Germany

[ratm1221]

I'm naturally a very polite person. Yes sir, no sir, thank you, etc unless you get on my bad side. I've been in Munich Germany for the past week and I have a week to go. I'll have to say that 30 percent of the people I've met have been very nice while the other 70 percent are rude as hell. I literally almost jumped over a counter today and punched a guy because he wouldn't talk to me until I told him good morning first. He told me "lets start again, you start by saying good morning, then we can talk", so I said "kiss my ass, how about that?" because I was already fed up with the last rude fucker. Just now I ordered some food and I was very polite. I noticed they kept looking at my wife an I as we were waiting for our food in a very suspicious way. We get the food back to our room and IT HAD PUBIC HAIR IN IT! People shove you out of the way in the subway, they try to over charge you by adding things you didn't order to your ticket, and put pubes in your food. It's a beautiful country and I will probably come back eventually, but these fuckers obviously watch too much TV and have a twisted view on Americans. American money rebuilt this fucking city after the last World War, so they could try chilling the fuck out. Anyone else had any bad experiences like this? Has George Dubya really made other countries hate us this much?

[SnakeBoy]

Has George Dubya really made other countries hate us this much?

I lived there in the 70's and they hated americans then too. So no dubya didn't do it.

Half of my family is german so I can say with confidence, they aren't exactly known for being sensitive polite people.

[hater]

Has George Dubya really made other countries hate us this much?

Dubya has definitely has made it worse. not only his stupid and arrogant foreign relations, but his own appearance and personality. Most foreigners that seen Bush on TV think americans are that arrogant, that stupid and that annoying.

[RandomGuy]

I'm naturally a very polite person. Yes sir, no sir, thank you, etc unless you get on my bad side. I've been in Munich Germany for the past week and I have a week to go. I'll have to say that 30 percent of the people I've met have been very nice while the other 70 percent are rude as hell. I literally almost jumped over a counter today and punched a guy because he wouldn't talk to me until I told him good morning first. He told me "lets start again, you start by saying good morning, then we can talk", so I said "kiss my ass, how about that?" because I was already fed up with the last rude fucker. Just now I ordered some food and I was very polite. I noticed they kept looking at my wife an I as we were waiting for our food in a very suspicious way. We get the food back to our room and IT HAD PUBIC HAIR IN IT! People shove you out of the way in the subway, they try to over charge you by adding things you didn't order to your ticket, and put pubes in your food. It's a beautiful country and I will probably come back eventually, but these fuckers obviously watch too much TV and have a twisted view on Americans. American money rebuilt this fucking city after the last World War, so they could try chilling the fuck out. Anyone else had any bad experiences like this? Has George Dubya really made other countries hate us this much?

why do you think they were looking suspiciously at your wife?

[ratm1221]

why do you think they were looking suspiciously at your wife?

They were looking at us and talking. Something just didn't seem right. I put 2 and 2 together when I found curly black hairs in my food.

[Wild Cobra]

Well Rat...

When in Rome, do as the Romans do...

My God man. You go to another country, and don't try to accept their customs? Get real.

It is you who insult them. Like it or not, the rest of the world does not bow to Americans.

I lived in Germany for six years. They are awesome people. Stop thinking of yourself as better than them, learn the local customs, and you might get along.

[ChumpDumper]

My God man.

[SnakeBoy]

Oh I forgot to mention, my mom's uncle was an SS officer (physician..yikes!). He gave new meaning to the word asshole. So keep in mind that in a fairly short amount of time they have come a long ways in the area of politeness.

[ClingingMars]

Dubya has definitely has made it worse. not only his stupid and arrogant foreign relations, but his own appearance and personality. Most foreigners that seen Bush on TV think americans are that arrogant, that stupid and that annoying.

he's the devil, obviously.

-Mars

[Def Rowe]

Wow, crazy story man. Thanks for sharing. I've never been to Europe.

[ratm1221]

Well Rat...

When in Rome, do as the Romans do...

My God man. You go to another country, and don't try to accept their customs? Get real.

It is you who insult them. Like it or not, the rest of the world does not bow to Americans.

I lived in Germany for six years. They are awesome people. Stop thinking of yourself as better than them, learn the local customs, and you might get along.

Well, I've read enough of your posts to know that you are an asshole, so I wouldn't expect you to understand about a story about people being assholes. Go figure.

