​What Americans Find Odd about Germany

In honor of German-American Day – Oct. 6 – I’m posting my translation/paraphrase of selections from a list of 50 in the paper Die Zeit. Next week, I’ll reciprocate with German observations on American oddities. “No thin skin,” as a German instructor of mine, a nice and energetic Swiss lady in her 70s, used to say.

1. It’s hard to find stores open evenings and Sundays, and getting last-minute shopping done on Saturday mornings is so stressful.
2. The faith in authority, or in Ordnung: Germans will remain standing at a red pedestrian signal even at three AM when there’s no traffic. And you'll probably get yelled at if you try to cross against the light.
   
3. They only talk to strangers to warn or to scold--for not sorting recyclables, for wasting photocopier toner by not using that L-shaped plastic thing around the edges of the original, for disobeying pedestrian traffic lights.
4. They often seem to think they have penetrating insights into black-white relations in the U.S.
5. They keep answering you in English, even if your German is just fine.
6. They have a relaxed attitude to their bodies and all bodily functions. They go naked often and gladly: in the park, on the beach, in the sauna, everywhere.
7. They even eat pizza with knife and fork.
8. They regard their abrupt manner as an expression of sincerity; to Americans it can come off as pushy.
9. The ubiquitous cigarette smoking is so outdated; the rampant smoke clouds stand in stark contrast to their otherwise pronounced environmental consciousness.
10. Grimm’s Fairy Tales are way too frightening for children.