In Germany, if you say that you are bringing salad or cake, its generally assumed that these are home-made things.

The beer bottle thing is so true. I used to work in a company that had a German Speaking Customer Services Department. We had a works garden party one summer and all the Germans were there with their families. One of the German speakers was actually Danish and I asked him if he had a bottle opener for my beer - it was his garden, by the way. "Just ask a German" he said, and at that grabbed my bottle and handed it to the 12 yo son of one of my German colleagues. Without breaking stride, this kid held the bottle to the side of the garden shed and without me seeing what he did it was open! I had way too many beers that day because every bottle I had, I passed to a different German and watched them use the edge of a table, a wall, a folded piece of paper.... Seriously, I think it might be genetic!

austrian here, im confused, what could possible be a bigger compliment than "not bad" ?

This airing of rooms happens also in the Netherlands. It is important to have fresh air all the time. When you have your birthday, you have to bring cakes to treat your colleagues at work, so that is the same as in Germany.

"Mahlzeit" is also only used in the timeframes when there are lunch breaks. You could say it is an indicator that you are leaving for lunch from your workplace, or are on your way to it. or welcoming those who join you for lunch. And only during this time people would say it.

Bringing your own cake just sounds like the best option to me. 1. You can bring something you actually like. 2. You know they don't contain anything you might be allertic to. 3. There isn't the chance of only one or a few people having to make cakes for everyones birthday because the rest "can't bake", etc. 4. You still have a cake even if your colleagues forget that it's your birthday and you have the chance to subtly remind them of it. 5. It's only one day of the year, so it really isn't that much work. I mean just imagine coming into the office all excited just to realise that no one thought to bring a cake. By bringing your own you can also just share the joy :)

The ventilation by fully open windows is not just german specific, its pretty common in many european countries including mine (Czech Republic).🙂 The thing with salads they are actualy not salads is also the same here in Czech Rep. Also there is the same tradition that if you have birthday so you bring the cakes or some deserts to your coleagues at work, but of course you recieve your cake at home from your family or friends, same its in Germany. To say "not bad" is also a compliment in my county.🙂 All beer nations in Europe (Germans, Austrians, Czechs, Belgians) have special skills how to open bottles without bottle opener.😅

There is a lot of CCTV in the UK, which you don't need in Germany. In Germany there is the grandma at the window who "monitors" everything in the neighborhood. Whether cars are too loud, garbage isn't separated, the garden isn't maintained or the neighbors have visitors, grandma sees everything and knows everything.

It´s not the mayonaise which makes it a "Salat" in Germany. The word stands for all mixtures of cold ingredients for which there is on other name.

Birthday cake: the good thing is that you only have to bring a cake for your work colleagues once a year, and not every time it's someone's birthday that you probably don't even like.

Bringing your own cake on your birthday, we also do in Denmark.

we do the same in France, if it's your birthday, you can enjoy this at the office, by sharing cake or pastries (croissants, etc...) you bring with your colleagues. It's not you want, or wait a gift from your colleague, it's to share a friendly moment with them.

On our birthdays, we thank the people who walk life by our side with a cake or by inviting them out. It's another exampler of the "we" vs. "me" mindset.

At least you don't have to bring cake every time someone has birthday, only once a year.

There's similarities in Finland too. Like bringing your own birthday cake thing, opening techniques of beer bottles and the compliments: "not bad", "it's ok", "it's edible" etc. Nothing weird about these. :D