What you said is exactly the point. They think Americans are stuck up and that we think we are better than everyone. That is the problem. When someone is in our country and doesn't act like everyone else, I give them the benefit of the doubt because I know they are from a different culture. But when Americans are in Europe, we don't get the benefit of the doubt. They stereotype all Americans as being stuck up brats. They don't want to be stereotyped, but they stereotype everyone else. That is why we have wars. People don't want to understand each other and don't want to educate themselves about other cultures. And I would be very surprised if you really lived in Germany for 6 years. You are way too naive. Sorry, but I'm calling bullshit.

[Rogue]

yo se Espanol
Espanol futbol equipo el German conquistada en la 08 Eurp cuppa.
Espanol se admirada por era todos Espanol hermanos

[Extra Stout]

Germany is very much like the American South in this way: if you fit in and follow the basic customs, the people are lovely, but if you look different or break etiquette, they are breahtakingly intolerant. Bavaria is the most culturally conservative part of the country, so this dynamic is further enhanced.

[Rohirrim]

Germany is very much like the American South in this way: if you fit in and follow the basic customs, the people are lovely, but if you look different or break etiquette, they are breahtakingly intolerant. Bavaria is the most culturally conservative part of the country, so this dynamic is further enhanced.

Bullshit.

The South is much more kind than the assholes up North.



It's Germany...what do you expect, fuck em'.

[Wild Cobra]

It's Germany...what do you expect, fuck em'.

The people of Germany are great. More so than most here in the USA. It's simply a different culture.

[Drachen]

The people of Germany are great. More so than most here in the USA. It's simply a different culture.

It's called culture shock. You probably won't get over it in a week or two. I lived there as an exchange student (Berlin), and initially there was a bit of a shock because there were ideas and behaviors that I took for granted that were not on display over there. It feels strange because people have acted in a certain manner all your life and now these people are acting contrarily. I assure you that if you actually were to spend some time there, it would become second nature, and you would eventually not even notice it. While I was there, a lot of my friends had been exchange students to the states and regaled me with stories of not only culture shock but complete ignorance on the part of Americans (i.e. "fuck you Nazi" or one of my friends was in all seriousness congratulated for learning how to operate a telephone so quickly, etc). Basic expectation when going into another culture is to have no expectation, observe, then try to emulate. I think someone asking you to say good morning first is not rude at all, in fact I think it's great so that you can have a more personable experience! Oh, and yes, Bavaria is far more culturally conservative than the north (only place in Germany that I was carded)

[Rogue]

The people of Germany are great. More so than most here in the USA. It's simply a different culture.
Dutchland futbol equipo era conquisteda por espanol equipo

espanol fue las heros en la laza de 08 euro

[2centsworth]

my sister-n-law lives there with her husband and three kids. they love it, but I'm not sure how much they socialize outside of the military circle. I'm going to Germany this summer, so hope I don't have similar experiences. thanks for sharing.

[spurster]

I've spent a few days touristing in Germany without any problems and with little to no knowledge of "local customs". I'm wondering about who is the asshole here.

[Drachen]

I mean in Bavaria everyone, I mean EVERYONE, smiled, waved and gave me a "Gruss Gott" as I passed. I can't imagine nicer people. I was hiking in the Alps, sat on a rock to tie my shoe, and two people came up behind me and thought I was sitting because I was tired, they offered me some water. I told them that I was just tying my shoe, showed them that I had water, thanked them and went on my way. Even the people at Oktoberfest were cheerful. I mean those people have to be tired of tons of foreigners (and northerners) coming and getting sloshed every year. You have the beer maidens stopping to take your order even as they are holding 7 - 1 liter mugs in EACH HAND. It's ridiculous. Anyway, all in all I would have to say that Germans are great! Oh, and one more tip for anyone going: Learn a few words or phrases in German, they are very delighted when you try to speak their language (most can speak English, but the attempt is what makes them happy).

[Extra Stout]

my sister-n-law lives there with her husband and three kids. they love it, but I'm not sure how much they socialize outside of the military circle. I'm going to Germany this summer, so hope I don't have similar experiences. thanks for sharing.
You won't have a problem.

[RandomGuy]

Germany is very much like the American South in this way: if you fit in and follow the basic customs, the people are lovely, but if you look different or break etiquette, they are breahtakingly intolerant. Bavaria is the most culturally conservative part of the country, so this dynamic is further enhanced.

Yeah man. Don't give a Bavarian lederhosen made in China (http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,579729,00.html)...

