What US Americans Think About Germany | Easy German Podcast 523 from New York City

Hello Manuel! Hello Cari! And hello, dear audience, today here in New York City! Okay, this is the loudest audience we've ever had. Welcome! Of course, of course! We are very happy. Manuel, didn't you always want to record a podcast in New York City? I can imagine it all the time, as if I were in a movie. In front of the skyline! To be able to record this podcast in front of a window of the skyline is phenomenal. And if you're listening to us right now and you're wondering, where can I see this skyline? You can see the exception on YouTube. YouTube.com slash EasyGerman. This episode is also available there as a video with subtitles. You can click on CC at the bottom. There are German subtitles and other languages. And if you're watching this on YouTube right now and you're thinking, wait a minute, Easy German Podcast, what is that? There are actually a lot of episodes that are not on YouTube, because we don't always record a video, Manuel. Why? Sometimes we're in our pajamas and do an audio podcast. You can find it in every podcast app. Twice a week we talk about our life. And other things. We would like to thank the hosts tonight. This is the German house of New York University. Deutsches Haus at NYU. They hosted us here and that's really nice. We were really happy. And if you ever want to learn German in New York, then this is the place to be, right? Yes, there are courses that are not only for university students, but anyone can take a course here at NYU. Exactly, and they even have their own house, the students. This house is really there to bring science together with the public. And it's kind of like a message from NYU for people who are interested in Germany or the German-speaking world. And there are a lot of offers here, events, events, like us tonight. But also German courses for all levels. So if you want to learn German, just come by or check out the website. It's linked down here. By the way, it's also online. But of course it's even nicer in person. Fantastic. Thank you for letting us be here. Manuel, we have prepared a topic, and today again with our audience. We say in Germany, it's crowdsourced. That's what it looks like. You sent your survey to us. Exactly. And what is it about? Do you even know? It's roughly about your country and our country. That's all I know. Exactly, something like that. Today we want to find out what US Americans think about Germany. And that's really interesting. We often talk about what we think as Germans. That's our daily bread, our daily business. What we think about Germany. What we think about Germany or the world. We come here, to the USA, and then we say, the bedsheets are not like in Germany. The windows don't tilt. But today we want to hear the opposite. We want to hear what you think about Germany. But we have to admit, our audience is a bit biased. Because you all are a bit interested in Germany. And you have a certain positive feeling, right? You are not the average Americans, who don't know anything about Germany. Many of you have been learning German for many years. And who of you has been to Germany personally? Who has visited Germany before? Wow, that's 95 percent. Most of you have been to Germany. And that's why you have a special insight. You have been to Germany before. You might have overcome your prejudices. And that's exactly what we want to talk about today. Are you ready, Manuel? Ready as a bird. We first asked... That's also a German saying, right? No, it's also in English. I was born ready. Yes? That's a Manuel saying, let's put it that way. So, we first asked, how has your image changed after you were in Germany for the first time? And I found that very interesting, because it also shows how the image was before. What did you think about Germany before you were there for the first time? Manuel, you can guess now. What was the most common answer? What has actually changed? The image about Germany after you were there. You noticed that not everything was going according to plan, despite the stereotype that everything was planned out for us. Yes, indeed. Such things also existed. For example, Brandon, who is sitting over here, he wrote, Germany was neither as clean nor as technologically advanced as I had imagined it to be. You were probably in Berlin, Brandon. Berlin is not clean. Every time I drive to another German city, I think it's pretty clean here. It's pretty clean. This was actually an issue with many people, this cleanliness. But it was not the most common, it was the second most common. The most common? What could that be? The bread wasn't that tasty after all? No, that can't be. No one cares about bread. Bread wasn't said a single time. Solve it. It was actually the friendliness. Most of you said the Germans were friendlier than expected. I think that's nice. I'm glad to hear that. Then you probably weren't in Berlin. Brandon was in Berlin and noticed, it's not that clean after all. And you were somewhere else and noticed, the people are very friendly after all. There were actually different answers. So some wrote, I thought the cities outside Berlin would not be so friendly and stricter, but that was wrong. I met a lot of nice