[Closed] How like German's are we?

Head, arms, legs and all that. I'd say it would be tough to tell them apart really.

They tend to be better at grammar than us.

define 'them' and 'us'
i like to go to work, do my job, come home, have a beer/ride my bike/watch telly etc.
some other uk peeps have no intention of working/cant stand alcohol/think cycling is wierd.
surely there will be the same type of variation (of people) in germany, or almost any other country for that matter.

I don't speak German but I do speak French and Spanish and have lived and worked in both countries. I find that I'm pretty different from French people, who whine a lot, and Spanish people who I sometimes find quite annoying. My only experience of Germans was a short but extremely, er, athletic relationship with a girl from Aachen which I enjoyed very much indeed and I liked her family too so I conclude, unscientifically, that I am closer to Germans in temperament.

By the way, the plural of German is Germans.

We can't play football, so 'not very' 😉

My father in law is German and I have worked with many. I'd say they are very close to the British in general attitide and aptitude.
They do have a better work ethic but generally that is because the employers treat them better. The stereotype of being efficient is definitely true but is offset by being less flexible and creative thinking. A stereotype that is not true is humour. Their sense of humour is as good as ours.

The German Royal Family seems a lot like the British one.
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I work with a few Germans. Some do live up to the efficiency stereotype, while others like to give the veneer of being efficient. Clearly something valued within their culture.

In a global context pretty close, in a European one less so apart from ability to drink beer in large quantities.

We could do with being a bit more like them IMO. I hope they stuff Argentina.

I remember seeing a bag of bones horse and cart ride in Athens . It had those curvy up hooves and could barely pull away on the smooth cobbles.
The English people were dismayed at the condition of the poor animal.
The Germans laughed at it and climbed on for a ride.

A stereotype that is not true is humour. Their sense of humour is as good as ours.

Isn't a lot of it to do with the differences between the German and English languages? [url= http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/may/23/germany.features11 ]Stewart Lee on the subject.[/url]

I have met a lot of German's through work, mainly commissioning engineers and to be honest I have found them to be very affable, their sense of humour is very much the same as ours.

They laugh at our over zealous health and safety laws though, in fact it makes them quite angry!!!

I worked there for two year in the late 80's and was astonished at their lack of health and safety then. Consequently I've worked in this country for a few German companies and it is a veneer as said previously about their work ethic. When I was in Germany it was the time of the wall coming down and the difference between east and west Germans was huge compared to the west and us.

[i]They do have a better work ethic but generally that is because the employers treat them better. The stereotype of being efficient is definitely true but is offset by being less flexible and creative thinking. A stereotype that is not true is humour. Their sense of humour is as good as ours. [/i]

+1

I've lived and worked in Germany plus worked with many Germans elsewhere.

They do have a better work ethic but generally that is because the employers treat them better.

Innit. They even try and create unions when it would be easier not to.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/10/chattanooga-volkswagenunion.html

We don't have "boobies ooot" on telly at 4pm in the afternoon, so not very.

"boobies ooot"

Is that a Scottish show?

Is it true they don't send their kids to school till they are 7 or 8

They even have a Hora flow control company http://www.hora.de/.

Jamie - Freeloader! But we still like him

"boobies ooot"

Is that a Scottish show?

Innit. They even try and create unions when it would be easier not to.

Has they move Tennessee to Germany now?

Lived in Bavaria for 6 months. People were generally pretty decent, cheerful and essentially normal, but as above not very creative thinking in problem solving. Far more process and procedure orientated than we are. Reluctant to deviate from agreed process, whereas here we seem to be reluctant to stick to it.

Also people seemed to be a bit cold in a public or official context. Not very helpful or compassionate when you are struggling. A lot of things were not their problem.

Not that they aren't friendly and nice of course in other areas. Loved the wy that shops and businesses kept lollipops behind the counter and handed them out to kids 🙂

Good to see some German love on the forum. I have been living with a Bavarian for the past 21 years and spent 6 years living and working over there so am a bit biassed. I would definitely say that other than the language we have FAR more in common with the Germans than ever we do with the Americans. We have a motorised satellite dish so that her in doors can watch German TV. I must say, I very rarely watch UK TV now as the choice and quality of programmes from the German broadcasters is so good. In particular the news & documentary type programmes are first rate, unbiased, and far more globally encompassing than the UK stuff.

Ask yourself this. How well informed are you about the TTIP and are you concerned about the implications of it?

There is not a day goes by when there is not an article on the news or a special program dedicated to it on the German TV, so worried are they about the implications to SME's and the average consumer.