People sometimes have a false understanding and equate salad with chopped vegetables. This is not fundamentally wrong in today's society, but in Germany the word salad is based more on the old meaning, which is why there are also meat salads. to understand Salat / Salad Where does the word Salat / Salad come from? It has the Indo-European root sal- for salt. More precisely, the word "salad" comes from the French salade, Italian insalata, from the Latin sallita and originally means "salted". Salads are, in the literal sense of the word, foods preserved with salt. So the meat Salad Is nothing more than a kind of preserved meat with various salty or vinegar-like ingredients (e.g. mayonnaise and vinegar). You can clearly see here the original literal usage of the origin. So is this wrong and weird ? I don't think so. 😉 Think about that: In the Term of salad you can also name Beef Jerky also a type of salad ..... it is preserved with spices which even contain salt in their recipes. It is literaly a dry "salad". An other example is the Salami where the word Sal for Salt is at the beginning of the word. The name comes from the Italian salame 'salted sausage' or 'salted meat' or Latin sallere. In Italian, the single sausage is a salame, while salami is the plural form. In the German and other languages, the Italian plural "salami" became often the singular Salat / Salad plant is not a technical term used in botany, but rather the technical description of the preparation in the kitchen. Meaning/Definition 1) green leafy vegetables to be eaten raw, for example iceberg lettuce or endive 2) a cold dish made from leafy greens or a mixture of different ingredients, often dressed with a salad dressing 3) Predicament, confusion, muddle [use: figurative, everyday language] Salad is a dish of cold cuisine and can be spicy or fruity-sweet. Salads consist of chopped vegetables or fruits, possibly with other ingredients, and are dressed with a salad dressing. Salads are served cold or at most lukewarm. A distinction is made according to composition or method of production, e.g. raw or cooked vegetable salads. Simple salads are usually served as a side salad (green salads, single-substance raw vegetables or cooked). Compound salads (salad compositions) are most often used as an appetizer, especially if they contain meat from shellfish, fish, game, etc. A salad platter contains mixtures of cooked and/or raw salads (so-called mixed salad). Salad dressings are used to prepare salads. Traditional mayonnaise derivatives are increasingly being replaced by energy-reduced dressings (yoghurt sauce, vinegar-oil-herb sauces, tomato sauces). Within a menu, salads do not take the place of an extra course, but rather as a side dish as well as an appetizer or intermediate course 😉 greetings from germany

I never truly understood the concept of baking and then bringing a cake to work or give it to friends until an older coworker told me his perspective. He said that yeah sure it is your birthday and you should be celebrated but it's also not a given anyone wants to celebrate with you. On this day this is a gesture to thank the people around you for being with you. I thought this was beautifully put. Then I asked him why would this ever become part of work culture and he laughed.

Ventilating apartments is important in Germany and other countries in Europe for several reasons: Because of the construction method and the typical climate, mold easily forms if there is no ventilation and heating. Also because in Germany and the coutries around are generally no air conditioning systems (environmentally harmful energy destroyers) in private for good reasons. The mold problem is even more relevant with the new generation of the insulated windows. That's why it's also written in rental agreements.

salat topic: it's not about the "salad" itself, it's about mixing all stuff together in a big bowl and making a mess, that's why so many things are called salat (kable salad, a ball of cables with no beginning or ending. wort salat, just words no context... and so on) birthday: dunno if it's right but this is my explanaition, in the old days where infant death was more common, you were not sure if the kid could even make it until 1. birthday, so it became bad luck to wish someone ... or in this case, the kid a happy birthady before it even had it.

In the Netherlands we do the same thing with birthdays, mostly in the office. Once I took a month long course in the US and I celebrated my birthday while being there. That night we went out to dinner with a small international group. At the start I said ‘the drinks are on me!’ The Americans and Canadians were shocked and said they should pay for me. The Germans said that they had the same custom as me. We compromised, I paid for the drinks during dinner and the group paid for my food.

“Salat” in German refers to many types of cold mixed dishes. In addition to salads made from fresh fruit and/or vegetables, there is also, for example, "Kabelsalat" (lit. cable-salat), as we call loose cables when they get tangled. When there were still cassettes and tapes, you could still regularly come across "Bandsalat" (lit. tape salad)... For the birthday cake: This is just another example for German efficency. Instead of risking thousands of birthday cakes from all your friends and collegues creating a huge mess on your desktop (and, being polite as you are, having to taste and praise them all) , you just bring your own homebaked cake. Therefor you are safe to only eat birthday cake you like and to additionally impress your mates with your baking skills (and have your expenses under control)... btw: this only applys to your workplace. At home you get your birthday cake from family and friends as anywhere else on the planet.

I am not German, but sausage and salad are delicious in Germany. When I go to Germany. Usually at Christmas. I am coming from the Netherlands. I definitely buy these products. Also a lot of food, drinks that are cheap in Germany. like alcohol/tobacco. In the Netherlands, alcohol is so expensive and a little bit difficult to buy. In Germany you can drink beer at the Mc Donalds and buy spirits in the supermarket. In the Netherlands, unfortunately, that is no longer possible. Freedom? In the Netherlands, we were a bit too Americanised after the war. We are coming back of that. Sure now with Trump and Putin. I am happy with one good neighbour now. Much love from the Netherlands to Germany. Germany, the land of the free. ;-)

If you're invited to a birthday party, you don't bring a cake. The host (birthday child) invites you to coffee and cake. This is how the custom of bringing a cake came about.

