostly the same are late. So they will have a "Mannschaftskasse"/team wallet, where everybody has to pay in who is too late - for every 5 minutes for example. From that money the team will pay a grill party somewhere in the racing season, but most important: being too late becomes happened far less and for less minutes The same at mealtime where the family comes together and all shall be at the desk in time.
The cashier thing is rather simply, when you think about it. Nobody likes to wait in line, so it's up to everyone to allow the cashiers to work as smooth as possible so everything runs efficiently.
Hello from Germany, yeah Recyling is great, and the non-cash-problem you talking about: it´s slowly changing because the real money is too expensive to get (you have to pay fees to get it), supermarket: the ones that are quick are the low-budget-supermarktes (here they called "Discounter") in a regular supermarket its much slower and you can talk to the cashier, yeah the typical phrases or "smalltalk" doesn´t work in Germany. The Smiling Thing is really new from me i never heard that anyone on the world does that, it´s wonderfull. But as you learned yourselft i would´nt recommend that in Germany - it can be !very! very dangerous!!!! Overall interessting Video thx
Smiling is not a mistake! Just keep at it, let them judge you for all they care, but keep the smile - force our sour, serious looks down the throats. I've got kind of a natural smile myself, so people tend to react to that and smile back. Just share and spread the happiness. ;)
Being a german who spent some time in NZ I feel so reminded of all those things. Like it took me ages to get used to all those friendly people who kept asking me how I was doing :D and all that stuff...
We're shopping experts. For many Germans, shopping is quite like this:
1) Make a list of the items you need. Detailed. Including the exact brand or size of a product if needed.
2) Select your supermarket. If it's just basic groceries, the discount super markets are your cheapest and fastest option. Bigger supermarkets will cost you more, but you'll get more space at the checkout, more time, friendlier cashiers and - of course - a bigger selection in a much bigger market.
3) Go through your desired supermarket. One time. You'll have the perfect route made up in your mind. Oh - and if you're not buying much, instead of taking a shopping cart, take a bag that's just big enough so all your stuff fits in. (Bonus info: The smaller discounters usually don't offer shopper baskets, so take a bag that's big enough.
4) At the checkout, place all the items in the right order to stuff them into your bag.
5) Damn, only one customer in front of you and you forgot the apples? Okay, run through the whole supermarket as fast as you can, get the apples, back into the checkout line. Just hope you didn't take longer than 30 seconds because you don't want to make the other customers wait for you.
6) The cashier starts scanning the items while you stuff them into your bag right after they've been scanned. When paying by card, even use the additional few seconds to stuff more items (pro tip: You can pay by card at most discounters and it will always give you a few additional seconds because the card reader always takes longer than the cashier counting money). Then walk away with your bag still open, a few items and your wallet in hand. At the way out of the store, put the rest of your items into your bag and make sure your wallet is safe.
This way, I take ten minutes to get all my groceries for a whole week. It's all about Deutsche Effizienz. ;)
Mr. Mercedes omg it's creepy how accurate this is...i thought you were talking about me for a sec😂😂
Glad I'm not the only one to see that buying groceries is a chore and not something to enjoy. :)
Mr. Mercedes My dad Even writes his List After the Route he goes. Bread at the entrance so Bread at the top of the List ;)
How else would you write it? I also order the stuff on the checkout band in such an order that the heavy things (like cans and bottles) are on the bottom of the boxes.
u forgot to leave the package out of the bag , every german supermarket has a bunch of garbage ton´s .
That's the tricky thing about moving to a new country - you don't know what you don't know! And for those who already live there, it's so normal that they take it for granted and don't think to tell you about it.
So true Jen. You would also have experience with this!
And on top of that, getting that experience on your own is the best thing that can happen (if you dont do way too embarrassing stuff ;) )
I enjoy that when i am on vacation.
Mama's Studio I know this from my traves to Greece and and Thailand. Thailand is very hard - you did a mistake and everybody smile only - but nobody talk to you what was or is wrong! So crazy!
Funktioniert auch anders herum: Ich habe in Neuseeland an der Supermarktkasse wirklich mal erzählt, "wie mein Tag war". die haben ganz schön komisch geguckt.😁
wtf
ps: war nicht, um mich drüber lustig zu machen. ich hatte es wirklich nicht gewusst.
Ach und wenn es nur war um da mal zu zeigen wie das bei uns so ist ;)
minastaros Man wurde gefragt, also erzählt man die Wahrheit. Sonst hätte die andere Person mich ja *nicht* angesprochen, nicht wahr? Aber eigentlich ist es in D doch nur eine Floskel - in NZ jetzt auch? Warum ist sie davon jetzt irritiert?
minastaros genau so würde ich das auch machen. Vom aufstehen bis zum kacken, jedesmal alles erzählen, bis sie sich diese Abart abgewöhnen !
pro-tip for shopping in the (german) supermarket:
dont try to pack everything at the checkout already. just put it back in your cart, pay, step aside and pack your stuff.
most german supermarkets have some kind of designated area where you can pack your things. its much less of a hassle this way, especially, if you bought many items
I pre-sort my groceries on the band: cans to the front, fruits to the back. So I just have to throw the items into my shopping bag and all the robust stuff is down and the fragile stuff is on top. Perfect. But even to Germans I look like Adrian Monk.
i think that is only suitable if you buy smaller amounts / not that many items. just imagine shopping with your cart filled to the brim to feed your 4 people strong family ;) no way you keep up with the cashier :P
if you only buy a few items then it works fine. if i only buy a few items i even estimate what i will have to pay in my head and have the money ready already, but if i know i will end up with my cart filled up to the brim i don't calculate what i have to pay in my head.
Yeah, this pre-sorting thing helps! I even kinda invented a word for that: "Einkaufswagen-Tetris".
It's mainly to save money to the supermarket. Aldi is super fast, but other supermarkets are slower.
No need to hurry, you're the customer nevertheless.
yeah and hence it is ok to annoy everyone else around you, becaue we all know we are the most important person on the planet.
why make it easy for everyone and just put it back in the cart like the vast majority of people does....
it's funny how you say that New Zealand sees itself as "green" while Germany is much more so, and on the other hand, so many Germans complain about our country not being green enough
I think thats because thinking "it's great" would imply that nothing can be done to improve things which couldn't be further from the truth.
yeah...
typical german: "maybe it's good how we do it, but is it perfect? NO, far from it! What can we improve?"
nzozr I think that's pretty important for the genesis of a culture. Isn't art the expression of the need of improvement?
-yep that's Germany
Even if it's perfect it's not good enough ^^
Gosh I love this country
Being an engineer in the states is so easy, but in Germany you get challenged
Well, Germany is first in producing plastic garbage. We produce a lot more than other EU countries. 😉
But apart from that we aren’t that bad. 😎
Please don't stop smiling at strangers! Germans(me included) need to smile way more often :)
So true. Although I do not like fake smiles, it often would be a relief if people looked less unfriendly.
