in germany constantly sniffling is considered a lot more annoying than just blowing your nose real quick

Couple of things: 1. We'll generally switch to English if you speak to us in broken German because we're German and want to be efficient. Most of the time our English will be better than your German, so it's easier and more efficient to speak English. 2. The coffee thing is not so much about planning. You have to be careful with your small talk. We don't really do that. "How are you" is a genuine question to us. If you don't want to know how we are, try "Hello!" instead. Same goes for "we should meet for a coffee some time". If you don't actually want to plan something, don't bring it up or ask if they'd like to go for a coffee right now.

As an American who has lived in Germany for over 25 years, I can verify that every one of those things has happened to me over time. My favorite story is of my first neighbor. I had plants on my balcony as most do here and I found some leaves neatly tucked into a plastic bag, taped to my apartment door with the request to "please keep your leaves on your own balcony" I got such a laugh out of that. My girlfriend is a stickler for appointments....she keeps an appointment book (not electronic) and most of our weekends are planned months in advance. No joke. Great video!

You asked for things which happen in Germany: In April I lost my purse with over 400 Euros, my ID , driving license and several credit and debitcards (which I all just had with me at that day) here in Berlin. I waited some days and organized new ID and driving license. Some days later I got a thick letter with the purse and everything in it. Somebody found it and sent it to me. I sent him a letter with the finders reward and a big thank you but sadly couldn’t get him on the phone to check where he actually found it.

Until recently when Feli mentioned this in a video I didn't know that blowing your nose could be considered rude. On the contrary: my parents and teachers always told me/us to blow the nose instead of constantly sniffing. I never left the table for blowing the nose just turned away.🤔

Yeah the trash checking neighbours would actually be a more positive example. Usually, you'll only have your own bin for the Restmüll/general waste, while others for paper/plastic/bio will be shared **and** there are also fees for them. So, being shared, they're almost always full- so if one person puts plastic in the bio bin, for example, the company is allowed to refuse pickup and might even add a fine in some places... So if the bio bin is gonna sit there all full for 2 more weeks, esp now as it gets warmer it **is** everyone's problem ... 😂

I'm so happy about the Hausordnung. The walls in my Berlin apartment are super thin and I'm a light sleeper. :)

The house rules and rest periods in apartment buildings in Germany are taken very seriously . But if you want to celebrate a little longer and let the neighbors know, most of them will understand. And most people are not that strict with their daily planning, they will definitely have time to have a coffee, tea or a beer with you.

I am from a small town between Hamburg and Bremen and I often think watching videos about Germans/Germany they are speaking about another country. Or it is because many videos are from Berlin and Bavaria 😛Yes such things happen. But not in general. About the rules. It is the same in all countries. Social rules with which we grow up are somehow engraved into our brains. I often smile about rules in France or the Us or England too. And they will point on mistakes as well. As always it depends on the persons character. Don't take all that too serious. Come, visit and experience by yourself. The people and the country. Try to erase many of the stuf you have seen out of your brain. That you can enjoy your trip freely. I really hope you will have an amazing time.

What I’m really excited about is that Joel has really prepped himself on cultural knowledge but I await the application of said knowledge.

I love the deposit scheme on the bottles. I went to a local festival near me, in the UK, and you paid £5 for the pint and £3 for the plastic cup. I've never seen a festival site so clean!

Only thing as a German I am really guilty of is spare time planning. I vividly hate spontaneous "do you have time today", lol. I need days or weeks mental preparation and need to write into my calender a good time before, so I can make sure I am prepared. XD

9:40 "The coffee is at 4, I'm being there at 3:55" In Germany we say "5 Minuten vor der Zeit ist des Deutschen Pünktlichkeit", which roughly translates to "5 minutes early is on time for germans", so you already got that figured out perfectly!

7:50 I once had very loud neighbours whose living room was next to my bedroom. They liked inviting family over and their kids were always up late jumping around and shouting. I was rather lenient for them, but be sure that when I wanted to sleep and they were at it, I was kicking that wall. Hard. Always shut them up.

