If you only ever had white bread to eat, try other sorts of bread.
In terms of culture, as a German it seems German culture is similar to American culture, just less extreme. Also less small talk with strangers, if that is indeed a thing in America.
kyub@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
German here. These are some cultural and day-to-day differences compared to the US:
psycotica0@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
As a Canadian visiting Munich with only very basic phrasebook German, virtually everything was English Compatible, and I had nearly no problems. The biggest problem I did have was that one night we got takeout from a Thai restaurant (don’t ask…) and the people at the Thai restaurant spoke German, and presumably Thai, but not English. These were the only people in Munich we encountered that didn’t speak English, but that seems fair to me since presumably German is already not their first language.
And the second was that we went to a grocery store that apparently only had Self Checkouts or something, and we didn’t understand the protocol for how the line divided between the checkout machines, so we were shouted at for not taking machine 7 when it was our turn. Again, our fault, but the shouter didn’t know we didn’t speak German, and so shouted in German, and I didn’t put together right away that what they were shouting meant “7” in the context, but in the end it worked out and we all lived.
The last problem I had was just the general vague sense of shittyness I feel about myself anytime I visit somewhere without speaking their language, but the Munich trip was kind of a surprise addition to a France trip for logistical reasons, and I had no time to study. But none of the people there made me feel that, it’s just a me thing.
Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Anecdotally, nearly every German I’ve ever talked to - in real life or online - has had better English skills than the average native speaker. Their secondary language education is genuinely impressive.
PlexSheep@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
If OP is from the US and visiting a city, they also should definitely try public transit or cycling here :)
starlinguk@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t find Germans reserved at all. Maybe it’s because I live in BW? I see spontaneous conversations between strangers all the time. On the train, sitting on a bench in town, during a hike, even on a parking lot (like today, a lady started a conversation about my Brandenburg license plate).
kyub@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
It’s just a tendency, not a hard rule.