BTW if you don't know what TTIP is then a google search will enlighten you.

In general we are pretty much a like as if you consider yourself English born and breed you are in fact a1/4 German,a1/4 Danish,a 1/4 Italian and a1/4 French 😉

Is that a Scottish show?

I see what youse did there.

#mon

I haven't lived there, but have spent a bit of time there as one of my bezzies lives out there with his Jermin wife and half Jermin kids.

I found what Mol said about process and procedure to be very true. Works well sometimes and can be frustrating at others. Just like the converse I suppose.

I lived in Germany for 8 years with the forces, although I can't really say I 'knew' Germans at all, as we obviously lived in pretty isolated communities. Although I regret that to a degree.

Now though I work with Germans a lot in my work and I love it. The work cultures are quite different and it's the source of a lot of humour and friendly banter between me and various IT engineers I work with. I have German technical people delivering solutions for UK clients, so see both sides. Can be crudely summed up as follows;

UK - A general disregard for a considered diligent approach and process. An unhealthy and inefficient attitude towards structuring the working day/week. A very strong 'can-do' attitude which can be both good and bad. People are pre-occupied by status and office politics. Bogged down by health and safety. General disinterest in tried and tested methodologies, preferring a 'wing-it' approach. A little bit insular and, dare I say, arrogant.

Germany - A very careful patient and diligent approach to tasks, thoughtful planners, never over commit or promise. However, the pay off is slow to actually produce but end product is likely to be of higher quality. Clearly defined roles (few 'jack of all trades'), and a very strong adherence to the day/week structure (I won't get anybody into a meeting for two hours over lunchtime). Great organisational structure with minimal influence from politics. Fondness of good practice.

My biggest challenge of all is aligning the expectations of the typical UK 'want it yesterday' client, with the 'we'll take a month create a detailed plan before beginning production' German production team. And it is purely down to these working culture differences.

if I had a choice, I'd work in Germany 🙂

oh and another thing if it matters - I have found all Germans I have worked with a lot happier in their work than their UK counterparts.

a German friend of ours was staying in Sheffield last weekend.

On saturday night we were arranging our ride out to the Massif du Bradfield for the tour.

'pop round our house for 11ish' i said.

he arrived at 10.59 and 45 seconds.

'vfell, i haff ein national stereotype to support' he said, when i mocked him.

'here, i haff brought you ein present, to console you after your National teams poor performance at ze vorld cup'

(he handed over a bag of M&M's, sorted into the Black, red and yellow of the german flag)

Germans, great sense of humour! 🙂

Very different attitude to law and order;

In Germany, you can assume something is illegal unless it's specified not to be.
In the UK, the opposite applies.

No kids getting drunk and rowdy in town centres at night?
That'll be the curfew then.

I have worked with Germans in Germany the UK and in Nigeria, I can summarise simply by saying that their pro`s neutralise their cons in the work environment, out of work I find them good company and unlike most of the common stereo types.

Whilst discussing drinking and night life culture with a German friend he remarked that he had seen several programmes shown in Germany about the yobbish binge drinking culture in the UK. Before I could jump to he defence of good ole Blighty he stated that that the less cosmopolitan areas of Germany had very similar situations but he German media were less self flagellating that what we in the UK are.
He also had a craving for HP sauce.

I'll vouch for Germans having a good sense of humour as well.

I know a few Germans. I laugh just as much with them as with Brit friends.

Tomorrow I hope a certain Prime Minister doesnt have the opportunity to bang on about the Falklands again.

😀

German wasps are less aggressive than their English counterparts.

[s]Has[/s] Have they move Tennessee to Germany now?

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I've worked with quite a few Germans over the last few years and they've all been competent, focussed on doing their job properly and just honest, decent people - willing to admit when there's a problem which needs fixing rather than trying to bullshit their way through it.
You can see how their economy tends to avoid all the crises of the rest of Europe with that kind of ethic.
I tend to get on with them well, but being an eighth German (great grandfather on my Dad's side) I'm not surprised.

The more I travel the more I realise we are all basically the same - getting up on a Monday morning when it's raining, off to work, mortgage to pay, kids to support...

How similar are we?

Well for a start, you're pretty bloody different from [s]me[/s] everyone I've ever met so its rather difficult to quantify tbh.

Rusty Spanner - Member
Very different attitude to law and order;

In Germany, you can assume something is illegal unless it's specified not to be.
In the UK, the opposite applies.

No kids getting drunk and rowdy in town centres at night?
That'll be the curfew then.