9:53: In Germany there are breaks for making sounds by law. So if you are making noise between 0:30 pm and 2:30 pm ore after 10:00 pm until 8:00 am, Germans will tell you to keep silence (and this is a law). As well on Sundays. You are not allowed to make noise on Sundays. You are not allowed to work, even in your own yard. So annoyed people can even call the police on you (and some do it).

It seems in NZ, we are close to Germany. Same for birthdays, understatement, and opening bottles. Even used teeth in my youth.

a salad is simply a bunch of things cut together and mixed, cold, with a dressing of some sort. nothing say it has to contain lettuce.

The birthday thing is the same in Poland) We usually buy a bag of candies for everyone to pick and choose throughout the day) If one sees a bag of sweets laying around the coffee area it's common to ask: Who's got a birthday?)

In Italy too You bring cake at Your birthday, cake or little apetizers.

The "don´t wish a happy birthday before the date" may be seen as a thing of respect. It shows that you have a deep respect for the person and the right date is on your mind. Not caring for the right date is a sign of low respect. If you MISSED the right date and are late for the good wishes (more than one day) you say "Herzlichen Glückwunsch nachträglich" which means "Happy birthday retrospectively", often accompanied by an apologetic smile!

Here in the Netherlands that is the same, I always bougie the cake for my colleges

The salad thing is definitely not only about Mayo (especially in Bavaria, there are not only Mayo lovers) but also about simply oil, vinegar, onions, salt, pepper and sometimes herbs : Wurstsalat (sausage salad), Fleischsalat (cooked meat salad), Knödelsalat (dumpling salad), Kartoffelsalat (potato salad), Nudel- oder Reissalat (noodle/rice salad) 😍

I am in the uk and the birthday person brings their own cake into the office. Used to be fine - a box of mr kipling cakes - but now it’s the fancy and expensive cakes. Like a cake war 😂

Beers can be opend with allmost anything, even 1 sheet of paper, as long as you roll it real tight

with the cake on you own birthday starts in school. I think so that every kid knows that is your birthday and have to congratulate you. if you bring a cake nobody can miss youre birthday^^

Bringing your own cake is a courtesy to others, not to embarrass them by having forgotten your birthday. This is something you do to people you’re not close with. Within families the birthday kid is cared for properly

In Italy too, it is customary for the person having a birthday to buy something. Something to drink or cake,etc.

bringing your own cake to your birthday is just common at work.

At work it's common for people to bring either a cake on one's birthday, or "belegte Brötchen" (open-faced sandwiches). The colleagues, on the other hand, might collect a certain amount of money from the colleagues, let's say 2 to 5 Euros, and buy a gift and/or flowers for the "birthday child". In a lot of the companies I worked for, we would sit together after lunch for another 30 minutes and enjoy coffee and cake.

In the Netherlands it is the same When it is your birthday you bring the cake. Kids who have their birthday bring candy or fruit or chips or other things with them to school to give to the kids in their class.

I just found your channel a few days ago and I love your reactions.

I was in Amsterdam on my birthday. I met a friend and I had to buy him a beer for my birthday. So maybe not ONLY in Germany...

About this "bring your Cake to Work" thing: you do that to indicate that there is something to celebate on your behalf(not mandatory) and hopefully you'd get your Birthday Cake after work from friends and family...

Glad you`re coming bk!!

Mahlzeit is a greeting but only at noon, if you or your colleague go to or come from their lunch.

Some background to that "ventilation"-thing. In the "old days", houses were not really air tight. There always were some gaps in windows and doors where air could flow thru and humidity could escape. With modern house constructions (at least in Germany) this is no longer the case. To improve energy efficiency, houses are becoming more "air-tight". So air circulation - and therefore the escape of humidity - can only be achieved by opening windows. Otherwise, humidity will stay inside and houses will start to mold and rot. That's why there are such numbers of pages of your rental agreement focussing on this specific issue! We're not living in a tent anymore.

I love your Videos ❤️🇩🇪

Haven't read all the comments yet (so sorry if I'm repeating) but here in Germany where I work we have air quality alarms in meeting rooms etc and if we get a warning we always open a window or two. We like our fresh air😊

There was literally a segment on a german game show, where if you wanted to win, you'd have to open beer bottles with a sorts of things. Like a newspaper, a shoe, a lighter, a ladder, a toilet... the most random things

we sometimes open a bottle with a page of the newspaper...