I was really surprised to learn, that the German "Abendbrot" is something special. For be it's perfectly normal to have bread for dinner. (Even when the whole family is eating together.) Eating something cooked at the evening is rare, usually when meeting with friends/business contacts or at holidays.

Especially homeless people often walk around asking for bottles, and i think it's quite nice it's basically like their job to collect these bottles :)

1:14 I remember that guy from a previous video. Nice to see them again.

The parts with Nalf were filmed in my Hometown in Schwäbisch Hall. Shoutout to Nalf and his former Team the Unicorns.

Some of these apply to Denmark, too, especially the house rules, the beer drinking, and the collecting/returning of bottles and beer cans.

2:23 This reminds me of a saying. Its a walkway (Gehweg) and not a standway(Stehweg). And you are standing in my walk way (Geh Weg)

This thing with speaking English happens to me all the time. As a German, I am asked something by a foreigner, and I see that he makes an effort to speak the language. What happens: I answer him in English - happens all the time and all the time.

13:42 Gargling and blowing noses loudly are not unusual sounds for me lol

Well actually the neighboors thing depends always on where you exactly live and what neighboors you have. The same goes with several other things like when she said "you are in the way". That's something that would rather happen VERY rarely and I don't recall it to have happened to me after over 39 years living in Germany. :) People also differ from place to place and she mostly brought up things that happen in Berlin. Same goes with the planning and meeting people. Yes, we plan a lot because we also have to at parts (depending on the work, family situation, age and more) but it doesn't rule out that if you ask if we have time tonight to go watch a movie, or drink a coffee or have a gaming session or whatever, we will say, yes, let's go! :) As about the noise thing I must say I was one of these neighboors that went upstairs and told them to finally stop it because I have to wake up at 5am for work and they kept being VERY loud at 2am in the morning so I couldn't sleep the whole time.

You can also put empty bottles next to trash cans. Then the bottle collectors can take them directly with them. In some cities there are even rubbish bins with extra holders for bottles. Old people who only get a small pension often collect.

about the rules to be quiet at night: it's not that we're obsessed with rules and want rules for the sake of rules. this one for example is basically a compromise for apartment buildings where you live very close to your neighbors & you somehow have to figure out a way that works for everyone: the ones who need to practice their instruments & the ones who go to bed early because they maybe work in shifts or have to get up early for other reasons. reminding people of that is always tough because the ones reminding others are painfully aware of what they're doing. and I wish the ones who were reminded would also be more aware of the fact that they're not alone in the house. 🤷‍♀ I think most rules in Germany are intended to avoid petty conflicts & aim at people not annoying each other too much. Remember that Germany is smaller than Texas & 84 million people live here.

if you plan to be in berlin during your stay in germany you should think about a side trip to prague. theoretically you could make a one day trip to prague. flixbus runs several times a day from berlin to prague and back (one way about 4 hours). depending on when you go you pay about 50€ round trip. Prague is one of the most beautiful cities with one of the best preserved and largest castles. not to mention good and cheap beer. a lot of information about prague can be found on the channel "The Honest Guide" of which you have already seen a video (differences between America and the EU).

I always remember my German grandparents in Hamburg making me wait at the pedestrian crossing, until the walk light turned green. Even when the street was completely empty. When in the UK we treat pedestrian crossing on minor roads as mainly there for mothers with children and old people.

Just today one of my neighbors taped a notice on our recycling bins, because I don't clean out my food containers or milk containers in other recycling containers before I throw out , because when they get to the recycling station destination, they get cleaned anyway.I don't wanna waste drinking water from the tap. so I taped a notice from the Internet on the other bin stating that it is not mandatory to clean out your recycling containers and that it actually does only waste water. But most people in Germany think it is only proper to clean out everything you throw away because of the smell and because of insects and so I always have problems with people because of this everywhere I live even though I'm actually right and they're wrong

TBH you know when you're going to move so you can make an appointment with a network technician beforehand. Plus, it's not even necessary to have a technician at home anymore, if the appartment has an existing network connection and you've got a router that can be accessed remotely. You'll just have to allow the remote access and the provider can install the necessary data remotely.