I always get uncomfortable looks when i smile at strangers in Germany and Holland so now i hesitate to do it :(
Ireland is smiling to strangers ALL the time . I learned that moving from Poland
You just don't. With complete strangers, which no never see again you need not to build up a sort of relationship.
Germany is a society of individual. No team. We are not a big family.
It‘s changes from city to city, I‘m born near by Düsseldorf and this people are smiling. Now, I‘m in the north of Hessen.......and here the most of the peopel are looking of their boots and not in your face. It was a shock, when I first came to north Hessen.
even though i was born / grew up in germany , i always smile when i see other people. and the thing is at first the most germans are a bit confused but they will smile back and keep on smiling (most of the time anyways). i think germany needs more smiles and happieness so please if you visit/live in germany try to smile at random people it'll make their day trust me :D
Although that is right, the smiling in open streets to strangers isn't for me. Firstly, I'm in my thoughts to much to greatly think about them, and secondly, I don't want to disturb them, when I don't want something from them. In a shop or such a smile comes automaticly in my face, I think.
I think it also depends on where you live in Germany... If you live in a smaller city or in a village it should be fine to smile at everybody and you most likely get a smile back. But in a city it would be annoying for me to smile every few seconds to every random stranger :P
I it happens in all over the world.
i live in a german village and all people say hello to each other and smile at each other or wave. it's just a thing of being in a big city or small city :)
that´s right. and that is the reason why the chance of being lonely in a big city is far greater than in a village. Even if it doesn´t seem to make sense at first.
The more people around you the less you care about individuals.
the cashiers in Germany are usually controlled how fast they work. like u can see how many costumers u finished while working. It's the efficiency that matters not the friendly/ nice treating
Jan Lübken It’s actually completely understandable considering the vast differences in population.
Jan Lübken I live in germany and I know it well how unfriendly the cashiers sometimes are
Unfortunately i dont like this 😐😣
Actually i hate it
Yeah, that‘s sad. I think it should be part of the companies ethics and policy that humanity and some friendliness is part of the job and gets honored. Webwould live in a better place with that. 🙂
To learn the differences of cultures is neither a mistake nor should it be embarrassing. You can't make a mistake if you are new to a country, you just learn. Those people who make you feel embarrassed are making a mistake. If someone is new to your culture then show them how to do things instead of barking at them. Especially the cash point at our supermarkets here in Germany are the worst in the whole world. I love it in NZ when they pack your things or at least let you the time to pack it yourself. People like you, who like to learn about new cultures, should never think they are making mistakes. You are making experiences!
having moved to vienna not too long ago, i'm afraid i have to partially disagree. supermarket customer service in germany is heaven compared to some experiences i made over here. there's cashiers in some stores that won't even say hello or goodbye which is something i honestly can't remember ever happening to me in germany.
i believe this is a rather unique super market/grocery store thing though. department store staff or employees in little shops for clothing etc are usually very friendly and helpful, but not pushy.
LOL really? Worse than at the cashpoint in a Penny? hahahaha OMG I feel very sorry for you! Hope you don't stay there forever! I think this is also a bit of a Vienna thing ;-)
it probably is. haha
vienna folk are a special brand of people, but my overall impression of the city is a very positive one so i don't mind staying here. for the time being, at least. :)
good luck then !
September Rain where did she say that they barked at her? Sounds to me that this was more about how she felt. She felt embarrassed, she wasn't made to be embarrassed.
In Germany its a "cultural crime" to waste other peoples time. We think that this is really rude behavoir. So asking people how the are when your not actually interested is viewed as time wasting, so were not used to that because no one does it.
Same in the supermarket. If the cashier is scanning your things slowly he´s wasting your time. So he does it fast.
Thats basicly the main rule, beeing polite here means saying hello and goodbye in a friendly way but not doing more than that except if you really interested in starting a conversation.
Another thing that happend to me when i was in the US was people randomly asking me if i need help with this or that thing (like the way to somewhere when they saw i was a tourist). This is rude to germans - if we need help, we ask for help. We dont want other people just approaching us and offering help because if we dont need it, they wasted our time.
Of course im overdoing this here, we dont think so straight as "wow this guy wanted to help me, what a waste of time", its more of an unconscious thing but when you (as a german) think about what behavior makes your uncomfortable it mostly comes done to this single argument. Like if your friend asks you for help with anything, you go over and help him and later on you find out that he didnt even tried it himself first before asking you.
I wish I was more German. Watching all these videos from and about people from other Country's has shown me how "superficial" American's can really be all in the name of being "polite". It has taught me a lot. I so respect that about the Germans. If they care enough about you to ask how you are then they mean it. In America it is a lot of the time a "superficiality" especially in the South...But I love Southerners.
It's quite funny to read this. My parents went to Hawaii and when they came back, they were gushing about how everyone was sooooo much more friendly over there than they are in Germany. And they even insisted it was not superficial, but real friendly-ness.
Hm, also bei uns fragen schon viele Verkäuferinnen einfach mal so ob ich was brauche. xD Und wir fragen doch auf oft "Wie gehts dir" und antworten mit "gut", oder nicht?
Naja, Verkäuferinnen fragen halt weil es deren Job ist. Aber generell gesprochen werd ich selten gefragt ob ich Hilfe brauche wenn ich zielstrebig in ein Geschäft gehe und mir nehme was ich kaufen will. Wenn man natürlich im Laden rumschlendert und so aussieht als wüsste man nicht was man haben möchte wittern die ihre Chance auf Verkäufe und fragen nach - das ist klar und auch richtig so. Offensichtlich bist du zum stöbern dort ohne genaues Ziel. Mit dem Hilfsangebot verschwenden sie also nicht deine Zeit sondern die Zeit ist genau dafür eingeplant.
Wir fragen nur Bekannte wie es ihnen geht bei denen es zumindest so halbwegs interessiert. Klar, wenn die dann ausholen und dich 20 Minuten volllabern ists nervig und mit einem "gut" sind wir zufrieden aber wann hast du das letzte mal einen wildfremden gefragt wie es ihm/ihr geht ohne, dass du wirklich eine Konversation beginnen wolltest? Lass mich raten - noch nie?
Natürlich habe ich bewusst ein bisschen übertrieben aber das Grundprinzip stimmt schon.
Ja, gut, da hast du wohl Recht.
im from germany and i have to say this is pretty acurate analysis oO respect
Thank you so much!
At first I was so confused when I was in NZ and People asked me how I was but then gave me this weird look when I actually told them. Germans just aren't into smalltalk. It was so hard for me to get used to all the "How was your weekend", "what did you get up to yesterday" "how's it going" stuff. Especially at work it just feels so wrong (smalltalk in a business E-Mail?!?!)
My husband also found the small talk very confusing when he first came to New Zealand. Small talk in a business E-mail here in Germany would just never happen!