I am in the UK and I complain if people cycle on the pavement.

10:08 That is the reason why in germany there are quiet times. For example in some places it is illegal to mow your gras on Sundays.Yes we do have noise laws. after 10 PM is in Germany "Nachtruhe" the time when you have to be quiet other wise the german will call their "best friend" the "Ordnungsamt" (regulatory agency) or police and they can give you a very high fine. so no lous Partying after 10 pm

In Australia there's morning tea for the people in your office/department. The person having the birthday shouts.

As for "Lüften": It is to exchange air & moisture from the inside with the outside to avoid mold. Air condition in private homes is rare. In summer, you do it in the morning to get some fresh, cold air, in winter anytime you missing some oxygene. As for "Mahlzeit": It is used to jolly someone being late at work or to inform that one is going for lunch (or its time for lunch) or to greet people sitting alrady at the lunch table - used only at work. As for salads brought to partys: 1. they are home made, 2. they are mostly enriched salads that can be eaten as a meal not as a side dish 3. they are not gererally based on mayonaise dressings. 4. They have ingredients that do not limp easily so typical ingredients would be potatoes, carrots, peppers, chili, onions, cucumber, corn, tuna, chicken, ham, cheese, noodles, rice etc. As for the birthday cake: it is tradition that you invite your family and close friends to a party or a dinner on your birthday (and get some presents then...) for your working collegues you bring some cake so they know its your birthday. Bit of getting some extra attention... As for making noise: There are laws in Germany that do not allow using loud machines or music at certain times in certain areas. They do apply for areas of pure living (not industrial aeras) These are from 12:00 - 15:00 (Mittagsruhe) and after 22:00 - 06:00 (Nachtruhe) and all on Sundays and Holidays (Feiertagsruhe). However, worst thing is police is called and tell you to lower the volume, best thing to not get in trouble is to invite your neighbours to the party. As for compliments: this is totally true. Germans are tight with compliments, particularly in the south-west "no complaint is enough of praise..." However, it does not mean the effort is not registered or disliked. We simply do not give anything an 10 so that the 10 remains something extraordinary. As for law obedience: so true, germans feel the need to lecture others about misbehaviour. Bad habbit, depending on the situation. As for beer bottle opening: Yes, Germans can do that with nearly everthing, guess US bottles open by a twist so here is something to learn for us. Here are my top 5 german habbits, people should know about: 1. The "Stammtisch": The Stammtisch is a table in a pub or a restaurant which is reserved only for very regular guests. They may have also a personal beer mug reserved for any person belonging to the "Stammtisch". It may be a group of similar interest either political or other. However, do not sit down at a Stammtisch without being invited by one of the group. 2. No speed limits on motorways: Unless not otherwise regulated by signs, there is no speed limit on german motorways. Means you can go as fast as your car can. There are many models that can do > 130 mph on the road. Be aware of this. There is no free coice of the lane. Slow cars must drive on the right lane, overtaking only on the left. Look in the mirror twice if you see a car coming when you change lane. It may be really fast. 3. National mentality: Most Germans have no pride in their national origin. Hissing a german flag on a private house will be considered in most cases as a right wing extremist. Even young germans today will feel self responsible for the warcrimes and crimes against humanity committed under the Nazi regime from 1939 - 1945. Just normal Nationalism may be judged against the person that expresses. Be careful with this issue. 4. Great foods: Great foods are regional. Germany has 16 different states similar to US states. They speak different dialects of german and have different habbits and kitchen. Ask for regional specialities when in Germany. There are 16 best beers, 16 best dishes, 16 best breads, 16 best deserts etc. Germany is not a one for all place. 5. Last but not least: The recent and the current government has opened the borders for uncontrolled imigration of potential dangerous and criminal people. German streets are not as save as they used to be 20 years ago. You may encounter racism against any kind of appearance or other criminal behaviour. Dont visit unsave areas with social conflicts.

we are diveded when it comes to poteto salad :one fraction loves it with mayo and hates it made with vinegar /oil and vice versa.