I'll tell you a tale, the brother of a pal of mine, playing in a band, did a gig in Germany, didn't have the money for the tube, so vaulted the barrier and legged it. Unluckily for him the police were nearby, they shot him in the leg to bring him down, it was a saturday, by monday he was in and out of hospital patched up, in court, fined and duly despatched on his way, at the bottom of the fine there were a couple of small extra items charged at only a few pfennigs (it was before the Euro) what's that he asked, it's for the bullets they shot you with came the reply.

Class. In England the Officer would automatically be suspended.

In America you'd be foolish to run as you'd end up looking like a sieve.

Well here's a counterpoint tale, another pal of mine was in the security business, acting as bodyguard for Pop stars on tour, in this instance 50 cent, doing a Euro tour, I forget when it was, but not that long ago, anyway they're in Munich and 50 cent wanted to go to a Gym, so my pal checks around finds a Gym explains it's for an American Rock/Rap star and they go 'sure, no problem.'

So they all turn up wander into the Gym and everyone in the Gym's face falls, my pal is perplexed and talks to the owner, what's the problem? Keine Swartz!

He didn't know where to turn, but the guys go, 'don't worry about it dude' and they all left.

That's the difference between them and us, they are still very very racist, that wouldn't happen here.

The ones I know are rather friendly but serious so I try not to wind them up too much in case they take it wrongly. They have the tendency to be of opposite extreme at times.

The Brits are no way near the Germans in terms of seriousness btw ... 😆

Great lads, pedantic f*ckers mind.

I give presentations on the continent:

Belgium: 1.5 hrs, no questions
Netherlands: 2hrs, some questions#
France: 45 mins, f*ck off ross biff
Germany: 5hrs. Minute detail demanded, I've got to go boys or I'm going to miss my flight.

hahaah!

i've lived in Germany for the last 6.5 years and been with my Germany GF for 12 (gulp!) so i think it's fair to say that they can't be all that bad if i've put up with them for so long.

yes, they have a sense of humour, but they are less likely to laugh at the small quips and off the cuff remarks. something has to be FUNNY for them to laugh. you'll see this in their comedian's comedy routines. very obvious punchlines, long pauses for people to laugh. and they seen to clap a lot.. the audience that is. and then it'll turn into some rhythmic clapping.

their radio is dire. really dire. Austrian radio isn't much better other than FM4 (have alisten).

i find their TV programming to be pretty crappy, too. sure they have lots of documentaries, but they seen to be 80% dubbed from English, many of them BBC programmes. and it grates me to see a German talking English for the camera and that to be dubbed back into German. some kind of irony there.

they are very set in their ways. don't try and phone someone at 8pm. there is a very good chance they are watching the Tagesschau, or news. and don't call them on a Sunday evening either. they'll be watching Tatort (****ort?), some crime thing that has been running since the 70's and can be summed up nicely by this:

as with regards to rules, as has been said above, they stick to them. in the UK we use our moral compass and common sense to get through the day to day. the rules of law are gospel in Germany. even if people know they don't make sense they will stick to them even it that means inconveniencing themselves in the process. at 2am you will see people standing waiting at the red light to cross the road because it's red. (ok, in berlin noone seems to give them lights much authority, but Berlin is an exception).

bureaucracy is a pain, costly and time consuming here. for instance, just to be able to pick up our new car we had to get a new number plate for it. however this plate was only valid for five days. we had to wait for over an hour to be seen to. once we had the paperwork (12€) i could get new paltes printed (25€). then i had to go back, wait another 30 mins fro a lady to put two stickers on the plates verifying that they were indeed "proper". this cost us another 8€. once we had the car we had to do the whole thing again, only this time they charged us 48€ for the paperwork. and the to another office to get a parking permit.
in total i spent over five hours waiting over three separate days.

kids start school proper at the age of 6/7. schools generally begin at 8 which means there are shite loads of noisy, rowdy, sleepy kids everywhere when you are on your way to work. schools finish at 1pm which means there are loads of shitty, noisy kids running about for the rest of the day. the youngsters (6/7 yr olds) will finish at 11am. also means there are lots of mums hanging around drinking coffee because it's hardly worth going home. this is a bit of an issue for low income families.

families recieve lots of time off work when their sprog is born. my B-in-L gets several months off within the first 2 years of the little 'uns life. there is still quite a strong idea of Kinder, Küche, Kirche here.

lots of people consider themselves Christian and even pay for the privilage. unless you specify that you are muslin, sikh, jew, other or agnostic or atheist (years ago the last two were not always accepted!) you will pay a Church Tax (lit. Kirchensteuer) which varies between 4-8% depending on where you live.
lots of our friends (well, the GF's friends) will dutifully go to church at Christmas and Easter. oh, and they don't do Easter Eggs either. instead they paint hard boiled eggs. a truely disappointing fact of life here.

