Went to Germany for work....my impressions

[HHJ]

In norway they do the two single beds thing alot too. Its a thing. I havent been to Germany but its low on my list of places to go. Germans ive met are pretty rude about cutting you completley out of a group conversation where they will just speak german even though they know you cant understand and dont care. Never was a thing I experienced so utterly in any of my other travels anywhere else.

 

[fica]

I never said I was anything special. You are just a weirdo

Well go anywhere with superiority complex like you need to be catared and be annoyed when you do not get that peoe will notice and they then will realy realy not like you

 

[Aegon Spengler]

Well go anywhere with superiority complex like you need to be catared and be annoyed when you do not get that peoe will notice and they then will realy realy not like you

I don't do that and nothing in my post suggested that's something I do. When I go to other countries I'm more polite than when I'm in my own, because I consider myself a guest.

 

[fica]

I don't do that and nothing in my post suggested that's something I do. When I go to other countries I'm more polite than when I'm in my own, because I consider myself a guest.

Realllllyyy but you going around in other countries telling people how racist they are according to you. And what you expect applause for calling somebody something while you not even from there

 

[Contempt]

The biggest subdivision within a country is the Sakha Republic, in Russia (Russia has different kinds of subdivisions, not just Oblasts).

(square miles)

Sakha Republic: 3,083,523
Western Australia: 975,685
Alaska: 665,384 (of which 14% is water)

Soviet Union: 8,649,500
Russia: 6,601,670 (not including recent acquisitions)
Canada: 3,855,100
China: 3,705,410
USA: 3,677,647

The Sakha Republic is 84% the size of the USA, or bigger than the USA without Alaska. Russia is 80% bigger than the USA.

If you want to play bingo when a US American is talking to another nationality (other than Russian/Canadian/Chinese), it won't be long before you are ticking the ''America' is so vast, you guys just don't get it! Europeans only need to take ten steps to be in another country but we can drive 18 hours and still be in the same state!' box. On the other hand this can morph into ''America' is so huge and diverse, you guys just don't get it! California and Texas have totally separate cultures! 'America' has the same culture as 50 normal countries!' when required.

Damn, a state (or equivalent) that's three times larger than WA is pretty crazy.

I think Australia is fairly close to the size of the contiguous United stated from memory, until you chuck in Alaska/Hawaii etc. It's a pretty fucking big cuntry... can't compare to Russia though, that's just immense.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

Aren't they being forced to accept a lot of immigrants and pay for them and then catch heat for being 'racist' if they say anything that could be construed as negative over the inevitable culture clashes?

Yes, we get it. You’re a conservative and have to politicize absolutely everything.

 

[650lb Sumo]

Damn, a state (or equivalent) that's three times larger than WA is pretty crazy.

I think Australia is fairly close to the size of the contiguous United stated from memory, until you chuck in Alaska/Hawaii etc. It's a pretty fucking big cuntry... can't compare to Russia though, that's just immense.
View attachment 1048027

That's only part of Europe. Still Australia is wider than the Moon!

 

[lsa]

That's only part of Europe. Still Australia is wider than the Moon!

 

[Osculater]

Australia be thiiccc!!!!!

 

[lsa]

Australia be thiiccc!!!!!

with an ass fatter than the moon!

 

[Osculater]

with an ass fatter than the moon!

It looks flat on 2-D but it's plump on 3-D

 

[Flower2dPeople]

Just start singing Rammstein tracks like Du Hast or Feuer Frei, they will love you.

I'm more of a 99 luftballons/Das Model kind of guy.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

In norway they do the two single beds thing alot too. Its a thing. I havent been to Germany but its low on my list of places to go. Germans ive met are pretty rude about cutting you completley out of a group conversation where they will just speak german even though they know you cant understand and dont care. Never was a thing I experienced so utterly in any of my other travels anywhere else.

That part i confirm. Integrating people in a conversation and trying to have entertaining exchanges is not part of german culture the way english or french speakers are typically trained. In germany nothing is expected of you in a conversation.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

Yes, we get it. You’re a conservative and have to politicize absolutely everything.

I don't know but i remember you throwing the racist card around for no reason ITT. Pretty ironic.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

Yes, we get it. You’re a conservative and have to politicize absolutely everything.

He's not wrong though.

 

[Deorum]

You can confirm I'm (mostly) a nice german fella

You are one of all-time greats brother, and ought to be installed as Führer immediately. As to the thread topic: Aside from the lone exception of Norway, it's like pulling teeth to get me to even travel anywhere outside of the preferred region of my own country; there are huge swaths of America and dozens of states I've never been and have no plans to visit. However, I have been to Germany and Austria (pre-2015) and have nothing but good experiences to remember. Munich and Nuremberg especially were both awesome, and I got to meet a couple of distant relatives that live in the latter. It was interesting that they considered themselves Franconian rather than Bavarian, and they were adamant about it.