@@AntoinetteEmily good to know
So, as a German who used to live in New Zealand for almost two years, I can tell you the exact same thing about your country.
The eftpos/credit card thing is something I stuck to even when I came back to Germany, and still - after 7 years - my friends and family finds it so so odd that I don't carry a lot of cash around me. Sometimes it does get a little awkward (I keep forgetting that a) supermarkets are closed on Sundays, and b) there is LITERALLY no bakery or butcher or whatever which accepts credit cards. Mostly not even eftpos)...
When I started doing my own shopping in NZ I didn't know the people packing your bag do it just because it's their job. I thought they'd expect me to tip them. And at first I thought it was the person in front of me who accidntally took my groceries as well. You can imagine the looks I got when I snatched my groceries out of their hand... OOPS!
I was that one odd person at the checkout who took "Hey, how are you?" as an honest question, too. I still cringe when I remember that day I told the cashier about my second degree sunburn from working in the vineyards...
I've never gotten used to the rush at German supermarkets again. And that being said, I used to be a cashier. I hated the rush - it was a lot of stress for me as well as for the customers. But that's how it's supposed to be and if we checked people out too slowly we would have a chat with our supervisor... German efficiency, right?
In Germany the shops have to pay a fee for every e-Card transmission of Money. So most - especially small shops - wont accept EC-Cards for small amounts cause they would pay more, than they get from your purchasing :)
Interesting. That definitely makes sense then.
Mama's Studio It is card paying and card order from your own bank free? Every NZ bank pay it self?
Yeah. The banks take - I think - around 2 % of price. And maybe there is some smallest fixed amount they take. Therefore it is a little bit unwritten rule not to pay small amounts by card.
Same thing in here in Finland well or used to be. These days we pay everything with card though
@@AntoinetteEmily The unwritten rule is: No EC card below 10€.
And of course the fee is not the only reason; for more cash-intensive services it is easier to cook the books in order to pay less taxes -a fraud for which especially gastronomy is widely known.
Der letzte "Fehler" ist kein "Fehler". Es ist nie verkehrt freundlich zu sein.. Ich finde sowas traurig. Ich lächle auch immer, weil es mich selbst glücklich macht wenn mir jemand so entgegen kommt.
haha this video is awesome. I am german and had to smile all the time when I heard about your incidents.
The "How are you" experience happend to me in Australia but basically just exactly the opposite of what happend to you.
First I always used to give more detailed answers about my condition or where I am heading to,untill I recognized it's basically just like a hello and they absolutly dont expect any answer at all.
Also a similiar example was, the receptionist of the hotel always called me darling, which would be a total "no go" in germany............I would really like to see the facial experession of a German in a Hotel in Germany "Hallo Liebling" :D
So true. Would be thinking "OMG what a creep!", never return to that hotel again and tell everyone about the unprofessional behavior of that receptionist.
it is not illegal not to recycling, specially the big appartments houses have often no recycling dumping place. they just have 2 or 3 different trash cans, sometimes just one. the point is when you dont recyle you will have of course your trash can full more quickly. and in the end you just have to pay more money for the garbage disposal. since you just have to pay to the mixed garbage. so recyling can simply safe your money
Illumin4t I am not completely sure, but I guess you are kinda wrong.
If you dont recycle correctly, the rubbish collection service will not pick up your garbage.
he is correct. Restmüll is payed for by you. Packaging/Plastic is included when you buy packaged stuff and paper might be sold of as a resource. So you only pay for mixed, which is most of the time dumped and not processed in any way. Of cause if you spoil resources like plastic/tin or paper with a Banana peal the garbage collectors can choose to not pick it up and mark it to tell you what was wrong with it.
+Max Mustermann
Illumin4t is right, Hausmüll is the most expensive, paper, garden waste, and yellow bags are cheaper. So it is in your own interest to sort your trash (so it can be recycled). If you live in a big city apartement, you may not care too much, because you do not have (*) directly for your carelessness, but rather the cost for the whole housing complex are allocated.
[Edited:]
(*) to pay
Eragon Baffel
DMSG1981
Mein Punkt war, dass die Müllabfuhr die Restmüll nicht mitnimmt, wenn es sich offensichtlich um Papier oder Grünschnitt handelt.
Mir ist nicht klar, ob das irgendeine rechtliche Grundlage hat. Allerdings sehe ich Recycling schon als eine Art Pflicht an, wenn der Müll nicht abgeholt wird, wenn anstelle einer Sortierung auf die anderen Tonnen alles gemeinsam im Restmüll entsorgt wird.
DMSG1981 Sorry - glass, clothes, garden waste, yellow bag/ box and paper are free! Only the black box and brown box you pay! Okay - correctly you pay yellow bag/box too - with every product what you buy self in every market e.g. Tetrapack. This are products of "Grüner Punkt" system - the trade company must collect all of them back and signal that with the yellow color waste and the "Grüner Punkt" symbol on the product self.
As a German I have to say please don't stop smiling at or greeting people on the street. I absolutely love this in other cultures and usually Germans simply need some time to get used to it but will appreciate it after some time. I started smiling and greeting people I usually meet on my daily way to work after I spent some time in Canada. For the first week people reacted a little confused or not at all. After I kept greeting them every morning for about a week they started returning the gesture and it's spread on to others from there. I can say that my way to work has become a lot more enjoyable just from this small difference.
Janes Witthake It makes a huge difference where you live in Germany. It’s really common to greet people friendly in a small town but obviously less in a bigger city.
Just as kraenk 12 said. In bigger cities that are more anonymous it is uncommon. In villages where most people know each other it is still expected to a point that not greeting the others is considered rude.
Even the glas gets seperated in green, brown and white glas :D I thought every country would recycle like that.
I'm from Germany and have been to Australia for over 2 years, and the most uncomfortable situation that I just can't get used to is if the cashier is trying to make smalltalk... they often don't just ask how I am, but more specific questions e.g. what I have been up to today, what I'm up to tonight, commenting on the big amount of certain items I'm buying (sometimes bulk when cheap) etc. That always makes me feel so awkward that when I'm on my own always use the self check out area of big supermarkets :D Mostly because I'm in general not a very chatty person, and also because I'm not used to this at all from Germany. I also find this situation uncomfortable because I know they're small talking because they are told by their employer that they should do this, so it doesn't feel genuine. A simple "hello" and "bye" is totally enough in my opinion...I just want to buy my groceries and get out of the supermarket haha!
mdmm Oh in Berlin It’s quite common the cashier makes some snappy comments, like „Für mehr hat’s wohl nich jereicht?!“ when only buying a pack of cigs and a bottle of Jägermeister :)
Hey ich finde es super spannend wie Fremde die deutsche Kultur wahrnehmen. Ich musste teilweise so lachen bei deinem Video. Besonders als es um das Anlächeln ging. Habe mich da so wieder gefunden. Das Tempo im Supermarkt ist aber sogar für mich als Deutsche manchmal ein bisschen zu flott. :-)
Wenn ich mal im Bahnhof beim Bäcker bin, ist es leider auch oft so, dass die Leute, bei denen man etwas kauft, gar nicht lächeln oder ein offensichtlich künstliches Lächeln aufsetzen. Ich habe dort bisher nur eine getroffen, die mich dabei wirklich offen angelächelt hat. Das war natürlich bei weitem schöner.