I think the cake thing has it's benefits. it's mainly a workspace thing where you don't expect everyone to know all birthdays and organizing it so everyone gets one and bakes one per year is near impossible. this makes bringing the cake yourself the easier solution, that only needs a "we do that here". also people either ask "who made the cake" or "why cake?", this way both answers point to the birthdayee. it's a talking point and there's little chance you get the wrong cake if you bring it yourself.

Bringing your own cake avoids so many problems. First of all, there is no awkwardness. The person whose birthdays it is gets to decide if they want to socialize and have some cake. No one feels left out, and you do not need to keep track of who has birthday when. And everyone brings a cake eventually. Its not up to some people to always do it because the other "can't bake".

5:21 It’s like the British and ‘pudding’.

I got so confused when I traveled to Germany for a workshop, and it was lunch time, all of them smiling and saying Mahlzeit, it took me a while to figure it out that it is a greeting :)

For people who don't want to use the generic "Hallo" "Mahlzeit" is actually a common substitute. For example I prefer using "Moin", "Mahlzeit", "Servus" and "N'Abend" (short for Guten Abend) depending on the time of day.

I’ve worked in many offices in the UK where you were expected to bring in cakes for your department on your birthday

When someone in Swabia says "Warte mal schnell" it's not "Wait quickly" but "Wait a minute"

The cake thing is about giving people control over their birthday and about causing less drama. If you need other people to get you cake when it's your birthday: 1. you might feel neglected and left out when it's your birthday but everyone forgot about it but just doesn't care 2. other people feel pressured to get you something even though they might not want to 3. you might not want a lot of fuzz around your birthday because you don't like getting a lot of attention, or you don't like surprise parties, but other people might still get you something for your birthday and there is nothing you can do about it. On the other hand, if you have to bring your own cake: 1. You like getting a lot of attention and have a celebration with your coworkers? Bring a cake. 2. You prefer everyone to ignore your birthday? Don't bring a cake, don't tell anyone it's your birthday. So, it's about consent.

Understatements are very common in Denmark too, and the further you go west, away from Copenhagen, the more common are they. I remember one of the first times I visited my father in law and he was grilling sausages for my wife's 3 younger half-brothers, with mustard and ketchup and potatosalad, and he was serving a very expensive wine (which I found a bit over the top), and then he asked me how I liked the wine, and I said, as I would then do in any similar situation, "jo, den kan da godt drikkes" (oh, it's drinkable). He was not pleased with that comment, and I had to praise it a bit more to easethe tension. He wasn't from Copenhagen but he did study 5 to 10 years to become a medical doctor there 😊 and he liked to flash his wealth ... and I was so working class, although I studied at the university. 😂 The birthday cake tradition we have in Denmark too. I have often baked a traditional regional Danish cake for my colleagues, also when I was working in Luxembourg. In Luxembourg you are supposed to bring cake, and for special occasions also champagne or crémant. During the 7 years I worked in a company there, I have opened at least 200 bottles of sparkling wine for celebrations mayby 50 times. The "Mahlzeit" greeting, was used at all meals, or we used the "Bon app" abbreviation for "Bon appétit". In English there are no similar greeting, although we tried with "Enjoy your lunch". English, German, and French were the official languages of the company in Luxembourg.

The reason why you provide your own cake on your own birthday is simple and very efficient. Let's say you work in an office with 23 other colleagues. And let's also assume that 2 colleagues have a birthday every month. This would mean that all colleagues would have to bring in food 24 days a year (or twice a month), which is not only inefficient, but also more expensive in the long run. However, if everyone brings a cake on his/her own birthday, then everyone pays for cake exactly ONCE and the organisational work is done

Gestern habe ich Currywurst-Salat gemacht. Schmeckte großartig! Dazu gab es Kartoffelpüree.

I'm Swedish and lived now for 3 years here in Germany. Two things here really hit me hard, first, the impact ventilation. The houses just don't seem to have ventilation systems like we typically do in Sweden. My girlfriend used to open, every goddamn window just before bed, all year around. It's been a source of so much arguing. Eventually we managed to find a middle ground with that, and they get opened earlier in the day instead and not for as long as she used to do it. I still absolutely hate it, just build ventilated houses, insulate them properly and save on heating costs by not having to "luften" as often. Me coming from a country that can get really cold in the winter, the insulation of houses is something we take for granted, our houses are always built well insulated so you kind of always expect it to be the same everywhere, since even on hot days a well insulated house regulates heat better. The second part is the "it's edible".... I was fuming inside when I heard that. See I do like to cook, I'm pretty good at it too. To hear something is edible is a huge insult in Sweden, it means it's not disgusting, but they didn't enjoy the food. If we cook in Sweden, not only does everyone come to the table immediately when it's finished, to eat and they all thank you for the food and properly tells you if it was good in a way that can never be misunderstood. Germans has a way of communicating that can, at times, come off super impolite and I've been offended so many times by it. They don't mean anything, of course, it's just the way some things are said and it took a long time to learn it, and also, to learn to live with it. Still bugs me, but I'm not offended anymore. Germans are great people though, but sometimes the way of talking would have you think otherwise lol.

