Socialism with Germans
No two countries are the same, and what may be acceptable in your country could be an unforgivable faux pas in others. Germany is no exception. All cultures are different and they are unique in their own ways. It is not easy to accept a German system, as it is bit complex. Germans are fond of following rules, such as always waiting for the walk sign to cross the street. A German fondness for rules – a trait that leaves foreigners equally puzzled.
German habits that foreigners really struggle to cope with
- Germans are direct : They want to get right to the point. They don't have the fear of being rude. They cut the small talk and say it straight.
- Highly disciplined : If a kid has his shoes up on the seat on the bus, it's quite normal for a fellow passenger to lean over and ask him to put them on the floor.
- Services in Restaurants : The “customer is always right” rule just doesn’t really apply here. You can't be in a rush in many German restaurants, as the waiter will often pay you zero attention - and expect them to argue back if they get your order wrong.
- Terrifying Letters : Germans love making everything official by what many foreigners may consider to be an outdated system - postal mail - and they love even more writing terrifying letters.So if you miss part of a rental payment, don't be surprised when instead of a knock at your door or kind phone call, your German landlord decides to deal with the situation by sending a letter threatening immediate eviction without warning.
- Liberal smoking ban : Germany’s smoking ban is much more relaxed than most other western countries.Germany still does not have a federal smoking law, so people smoke everywhere and anywhere.
Introductions
When meeting Germans for the first time, short and firm handshakes are the normal greeting. Make sure you maintain eye contact throughout, though avoid staring for uncomfortably long.They always talk clearly and openly to understand each other and this is highly important in this culture.German’s don’t lie to impress anybody.
Etiquette & Custom
Many Germans adhere to standards civic morality (ofbürgerlichkeit )of certain neatness and formality to behavior in everyday life. When entering a store, for example, one is not likely to be noticed, unless one announces oneself forcefully by saying, "guten Tag" (literally, "good day") or "hello." In pronouns of direct address, one uses either the formal 'sie 'or the informal 'du'.Colleagues in the workplace typically address each other as Sie or use a title and the family name, such as, Herr or Frau Doktor Schmidt.
Relationship
Who makes the first move for the dating proposal, plays the greatest role to start the relationship. Emotions are not shown to others until the relationship is felt more comfortable. Germans are not much interested in marriages. They easily move after break-up and find the next relationship. After Several years of dating (even 30 years) or even after having kids they tent to marry.
Most children still grow up with both their parents. However, the amount of single mothers or fathers keeps increasing. Normally the expenses of the house hold and any bills they pay together and the cost is divided by both the parties.
Close friendships with Germans don’t necessarily happen overnight, but when they do form they are generally very genuine.
Humour
The Germans obviously appreciate a show of good humour, but they the least funny nationality. When you first meet most Germans, they might seem rather humorless, but after you get to know them, most of them can relax and enjoy a good belly-laugh.
Punctuality
Being on time is considered a virtue in Germany. They would rather be too early than too late. Punctuality is seen as a sign of respect to the person you are meeting. It does not mean that every German is good about this, but they will apologize if they arrive past the agreed-upon time.
On the same line of thought, train and bus schedules are given in exact minutes and yes, people do expect transportation services to be true to their schedule. However, the Deutsche Bahn (German rail service) has a reputation that their timetable is merely an approximate reference for when trains will arrive or leave the station.
Love for Football
Football is the number one most attended and practiced sport in Germany. It is so popular that it could be considered a national pastime. The German Football Association consists of more than 26,000 clubs and 178,000 teams. There are more football fan clubs in Germany than any other country.
In addition, the German football league, the Bundesliga attracts international superstars and is followed by many people outside of the Germany. The country’s national team is strong in international contests and has won four world cups.
Germans are well-insured
Germany is a land of insurances. You can secure yourself against almost anything. Personal liability insurance, household insurance, legal insurance, life insurance, travel insurance, pet insurance, car insurance, bicycle insurance, unemployment insurance, you name it. The fundamentals (health insurance and car liability insurance are mandatory in Germany) are definitely to be insured.
German Pet Culture
Germans has a great emotional bonding with pet animals and especially with Dogs, cats, guinea pigs, canaries, Horses and parakeet. Pet clinics and parlor are famous and well known in Germany.
You can adopt a dog from animal shelter and the Pups are given Microchipped with them with identity number and the owner has to pay Annual taxes. There is a legal requirement for the dog owners to write a written exam for HündeführerSchein (Dog License) to ensure they know the Basics of Dog ownership. More over the dog should also pass the Basic Behavior test in Veterinarian’s office. Pets in Germany are the complete responsibility of their owner and any damage caused by your animal is your legal responsibility
Horses are famous in Germany and many youth have them as pet. In the past, they were kept as workhorses. Pulling tree trunks in the forest, plowing fields, transporting people by coach. Back then, breeds were build stable, insensitive and strong. Nowadays, horses are held for sports purposes. Show horses are either trained in dressage, jumping or western riding. These breeds are sportier, more agile and expressive.
Germans love to drink beer
Germany has over 1,300 breweries and more than 5,000 different brands of beer. The country even has a law (deutsches Reinheitsgebot) about which ingredients may be used in the production of the beverage. The top fermented beers are represented by the Weizenbier, Alt-Bier and Kölsch, whereas Pils is the only bottom-fermented beer type. Pils is the most popular and hence most consumed beer type in Germany.
Germans know how to bake bread
Baking does have a long-standing tradition in Germany and bread is a big part of the traditional cuisine.German bread is awesome. The variety, the taste, the quality, the fact that it is not squares in a plastic bag meant to be placed in a toaster all make it baking heaven.
Bakeries have tons of shelves full of all kinds of different loaves and rolls. Dark, white, sweet, savory, crunchy, soft, plain, or with all types of seeds.
A lot of bakeries will even open on Sunday morning just so that people can get fresh bread for their breakfast, even though, by law, all shops are usually closed on Sunday.
Germans love sausage
Unless you like living off potatoes and staple foods, traditional German food is an insult to vegetarians. Meat in general is a mainstay of German cuisine. However, sausage, or Wurst as it is called here, seems to have a special place in the heart of German meat eaters.
There are Bockwurst, Wiener Wurst, Blutwurst, Cervelatwurst, Bratwurst, Currywurst, Weißwurst, Brühwurst, Kinderwurst, Sommerwurst, Rostbratwurst, Mettwurst, Teewurst, Fleischwurst, Jagdwurst, Leberwurst. And that was just from the top of my head.
Gummi Bears
Germans unique and most popular candy is Gummi Bears(rubber bear). Hans Riegal invented in 1920’s and started the Haribo Company in Bonn-NRW.
Where did Haribo name come from?? HAns RIegel Bohn : HARIBO
Name of the inventor and the place of gummi bears production is combined to give the name HARIBO. Gummi Bears (Rubber Candy) Oh! Is it made of rubber?? Most of us have this question?
It is made up of fruit snack or cup of jello and made from Gelatin a gelling agent. From children’s to old people Germany love Haribo. It comes in different attractive colors and tastes good with almost no calories.