taxes are higher than they are in the UK. the GF "earns" 45k€. our English friends are usually impressed by this until we tell them that she sees about 53% of this.

they like their traditions. how much they like them depends on where you are. in Bavaria (me) for example no-one bats an exelid at a group of men trundling through town in full Lederhosen get up.

their bier is good, but i prefer an Ale.

they have a very strong drinking culture. so strong in fact that it's normal to have a beer for breakfast, lunch and dinner. i think their beer consumption is high, yet bringe drinking is rare and i rarely see any alcohol induced fisticuffs in town. when i do it's usually drunk Septics or Aussies.
they have a more responsible attitude to drink. that's not to say they don't get rat-arsed, . perhaps it has something to do with letting the youngsters progress slwoly. from 16-18 you are allowed in the clubs, but have to leave your Ausweis (ID.... another sacred part of life) at the door. you can drink wine or beer, but no spirits. at 12 you are expected to leave. at somepoint the old bill will come round and collect all the IDs that haven't been collected. then you'll be in trouble.

the police seem to take their role in society very seriously. very few of them come across as normal people. you couldn't approach a copper as you would in the UK calling them "mate" or the German equivalent.
you are not allowed to swear at anybody, either... well you are, but you can't say "you're a f-in idiot", but you can say "i think you are a f-in idiot". and don't give someone the finger, either. a friend had to pay out over 900€ after giving a bus driver the finger (tbf, the bus driver had just almost hit him, but he was riding through a bus station and so technically in the wrong :?).

they like to plan things. this goes for everything in life. from meeting friends, going on holiday to work projects. they are not a particularly spontaneous bunch. the idea of a last minute holiday sends shivers down their spines.

and the stereotype of them being punctual... well, it'sa stereotype for a good reason. one of the few times stranges will do more than exchange words is when a bus is late. people will look at the time and start tutting before saying "the bus is late. AGAIN!" when in fact the bus is rarely late.

and the thing about them not saying much to one another is an odd one. in general they don't speak much to strangers. yet when entering a shop or approaching a a bus stop they will say "Servus/Hallo/Guten Tag" to everyone there and then remain quiet for the rest of the time.

and they NEVER thank the bus driver which really grates me.

they seem to love going to the doctors or pharmacy. if they haven't been for a week or more i think they get withdrawal symptoms. there are an awful lot of hypochondriacs here.

parents will wrap their kids up in coats until mid May or until it's at least 20°C outside. i have a theory that this is why so many of them are such pussies when it comes to the cold and get ill so easily. lots of my work associates can't get their head around me wearing shorts in November.
and an awful lot of blokes wear scarves. something i just don't get.

Germany like to slate the typical English food (yet lap up Jamie Oliver :?), but their own traditional offerings are not that far off our own. and they can't do chips (which, like in the States means crisps.. idiots. called crisps because they are crispy). generally chips are like Macdonald's fries. it's a sad situation.

and they don't eat much beef or lamb. but to make up for that they eat vast quantities of pig. like loads of pig. they even have minced pork (admittedly better than minced horse, granted) and try to pass that off in a lasagne. weird.
nor do they eat much chicken. instead they eat turkey. lots of turkey. which is crap, IMO.

BUT.... there are an awful lot of things Germany has going for it.

the road and rail infrastructure is generally very good. i think i've only experienced potholes like in the UK when driving through Berlin. Berlin is poor. rather than rapair the roads or the pavements they put up signs inforning you that the road or pavement is in bad condition...
[img] [/img]
but this is generally confined to Berlin.

the provisions made for cycling is very, very good. you can cross the country without having to mix it up with cars (or at least not very often).

things generally just work.

the Germans lead a much more active lifestyle than people do in the UK. there are few out of town shopping centres/supermarkets. instead they have more, smaller shops locally.

most of the employed Germans i encounter are happy in their jobs. their employers look after them and the laws in place protect their rights and working hours.

living standards are higher than in the UK, IMO. Life costs more, but you generally earn more, too.

on the whole it's a good place to live. like anywhere there are idiots and people that fit the stereotypes.

i'm happy here.

Germans will read the manual before turning it on, we turn it on then jump to the bit we need in the manual and ignore the rest as irrelevant.

When friends say 'come round about 2.30'... Im there at 2.25. Same punctuality with work. Thats normal but it grates mrshora. Loads of Brits are like me. Its called being anal.

Trying ringing your folks after 8pm. They think it must be an emergency no?!