:hang

Those f***ers take their leather pants very seriously. :lol

[Extra Stout]

Bullshit.

The South is much more kind than the assholes up North.



It's Germany...what do you expect, fuck em'.

So if a guy with 25 body piercings and dreadlocks walks into a Cracker Barrel in Jackson, Mississippi, you're saying the friendly Southern folks will walk up to him and say, "Howdy, stranger!" rather than just giving him weird looks, or even saying "Bwah, wyon'choo take all that crap off yer face n'stop scarin' the wimminfolk?"

[temujin]

why do you think they were looking suspiciously at your wife?

Because of the beard on her face.

[Blake]

I'm naturally a very polite person. Yes sir, no sir, thank you, etc unless you get on my bad side. I've been in Munich Germany for the past week and I have a week to go. I'll have to say that 30 percent of the people I've met have been very nice while the other 70 percent are rude as hell. I literally almost jumped over a counter today and punched a guy because he wouldn't talk to me until I told him good morning first. He told me "lets start again, you start by saying good morning, then we can talk", so I said "kiss my ass, how about that?" because I was already fed up with the last rude fucker. Just now I ordered some food and I was very polite. I noticed they kept looking at my wife an I as we were waiting for our food in a very suspicious way. We get the food back to our room and IT HAD PUBIC HAIR IN IT! People shove you out of the way in the subway, they try to over charge you by adding things you didn't order to your ticket, and put pubes in your food. It's a beautiful country and I will probably come back eventually, but these fuckers obviously watch too much TV and have a twisted view on Americans. American money rebuilt this fucking city after the last World War, so they could try chilling the fuck out. Anyone else had any bad experiences like this? Has George Dubya really made other countries hate us this much?

sounds like the week I had one time in Austin

[101A]

So if a guy with 25 body piercings and dreadlocks walks into a Cracker Barrel in Jackson, Mississippi, you're saying the friendly Southern folks will walk up to him and say, "Howdy, stranger!" rather than just giving him weird looks, or even saying "Bwah, wyon'choo take all that crap off yer face n'stop scarin' the wimminfolk?"

That gentleman isn't going to get a great reception in Western Pa, either; in fact, he'll probably get more grief than in many parts of the South (never been to Jackson, Mississippi).

[ratm1221]

Just got back from Germany yesterday. Awesome place. I met quite a few nicer people on the last leg of the trip.

I saw some amazing things there. Some of the highlights of the trip were Salzburg Austria where Mozart was born, Kloster Andechs Monastery who had the best beer I've ever drank, standing in the exact spot where Hitler's body guard took 17 bullets for him, and eating pork knuckle and drinking beer in the Hofbraü.

We took a guided tour of the Dachau concentration camp which will make you sick to your stomach, but it's definitely something you need to do if you are there. There were a couple of shots at George W by the tour guide in which he compared the Germans electing Hitler to Americans electing Bush and he compared Hitlers suspension of civil liberties to Bush's Patriot Act.

We even spent a day skiing in the Austrian Alps.

We didn't get to do half the things we wanted to. There is just way too much history there to fit in, in 14 days. I'd like to go back in the summer.

[ratm1221]

did you get your mouth around any sausage?

No. I think you are confusing my visit to Germany with the 7 days you spent in Key West last June.

[ratm1221]

that have good brats there?

Forget it, you wouldn't fit in. They speak English there.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

If KMFDM is anywhere near right, some Germans have been very bitter towards the US cuz they think the Marshall Plan did not truly have Germany's interest in mind.

[Slomo]

...

We took a guided tour of the Dachau concentration camp which will make you sick to your stomach, but it's definitely something you need to do if you are there...

I agree a 100%. I was prepared for it having met Dachau survivors and read about it a lot, but the reaction was still almost too much to bear.



We even spent a day skiing in the Austrian Alps...

Where did you go? We came back from Obertauern 2 days ago :D

[ratm1221]

Where did you go? We came back from Obertauern 2 days ago :D

We almost went there, but it was booked up. We ended up at Sankt Johann in Tirol.

[Slomo]

We almost went there, but it was booked up. We ended up at Sankt Johann in Tirol.
Yeah, Obertauern is very popular (it actually make some of the hotels owners a bit cocky) but it's a great place with excellent skiing.

I know St. Johann i. T. quite well too. It's a nice place also. Did you check Kitzbuhel? (it's not too far and it's one of the legendary European ski resorts).

Anyway funny how small the world is :)