WEIRD German Things and Culture Shocks! 🇩🇪
So sorry it took me so long to post these videos from my Germany trip in December! I have quite a lot filmed and will slowly post them all, but I wanted to start with the most recent culture shocks. I forgot how different it can be from the US especially in Winter! Please let me know if you have any explanations for some of these oddities :)
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Who am I?
My name is Montana Showalter, and I was a participant in the Congress Bundestag Youth Exchange program in 2019-2020. I started my KZread channel while living in Germany and continue to make videos on German vs American culture. I love finding aspects of German culture in the US as well as producing videos in German as practice! In the future, I hope to live abroad again :)
Пікірлер: 111
those gardens are a great idea. they are meant for people living in a urban environment and dont have access to gardens otherwise, the chance to have their own garden. you rent a "Schrebergarten" from your local association.
@liftordietrying
6 ай бұрын
They are a great idea, buuuuuuuuut the people running the admin tend to be miserable old farts wanting to ruin every bit of fun.
@Kordanor
6 ай бұрын
There are even political parties centered around these. Biggest one probably being the "Gartenpartei"
@christianx8494
6 ай бұрын
The regulations are tough. Just a piece of lawn and some flowers are not the idea behind them. So you have to grow your veggies there and have fruit trees. As those „garden colonies“ or „settlements“ are not properly linked to the sewer system staying overnight is mostly forbidden as well. @@liftordietrying
@jrgptr935
5 ай бұрын
@@liftordietryingDas ist leider wahr, aber es ist auch wahr, daß die Mitglieder diese Knilche selbst wählen - warum auch immer.
Kleingarten (llittle garden) or "Schrebergärten" is common in Germany, especially in areas, with crowded cities, originally to give the workers a possibility to get fresh fruits and vegaetables, als well as a green place to relax. Moritz Schreber started this in Leipzig in the mid of the 19th century.
Hi, Ich schreib das jetzt mal auf deutsch, weil ich weiß, das Du deutsch perfekt verstehst. Ich habe deinen Kanal jetzt längere Zeit nicht verfolgt, aber Ich bin wirklich happy ,dass Du immer noch so authentisch bist, wie ich Dich wahrgenommen habe! Bitte bleib so wie Du bist. Du hast so viele Fans
The gardens were invented by Moritz Schreber from Leipzig to provide healthy food for the poor. In the east the small huts are called by the russian word "Datcha". In Berlin they were so popular thart many families actually lived there through the summer and only went back to the city flats in winter.
You are talking 'Schrebergärten'. You will find them all over Germany. In most cases they are organized like a Verein/club. You have to be a member to get a parcel. They offer possibilities for people who live in apartment blocks to have garden.
Good seeing you again! Hope all is going well!😊❤
I first watched your content when you were still an exchange student. I just like your style, so authentic. Keep it up.
I just returned from North Carolina yesterday, where I spent almost two weeks for business. I had to laugh out loud when I saw a sticker "Do you follow Jesus this close?" on the car in front of me.
@philippprime6844
6 ай бұрын
Some US people take this christianity really seriously, don't they? Here in germany there is mainly folklore to celebrate Christmas or Easter. But nobody really believes in it.
@Thabzw
6 ай бұрын
@@philippprime6844 Das ist so nicht ganz richtig. Denke in USA wird da nur offensiver damit umgegangen, auch weil vorwiegend Freikirchen, die ja auch "lauter" als die hiesigen Landeskirchler sind, wirken. Die Deutschen sind da eher zurückhaltend. Erzählen darüber nicht offensiv (mögen es ggf. auch nicht zugeben). Ob eine Kirche voll ist oder leer, hängt massiv auch vom Bodenpersonal ab.
@jankrusat2150
6 ай бұрын
And the driver of the car with the sticker s a Mexican named Jesús
@philippprime6844
6 ай бұрын
@@jankrusat2150 Or a Canadian named Jesús
@arnodobler1096
6 ай бұрын
😂
Hi Montana! Nice to see you back.
ahh, great you are back again. i missed youi for the last couple of years
It's always good to hear from you, Montana. Hope you are well!
Ja, wieder mal ein neue Video von Montana - juhuu - finde es toll, wenn immer mal was Neue von Dir kommt! Viele liebe Grüße aus Hamburg
Welcome back in Germany! Es ist doch gut wenn man ein Unterschied zwischen den Ländern bemerkt. Ich wünsche dir viel Spass!
Nice to have you back! 😃
I always love watching your videos and I really don't care if you post every week or once a year. Your channel is a treasure since the start and you have a really nice personality. I enjoy to watch you talking about your experiences, views and emotions. Because they are real. Of course for you it's not great if the views aren't always high. But it is real down to earth content and the channel and views will grow anyway. That's for sure.
Instead of German Netflix, I've started using ARD and ZDF (with VPN of course) for original German shows. I found two interesting ones recently: Bonn -Alte Freunde, neue feinde and Davos 1917. Watching Davos 1917 currently, shows like this will probably never show up on Netflix but are well written.
@beldin2987
6 ай бұрын
Check out "Friesland" (on ZDF), its a mix of crime show with very dry northern german humor. Its a series where they make 2 movies per year and its running since 2014 i think. I really love the humor, especially the pharmacist who plays hobby pathologist is so funny. At least if you like this special type of humor.
@AncapDude
3 ай бұрын
Be aware of propaganda
The little gardens are called "Schrebergarten" and you find them in many parts of Germany, especially in Ruhrgebiet, where industrial workers could enjoy nature and gardening in an industrial region.