people. They were helpful and friendly and open for a conversation. Another person wrote, I now know that the Germans are very friendly and helpful. Great. Ed, are you here? You also wrote something. Exactly, Ed, you said, the Germans were even friendlier and funnier than I thought. Do you want to... Janusz, I can give you the microphone. Do you want to explain that? Why did you think that the Germans are not friendly and not funny? What do you think here? Hello people. Before I started learning German, I had this stereotype in my head, that the Germans are too serious and maybe a little bit humorless. Yes, yes. That may have something to do with how they were presented in films and here in the USA. Aha. But my first time in Germany I was in Thuringia, Jena. That was shortly after the war. The people were just nice and friendly, hospitable and that was all great. They even laughed sometimes. Yes, laughed. Not all were humorous, but many. Great, thank you, Ed. So, serious and humorless, Manuel, can you identify with that? Yes. Fantastic, I'm glad. We actually had some people who wrote us something. It surprised me a bit. But this topic, what you say about the films, that's true, of course. How strongly are we shaped by the media? And we have already talked about that we have watched so many American films and series that we always actually compare reality with the films and are not even sometimes ready to record new information. That's a bit difficult, isn't it? Totally. So, I feel like I'm in a movie because I mainly know it from films and series. And then it might be the other way around. So, the Germans ... There are many films about the Second World War and so on. It may be that there is also a false image of today's Germany. That may be. Thank God, most of you have found that the Germans are quite okay. We had a lot of interesting news on the subject of cleanliness, both positive and negative. It probably has to do with where you were. George, for example, wrote, I was in Munich. Everything was flawless, clean. James, on the other hand, was surprised because James was at the Oktoberfest in Munich. And it looks different there. He says, there was garbage everywhere on the meadows and people threw the garbage And they are also very drunk and probably not so funny. Marshall, on the other hand, had a really interesting experience. He saw how the Germans were pushing the garbage service and the order service too far. Marshall lived in a German flat where there was a very precise cleaning plan. Marshall, how was that? Where did you live? I lived on Lake Constance. Friedrichshafen. Very difficult to pronounce. Friedrichshafen? Friedrichshafen, yes. I was in a flat and it was at the beginning of the Corona time. I only really got to know the other residents because we were under a lockdown. And yes, there was a cleaning plan. First of all, I think that's so German. That would be really exaggerated. Exaggerated in the USA, I would think. There is no cleaning plan here or what? No, and it was mandatory. You couldn't participate voluntarily or not participate. Everyone had to participate. Your flatmates were very strict. Yes, exactly. Above all, I found the garbage service very, very difficult to understand. Because there is not only this separation, these four types of separation, but there were also certain collection dates. And yes, in Baden-Württemberg there are so many holidays and that postpones something, maybe a week, maybe a day. And yes, I didn't understand it well at all. I didn't have a good grip. You have to have the cleaning plan of the flat in mind, but also the garbage collection plan. Complicated. That's just in Switzerland, I would say, a little more complicated. Yes. But yes. Thank you, Marshall. That was a very good insight into the German system. That can be overwhelming. Manuel, have you ever lived in a flat? Of course. Did you make the cleaning plan? In my flats it was actually relatively flexible. So I've heard about the cleaning plans many times, but in my flats it was always like that, depending on how dirty it was, someone got warm and ... Aha, not so strict. Not so strict. Manuel, we asked, what do you particularly like about Germany and what annoys you about Germany? What should we start with? Let's start with the good things. Okay. What do you think, what did people say here? What do you like about Germany? The bread. Manuel, I have to disappoint you, nobody wrote bread. Have you ever been to the bakery? Have you seen how many full-grain breads we have? I think most people are not as interested in bread as you would like it to be. Well, then maybe the garbage separation. Nobody was mentioned directly. What else could it be? What does the US notice in Germany? What works? Maybe that you can walk in the cities and don't need a car. Yes, we are heading in the right direction. Traffic was mentioned very often. Someone wrote, for example, I like that so many people are on their bikes. It is environmentally friendly and it is an easy way to move and also healthier than driving a car. Jackie writes, public transport. I always have to laugh when Kari and Manuel complain about the train. It is so much better here than here in the USA. I miss the opportunity to just buy a ticket and move