Wenn eine Verkäuferin fragt: "Darf es sonst noch etwas sein?" sage ich ab und an: "Ein Lächeln" und das hat meistens die Wirkung, dass man auch ein ehrliches Lächeln bekommt.
H.P. Vogel als jemand, der an der Kasse arbeitet, kann ich dir sagen dass das ziemlich gemein ist. Wenn die Strichcodes beschädigt sind müssen wir die Nummer unter den Strichcodes (EAN) von Hand eintippen und das dauert lange und ist umständlich. Ich kann gut verstehen, dass es manchmal ein bisschen zu schnell geht, aber eine freundliche Bitte das Tempo etwas zu reduzieren wäre mir viel lieber als dass meine Arbeit sabotiert wird. Denn wie gesagt, die Strichcodes absichtlich zu beschädigen finde ich einfach nur gemein weil dadurch so viel mehr Arbeit entsteht - als Kassierer ist man sowieso schon gestresst und wenn dann noch gefühlt die Hälfte der Strichcodes beschädigt ist geht das Stresslevel durch die Decke.
H.P. Vogel na dann ok, das war mir nicht klar. Ich hoffe bloß, dass niemand tatsächlich die Strichcodes mit Absicht beschädigt!
Das wäre ja schrecklich :o
Das ist so lustig diese 'Fehler' als Deutsche zu hören für mich ist das ja normal :D Ich träume davon, dass mir mal die Verkäuferin die Tasche packt - selbst für mich als 'Ur-Deutsche' ist das Einpacken der Einkäufe immer ein riesen Stress😬 Wie lange lebst du denn jetzt schon fest in Deutschland? :)
(Du kannst gerne auf englisch antworten :))
Ich habe seit 7,5 Jahren in Deutschland gelebt. So lange, dass alles in Deutschland auch für mich normal geworden ist 😉
Ich muss sagen: ICh packe mit System auf das Band und dann vom Band direkt in mitgebrachte Kisten und Tüten: Außer im ALDI und LIDL komme ich mit dem packen problemlos mit. ^^
ALDI muss spezielle Trainings-Center haben, wo arme Kassiererinnen tagelang durch tausende Test-Kunden-Käufe gejagt werden, bevor sie an echte Kassen dürfen. Anders ist das Tempo nicht zu erklären! :D
(Im Ernst: In Wirklichkeit ist das viel heftiger. Die langsamsten Kassierinnen - in Anschlägen/"Pieps" pro Minute - einer jeden Filiale bekommt regelmäßig Ärger und Druck, so schnell zu werden wie die anderen. Sobald sie das ist, gibt es eine neue "Langsamste"... :/ )
QemeH stimmt. Eine Kollegin war früher bei Lidl und sie sagte man muss eine gewisse Zahl an Anschläge/ min schaffen. Also so und so viele Teile in der Minute waren dann mind. vorgegeben.
Also ich träume nicht davon. Bin froh, dass einem nicht der ... hinterhergetragen wird.
Wenn man die Leute länger kennt, unterhält man sich auch mal. Im Supermarkt sind ständig wechselnde Leute, die Schlange ist lang mit ungeduldigen Leuten die nicht in der Stimmung sind übers Wetter zu reden; und die Kassierer haben auch Druck , weil sie mit den Regalen einräumen noch nicht fertig sind und die Schlange nicht noch länger werden soll....
Annette Don't speak german pls write in English m8.
oh sorry many comments in german here
Ich unterhalte mich nie mit Leuten in der Schlange😂🙈 ist mir peinlich.
Flying Bruh try to put it through google Translator (English-German gives you kind of a mess so i dont know the opposite)
Flying Bruh im german
I love how you want to intregrate into German culture, I find it extremely respectful (I'm not German, I'm English), but I think it's important that people do so. From what you've said though, it makes me really want to move to New Zealand. Everyone over there sounds so friendly and kind!
Bitte unterdrücke dein Lächeln nicht. Die Deutschen müssen mehr lächeln.
Ja, vllt. Aber echt, nicht Fake. Kein Bock auf Möchtegern ;-)
Das kommt aber glaube ich auch drauf an wo in Deutschland man unterwegs ist. Ich wohne in der Pfalz, in einem kleinen Dorf (wo entsprechend auch die Bevölkerungsdichte niedriger ist) und hier grüßt sich jeder, egal ob man sich kennt oder nicht, geht also sogar noch weiter als nur ein Lächeln.
Avvisoful Aber stell dir mal vor, du würdest jeden im Supermarkt anlächeln. Die würden sich fragen ob du unter Drogen wärst. Natürlich hast du recht dass auf dem Dorf schneller mal Hallo oder hier Moin gesagt wird.
Genau! In der Pfalz, im Spessart, usw. Leute sind freundlich, grüßen und lächeln. Auch in Frankfurt bekommt man meist ein Lächeln erwidert.
Wenn sie zum 30. mal von Kerlen angemacht wurde aufgrund des Lächelns, lässt sie es wohl lieber.
Deshalb laufen auch die meisten sehr attraktiven Frauen mit nem "bitch face" durch die Gegend. Hat alles seine Gründe.
I teach German kids in cape town and the one thing I notice in general is that they will always say a big "hello" every few minutes when they see me and then carry on with what they are doing, no further conversation just straight to the point.
As a German I really had problems to understand, that Americans and Australians just say "How are you?" and not really being interested in how I REALLY am. It was just like "Why do they ask me if they do not want to know it?" It feels rude, just like saying "I love you" and not meaning it! ;) If a German asks you how you are he/she really wants to know, that's true. Yeah, and we do not smile at strangers, if you do so, they might think you are nuts - or if you do smile at a man, he might think you are interested in him. ;)
Lethargic Mom Leben wir in verschiedenen Ländern?
Rocky712 - Let´s Plays frage ich mich auch gerade 🤣
It's a cultural thing, it's just a greeting, not meant to be a literal question. In most of the English speaking world we say things like "what's up?" "how ya doin?" "how's it going?" I lived in Germany for years and I heard people all the time greet someone by saying "Na?" What's up with that? Nobody seemed bothered by it.
As a Kiwi living in Germany, I can confirm every single one of these things. Especially the honest answers to 'how are you?' Cool video. Glad I found you.
