Crystal's German cultural shock

 

 I find that my learning process is absolutely procrastinated on my own. Fortunately, there’s only a week delayed, this week should have been food and ordering instruction in German. In addition, thanks to my own introspection, I realized that rooted procrastination must be solved urgently. “Everything must be handled earlier.” This idea ALWAYS comes up to my mind. Nevertheless, I postpone all of them to the last priority because of my laziness and tiredness. All I must do is to catch up the learning schedule, ensuring everything is on the correct way. Believe me, I am trying making up what I need, including the contents below.

 

The topic today is German Culture, one of the most fascinating part in the schedule, which seizes my eyes immediately. I watched a video entitling “9 things to know before you come to Germany”; this video offers me a brief but thoroughly overview of German culture, which brings my knowledge toward Germany to higher level. For instance, all I know about German and culture itself are: organized people and Beer Festival in Munich. I don’t know any other details until finishing that video. In order to enhance my memories about Germany, I will describe some elements separately, since they are worth learning and catches my attention.

 

The video is inclusive of various cultural aspects, from language to daily life. Here I will introduce German itself, then move to the most essential part. People in Germany soak in exotic atmosphere, the locals and the foreign tourists, thus different linguistic experience happen over and over again. Those depend on where we are currently, for instance, English is spoken mostly in Berlin. Berlin, the capital of Germany, collects more international tourists than any other cities in Germany, so tourists are feel free to speak English. However, English is only expected to speak in restaurants, people in public transportation and authorities are required to speak German. Apart from Berlin, it’s better to learn German in small towns, because we are able to experience more local lives there, instead of tourists.

 

The second tricky part in German is payment. Electronic and mobile payment are springing up all over the world, including Taiwan, so as to reduce the risk of losing REAL money. Notwithstanding people are capable of satisfying their needs with a cellphone and a plastic card around the world, Germans still tend to pay via cash. It’s unbelievable that they take a bunch of coins with them outside, but this fact is authentic after I did some research. German believes it’s more trustworthy to pay in cash, for they are able to see actual action. The “tradition” was derived from historical events, they were reinforced by the Nazi, everything is monitored. Therefore, they cherish their own privacy, the transaction log is visible on the cellphone or application.

People’ d better withdraw cash at ATM in proper banks, because those in small shops are more expensive. Interestingly, this habit begins to change because of COVID-19, to prevent spreading virus from others.

Reference:

https://www.businessweekly.com.tw/international/blog/3002574