Myths about Germany: true or not?
Some myths about Germany debunked:
1. Germans do not only eat sausage and potatoes. They eat pasta, salad, fruit, etc. I have not had a potato yet (though it is only my second day).
2. Germans do not leave their milk/water/beer out of the fridge. All drinks go in the fridge, except for unopened mineral wasser. Everything is cold. I don't know why, but for some reason, people I talked to in America were convinced that Germans drink warm beer/warm water/warm everything.
3. Germans do laundry.
4. There is internet. Unlimited internet. It is cheaper than in the U.S., because it includes phone service. It's kind of slow.
5. People in Germany are blunt and this makes them seem rude. Wow! This is what I was told. Maybe I haven't been around enough Germans yet, but every German I've met is completely normal and/or friendly. Maybe I come from a place where people are unusually blunt. I don't know. In my limited experience, however, Germans are hospitable and easy to get along with. It is common here for people to laugh at each other, which we wouldn't really do in America. For example--if there's a crazy person talking to him/herself on the street, people laugh. If someone trips and falls, people laugh. If you respond very enthusiastically to something, people laugh. But weirdly enough, it doesn't feel unkind to me. It's just a different kind of humor and perspective than we have in the U.S.
6. Germans don't use napkins at meals!
7. People bathe! You wouldn't believe how many people told me Germans don't bathe often. In my experience, they bathe more often than Americans, and brush their teeth more, too.
8. There is maple syrup here. But Germans don't eat pancakes (and I haven't yet seen a waffle), so I'm not sure what they do with it.
Some myths about Germany that turned out to be entirely true:
1. People here love chocolate and dairy products (especially Eis!).
2. Almost everyone smokes. Smoking is allowed in every public place, and the inside of most buildings smells like cigarettes. Also, teenagers are allowed to smoke in school.
3. Pretzels are prevalent. They are soooo good. I bought one as soon as I got here. They are lightyears better than American hard pretzels, and definitely better than American soft pretzels. Inside, they are buttery and delicious, and on the outside, they are dark brown and covered with kosher salt.
4. Nobody drinks tap water/water that isn't sparkling. I'm in heaven, since I prefer sparkling wasser to plain, anyway.
5. Forks and knives are placed on plates differently. I can't really explain.
6. Germans LOVE Obama! As soon as I made my preference for Obama known, I was immediately met with smiles and "yes we can!"s. (Please ignore grammatical incorrectness there.)
7. To buy products, you do have to go to several different stores (stores usually specialize in one particular area). Sometimes a supermarket has a shoe store or purses, but for the most part, shopping takes half a day because of all the stores one must drive to.
8. Fußball=national pastime. Everyone seemed surprised that I don't have a favorite team to champion.
And now, some observations:
1. Germans love American pop from the 80's: Cindi Lauper, Sting, Depeche Mode, Bon Jovi (ugh!), and especially Michael Jackson...it's played on the radio all the time here. I can't say I miss the terrible American neo-Country genre, though.
2. Germany has the best soft drinks ever. My favorites are Lift Apfel-Schorle (sparkling apple juice, which is not as sweet as it is in America) and Mezzo Mix, which is basically coke with orange essence. It sounds weird, but it's very good. All soft drinks have real sugar, not corn syrup.
3. A lot of people ride bikes here, but cruisers, not mountain or road bikes.
4. The streets are quite clean, but the poor street trees have cigarette butts littered all around them in the dirt.
5. Public transportation is extremely efficient. The buses come every ten minutes.
6. People seem really happy and content here.
7. There are not many black/African or South Asian people, but a lot of Turks. White Germans are blatantly racist about Turkish immigrants (or Germans of Turkish descent, for that matter). This makes me pretty uncomfortable, because where I come from, people at least pretend to be more tolerant. Also, have any Germans ever met a Jew? Not the ones I know. I don't even tell them I'm Jewish because I've heard some pretty stereotypical things come out of their mouths about non-Christians. Oof.
8. There are no SUVs! Hallelujah! People actually drive fuel efficient cars!
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