+Matthew Stevens Yay another Kiwi in Germany! So pleased you enjoyed this video and can relate.
in german supermarkets its basically a challange. who is faster? the person scanning things, or you putting it back into the shopping cart
Haha! The supermarket thing is soo true. I love how you point out things that we might not even think about as they are just normal for us (germans) 😂😂 but it's just true!! I am living in Spain for 7 years now and the last time I visited my family in Germany I was amazed by how fast the cashier was 😂😂 in Spain they are a lot more relaxed as well. 😂 I really love your videos! Just subscribed a few days ago 🤗😉
when this was introduced in germany the french comment about it was: _the germans are so obsessed by order they even sort the garbage_
Alexander Goeres That’s sad.
I am currently in NZ (just 3 weeks to go) and will miss all this things you just mentioned back in GER. I like friendly smiling people and smalltalk with the cashier. I will miss the more open people thar are not just keeping to themselves.
The 'how are you' question annoy me sometimes because I, as a German, want to answer honestly and not just say good, when its actually not good. I like more honesty 😉
good video Antoinette. I will miss NZ so damn much but at the moment its so cold, so I can look forwars to the warm wheather in Germany.
How do you feel about having a warm house in the winter in Germany? It so freezing cold inside the houses here. I miss the central heating system extremly.
Best greetings from Christchurch
cheers
I chat a bit with the cashier every time i go shopping in Germany. It's more the general mindset than the country itself.
I would just like to say you are very pretty and your videos are very informative and I thoroughly enjoy watching them. I learn a lot from them. I was stationed in Berlin during my time in the U.S. Army from 1979 to 1981. Keep up the great work and keeping us informed. You also have a very lovely daughter.
very adorable and cute mistakes, nothing to really worry about. i only see you bringing the good habits from nz to germany, glad to have you here :-)
Hey Antoinette. Cool video and nice to hear a fellow kiwi's perspective on funny old Germany. This is my 4th year here and I'm also married to a German woman. The speed of the supermarket checkout still blows my mind!!
I totally agree witn September Rain. I'm sorry for you that you were embarrassed. You are so open minded, friendly and willimg to learn - shame on the people who made you feel bad in the situations you describe.
Do you live in Northern Germany? Here it's more likely to get a long story as an answer on "wie geht es dir" as in Southern Germany. I yoused to live in Frankfurt and eben there, the people don't really expect an answer on how you are really feeling, when they ask "wie geht es dir". They eben take a short wording and only ask : Ey, wie? :D
Haha, bin ich die einzige, die an der Kasse Spaß daran hat, selbst bei Aldi die Sachen schnell wieder in den Einkaufswagen zu räumen? Ich seh das eher als wöchentliche Herausforderung und komme inzwischen auch problemlos mit dem Aldi-Tempo klar😅
Nein, bist du nicht. :-) Ich mache mir jede Woche den Spaß und liefere mir mit der Kassiererin ein Wettrennen. Meist muss ich auf sie warten, was dem Umstand geschuldet ist, dass sie den einen oder anderen Barcode erneut rüberziehen muss.
oh my gosh the same thing happened to me at the supermarket in Spain with the fast lines, I got super overwhelmed. also with the smiling at people on the street!
I am german and when I'm ins Spain it's usually quite frustrating to me how long everything takes 😄 They are not as fast as we are.
Mackenzie Klima Wouldn't be that bad to live a little bit slower than we do in Germany. So many people seem to be constantly stressed and annoyed. :(
okay, I'm from Germany and I'm totally with you when it comes to those hyperfast cashiers in supermarkets. It's almost like they're trying to test you how fast you can put your groceries in your cart/bag. No matter how fast I am they're always faster. We don't like to waste time in Germany and there's no reason to be slow; it's a supermarket; do your thing and get out as fast as possible; people got shit to do; I get it. But those cashiers, man. They're not human :|
The funny thing is, they don't care when you visibly struggle to keep up. They all have this 'deal with it' look on their faces
... it is always funny to see / hear contributions of this kind - these always reveal more about yourself than about those who make the contributions - again a nice one :-)
During my first year in the US after having moved from Germany I was confused about always being asked ‘how are up you’ but no one really wanted to know. So, one day, being asked again I answered ‘I am dying’ instead of the normal response one usually gives. The other person did not even hear me and answered, ‘great, I am glad all is fine’.
I can imagine dating is even worse/more difficult in NZ than around here when everybody is smiling at everybody else :D.
John Reese thought the same, when someone rly smiles at u in Germany u Know sehe Wants something from u ;)
They usually don't want the same thing from me I want from them. :-)
The cashiers at my hometown ALDI are really twice as fast as the cashiers at the REWE nearby. I am getting crazy when seeing their slowliness. Even when your are the 2nd in line you waste 5 min waiting. That's why I do not go to REWE anymore. I use to go to the supermarket to get stuff I require, not to spend the whole day. Just thinking about complaining in writing to REWE, because their cashiers are drastically unefficient. On the other hand ALDI cashiers are said to get the highest wages.
I'm german and I'm currently in the Netherlands and get a lot of smiles from strangers and really like it it makes your day a little bit happier :D And I wish a lot of germans were'nt so stiff with just being nice with strangers.
In case you were wondering: “Electronic funds transfer at point of sale is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, at payment terminals located at points of sale. EFTPOS technology originated in the United States in 1981 and was adopted by other countries. Wikipedia”
The relaxing NZ attitude is something the world can learn from. I miss this so much, everywhere you go people great you, chat with you. Makes life so much more positive. Germans are nealry offended if they don't know you and simply smile at them. God I miss NZ so badly.
Ooh yes, the "smiling Problem"... in Sweden we smile at everyone, aswell. When I moved to Austria I learned pretty quickly whom to "normal" smile to (- the swedish way) and whom not to smile to at all, as people sometimes thought I was flirting.
Hey you know I just wanted to say that your other video about how you met your husband was really encouraging for me. There's a girl who I'm getting to know(who's also German) and I guess it's kindof the inverse situation. My german is good but not fantastic. (I guess like your husband's english used to be). and honestly I was feeling anxious that that would impede things too much with getting to know her and all of that. But watching your video about how things went for you guys was super encouraging and I'm appreciative of that. Thank you.
I'm a Scottish immigrant of 42 years. New Zealanders are really shy I find, and not at all self confident about chatting. However they tolerate me and I have learned to chat anyway and I've never really been snubbed. But any chat that is at all above inconsequental is not a good idea. Overseas Immigrants too feel that way,and if you express interest in their original land they're good.
I thought for years after arriving in Auckland that there was a factory producing "Kiwi"s some where like Cambells soup cans. A bit wet but a great climate.
Miss Scottish strife and passion though! Passionless People still applies, A lot of Miss Emily's in New Zealand and keep yourself to yourself.