I never experienced someone dragging my rubbish back to my door, and if someone did it I'd be quite upset.

I live in a multi appartment building and i feel like you have to read your neighbours a bit. Give them a bit of freedom and then you get some for yourself. Like, if they have friends over after ten and it's a bit louder, just let them have it and they will probably recognize that you didnt complain and wont complain on their part when you listen to slightly louder music on a sunday. But everyone has their individual limits and you just have to figure that out a bit. And some people just arent good at that or even worse, complain all the time while also doing a lot of annoying things themselves.

The part about complaining about throwing trash in the wrong bin absolutely makes sense. If the collectors spot someting in the bin that doesn't belong there, they will leave the full bin behind. Then you can either go through the whole bin and take everything out that got wrongfully in there (which noone wants to do, especcially in the bio disposables) or order an, expensive, special tour for the collectors so it goes into the "various" type of trash. So if your neighbour scolds you for not following the rules in that case he/she is in the right because everyone in the house will have to pay for it.

I'd like to add here: I'd say most of those rules, like Nachtruhe, are most often enforced by older people. Of course there are exceptions and of course you always try to be reasonably loud/quiet after 10pm. If you ever want to throw a party, just inform your neighbours beforehand and it should be okay. English is also exceptionally easy for German people since English is very close to German and we learn it from a young age. So you will always find people who'll talk to you in English, especially in bigger cities. If you're not sure - OFTEN it is "safer" to talk to younger people in that regard but I do know a lot of older people who speak crystal perfect English!

Yes the neighbor problem especisly old people seam to hsve a hobby of watching out the window and looking if u fall out of line 😅

I experienced the quite opposite behavior here with Germans. When I randomly meet German tourists in Victoria or Vancouver, they seem (according to the claim in the video) to be polarized differently. Most often, at least in my little cosey Canadian roam, they are happy to communicate in German, even I notice that their English is quite fluent.

I usually always answer in German when someone asks me in German even if I know they’re maybe not rly from here or struggling. If they begin talking in English I switch to English too. I really don’t want someone to think their German sucks and I‘m acknowledging their effort by responding in German. Also we‘re all used to ppl talking to us that don’t really speak perfect German since a lot of older (not necessarily OLD) ppl may have a migration background and still aren’t used to talk in German since their social circle is made of ppl speaking the same first language as them. So I think Germans don‘t get flustered when it comes to broken German. Though there are some making racist discriminating comments too

I was once stuck in traffic on the German autobahn. it got closed because there was an endangered animal on the street x.x

I hope you´ll be enjoying your time in Germany and you´ll be visiting not only Berlin but other places, too - Berlin is not examplary for life in Germany. Berlin is rather considered a "failed state" by many Germans and one should get a wider view. The Baltic Sea by the way is just a 2.5 hours ride north of Berlin with wonderful landscapes, beaches, small towns and villages and so on...

Not every german need s a calendar 😂

Hello!! I watch and love the videos on your KZfaq channel, and I recommend that when you come to Germany, visit Dresden! The city is considered the cultural city of Germany (the Florence of the Elbe) and is located less than 1 hour and a half from Berlin, either by train or by bus (the tickets are quite cheap). Also from Dresden you can easily go to see Saxony Switzerland, Leipzig and even Prague (less than 1 hour away).

I literally would love to see ur face the first time you see someone in a Berlin U-Bahn with a beer bottle in the back of their baggy jeans. In some places it is not as present but in Berlin everyone drinks beer no matter of place, time or Pegel ( engl. “level” of drunkenness). I wish u a great time here! If you want to go partying you might want to go in a bigger group, maybe you think about making a party Discord for those who are available in Berlin/Hamburg :)

It is necessary to sort the trash right. If it's not done correctly, there is a good chance it wouldn't be taken by the trash workers. To avoid getting stuck in trash one has to be annoying to some neighbors. Once I got mad at a moving neighbor. He threw all his crap in the trash, filling two containers by himself, leaving no space for everybody else. It wasn't normal trash but pieces of furniture, old carpets and so on. For these things he should have made a special appointment and put it on the sidewalk the night before. It doesn't cost extra money if done right. But putting it in the normal trash containers causes extra load and the whole house is charged.