That laast one reminds me of a fun time while I lived in a small city for my job education... We went to a store, baught a "Kasten" - a 20 bottle tray - of beer and while walking i couldn't wait untill we were home, I opened a bottle at a traffic sign. My friend asked me "Why are you already drinking, how did you open that with just one hand? I want one, too" - so I've shown it to him how I opened it (set the cap on the sign and pull the bottle down) and gave it to him

it is very important that we not only make salads with majo, the same applies to vinegar/oil, i.e. for potato salad, meat salad, etc.

Hammering on a Sunday morning at 8 o’clock? That won’t happen in Germany. No disturbing work on Sundays.

That birthday thing is pretty common in Finland as well. Some bring cake or something to munch on to the office. Less common now maybe, but used to be more so.

5:00 u need to try all these salads when ur in germany but order them from a restaurant then these even look amazing and the taste is so good too

A neighbor of my family had a project in the garden once. It was really loud, so before they started they went to every house in our street and told them that it was going to take arounf four weeks. The work was done after seix weeks and the neighbor got every family a bottle of wine and a big palette of chocolate as an apology. 😂

Typisch Deutsch ist es, auf Mallorca Scheinshaxen oder Currywurst zu essen. Typisch US-Amerikanisch ist es weltweit bei McDonalds zu essen und die Flüssigkeiten, die bei Starbucks verkauft werden, mit Kaffee in Verbindung zu bringen.

So if someone in Germany asks you if you can bring something to eat for the barbecue, it's better not to bring something from the supermarket and do it yourself. Important !!! It should taste good

you should visit the west this time :) bavaria was an obvious destination but Baden Württemberg is less "cliché" and still beautiful and interesting. When it comes to culture (and party) Cologne and Düsseldorf are quite cool, too

You bring the cake, or something else to eat like sausages, and the colleagues make a secret collection of money and purchase a present from that, or give the money.

Bringing a cake on your birthday makes it easier and also nice to celebrate with all colleagues. You usually then invite for cake and then everybody (in your area/department) joins. At my company its then usually 1 hour timeframe in the afternoon and you invite current colleagues and other colleagues who you like or closely work with. Everybody then joins for either a few minutes or the whole hours depending of how much time they have. If you only would „celebrate“ with the ones who remembered could be a little disappointing.

I use Mahlzeit all the time! Can be during the dinner time or when i pass someone that is actually eating or about to eat soon. I also say "morgen" when its night. That i like to do to confuse people. "well its dark, i just got up, so could be morning!" Espacially on night shift that funny. Well for me!

the birthday thing only applies to work and if colleagues who like you know its your birthday, you get something too. within the family and friends you get more gifts, but it is also a culture to invite good friends and family.

a friend of mine is so good at opening beers he can do it with a bottlecap.

Question on Reddit: "What is the most german thing you know?" Top-Resonse: "who authorized you to conduct this survey?"

The birthday gift tradition starts in germany very early. In kindergarten and elementary school, you had to bring along a piece of candy for everyone in the classroom. That was in the 70s and 80s. Is this today still actually? I dont know.

Birthdays are very different, especially when it comes to work. The person whose birthday is bringing cake, candy or buy a beer after work. In return, colleagues in some companies and departments collect some money and give them a small gift. We always did it for big round birthdays (20s, 30s, 40s etc.), when you became a father or mother, as well as other special occasions like weddings. For my 30th birthday, I was given a basket with 30 different bottles of beer and some money. But it's not done that way everywhere. Whether and what you do or are done depends very much on you and the company in which you work. Many things are not mandatory, and there are sometimes very different rituals in companies. Sometimes you get something as a gift from your employer, sometimes you get something from your work colleagues, and in other companies nothing is done at all. Back then, I worked in a relatively familiar environment, even though it was a fairly large company. Nevertheless, there were always little touches internally in my department. In the summer our boss arrived with ice cream, pizza was ordered or whatever else came to mind. I particularly remember our shift parties. A private party with only my colleagues from my department in my boss's garden, and half of them ended up in the pool afterward. As I said, it partly depends on how well you get along with your colleagues and how much you separate or want to separate your private and professional life.