As a German, I would consider it hypocritical asking others how they are if you are not interested. Why ask "how are you" if you are not interested in, if you do not want them to give you a proper answer? "How how you?" - "Fine" - "Ok good bye". Wow. I prefer a friendly Hello, a nice smile and then "have a nice day" over that :) But I grew up like that, so of course I am used to it. The difference sure is shocking in both directions tho :D
I was laughing so hard about the supermarket story 😂 it is so true !!! I was living in Australia and NZ for quite a bit of time. At first I taught there are not many differences between Germany, OZ and NZ. but if you look closely there are so many cultural differences. 😄
Germany is always attempting to be as efficient as possible 😆 we always say "time is money"
You should have witnessed to pay at Aldi about 10-15 years ago when they didn't yet have the scanner cash registers: It was as fast as today (maybe faster) - but the cashiers had to know all the prices by heart and to type them in really, really fast. Aldi was one of the latest big retailers in Germany to introduce scanner cash registers.
Yes to all of this!! I am an American married to a German. We live in the US now but I did all of these things when we were in Germany. We are coming on Monday for 3 weeks and I thank you for the reminders. :) I find it hard not to smile at people and ask how they are? LOL
Regarding the 'minimum amount for being able to pay with a cash card': in Germany there are 2 direct debit schemes. 1st is a very basic one where you have to sign a small piece of paper. With your signature you allow the store to transfer the money from your bank account. The problem is, if you don't have enough money, the bank will not allow the transaction to go through. So the store can't get it's money.2nd is where you have to enter a PIN. This is more secure, since there are several checks that determine if you can afford to pay or not. But of course the banks don't offer this service for free, the shops have to pay for it. Usually it is something like 0.019 percent of the amount. But since shops can't just charge their customers to pay the extra amount, they pay it themselves. And here's the twist: there usually is a minimum amount they have to pay (something like 7 cents per transaction). So if you buy something that only costs like 50 cents, the shop would have to pay a relatively high price just so you can have some chewing gum. Tl;dr paying for small amounts with a cash card is too expensive for the shops.
Keep smiling 💕
I will :) Thank you!
As a german child I actually learned from my mother to put the heaviest things on the conveyor belt first so you could just throw everything back inside your shopping cart as soon as the cashier had scanned them. If you put your vegetables first they would be smashed by the heavier stuff :D
So basically just throw everything in and then step away and bag your things or just take the shopping cart with you to your car and then pack everything into bags :D
Das Video ist so lustig anzuschauen :D
Ich habe all diese Erfahrungen selbst erlebt, nur genau anders herum! Habe ein Jahr in NZ gelebt und muss sagen, dass ich bis auf die Mülltrennung nichts vermisst habe...:D Die Kiwis sind einfach viel freundlicher und offener. Natürlich kommt es auf die einzelne Person an und ich habe auch gerne meine Ruhe aber wenn ein Kiwi dich einlädt und sagt, dass du auf jeden Fall vorbei kommen sollst, dann meint er das auch so und freut sich darüber. In Deutschland unmöglich ^^
Freeda Hab das in Amerika komplett anders erlebt. Ein Ami sagt das nur so ohne es zu meinen. In D meinen es die Leute auch so. Vielleicht biste nur nie hin gegangen ;)
it's amazing how in germany, we have all internalized ways to make our grocery shopping more efficient/ effective. the ultimate goal is to have generated so much time at the register that you can actually throw in a nice small talk (other than thank you, have a great day) with the register person. happens seldom. :D
Wow so many things that are common in NZ are the same in Western Canada. I can't even imagine not smiling at strangers..but people do expect you to move fast in a cashier lineup. I love that islanders often are more laid back about time.
CasaCabrera USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain is all the same.
Definitely NOT!!!
It's so funny to hear all your Mistakes because its normal to us xD
i live in a small village in Germany and i do understand what you are saying about talking to strangers, in big cities like Berlin or Hamburg its stange to talk to ppl u dont know but in a small village u get to know them by the time.
German supermarket: We like to be fast and efficient. ;) - Paying by card not cash : depends on where you are. Large chains, gas stations, ... they'll mostly accept your card even for small payments. If they don't there'll be a sign, stating that paying by card will be accepted for 10 Euros or more. (the thing is, that the have to pay a fee for taking payments by card, so they rather take cash). I'm a pay by card guy, which is sometimes hard in we-love-cash-Germany.
Interesting:
I couldn't handle these "attitude" in the USA because I knew they actually don't care how I am. So I just passed by with a big awkward smile looking like Sheldon Cooper.
The cash/card thing goes both ways, too. My friend and I (both German) had the opposite experience on a recent road trip. Being used to carrying cash almost exclusively, we had a really hard time finding a gas station in Belgium, because they're almost all "card only" and you need the actual physical card to "unlock" the pump. Since we didn't carry any cards but were running really low, we eventually had to speak to a cashier who then had to get permission from his manager for us to get gas with his employee code card and pay it back in cash. Whoops.
The "how are you" thing has changed over time in Germany. When I was a child (about 50 years ago) it was normal to ask "wie geht es Dir/Ihnen" (how are you) and people would answer "gut und Dir/Ihnen" (good and yourself) and that was the extent of the exchange. No one expected an honest answer. I remember that it was impolite back then if you didn't start a personal letter with the phrase "how are you". One could go into detail with family and friends, but it usually wasn't done.
Over time things changed and people started answering honestly or going into small talk if asked and since most people didn't really care and often didn't have the time or patience to listen to something they weren't really interested in, the whole thing started to go the way of the dinosaurs and these days people only ask of they really want to know.
At the supermarkets here, in North Germany, they won't start processing the next customer's purchases until you have finished packing yours away.
Again, I haven't had problems greeting strangers. When walking the dog, I always say hallo to everyone I pass, I generally get a hallo back.
I think smiling at people could never be a mistake.
I agree that smiling at strangers is not very common in Germany, but it puts people in a good mood, so please keep doing it!! 😊
First of all, I want to say that I enjoy your videos. What I find interesting about your videos, besides the content, is the kind of English that you speak. I had never heard New Zealand English before. I had to watch your first videos multiple times because I couldn't understand everything right away. There are several sounds or words that you pronounce differently and that's why I sometimes understand something entirely different. Here are some examples: rules -> roles; check -> chick; get -> git; ten -> teen; reason -> raisin; bedding -> beating; sense -> since; gas -> guess; f-word -> if-word. Anyway, your English sounds really cute, particularly when you say "GermaNAY" instead of "Germany". Perhaps you could make a video about how New Zealand English differs from US English or British English.
What I have also noticed is that English speakers say "recycling" when they actually mean "waste separation". I don't know about other German speakers, but I would never refer to the mere waste separation that I (have to) do as "recycling". In my opinion, waste separation is a prerequisite for recycling - or, at most, the very first step of recycling. But it's definitely not the entire process of recycling. I don't melt empty plastic bottles at home and form new stuff out of them. That is done elsewhere by professionals.