 

[MichiganMMA1978]

The biggest subdivision within a country is the Sakha Republic, in Russia (Russia has different kinds of subdivisions, not just Oblasts).

(square miles)

Sakha Republic: 3,083,523
Western Australia: 975,685
Alaska: 665,384 (of which 14% is water)

Soviet Union: 8,649,500
Russia: 6,601,670 (not including recent acquisitions)
Canada: 3,855,100
China: 3,705,410
USA: 3,677,647

The Sakha Republic is 84% the size of the USA, or bigger than the USA without Alaska. Russia is 80% bigger than the USA.

If you want to play bingo when a US American is talking to another nationality (other than Russian/Canadian/Chinese), it won't be long before you are ticking the ''America' is so vast, you guys just don't get it! Europeans only need to take ten steps to be in another country but we can drive 18 hours and still be in the same state!' box. On the other hand this can morph into ''America' is so huge and diverse, you guys just don't get it! California and Texas have totally separate cultures! 'America' has the same culture as 50 normal countries!' when required.

As a US citizen, I think I did about the opposite of your claim here...

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

I backed up my arguments, feel free to back up yours

You didn't back up anything. You just observed a whole continent through your race/skin-colour obsessed, American melting-pot view of the world and started to make bigot/racist accusations. You cannot transpose your american view on Europe.

 

[cooks1]

I just got back from a work trip to Germany - I spent 10 days in Dusseldorf and Frankfurt.... I know that isn't exactly representative of what a country has to offer, but I was not impressed.

My first experience was extremely negative - I get a taxi from the airport to the hotel, and the driver seems really angry (but speaking exclusively in German). I couldn't tell if he was angry at the traffic, at me, or something else entirely, but the guy spends the whole time screaming and banging his hands on the dashboard. We get to the hotel and I give him my credit card - keep in mind his window has a VISA/Mastercard sign in it. He loses his shit and says only money (and he keeps on repeating the word money and banging the steering wheel). This continues for a couple of minutes until he pulls out the credit card machine and punches in 40 Euros.....which was double the fixed fare that was advertised at the airport. I just said fuck it and paid him.

I don't even get to the hotel entrance and I am stopped by security who demand to see my passport. I tell them no and say that I am a guest at the hotel - the security could only speak broken english and just kept on demanding to see my passport. Eventually the hotel concierge comes out and explains that the EuroCup is being played at the Dusseldorf Arena (which was attached to the hotel) and because of heightened security risks, everybody has to show their passport. Fine, I give them my passport and check in. I was booked in a single room, which in every other instance in my life, meant a room with one queen or king sized bed in it. Instead, I get a room with two single sized beds - I am physically wider than a single sized bed and I go to the reception and explain that this must be a mistake. They tell me that it is no mistake, and just to push the two beds together.

For the next 8 days, I dealt with some of the rudest, angriest and unhelpful people I have ever met in my life (these were all service people - either people at working at the conference, in the hotel, or at the airport.... I didn't meet many people from the general public). People I dealt with seemed insulted when I couldn't speak German - on the way back, I missed my connecting flight because of a delay, and when I went to the Lufthansa help desk, the woman said "just check your email to see what to do next, I don't have any information".

The German people I know in my life back home in Canada are the exact opposite of what I experienced, so I don't know if I just had a string of bad luck, or whether Germany just doesn't like me.

You might want to alter your expectations about people happily speaking English to accommodate you in non English speaking countries. I doubt most Americans would feel or act any differently if someone came into their office talking German. A lot of Americans completely lose their shit when people can't habla correctly in the US.

While your experience does seem unpleasant, you describe it more as a tourist than someone who went to Germany 'for work'. Cab rides, hotels, plane flights, and rude service people. I don't think you described a single work interaction.

I lived and worked all over Europe for over 15 years and spent 6 months in Germany. They are definitely not known for their first impressions, but they warm up to you. The business work environment is exhilarating. They would be just as irritated with you for arriving 15 minutes early to a meeting as 15 minutes late. "who is this jackass with so much time to kill'. And they have fantastic attention to detail. Which meant it would take a little longer to accomplish a little less. But once you dealt with something, you rarely had to revisit it.

Spain is probably the most tolerant country in Western Europe for non English speakers. I live in the states now but still travel to Europe for work and play regularly. Spend about a month of every year over there as my wife's parents live in Scotland. I met, dated, and married her when I was living in Glasgow for several years.

Not that Americans were ever super popular to begin with- but my experience is that since Trump was elected in 2016, we have been considerably less welcome just about everywhere- unless perhaps you visit Russia or China.

 

[Slothbroth]

Yes, we get it. You’re a conservative and have to politicize absolutely everything.

I didn't mention politics at all so maybe you are projecting.