With the internet connection - its critical, one tip which I would always do if I take over an apartment or house for renting - discuss with the former owner and take it over, its seamless - worked for me. You can do that with your local provider. Not a new connection just take over.

I din't know if I am not living in that germany but all my friends are always late and if I'm not planing a bigger trip (have to buy tickets for a show or a train) or an event (birthdayparty or wedding) i don't plan weeks in advance and most people i know don't do this eather

Spontaneity must be planed very well 🤣🤣🤣 Greetings from Germany

Watching your vlogs from UK and Germany you are a decent guy. You have done your homework and looked at the places to visit and culture before you go. Very comprehensible and great to see from a young generation your parents must be really proud of you.

ha this is the same in switzerland but a little more phased, noise should be reduced at 8pm to a normal level "moving chairs" not excessivly loud tv etc" and from (depending on where you live) 10 or 11, in side or out, you have to be as silent as possible. for example if your caught revving your engine after hours in a neighbour hood, you might loose your license.

Take it easy in Germany, when you have an appointment for coffee and you come late … no problem the coffee will be on you 😅

Hello Joel. The family l was with bought me a sliced loaf, like at home, assuming I would not rather try what they ate, similar to the speaking English but of the video. I hope you had a good Memorial Day.

7:05 TBH my Night ends at 05:30, so the 22:00+ quiet time is pretty appreciated by me.

Oh Joel I hope you have a fantastic time in Germany. I’d love some small vids to see how it’s going for you on the way etc 👍I’m excited for you. So stay safe and enjoy! 😁👍

They show the first scenario and we have an idea of what might happen lol

Most people I know already planned New Year's Eve

No if u just stand there just step back, against a side, wall and use the phone there.

The planning of free time sounds so weird when they show it like this but yeah I do it, everyone I know does it. Before I visit my parents who live just a few minutes from me we make up a time. Who knows what I would run into if I just come around uninvited..

I disagree with o lot of points of the video that you are watching. There are a bunch of countries in which people switch to your language as soon as they detect your accent. People in the Netherlands do it a lot. People in France almost never do it, even if they speak other languages. People of English speaking countries are simply seldomly able to speak any other language and are therefor not able to switch. In Germany people do not "love rules". People are simply more aware of the rules and fall back to them when they are bothered by something. Instead of being socially competent while asking for something, they mention the rules. The other side of the coin are people who have no awareness of people around them at all. Be that being loud in the middle of the night during a work day, or standing around at the narrowest spot of a busy walk way with a huge crowed around them trying to pass. The woman in the video seems to be one of those people if people come to her all the time telling her that she is in the way :D That only happened to me once and I was actually standing in the way. But there are also valid points. Lots of Germans really do plan there weeks like crazy. You actively have too look for spontaneous people.

Literally the waste separating thing never happened to me, but to my best friend! The neighbor came over with all their trash and a handout about the right way of waste separation. He was especially furious about the pizza boxes bc since they have grease stains they can’t go into the paper trash. Yep to that instinct xD

Very nice video! I maybe you can meet with them! They already contacted other reacters who do germany reactions 😀 I've lived in Japan for a couple of years and the cultural shock is probably even higher than the one between Germany and Japan. Especially the blowing your nose thing. One thing you'll notice in germany is that unfortunately very many people smoke. And they DONT GIVE A SHIT about their surroundings. Around kids, in parks, in front of buildings, on their own balcony. Basically they contaminate the whole city and everyone is ok with it. Even non-smokers tend to take their side (and I'm sure someone is gonna react to my comment to defend them lol)

To be honest; if you live in a 7 storey house with 6 flats each floor, the least I can expect from people is to be quiet at night. Night starts at 22:00.