to another corner of the country without a car. And then she writes, the worst day of the German railways is still light years above the system. Is it really that bad? Tanja, what do you say? Last year, when we went to Boston, our train was four hours late. Four hours late? And we arrived in Boston at four o'clock in the morning. And I thought here on the east coast there is a super fast, reliable train system. We will also take the train next week. Are you already excited? To Chicago, right? Yes, exactly. The American train is basically non-existent. So I have already taken the American train. You drove across the country once. Yes, it wasn't at all. I got a lot of messages from you before. Just don't take the train, you'll never get there. But it wasn't that bad. I find it very interesting. So that was the top topic that was mentioned. What else was mentioned, Manuel? Should I go on? Okay, traffic is one thing. What else did you like? Maybe that most people don't have a gun. Yes, that was also mentioned. But only once, interestingly. The low gun ownership rate. That's positive. A good word. That would be a very important point for me. It wasn't the most important point for you. Solve it. It was the work-life balance. Oh, that's right. We usually have a 30-day vacation. In some companies there are more. And how many vacations do you have? If you start a job, at the beginning? Two weeks. And you still need them for the sick leave. And that's the other thing. Because then you also need vacation. There are sick days. That doesn't make any sense at all from a German perspective. Because you don't decide how many days you are sick. Yes, that's crazy. So I think if you come from the USA to Germany, that's a real shock. Medina also did that. She lived in Germany and wrote, what I particularly miss is the balance between work and life. I always remember how my colleagues were surprised when I told them that I wanted to come to the lab on Saturday or Sunday. They always said, what? Work? We have a barbecue on the weekend with beer and Radler. With beer and Radler. Yes, we also talked about it in the last live podcast. The free Sunday is really beautiful. Holy. Holy and beautiful. And that the supermarkets are closed then is a shame if you urgently need milk, but it's nice because everyone is free at the same time. Yes, it's really nice. So I'm very, very happy that I live in Germany. We also have our own company. Our employees have 30 days of vacation, 15 days of holidays on top of that. I just learned how many that is. And when you're sick, of course, that's an addition. So if you're sick for two weeks, you still have your 30 days of vacation and 15 days of holidays. And at the same time, I saw a late show from the Netherlands last night that compared it like that. Guess how much more the American women work compared to the Germans in days. Per year? Yes, per year. Probably 30 more days. Right. A full month, the American women work more compared to the Europeans on average. Yes. I just saw a documentary, Working, on Netflix, where various professional groups were shown in the USA. I can recommend it at this point. I found it very interesting. And what was your learning? That there is a great inequality between low-paid jobs and higher-paid jobs. Ah, that too. Yes. The third topic. Let's do one more positive thing and then we'll get to the things that annoyed you in Germany. Something positive still, and that was interesting, because there were many discussions. This whole topic of order and rules. Ah yes. What do you think? Did most people think it was good that there are so many rules in Germany and so much order? Or did most Americans think, uh ... Well, first of all, I have to share my experience of the days here in New York, that I have the feeling that everything here is full of rules. Not at all. There are signs everywhere. I'm the only one standing at the red light. Don't do this, don't do that, don't litter, don't stand here. But no one sticks to it. Don't sit on these stairs. So many rules, where I always think, how can you come up with so many signs? Well, I was standing at the traffic light with my bike yesterday and I was honked at because I didn't want to drive at red light. Then the people passed me, were almost run over by a truck, by a truck, it's bent. Hup, hup, the cyclist, uh. And I thought, okay, am I the only one who follows the road traffic regulations here in New York City? That's right. I also noticed that the cyclists, especially those on these rental bicycles, really, I was almost run over three times. Yes. So I'm just driving over red now. Great, you have to adapt. Go with the flow. Intercultural competence. I still believe that you liked it that we also have so many rules and also stop at red at the traffic light. Do you think so? Okay, is that interesting? Because then there was also a discussion in this survey that we sent. Beth, for example, wrote, I think the Germans respect their neighbors because they appreciate order and rules. In the USA we appreciate uniqueness and self-determination over everything and that's why we can sometimes ignore important rules of society. Then, for example, George wrote, there is more behind it. In the USA you think more individually, is