I can open a beer bottle with a lighter, ANYTHING with a 90° corner, my wedding ring, a spoon/knive,fork,etc. and i know how to use a piece of paper (in theory) and if you come to work on your birthday and expect a party. you will have to organize that yourself. your friends usually will celebrate with you and all but usually if you want a party you have to do it.nothing weird about it imo.

I love making the cake I find tasty and I love baking or cooking for others. It's a my pleasure. I know how many guests are being expected (I invited them to my b'day or how much I have to prepare for my co-workers), so if someone came around, he/she doesn't know how much food he/she should prepare. And what if I don't like the cake? And if a lot of guests come over, do I have to try from everyone not to be impolite?

the happy birthday thing reminded me, when I told my english speaking online friends it was my dads birthday soon, some were like "well happy early birthday to him" and i was sitting here like "uh wait what, why are they saying that in advance?". As a german it's odd to me to wish someone a happy early birthday. We don't do that here. A happy belated birthday, yes, but not a happy early birthday lol

If we don’t see the person on their birthday, we will congratulate them the week after or so or when we see them after their birthday, even if it’s like 2 weeks after. (It’s ok if you‘re busy.) We Germans really don’t like to be congratulated before our birthdays, because we didn’t have the birthday yet it’s really impolite. We normally congratulate with: „Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag nachträglich“ when we couldn’t see them in their birthday, but we still want to say something.

Imagine having to bring a cake to the office whenever it's a colleague's birthday. You'd bake a cake every single day 😂 At least in bigger offices. On the other hand, if the birthday person brings a cake to the office, you'll have a constant cake supply and only have to bring a cake once a year. It just makes sense 😋

1) LOL! I am a freelancer and I work for a bank and in one of their buildings the windows could be opened. I always came in first and there's the smell of dead office stench. So I opened those windows that can be opened to get some fresh air in. And always one of the colleagues was complaining that this deregelated the AC etc. So I said: "if you come in here like I do, it smells like: red tape death is greeting you! So fuck the AC as it doesn't take away the smell of rotting bureaucracy" :D The guy that hired me laughed so hard and said: "you tell them bureaucrats!" 2) The salad thing we have in dutch too. My housemate and his GF and I had an argument the call: "lettuce with unions and tomatoes" sla (lettuce) I call it salade as in a salade which is several fresh cold ingredients with lettuce. So we made up our own word: slalade. Now 20 years on we are still good friends and we went to Belgium the other month and without thinking about it we ordered: slalade as an appetiser. The lady was confused: "you mean sla (lettuce) or salade (salad) with lettuce tomatoes and cheese?" We laughed: "sorry salade, yes!" She asked: "is that a Dutch thing slalade?" So we said: "yes in Dutch we use slalade for anything that is lettuce with other vegetables and dressing. Otherwise people thing it's like a mayonaise based salad." So in dutch we also know these Mayonaise based salads. Then again we are just a province of Germany :P 3) Treats are the same in the Netherlands you treat your colleagues and kids in school when it's your birthday. Or when you leave your job to work elsewhere. 4) In DUtch we also say: "Hmm niet slecht!", "Dat is best te pruimen", "Ja dat is te eten!" Probably the "te pruimen" is really weird for non-native Dutch speakers. Pruimen is slang for eat like: "munch" "You can munch on that". And like in Germany we are very reserved with compliments, these are compliments. 5) In the UK it's similar with traffic and common rules. With the stupid Corona period we finally had a gap in the lockdowns so I went to Ashford Kent (I used to live there). And I walked through town and a lady shouted: "THE ARROWS, THE ARROWS"! I pretend duck and shout back: "I DIDN'T SEE THE INDIANS WHERE ARE THEY?" Because I refused to comply with that nonsense circus (especially on a hot Juli day!). And I turn and unfortunately the lady screaming was an Indian lady. Now I mean American indians with bows and arrows. They can't stand that sort of humor in the UK :D For us Dutch that's the norm, you behave like an idiot we will behave like bigger idiots. 6) Opening beer bottles like that is also a Dutch thing. I think we invented it because we are too cheap to by a bottle opener :D I used to do it with my molars, until I had a cavity and the filled it, I don't want to wreck that filling.