People commonly take found objects to the nearest rathouse. I found my bunch of keys there. It was a wonderful and touching experience . It also meant saving a fortune on replacing special keys and some locks as my partner didnt have duplicafes for all of them...not to mention the time involved . so.if you lose.your thing and dont find it there, ask where else someone migght have handed it in, and try another day if still not found. If your think has fallen behind a bench into a bush then it couod be there a few days before being seen or someone might find it and not have time immediafely to take it to the rathouse.

its a bit late to answer 3 months later but lol why not: basically if someone approches me with german i speak german to them and if they ask in english i reply in english. BUT if the convo is dragging on for ages because we stuggle with words I usually start speaking english so they can understand what i mean, then if they dont understand what i mean i think its probably because they are a bit unsure, if they keep talking in german thats fine by me aslong as we get to the point. Even if not id ask politely if we could switch to english because They certainly want to get to their destination and so do i

Yes, we separate our garbage but if someone tells you, that you sorted it wrong, it has a reason: The garbage disposal might look into the garbage bin and won´t dispose it when there is, for example, plastic in the paper bin, because it can´t be recycled then properly

To add as you looked confused (but you probebly were not): When she said those people live from the deposits, then she means that they SURVIVE by the deposits. Those are homeless or below poverty line that need the deposit to survive.

When we visited Berlin and been drinking in public there was constantly someone asking for our bottles. It was really annoying. Especialy when we just opened cans and took just few sips. And till you finish your drink, there will be other two persons asking for your bottle.

Hi, don't take the video too seriously. While there are people who are uptight, there are plenty of easygoing individuals, especially among the upcoming generations. However, it does make sense to follow rules in public because we Germans want to be good role models, and safety is important to us. As for noise disturbance, it depends on the area. There are plenty of student areas or houses outside of residential complexes where making a little noise isn't a big deal. Greetings from Germany PS.: You have to visit Heidelberg :D the castle is *chef's kiss*

I just want to say something quick regarding the "trash in the wrong bin" situation in the video, because I think it was a bit skipped over. As some probably already know, we have a trash sorting system that most of us germans take pretty seriously. But while it may be annoying to sort your trash into five different bins, it does have a purpose. Not all trash can be recycled or processed in the same way, so by sorting it, you not only save time and energy, but you also make it possible to win back valuable resources from plastic and avoid burning so much of it. It is a system to enhance recycling and as a result protect the environment from the harmful gases that are set free through the burning of plastic. Aside from that, throwing your trash in the wrong bin is also just making the job harder for the garbage collecters. So please just try to sort your trash correctly or ask for help if you're confused. Little edit: This comment may sound very german, but to me this topic is pretty important and I just can't help it 😅. I'm also sorry if my grammar is incorrect, I'm still a student and my English is not perfect.

Hey Joel, thanks for your content! I don't know what happened, maybe your microphone-setup or something else changed, but since few last videos YT-Autosubtitles (in english) and me are struggling to understand you, but when the videos in the background is playing, then auto-subtitles works well. Sorry, I'm not good at understanding spoken english and I would like not to miss most of the time, what you said. In the past, subtitles in your videos worked much better. Did you change anything or is your Mic the reason?

A few years ago I was in London, it was the middle of the night. Small street, red traffic light, no cars far and wide. On the other side stood a man. A minute or two later, Traffic light red, still no car. Traffic light turns green, still no car. I go, he goes. As if we were about to meet us in the middle and were a little on the same level, he says as we pass: "Auch deutsch?" Me: "Jap."

