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What do you know about germany and where did you learn it?

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Moderator note: please post in English. That has nothing to do with the value of any language, but just because this is an English speaking forum and is the most inclusive of all our members reading along. Thanks!

Ok, taking the moderator hat off now...
May I test you? I invite you to my house. Would you come directly or only after I invited you several times? What do you bring? How would you greet me? Do you bring other people with you? What would you expect for me to do to entertain you?...
It’s interesting you use this “test” as a gauge for what non-Germans know about Germany from the media. It’s not a very good one to be honest.

The media doesn’t really report on common social manners, because it’s common. The news is by definition what is not common.

But, to answer...

I would not be surprised if someone who is German to be more reserved than my own mid-western American culture, and I’d know that the more reserved nature is not a matter of rudeness. Even on the east coast people are more reserved than in the mid-west. I’d probably come after 1-2 invites, but without assuming super closeness of relationship. I’d ask before bringing others. I’m not sure if that’s due to German culture, or my own, or just me. I’m “entertained” just by being with people and getting to know them, so no, I would not expect to be entertained any further.

Would you expect Americans to entertain you?

I’d show up on time, not early or late. I’d avoid politics or religion unless the other person brought it up or I knew them well and they are ok with it. I’d handle those topics with care and depending on how long and how well I knew the person. I don’t know about the bad luck cutlery... but I’d be sure to make eye contact when making a toast and to not cross my fingers (which has good connotations in the US but can mean dishonesty Germany, is that right?)

I learned almost none of this from the news media. Most of this comes from interacting with Germans, plus what I learned in school and via books and documentaries. (Books do still exist! Lol.)
Otherwise I would call you Ma‘am but only if you are fro the South (you are, aren‘t you). People from the north are always called Mary/Pete/whatever their first name is.
I personally default to more formality with people I just met, unless they are introduced to me or introduce themselves by their first name. Or unless it’s clearly a friendship.
I would greet you by hugging.
Ack! Lol. Just kidding. I’d be totally fine if you hugged me and I’d think you were super duper friendly.

But this is wildly varies in the US. I’ll offer a hand to shake with someone I just met, but I don’t give hug or get hugs very often except by good friends. I do know many people who greet by hugging, and many who would find that overly friendly. Almost no one takes offense to a handshake though when greeting someone the first time. How do you greet each other in Germany?
I think you would serve me ice tea.
Where did you get this from? To test your therapy back on you a bit, did you learn this from media?

I don’t think I’ve served anyone iced tea ever in my entire life. I’ve been served iced tea. I get served hot tea or just about anything else under the sun... Kombacha is a common fermented tea to be served in my city but 30 miles away it would be beer and 150 miles away it could be soda... Really, I don’t think there is one standard American drink to be served.
I think politics should not be mentioned in a conversation, things you do not like about the USA should not be mentioned.
This is funny to me because I live in a neighborhood with tons of folks from other countries, and freely share what they don’t like about the US often. I don’t much care. That might be just me. Actually, it probably is just me. Lol. People tolerate (hopefully) a lot of difference of opinion in the US, but there is a saying (or rather many of them) that “polite company” avoids religion and politics. But my American friends and I talk about it all the time. So...
Typically we do not discuss stuff like PTSD with people we do not know very well in Germany but might also be the case in the USA. Not sure. Will that be openly discussed in the USA?
In most settings, speaking about it right when you meet someone would be a bit TMI. It would be more common once you get to know a person. But the US is a geographically and culturally diverse nation.

I’ve been told that for Germans as a culture it takes awhile for them to warm up and talk about deep subjects, but once they do, they really do, and that friendships tend to be very loyal once they are deep. Is that true or totally off?
Is it different for upper class or lower class American people? What do I do when they invited me to their home?
I personally speak and treat people the same no matter the class. Is that the same in Germany or different?

What do you like the best about your own culture?
 
@all I told Rosie I once dreamed in English after being to long on the internet and Rosie told me she now dreams in English but it took her a while (just translated for everybody to understand).

Wo in Deutschland stammt ihre Familie genau her?