On swine flesh (as friends call it).....yes they are obsessed with it second only to beer!

"Innit. They even try and create unions when it would be easier not to.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/7/10/chattanooga-volkswagenunion.htm l"

That's a land grab, isn't it? Create a tame company union before an actual AFL-CIO union manages to organize? The whole point of VW locating in the south was to avoid labour unions (and to suck up tax breaks).

oh and i forgot....

viewing platforms.

was sceptical at first. still am, TBH. but they are sometimes very rewarding. i just left a perfect brown cumberland on the shelf.

not so great after a night on the tiles.

Well here's a counterpoint tale, another pal of mine was in the security business, acting as bodyguard for Pop stars on tour, in this instance 50 cent, doing a Euro tour, I forget when it was, but not that long ago, anyway they're in Munich and 50 cent wanted to go to a Gym, so my pal checks around finds a Gym explains it's for an American Rock/Rap star and they go 'sure, no problem.'

So they all turn up wander into the Gym and everyone in the Gym's face falls, my pal is perplexed and talks to the owner, what's the problem? Keine Swartz!

He didn't know where to turn, but the guys go, 'don't worry about it dude' and they all left.

That's the difference between them and us, they are still very very racist, that wouldn't happen here.

Bullshit!

^^ +1

QUOTE "oh and i forgot....

viewing platforms.

was sceptical at first. still am, TBH. but they are sometimes very rewarding. i just left a perfect brown cumberland on the shelf.

not so great after a night on the tiles."

😀 😀 😀 I wonder how many get this reference? I had one in my flat in Stuttgart. Laying down some paper in advance definitely saved a lot of deft brush work....

Yup... Top tip, that.

and the women aren't as fat and are generally better looking, IMO.

people don't have as much style, mind. they don't necessarily carry themselves that well.

oh, and they don't do Easter Eggs either. instead they paint hard boiled eggs. a truely disappointing fact of life here.

Same as us up here in the dire part of the country that is the Highlands of Scotchland then.

oh, and they don't do Easter Eggs either. instead they paint hard boiled eggs. a truely disappointing fact of life here.

We used to do this. ALOT as children/growing up. Its only over the last decade and a half that I've seen the monster push of chocolate. Lately its in the shops wall to wall months before Easter.

The power of retailers.

MSP - Member

Bullshit!

Oh I'm sorry, you were there then?

Clearly something I missed you know about, shall I ring 50 cent and tell him it's fine he can come back to Munich now? (by the way Munich and say Hamburg or Cologne are very very different places)

Or are you saying if he turned up at a Gym over here someone would say the same thing?

Oh I'm sorry, you were there then?

Neither were you...

Two pastey-white cyclists are fighting over a big blackman. Only on STW 😆

[img] [/img]

As a epilogue to the German football teams great adventure. They land in Berlin and are treated as heroes whilst on the sameday we retain the services of Roy Hodgson with 'do as you did against Italy'.

Why not give him a fat bonus too?

Was it Roy's fault? I'd suggest that England Football's problems have next to nothing to do with Roy.

We seem to have a succession of well paid football managers. None have been truly worldclass but all well paid.

Would the German mentality allow this? As noted in the final commentary- no real notable 'world stars' (i.e. Big superstars) in the German squad yet they all play as a team. Thats key- the manager getting the side to play team football as a unit.

Does the manager do that or the system that put them together and got them to that position? The German team was based around the German team that won the U21 world cup...

Similarly, Belgium seem to have overperformed and that's being attributed to the system, not the manager.

Besides, the England manager deserves a decent salary for all the crap thrown at him because people think like you do - eg he can actually make up for a crap team/system. 😉

Or make a 300k a week striker actually score A goal.

Class. In England the Officer would [s]automatically be suspended.[/s]shoot you dead and pretend you're a terrorist

viewing platforms.

My mate in Vienna calls it "The Joby Shelf"

Or make a 300k a week striker actually score A goal.

The gym story sounds like grade A BS to me.

And defo a sheet of Andrex on "The Joby Shelf" if you would like it to be swept away swiftly. I call it the cairn platform.

Oh and definitely never do gesticulations in the car (or if you really must, never make them visible). If 2 people report it (is the offended and one of his mates), you get an automatic visit from the Polizei.

Being better at grammar is probably something to do with being sticklers for rules? (Although some jobsworths must make up rules for themselves to have something to stick to, or use commonsense - certainly had that when I moved to Germany, bought a car, registered it, and then the day after registered at town hall - apparently a not allowed sequence, but he still let me register the car, so it can't have been a rule/law).