It is in fact illegal to hammer a nail in on Sunday. The same as mowing your lawn....anything that is making noises (including loud music) is not allowed before some time early in the morning, between 1pm and 3pm and usually after 6pm....and on Sunday.

I had a strange thing in the US. Out on a street, when me and my (married to each other) wife gave us a kiss. A passer-by commented: "Go find yourself a hotel room!" WHAT? It was just a kiss! I'm german. And located here. And I've come across some rude folks. But that was crazy.

They actually mentioned the crux of the issue with burthdays at the end of that segment when she said "if someone knows that it's my birthday...". Thing is, we generally don't know. I don't know the birthday of ANY of my colleagues, and I think that's pretty normal. So IF you want to celebrate with your colleagues at work, you got to bring your own cake.

Don't start with potato salad in Germany. There's a big debate whether it should be made with mayonnaise or not. We even have something like the potato salad equator. North of it they use mayonnaise south off it they don't. I live on the southern side but relatively close to the equator restaurants won't serve potato salad with mayonnaise but at parties you might see someone bring a potato salad with mayonnaise.

By law we have a times, when everyone has to be quiet. E.g. 11-15 Uhr is Noon and you have to be quiet, after 15 Uhr you can be louder again. Or even worse is when you are loud on a Saturday after midnight, which means it’s Sunday and if you party loudly, the neighbors can report you to the „Ordnungsamt“ before midnight and after midnight to the police, because it’s Sunday and it’s a whole day which should be quiet. So if you are in Germany, be quiet on Saturday at night and on a Sunday, or all the neighbors which are not informed will report you. (You can inform neighbors that it will be a little bit louder because of a party and then you will apologize for this and give them something or invite them. They will be nicer about it, if you do that.)

Sympathischer Typ! Deine Videos sind nicht schlecht.

The person that has a birthday, invites people or brings a cake or a breakfast to the company, and the colleagues will by a little present or bring presents, when they are invited. Especially when the person invites guests to a restaurant or at home, the birthday child could check in advance, about how much this will cost and so the guests don't have to worry, if they are invited to an expensive restaurant, as they will not pay for the invitation.

As someone who's a German speaker and spend a lot of time in Germany and Austria I can say, Rachel is an honorary German. I think something very Dutch is giving your colleagues nasty nick names. Like I had a colleague who was born in Salzburg Austria (with a Dutch mother) and I still greet him to this day with: "Hey Ouwe Nazi!!! Hoe is ie?" "Hey Old Nazi, how are you?". And we had a very cool Indian colleague and we would call him: "Hey Kuli Kuli!!!" Because Kulis were Indians that worked for the oppressors in the colonial days. And he too would laugh. We get an Irish colleague in our team and he hears me say: "Hey Ouwe Nazi goeie morguh makker!" And then Hemant came in: "Hey Kuli Kuli! Good morning, will you be driving back with me today I need to be in your city." And Ian looked as though he landed into a "KKK clan". Now Ian also had a disability on his food and was from Belfast. So I said to him: "The only time you will ever see me running, is when you leave you backpack unattended, and that's the only time you will see me sprint past you." Everybody is laughing and Ian is like I don't get it? So I reiterated... And people laughed even louder. I still don't get it... So I explained: "backpack, Belfast, bombs..." Your such racist! He scolded and everybody laughed and somebody said: "Irish isn't a race! It's burden!" It took him a week to understand that it's just very normal to have insults as greetings among colleagues that you appreciate and hold dear. They called me Dooie Dodo "As in Dorstige Doetjes" thirsty Doetjes (my last name which already is ridiculous) but once I drank so much during a company outing that I just sat down on a sub woofer and dozed off until the owner woke me up when they were closing and the rest had left". So my nick name is "Dooi Dodo (dead Dodo)" and in my new freelance job: "The Boomer Grandpa, because at 50 I a the oldest".

But I have to say, the Mayo, especially in Kartoffelsalat is more a northern thing. In the south you would make a real dressing.

7:35 Or as we have it here: The ‘treat’ comes from the person with the birthday who then gives confectionery to people they know.

Its forget to mention: Mahlzeit means too, that you wish the other a good meal and good Appetit, between the lines;)