From what part of Germany is your bloodline? (Abstammung=bloodline or how do I say in English?)

Ich komme ursprünglich aus Sachsen und es hat eine Weile gedauert bis ich nicht mehr sächsisch träumte.

I am from Saxony and I took me a while till I stopped dreaming in Saxon (very odd German dialect people see as funny).
 
My guy speaks German. Which is why he was stationed there in 86 right after Chernobyl. On the Ukrainian boarder. Definitely not a good place to be at the time.

My family is from Belgium. Grandma came here with her parents just before WW1. We have letters from some of her family stating the Germans were already there and taking their belongings. We have been proud to be Belgian then Dad took the DNA test and yep, we're more German then Belgian. :)

My Dad grew up in the German area of our city. And he tells awesome stories. He remembers the end of WW2. And has told us what it was like.

I grew up with President Reagan. And watched in school as the wall came down.

As for what we were taught in school basically just about the wars and the Holocaust. This was many years ago so I have no idea what they teach now.
 
What an interesting discussion!

Is that common to ask about “bloodlines” in Germany? Bloodline to me means like ancestry or a family tree... Or is that like asking what part of Germany your family is from? In the US we might ask where someone grew up, but not about bloodlines or about ancestry.
Yes, I learned about the ice-tea in the media and also about catfish. I think those are served together aren‘t they... on the Veranda which is always white and there is such a big tree withthis air plants, you know the one which grow on the tree, in front of it.
I’ve never had catfish... so I can’t say. I don’t really know anyone that eats catfish either. Perhaps that is more common in another part of the country.

Air plants? Perhaps like Spanish moss? I’ve only seen Spanish moss on trees in Lousianna... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_moss. I haven’t see that outside of the deep and humid south.

The way you describe American culture, it sounds like the movie Gone With The Wind. :)

My friends and I have dinner together often, sometimes on porches (also known as verandas) but I’ve never been on or seen a white veranda myself. Most of my friends live in tiny urban apartments.

I’ve been in other countries and seen what they see about my country on their TV. It’s p a I n f u l to watch. Because it’s so inaccurate. American TV makes us seem like lazy gun/sex crazed super friendly people with very grand lives.

Which isn’t reality.

In the US, to get to know another culture, it’s hard to know that from news media alone. Or movies. We don’t get much German media here. I follow international news, but not via American media.

We have the blessing/curse of having to look past media to really get to know another culture. Through people and education. Just like we are getting to know each other’s culture now.

Another example: I have been watching Dr Who lately. I asked a friend from the UK about the culture just to see about how the impression of it from Dr. Who relates to reality. It reflects only small part of the culture.... kinda like American produced TV.

What do I like best about my culture? Oh that’s a tough one! I admire it’s diversity and how very different people and subcultures try so hard to somehow all live together as one nation. Flaws and all. I mean, because the thing is, I don’t eat catfish or drink ice tea, but if my American neighbor told me they did quite often, I would not think that’s more or less American than me. I’d be like awesome, let’s have a potluck. I’ll bring the enchiladas. :) ;)
 
@Justmehere: I think @rosie grew up in the USA but how do I say „deutscher Abstammung“? Do I say „of German lineage“, „of German blood“. She grew up in the USA but „has a German pedigree“ if I got her right and that is why she speaks German and I did not want to know where she grew up but where in Germany her blood is from because in Germany it makes a big difference which part of the country you are from.

That does not sound odd in the German language, just in the English language because you have other words. Yours make it sound like an odd question, but if you ask with German words like „Wo stammt Ihre Familie ursprünglich her?“ it sounds normal. Switching between the two languages makes my englush worse.

What is described is how I pictured the American South where @Sweetpea76 is from ;)

Anyway.... good night.
 
Lived in London for a while as an expat (Ireland, NZ, US, HK, and around again). London input was based on my accent at the time, the US is XYZ as though everyone in NY or LA or in between is the same.

Germany caused many wars and millions of deaths. The why's? I read a lot. History constantly re-interpreted.

And what does this post have to do with PTSD?
 
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