my feeling. In Germany there may be a little more human dignity and that is also written down in the Basic Law. So that's an interesting observation. Janusz, you also had such an observation. Maybe you can now take the microphone yourself. When you came to Germany, you also thought, why do the Germans care so much about the rules and ask other people to follow the rules? That's annoying. I certainly didn't think that on the second day, but it took a long time until I got to know the German culture. But actually I was convinced, I was surprised to see that the Germans accept the rules as their own rules. I came from Poland, I lived under a communist regime and all the rules were imposed on us. You have to do this, you have to do that, you can't do that. But that was a foreign power. And the Germans, I think, have the feeling, well, this rule is there, sometimes it's a bit uncomfortable, but it makes life more comfortable and quieter. So if I now at two o'clock at night stand at the red light at empty streets, that actually doesn't happen. So I do that, you Manuel? Of course. Then maybe that's a bit stupid. But on the other hand, it is also my wish that we somehow create our society that everything works well and that everyone feels good and survives well and lives well and that everything is in order. So you have the feeling in Germany, these rules come from us. And that's why you have the willingness to follow them. I always explain it like this, very simply summarized the story again. At some point a few hundred years ago, all the people from Europe who thought the rules were shit, left. And founded a new country. And founded a new country where they could live out their religion and their other interesting interests. And the people who love the rules, they stayed. Yes, the noisy people who just say, yes, we do what is said. And that has advantages and disadvantages on both sides. But of course this difference is still there a bit, because we are still the ones who stayed. We are the ones who stayed. I think you can still explain the cultural differences a bit. There are comments on YouTube. You mean that with a wink. With a wink, but it's also a bit true. So there are a lot of people who were adventurous, who wanted to live in freedom, who wanted to live out their religion, left Europe 200, 300 years ago. And that has been inherited, so to speak. I think so. This will of freedom, the whole American constitution is based on these freedoms that people wanted to have. If I'm wrong, write a comment. Yes, but that's what Gary means. It's not about inheritance and genes, not that, but that these people came to America or to another country and then they wrote a constitution. And this constitution is then more liberal than the German constitution. Welcome to the Germans explain to you America. The USA. I'm not German, but yes. That's just my personal way. Let's get to my personal explanation of the cultural differences. Summarized. Yes. Let's get to the things that the US-Americans found annoying. We asked, what don't you like about Germany? What annoys you? We have our segment, that annoys. We can start that now, right? Spontaneously. That annoys. I actually have some, so many small answers. There was no common, so no answer that 10 different people gave. But I found one answer very aptly summarized. Because it describes this German mentality quite well. What annoys me the most is the omnipresent pessimism and the widespread envy towards successful people. Be happy for the people who are successful and try to be more successful yourself. Yes, that's true. There is such a basic pessimism, that you can't do most things or shouldn't try. And I noticed that when I was an exchange student in the USA. My host father, for example, he always started a new business because he always said, I'll do that now, that works. And he was just such a doer. And that doesn't exist in Germany either. Much less. I recently listened to a podcast and it was about the German version of Shark Tank. What's it called in Germany? The Cave of the Lions. We've never watched it. Yes, once with Jeremy. Ah, okay, you see? The American brought it to us. That's actually quite interesting, because in Germany, in all the other countries in the world, this concept was copied. And in Germany, no TV station wanted to do it, because they said, no, start-ups are not interested in Germany. No one wants to make money. It's bad in Germany. In fact, it took five years for this pitch to work with the TV stations. And then also just because they changed the concept a lot. For example, in the American version there are stacks of money, stacks of money on the tables. Is that right? I've heard that. And in Europe it doesn't exist, or in Germany it doesn't exist, because so much money is somehow seen negatively. And it's not so much about the business concept, although that's exactly what makes sense, but it's more about the story of the founder. Personal stories instead of a business concept in the foreground. So they have very integrated this concept. I found that totally interesting. Yes, exciting. Yes, right? That's a bit of a difference. The Germans are definitely not so risky, and they are a bit jealous. You don't show money and success. You