15 Things Americans Don't Understand About Germans

A car has not to be cool, it has to be „praktisch“.

About nudity: Not every German is comfortable with being nude. But most German are comfortable with others being nude. On the other hand, many Americans seem to be uncomfortable with both.

Funny that you mention the smoking-issue. It’s funny because the situation has changed dramatically over the last 15 years or so. Before that, we used to smoke inside the restaurant, on the train, in the office and even in school 😂

The privacy paradox is not really that complicated. It basically comes down to consent. If I am naked in the sauna, I chose to. If someone comes up to me in the street and take a picture of me, I did not choose to be photographed. Not everyone likes to go to the sauna and not everyone cares if his personal information are leaked on the internet.

We don’t need flags, we need foreign reactors to say that we are a great nation. That’s why so many Germans watch this reaction videos. Also to recognize that we are doing great. You are our flag 😁🇩🇪

the “privacy paradox” is a paradox only if you don’t realize that you use the word “privacy” for two completely different things. Germans are protective of their data privacy. Not so much of the “privacy” of their private parts. I don’t think they see any connection between these two things. Paying for bathrooms can be annoying, but it’s a fact that “clean bathrooms aren’t free.” Someone makes them clean and deserves to be paid.

The point you made with the German "privacy paradox" is very interesting when you look at it on the level of language, and why an American might be confused about that aspect of German culture. In German there are two words for "sphere of privacy": "Privatsphäre" (sphere of privacy) and "Intimsphäre" (sphere of intimacy). "Privatsphäre" discribes the factual information about a Person that one might not want to share: material possessions, salary, profession, address, browser history, etc. "Intimsphäre" describes the sexual and emotional aspects of a human being, for example how much one wants to reveal of his body to others, one's sexual preferences, the emotional opinion about someone else and so on. So every person and culture handles those two aspects differently, but granted, there is a lot of overlap between those two concepts. I think the easiest way to distinguish whether something is intimate or private is when you ask yourself if you don't want to share something with someone else because you feel uncomfortable about him knowing it as a person, if so then it's a matter intimacy, or if you don't want to share something with someone you will never know, like some government or company employee, or an unfeeling algorithm, because they could use your data in various ways you don't want, then it's a matter of privacy. EDIT: I just thought about something funny that illustrates the difference between those words further: "Privatbereich", which literally translates to "private area", means "private space", so a piece of land or living quarter you own and that aren't open to the public. "Intimbereich" on the contrary, which literally translates to "intimate area", means, and you guessed it, "private parts", which coincidentally also beautifully illustrates the difference between the English and German concepts of "privacy" and "intimacy".

As for the hatchback issue. We once rented a Scoda Oktavia for a family vacation. All the luggage easily fit in the trunk. Unfortunately, something was wrong with the car, so we have changed halfway that car. We got an update and tried to get our luggage into one of the SUVs, unfortunately it did not fit into any at the end we took another Sooda Octavia. In addition, in Germany we have a lot of beautiful old towns partly from the Middle Ages. The streets are narrow and the parking spaces even narrower. So we try to find a compromise between the largest possible interior space and the possibility to find a parking space.

Point 4, cars: Sorry, but hatchback cars just make sense! They often have as much space as an SUV, but only require as much gas as a sedan (which is also an environmental discussion). And from the looks: you always prefer what you are used to.

I am a German living in America and enjoying these videos. Regarding swearing: Germans also swear freely in German and profanity is never bleeped out on TV etc.

I like the fact that nakedness is not so oversexualized in Germany, which is why Saunas are so generally accepted. There people just wanna chill and relax :)

I once advised a German friend to be careful with saying f*ck, an English word he used very frequently. I tried to explain that it's usually not a word you would use in business, or around your grandmother. He was shocked: "But I hear it used constantly in every American movie!" Our media give the impression that "explicit language" is the norm, not offensive.

The privacy "paradox" you have is because you have confused "modesty" with "privacy." Wanting to keep your personal data hidden online is about "privacy." Not being bothered about nudity in certain circumstances is about a different sense of (or lack of) "modesty." The two are not synonymous.

As a German I was in NY a while back. Was looking for a place. Apple Maps was a bit confusing as there where 2 similar named places but in different areas. So I asked someone in the street where it is. The person told me, it turned out to be 10 blocks away. I said thanks and startet to walk.With real concern in the voice the person called after me: "You can't walk, it's too far. Take a cab!". I walked it in like 25 minutes. When I arrived, the person I had my appointment with at that place asked me if I came with a cab or an Uber and I said: "I walked, took me 25 minutes". I got this stare and "You can take an Uber you know. It's easy: Shall I show you how to call one?"

on the nudity - privacy thing: nude places are places you go voluntarily, everyone is nude, you are often shielded from people looking in and it's understood as a photo-free zone. the privacy concerns we have are about invasion of privacy by making photos of people in public places who did not consent or worse on their property without their consent.

The privacy paradox: One is being ashamed of your body, which you should never be. Also, at least in Germany, being nude does not imply being sexual. The other is being able to be tracked down by a Stasi-like organisation. The two seem vastly different to me :)

Refering to the privacy paradox: I think, or at least for me as a German, it's all about control. If you decide to go full naked in to a sauna it's your decision, you can always put something on, or stop going to the sauna. But Internet... that's a scary thing. Once something about your life is only it stays for ever and you have no control how it spreads. You feel powerless. So internet or recording in public is really sensitive. I try to leave no footprints in the web from my private life and it's hell of a work, bc every service, every store or app wants to collect as much information about you as possible. It's so hard to keep it all together, to monitor your data in the web, that we're more careful what we put up. If it's not online, you're in control. Meine Meinung, wie sieht's der Rest?

"The Privacy Paradoxon" would be the same in America, but just the other way around. In the end nudity is something you decide to do. Like beach or sauna. Nobody tries to force you to go nude to a beach, there are specific areas. If you go to the web everyone tries to steal your data, you have no real choice here.

privacy paradox: As a German, It's mostly about that we don't care much about things only a few people IRL can witness with you together, but we simply don't want it to be accessable to everyone on the Planet. If that helps understanding? It's how I see it

I remember staying at a hostel in Canada years ago. I went to the sauna and found out that people wore their bathing suits in the sauna. I was shocked and retreated because I was naked under my robe 😂 It deemed me very uncomfortable to wear a bathing suit in a sauna …