ROFL - with the speaking english to americans asking for the way in german you just got me trapped.... 🤭 On the other hand there are also some kind of stereotypes that may hit the nail directly to it's head for some persons - but definitely not for all. There are some people that love to "educate" others in the form of telling them what would be allowed and what not. But that's far off from ""the usual Germans" and these persons are not at all that much popular in germany among their neighbours too. The calender thingy for planning your leisure times - hugh.... I never had that amongst any of my friends... 😀

Well, maybe it also depends on the provider. I'm with Telekom, but I also had to wait a few days because I had to lay the cable to the house telephone connection beforehand, as I didn't have a connection. Since a buddy of mine is a telecom technician, I was able to call him and he accepted the order and called me at work in the morning: "Got your connection ready. I was totally surprised, it didn't even take 5 minutes to connect and activate it. My mother has all her doctor's appointments and birthdays of family and relatives in it. Oh, it's not so bad now with the nose blowing. My father liked to burp and fart a lot with hearty food and beer. My mother used to say: "Why don't you burp and fart, don't you like it?😂😂😂

2:57 BRB praying that you never have to call Customer Service in Germany.

That rule with 22:05 is not exactly right - you can still play your keyboard, but it has to be to a moderate volume. Also you have Mittagsruhe - a time between 12:00 and 14:00, it' basically the same but not that harsh as in the evening. Most germans go early to bed, because they leave the house pretty early in the morning for work and that is often also why they are annoyed, when people are loud after 10pm. Blowing your nose so loud is also a bit different now - because of corona

If it happens very often, that people tell you, you were in the way, maybe, you shouldn't blame the others, but at least take into consideration, that you are at least part of the problem and frequently block the path of others, which can be a nuisance if the other one is in a hurry.

Visiting someone and bringen my OWN HOUSSHOES! That is much appreciated.

Regarding the red light: don’t cross on a red light during the day (late at night can be acceptable) - you (everyone) has to be a good example for any children, who might see (even if you don’t see them). But you can cross a street everywhere else without a traffic light, just make sure to look in all directions first.

Pro Tip for expats that run into the internet technician issue. 1) There are mobile carriers who offer modestly priced LTE routers that come with a flat rate dataplan. The offering of Congstar seems quite decent to me, the router itself will cost roughly 50 euros, and it is simlocked for Congstar. The dataplan they offer is one of the fairer plans you can find in germany. When I last checked it was around 50 euros for 50GB Datavolume per month, and you can cancel the plan at the end of each month. 2) The DSL infrastructure is still very strained in germany, although the modernization efforts have increased in the last years, odds are that you´ll either hear something like "I´m sorry, we can´t service anymore customers in your neighbourhood". Avoid the downtown shops like Freenet or more obscure stores, they will sell you a connection no matter what, but since the Infrastructure is already strained you´ll be paying a full price plan, but your connection will only have 50-60% of the nominal transfer rate. 3) Check if there are regional providers, the come in many shades. There are some electrical providers that offer Internet via the elecrical grid, and others maintain a fibreglass network. They can be very lucrative. 4) Vodafone, the bane of the modern world... In some regions you´re downright forced to sign up with them since there aren´t any viable competitive offerings of other providers. pro: Their Cable Internet offering, and only this, is... okay (he said spitting through his teeth), since connection speeds are what it says on the tin. con: Be aware! They bought germany´s monopoly cable provider 2 or 3 years ago, and even if there is a noticeable positive trend in terms of business practices (reasonable price for a base contract) you will find some legacy bullshit in their contracts like time locking you into a contract, nested and package contracts, mandatory bundling to get some services. You know everything that makes em rub their nipples. Before the take over (I´m signed up with them since 2014) I experienced EVERY SINGLE ISSUE that gives cable companies their bad reputation: -Internet was only bookable in combination with a cable TV and a Landline package.... LANDLINE ffs... -since data and tv signal share the same cable you should be okay with interference in your tv at times -during high demand phases like soccer championships they tend to just shut down Internet connections -auto renewals with 2 year time locks, they will nail you with those. The only legitimate reason for an extraordinary cancelation is, that you´re moving to a region that isn´t serviced by them. -fraudulent business practices: during the merger they tried to shaft a lot of people into duplicate contracts, as well as trying to shaft customers into paying overpriced technician fees under the guise of the customer not beeing home, where in truth, the tech never showed up. -unless you want to crawl the forum for 90 minutes, no info on planned maintenance