It probably didn't occur to your German boyfriend to inform you about waste separation, because he assumed that waste separation is standard practice in all countries of the so-called "First World". Explaining waste separation to you although you already know about it from your own country would have been extremely insulting to you. He didn't want to risk this. I am reminded of a story told by some other UA-camr: He spent an exchange year in the USA. The host family took him on a tour through their house. In the kitchen, they explained: "This device is called 'refrigerator'. We use it to keep our food cool."
A few months ago, my aunt had the idea to stop using cash. At first, she liked it, because she didn't have to go to the ATM all the time and her wallet wasn't heavy from change. But then she realised how the lack of cash limits her, e.g. she couldn't make small donations to people who ask for money. Furthermore, she lost track of her expenses. With visible and touchable money in your wallet, you can't accidentally spend more money than you have. So, after a few weeks, my aunt ended her experiment and went back to using cash.
You also need to consider that in a cashless society all your purchases are traceable, e.g. by companies or state authorities. There's the danger of becoming a "gläserner Mensch". In such a society the following scenario is theoretically possible: You use your Girocard to buy a bit of junk food or a pack of cigarettes at the supermarket. This information is sent right to your health insurance company, which then decides to increase your contribution rate due to your unhealthy lifestyle. Would you want to live in such a surveillance state? Probably not. That's why it's important to show our government that we refuse to give up cash. Cash gives you some degree of freedom from surveillance.
People in their twenties and younger often use 'Was geht?' meaning something like 'sup?' not really expecting an answer giving you these nice 10 second conversations. I really like that.
I loved your video. I was in New Zealand for 7 months and I had some embarrassing moments as well 😂 for example I forgot saying thank you when I left the bus and everyone thought I was so rude but I wasn't just used to it and I had the cash/efpos Problem the other way around, the cashier thought I was a drug dealer or something when I payed my 200 dollar shoes by cash :D
Hi, I remember one thing related to New Zealand - I was in my german hometown around christmas in my favourite bar, and a NZ Kiwi visited obviously some german friends, and has been asked to do a favour - then he removed his upper clothes and jumped on a table and started a Haka - this was sooooo amazing !!! The audiance gave a big applause and asked for second time, and he did it - oh well done !!! Biiiiig applause :-) :-)
thats all so very true haha. im from germany and worked in a small store where ONLY cash is accepted. i liked that in that small store i could take my time to talk to my customers, to help them find what they need and always tried to be friendly and open so they feel welcome at this store. which led me to get hit on just oh so many times. sometimes even 3 times a day. and i always just thought "dude, my dude, i like you as my customer but i wouldnt even give you my number if i would get paid for it :)"
when it comes to grocery shopping, and packing real fast i think its because its seen as bad service if the employee is slow and the customers are seen as rude if they make those behind them wait for paying their own stuff. generally its seen as very rude in germany to make people wait be it in business on appointments or privately if you meet friends. time is the most valuable thing after all because it keeps running like tick-tock haha~
This was very amusing :)
When I visited New Zealand I definitely came across sort of rude being so typical-German on-point, took a few days till I realized that I should get more into the small-talk thing :D
Love the videos, you're doing a GREAT job. BTW the compliments I say to you are real, I 100% mean what I say(I know it's not normal from an American)lol, but you are great. Keep it going! Love it!
Ich habe jetzt mehrere Videos von Antoinette angeschaut und vor allem gehört. Gibt es in Neuseeland keine Satzzeichen?
I always smile at people because I’m always reminded of Momo and the gray Men when I see how everyone walks quickly, with a straight face and only looking at the destination. Then all the decorated streets seem so useless, since nobody seems to appreciate them (We actually do, but it doesn’t look like it). So I always smile at people when we accidentaly get eye contact. It almost always makes them smile back, or smile to themselves.
A bunch of nice observations. As for the smiling /outgoing or keeping for themselves part, though, I think there are quite substantial regional differences.
Most of our Banks actually now offer cards that allow you to pay small sums (I think up to 50€ or so?) without "contact", just by holding it close to the thing. I don't like it, since it's not that secure, but it's kinda common.
As for our supermarkets: we have supermarkets and discounters, size aside, discounters will have just one belt, while supermarkets will usually have two and/or some corner where your stuff goes if you don't pick it up in time, rather than having you "jam" the line... but yeah, it was quite a traumatizing expirience for a japanese friend of mine. xD
really enjoyed this! keep the good vlogs coming!
First of all: I *love* your accent! I keep watching your videos just to soak it up :-)
I haven't been to NZ but vey much enjoyed Australia, and i guess it's safe to compare the two in terms of super friendly people. Being Swiss I totally get the "hi, how are you?" it's the same here. We take this question seriously and get into what's going on health-wise, at our job or at home... On the other side when we first experience this while on vacation (eg in the U.S.) we are a bit offended when the taxi driver doesn't really want to hear what we have to say ;-)
Please be a smile ambassador in Germany :-) They can use a good splash of genuine friendliness, and as you were saying in terms of not speaking the language very well, being kind will go a long way in your favor!
Super interessant! Ich bin Deutsche und versuche immer gute Laune auszustrahlen und lächel auch viele Leute an, sich fremde. Also habe ich das gleiche Problem, wie du. Die Leute sind verwirrt. Bei Männern in meinem Alter mache ich das nicht, es sei denn, sie arbeiten gerade, in einem Restaurant oder Shop zum Beispiel. Tolles Video. Sehr interessant, dass aus einer Perspektive zu hören :)
As a German this is so funny to watch - but I guess I'll do all this the other way round when I'm in New Zealand soon xD
I‘m proud that we are so serious with Recycling.😊
Yes you should be proud, recycling is so important.
something to inform you about credits cards and such stuff
In Germany most banks take a fee for any change to youre bankaccount + or - which is based on theire specific conditions so most stores will prefer cash and only allow other ways to pay with a minimum limit of 5 to 10€. However Germany is a typically "cash is king" country.
Well, recycling is really just the better option. It can save you money, it´s better for the envorinment and it also reduces the smell. If you put all of the stuff in just one trash can, it really starts to smell badly, some of it das molder, or start to ferment, things start to get wet and it´s really not a pleasant thing to clean the trashcan after, because there will always be that one little hole in the trash bag that allows some stinking garbage to get out. However, if you separate it, it´s just not that bad.
This video just convinced me to move to New Zealand everything seems better over there 😄
Also we went to England last month with our English class and the cashiers were really slow too and we were so confused because in Germany it's like a race 😂
Antoinette, I had a good laugh. As soon as you mentioned "recycling policy" I burst into laughter because it reminded me of LifeSwap. Have a look here: ua-cam.com/video/R2Bk-4bhWeY/v-deo.html ..... and that supermarket experience 'boom-boom-boom', that's so right, we just love to get things done fast and in an efficient way..... yes and that 'how are you' is so different, but I actually still like it ....... and that smile thing, I believe it depends on in which region in Germany you are. I have adopted this friendly smile (as a German living in NZ) and whenever I am in Germany I just put on my smile, and yes, sometimes they are still grumpy but guess what often you get a smile back (after a split second showing some irritation) :-)
I think it can depend. Some people say "How are you" just to be nice and they don't expect a huge answer and I feel like they don't really want to hear anything other than positive stuff, so most of the time I just say "I'm good how are you" Not everyone takes it literally. I honestly wish Germans would be nicer to each other and smile more. I really wish I was born in a country like yours.