are rather, yes, you are rather a bit ... Private. Privacy is important. Exactly, privacy is important. Then some wrote about the topic of integration of foreigners. Brandon wrote, although the Germans can often be closed off, it is usually much more difficult to integrate as a foreigner and to find a community, more difficult than in the USA. It only affected me once, but racism is also at least a more conspicuous topic than in America, where there are many different problems with it. Yes, you can leave it at that. Right. Someone else also wrote, there is this right-wing movement in Germany. This is also a topic that concerns us, of course, where we have often talked about it. And the last topic, maybe, you have to tell me how much time we still have, right? Yes, three minutes. Three minutes, that's fine. Watch out, I'll hold on. That could also affect you, Manuel. Okay. It's about unfriendly cyclists. Unfriendly cyclists? What do you mean by that? Are there people who shout when you're on the bike path? Someone wrote, yes, so what I don't like about Germany, not much, except for maybe how rude some cyclists can be to pedestrians. Yes, that's really a bit of a shame. We have also often talked about it. There is somehow a fight between motorists and cyclists and then between cyclists and pedestrians. Always the slightly stronger wants to enforce his right and if you happen to be on the bike path at the wrong time or as a cyclist, what do I know, driving too far to the left on the street, then people ride out the elbow. And what's so sad about it is that most people are at least two, if not three of those things. Have you ever driven a car? I've driven a car before, I've walked before. And I think that's true, and you should just be a little more considerate. Beth has an idea right there. Why is the bike path right next to the sidewalk? In the USA it is on the side street and there is a separation between the sidewalk and the bike path, for example a curb. Before I came to Germany, I learned from Easy German that you shouldn't stand on the bike path. Still, that didn't happen to me by accident. It doesn't make sense. It's a misconstruction, but it's too late because all the cities are built like that and it takes forever. And we are already happy in Berlin if we ever get a bike path on the big streets that is larger, wider than one meter. How do you find the bike paths in New York? I haven't ridden a bike here yet, but I think there are quite good ones here on Broadway and stuff. It's actually quite nice. There are very good bike paths on some streets and none on others. Yes. And you are guided by Google Maps so that you take a detour so that you go over the bike path. Ah, okay. Yes, in Germany there is at least a bike path on most streets or the street is safe enough that you can ride there by bike. Last topic, Manuel. Tanja writes, not that it annoys me, but from my point of view the Germans plan far too far ahead. That's nice. Learn to love, Tanja, where are you? Because we have already planned our whole next year. Indeed. The plans, our Christmas plans, also as far as the videos are concerned, we are now always earlier. I think I learned that a bit from you, Manuel. Very good. I'm proud of you. And I think it's getting better and better. I'm actually doing my calendar now, it's been planned months in advance. And that's great, because you also protect your time a bit by doing that. You can't just spontaneously call and say, Kari, let's go have coffee now. The good thing is, we have a lot of common activities, video shoots, podcast recordings, meetups. And you always know, I always notice when Kari plans at 12.30 in the evening, because then my cell phone rings like a storm with calendar invitations. Twelve calendar invitations for podcast recordings. Discussion. February 15th, meetup. Exactly. That can be. And they sometimes come months in advance. But we are both very picky. Kari also planned this trip. And then I wished that I would get additional calendar entries for the back and forth to the events. So I want to know exactly where there is white in the calendar, where there is nothing, where there is a gap. That is filled up. That this is really free. So we live according to our calendars. Absolutely. Yes, Tanja also wrote, although I also plan the important things, I am generally a loose and flexible person. And too much planning is too stressful for me. With us it is the other way around. Without planning it is stressful for us. Yes, people. It was nice, Manuel. It was nice to hear your stories about ... About what? About Germany and the USA. And we will hear a few more in the after show. I have saved a few things. Among other things, a real story about a reverse culture shock. If you want to hear this after show, then you become a member of Easy German. Easygerman.org slash membership. There you get a member feed. There you can hear us a little more. Also a member ID, Manuel. You get an ID. You can chat with us on Discord. There is also a level where you can practice your spoken German with us every week. Check it out. And you pay our flight tickets. We flew priority. Priority. You make all of this possible with your membership. Thank you for being here, people. And see you soon. Bye!