Passing a police car doing 230Kmh made me a bit nervous the first few times. I am from sweden where the maximum speed limit is 120Kmh (and on some highways only).

with the provider thats a extrem regional thing, when i moved out from my parents i order my internet one day before and got it after days xD i noticed that i automatically switch to english in such situations without noticing sometimes xD the planning thing ist with view on the younger generation exaggerated...a little planning for freetime yes (maybe 1 or 2 days in advance is for me personally better, but depending how i feel spontanous things are ok too), but not 2 weeks in advance for a coffee xD

The consumption of alcoholic beverages in public is quite common in quite a few other countries in Europe, It´s nothing specific German! My Internet connection was available on the day I moved into my new apartment. The Germans, providing theyx spek English, are not the only ones answering Engliosh, the Dutch do that, too.

i was in every of those situations at least twice in my life, except the coffee one but thats on me ig cus im not really planning my days at all :D

i think planning our free time kicks in, when efficiency is playing a more important role in our lives. When we getting competitive in sport or job or getting a parent. …we want to squeeze all the free time possibilities or friendships in our free time to make the post out of our life. Of cause this is a very specific point of view. For a lot of cultures this would be quite the opposite experience.

Blowing the nose is a real thing, but the most people do it in the opposite direction (Away from people and food).

10:51 I Germany you separate waste for easier recycling. But if the trash is mixed, the garbage collection refuse to take it and order a special collection. This costs a lot and everybody in the building has to pay for it. So people with less money or a sense for recycling will call out others.

Yeah, they should have kept those cans in the bag...

you should try some german snacks and drinks

It really surprised me when I realized the video got made in my city.

Regarding the internet connection: I have a contract with O2 and internet via LTE. When I moved (twice), I took the receiver with me and immediately had internet in the new apartment.

Yep, she's right. Contact your phone/internet provider at least 6 weeks ahead of your move. If you want your phone nr ported or take your contract with you, the procedure takes up to 4 weeks. Thats because many providers are renting the landlines etc from the Telekom. So planning this ahead is worthwile. If it takes longer even though you did all this you can put a complaint at the federal network agency/ Bundesnetzagentur. Because you have a right to have your phone/internet being moved or activated without delay. 😉

I am German, my Wife is turkish! When we go to vacancies we go to turkey, where our neighbours are british! When i first met them, after 2 weeks, the wife asked me when we would return to the USA...Damn man...I am f ing proud of that story...

Ok so here my opinions on this as german native: 1. I dont know how common that is in the US with the paperbags for alcohol, but thats not rly typical german cuz therre are alot other countries where u dont need them as well. 2. I had those situations as well where ppl feel themself bother by u standing somewhere..but i had them all over the world as well..so..not only germany again. 3. I never had any problems like that with my internetconnetions. Like 99% of flats or houses have the correct sockets for ur router installed alrdy, so u just get the router delivered, plug it in and ur good to go. Not typical german. 4. Well, in that case i can only talk from my experiences, and if someone ask me in german i answer in german, and if things get difficult to explain and he/she dont understands i switch to english. And as far as i have seen it, most ppl to the same. And here again in thnk its the same nomatter whereever u go. 5. Ok, so i dont know if that is a german only thing, but yes we have rules for that just to keep things simple and the stresslvl low. Cuz if u have to work the next day early but ur neighbor has a day off and plays music loud at nighttime...thats bad! :P But the rule for this is called "Zimmerlautstärke" whitch means u of couse can listen or make music if the volume is turned down. 6. Thats somewhat correct bit not all the way. Of course it makes sense for us germans the make plans when to meet with friends, but that doesnt mean we cannot be spontaneous. In that specific case i guess i would have said "nice lets stay in touch for that" and then ask on monday i.e. "what about thursday" but im pretty sure that happens everywhere around the world as well 7. Well, i know alot of germans that would just cross the street on red as well. In 99% of the time i dont, just as a general rule, cuz it prevents accidents or teach childrens that might see u in a good way. General rules in terms of traffic are important imo. Is that a german thing tho. Might be, but a good one :P 8. Well, i guess that not a german thing either, ive been in other countries on holidays and havent known their wastesystem, threw it in the wrong box and someone picked it out dumped that bag in front of my door. I guess before you try to live in another country it might be a good idea to check the basic rules about basic every day life there 9. Again i have seen that outside of germany as well....sry :P 10. Well that was a thing long time ago so u may still see it with older ppl or ppl that dont care about there sourroundings, but that again have have seen even in the US, so... :P Man too bad i havent found anything to agree right away with "yes, thats what we do :D" In general i guess i would say, yes we germans have alot of rules and yes, we like em. But we like em cuz they make sense in 99% of cases. hehe