"How are you" auf Deutsch in my region: "Wie isset?", and the answer: "Muss!". And, of couse, sometimes we :-)
I hope you don't stop smiling at people, because if there's one thing I miss in Germany, as a German, it is this small way of "acknowledgement", if that's the right word. Whenever I go to France for example, people on the streets or anywhere in public really, seem to be so much more friendly, just because they smile.
I lived in the UK for a few years and another thing that made them seem much more friendly, apart from the smiling, was the way total strangers would add things like "love", "sweetheart", "dear" when they were addressing me, in a very casual way.
I think both smiling and the "pet names" are signals as to say: "Hi, nice to see you, I kinda like you", and we should definitely have more of that in Germany. =)
Those two things made people there seem much more open-hearted.
Honestly, this was so interesting to watch :D and so accurate! I went to New Zealand a few years ago and noticed the same things, just the other way around 😂
Also Germans hardly ever say thanks to the bus driver and oh so many more things that I would love to become more common around here - so go on, keep smiling at everyone :) I do the same!
By the way I work at a supermarket as a side job - the speed still stresses me out when I go there as a customer as well :D especially as I often buy not enough things to use a cart, so I always think I'll be fine (and quicker) with just a bag, but then I'll still be struggling when it comes to re-packing everything.
Also I don't really care if people pay cash or with eftpos, no matter how small the amount of money is. It doesn't take considerably more time and we don't get told that one or the other is "worse" concerning the sales of the market. Maybe that's because you went to a smaller supermarket?
What's more, some supermarkets advertise with customer satisfaction and speed, and even offer vouchers if you wait in the queue for more than such and such time. Enjoy your time in Germany :)
At my internship in Australia i´ve been also greeted with: hey, how are you doing?
and I thought they really want to know, because I am new and was surprised, when they just walked by. I thought that this is so rude. Why are they even asking, if they don´t pay attention. ^^ Took me some days to understand that this is just a greeting and doesn´t mean anything. Also explaned why some people had this confused look, when I start talking about how I feel. So same experience as yours, just the opposite :D
At the checkout counter:
don't be the person who first puts everything in the trolley and only then remembers that they have to pay too and only then starts to search for his/her wallet.
to prevent being this person
at the cashier put some item(s) last on the conveyor belt that you will recognize later as your last things.
so when the cashier scans your stuff and you put it in your trolley and these last things come in sight, it will be the sign for you to stop putting stuff in the trolley and instead get your wallet out.
that way after the cashier has scanned your last 2-3things you are ready to pay.
while the cashier gets your change (when paying cash) or while the card-machine does its thing (when paying with card) you have enough time to get your last items and put them in the trolley.
if you are somewhere where they weigh fruits/vegetables at the checkout counter (like Netto) you can make these your last things on the conveyor belt to get the weighing time for packing up your remaining stuff.
also a big rule for everyone in a supermarket: keep moving or go to the side to stop and talk with someone you know or look at your grocery list or cat pictures or whatever. why do people stop right in the middle of the aisles where nobody can pass by? keep moving or go to the side.
I just take my wallet out while I'm waiting in line, put the wallet in front of me while I'm putting away my groceries and that way I always have my wallet ready as soon as the last item has been scanned. I also pre-sort my groceries when I put them on the conveyer belt. It's kinda funny how we all have our ways of dealing with super fast cashiers ;)
What? I always thought supermarket queues here in germany are slow... Especially when old ladys trying to pay the exact amount and searching in their purse for it -_-
That was so funny. That 'How are you?' culture is predominant in all English speaking countries I guess. I still remember when I was a kid and we started learning English at school teacher spent half of class time to explain 'How are you?' culture and that it is not an honest question and we should not give an honest answer. Actually when teacher mentioned we should reply back as also 'How are you?' to 'How are you?' we got so shocked and actually totally confused so we decided that it was kind of stupid (we were 13 year old kids at the time). Moving some 8 years ahead I had my first encounter with British person who asked me 'How are you?'. I guess I forgot that lesson as I replied I was tired haha It took some time and more exposure with different cultures to understand it is just a small talk. Same like in Poland we ask each other about weather, my husband is Indian they greet each other by asking 'Had lunch?' or 'Had food?'.
Just love this series!
I'm not sure if it's still like in the past: paying with cards is partly only allowed for amounts above 10 or 20€ due to the banking fees the supermarket has to pay.
On the other hand there are also advanced banking systems where you can use your banking/giro card at the supermarket casheer like an ATM to get up to 200€ cash from your bank account without any banking fees.
And: grocery shopping is quite cheap due to the efficient cashing process that needs less time/staff. Everyone knows that it's cash time and what to do and that you don't wanna waste time standing in a queque. But even the fast ALDI casheer is far more friendly and helpfull than 20 years before cause they were trained to do so.
Wasting others time is seen a shame and you are trained to avoid that from your childhood on like in sports. If a quad or an eight rowing team has an appointment for training at 2pm all have to be there at 2 pm and already prepared otherwise up to 9 people (incl. cox and coach) have to wait until the last arrived. If you train up to 7 times a week you'll get pretty annoyed if mostly the same are late. So they will have a "Mannschaftskasse"/team wallet, where everybody has to pay in who is too late - for every 5 minutes for example. From that money the team will pay a grill party somewhere in the racing season, but most important: being too late becomes happened far less and for less minutes
The same at mealtime where the family comes together and all shall be at the desk in time.
The cashier thing is rather simply, when you think about it. Nobody likes to wait in line, so it's up to everyone to allow the cashiers to work as smooth as possible so everything runs efficiently.
Hello from Germany, yeah Recyling is great, and the non-cash-problem you talking about: it´s slowly changing because the real money is too expensive to get (you have to pay fees to get it), supermarket: the ones that are quick are the low-budget-supermarktes (here they called "Discounter") in a regular supermarket its much slower and you can talk to the cashier, yeah the typical phrases or "smalltalk" doesn´t work in Germany. The Smiling Thing is really new from me i never heard that anyone on the world does that, it´s wonderfull. But as you learned yourselft i would´nt recommend that in Germany - it can be !very! very dangerous!!!! Overall interessting Video thx
Smiling is not a mistake! Just keep at it, let them judge you for all they care, but keep the smile - force our sour, serious looks down the throats.
I've got kind of a natural smile myself, so people tend to react to that and smile back. Just share and spread the happiness. ;)
Being a german who spent some time in NZ I feel so reminded of all those things. Like it took me ages to get used to all those friendly people who kept asking me how I was doing :D and all that stuff...