that you have to wait so long for your internet is not true. if you move in germany, you have to report the move to your internet provider, best 3 weeks in advance. But that shouldn't be a problem, because as with anything you plan to do, you should always get information well in advance. then they check whether or not a technician needs to come out. this is determined by whether the new apartment has dilapidated wiring or has a different technology for data transmission. If it is the same technology, which is the case in most cases, then you just take your router to the new apartment and connect it and that's it. Of course, this has to be changed in the system of the internet provider beforehand, but that's why you should always call first. If it is a different technology, you usually have to get a new router and maybe a technician has to come out. these appointments can take place within a few days or 1-2 weeks but that is very very rare. These are special cases and not the rule. In addition, there is always a callback number so that the technician can call the customer if the entrance to the apartment is not easy to find.

I have never heard that it is appropriate to clean your nose at the table in Germany. I learned that you can do this in the rest room or outside somewhere.

10:35 omg please no!!! This scene with the trash hurts, as a german 😅

reminds me of my teenager time, no money for going to the clubs... so 20 friends gather together with loudspeakers, loooots of booze and we got on the S-Bahn (city train) and partied all night long... obviously police arrived, simply telling us thats it not cool to do that and they left... so we got on the train in the different direction and continued (yes, S-Bahn is on the rails 24h on weekends)

Well, the internet problem has to do with the internet system setup in general and Telekom's near-monopoly on "the last mile", which is the cable from the street to your house. Telekom only allows their own technicians to flip the switch, so no provider really can do anything about that. And the reason the technician dates are always two weeks later is simple: because Telekom can! By law, they are allowed to take up to 2 weeks to get a technician to you, so basically, they only give you one two weeks away. Plus, they don't have to be there at a specific time either, so you have to be there half a day waiting for the technician to turn up. Arising problems after setup will also be adressed to when they feel like it more often than not. Unless you are a Telekom customer, of course, that's different. And also, if you have the opportunity to get a cable internet connection, then you just deal with Vodafone. Now, one could argue that Vodafone customer service is worse than Telekom, but in that case you better choose another provider (e. g. Telekom). If you are lucky, there is a local broadband provider and no Telekom in-between...

Most people in Germany do have a Cable Connection. I requested my Internet Connection on a Thursday in a Vodafone Shop and they delivered on the following Saturday.

@Joel and other Americans: I wonder how everyday German sounds to you? Is it really as harsh as it is portrayed in the movies?

If you say: let's meet sometimes and a German says yes he or she means it. You'll get a text message or a mail to set up a date. If you don't mean it don't say it. If you don't want to if someone asks you say no. That you have no time. It's not rude. It's better than ghosting or let the other person wait for nothing. Don't ask a German how he's doing if you are not prepared to listen. If you are not don't ask. But it's almost hurting if someone asks me and them I realize that he or she is not really interested or it's not the right moment. Don't ask then. It's ok. We understand that sometimes people are not in the mood to listen or are not interested. But asking: How are you? means you are and you have time. It's a serious offer to be open to what the other person has to say.

As a born south african ive noticed ive become rather german because i too will walk up to you and tell you what rules you broke and why they are important. The reason is simple. Id rather fix the problem than complane all day, everyday.

2:05 That would happen in Manhattan too.