@MontanaShowalter
6 ай бұрын
Which cities are in the Ruhrgebiet?
@Akabei01
6 ай бұрын
@@MontanaShowalter Everything between Dortmund and Duisburg. It's the biggest metropolitan area in Germany with more than five million inhabitants.
@user-eg6ys7nm8g
6 ай бұрын
@@MontanaShowalter And from north to south between Bottrop and Bochum;-)
@svjaz
3 күн бұрын
@@MontanaShowalter There is a detailed article on "Ruhrgebiet" in the English Wikipedia.
I miss your videos, and I hope you're doing well!
I'm pretty sure those little garden houses go by the name of Schrebergarten. Mr. Schreber came up up with this gardening concept.
The cookies with the "cardboard" bottom I don't like either. The bottom is called Oblate(n) because they are the same as served in church. The idea is simply to make it easier to separate the dough from the cookie sheet when they are done. That guy with his credit card rant hit upon some history. When I visited Paris, France in the 90s you could pay even for your morning paper with a credit card. At a newsstand to boot. But in Germany doing that was unheard of. People used EC-card or mostly cash. The reason was simply, as the guy mentioned, that it would cost the shop owner dearly. The commission the CC-companies would charge in Germany were pretty steep. And in addition you had to have an online connection (telephone) or trust the customer. Many small businesses didn't have that. A friend told me of a trick he supposedly did with his American Express CC. In shops (very few, mostly high fashion Gucci style ones) that did accept payments with Amex he asked for a discount if he paid with cash. Amex was charging about 10% commission at the time. And the shops were happily giving him a better deal then.
Interesting video, Montana, thanks! After having left Germany for the US 24 years ago, I had forgotten about all these interesting differences.
The point with card transaction costs are most likely a lie. A friend of mine uses them and he says he pays 1-3% transaction costs max. And you don't have to deal with money all the time. Germans often see the cost of everything but not the value you gain from it. 😂
@arnodobler1096
6 ай бұрын
For a €500/month transaction, that’s €5-15. 60-180 € per year.
@alexamurawski4524
6 ай бұрын
every time you use your creditcard/Bankcard an institute benefits of it and you are tracked (what/where/when you buy something ...with cash you only pay for the stuff and no one knows
@michaelgoetze2103
6 ай бұрын
Why so paranoid? @@alexamurawski4524
@jrgptr935
5 ай бұрын
Viele Geschäfte akzeptieren wegen der einfachen Betrugsmöglichkeiten und hohen Kosten keine Kartenzahlung. Viele Kunden lehnen Kartenzahlung ab wegen des Datenschutzes und der enormen Kosten für jede Buchung bei der Bank.
@carstenellwart3315
2 ай бұрын
@@alexamurawski4524 this kind of tracking is illegal when you are using a creditcard or Bankcard in Germany. The owner of the store in which you are paying with your card does even not get the information about the name on the card.This is why this kind of tracking is not done and why so many stores are implementing their own discount code system where you have to register for. And: there is no information about the products you are buying transferred to the card institute.
Nice to see you back. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas in Germany. Great topic for the video. When I first went to Germany in the early 1980's I encountered a lot of culture shocks - and pleasant surprises. One time I went to the movies with my Germany GF (who spoke pretty good English, I was just learning German). The movie was Monty Pylon and the Holy Grail. I had seen the movie a couple times before I went to Germany, but, watching it, dubbed in German, there were a lot of funny lines and scenes that were, as they say, lost in the translation. I was snickering & laughing at some of the scenes - but...no one else was. Watching Bugs Bunny (dubbed in German) on German TV saying "Was ist hier los, Herr Doktor" (what's up Doc) was...different, too, to say the least. But, I believe it was NDR that broadcast the Monty Python weekly TV show in English with German subtitles. Watching that actually help me with learning German. And, I got yelled at for leaving my car running too long in the morning (I had forgot my lunch and just went back in the house to get it). A German neighbor came out and went on a rant about noise and air pollution and some other things I didn't catch. The rant also had a number of "verstehst du?"s thrown in there, too. At the end, he again said/asked "verstehst du? When I said in my fluent broken-German Nein, ich verstehe nicht, he went off again (heard a scheiss Ami in there, too, LOL). I just got in my and drove away. I haven't lived in Germany since 2012, but, even back then, I noticed a lot of Germans had started using Bank Cards (debit cards) just about everywhere I went.
Some towns in the US have community gardens but no storage sheds allowed.
Fun Fact: Das deutsche Wort "Streik" wurde im 19. Jahrhundert quasi direkt vom Englischen Wort "Strike" übernommen. Freu mich immer über deine Videos! Du hast so eine positive Art, da hat man direkt gute Laune! :)
@MontanaShowalter
6 ай бұрын
danke!!
Have a look at this: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleingarten And especially interesting is this passage about the Schrebergärten: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleingarten#Schreberg%C3%A4rten
Ich liebe deine vlogs Montana!❤
These gardens, also known as allotment gardens, date back to a time when it was important for as many people as possible to grow vegetables and fruit, even those who did not farm or have their own land. Even today, it is very often stipulated that if you are given a garden, you are obliged to cultivate a percentage, e.g. 60% of the area, with vegetables or fruit. In Berlin at least, there are annual inspections by the garden board, which checks whether this area is really being used for this purpose. Diese Gärten, auch Schrebergärten genannt, stammen aus einer Zeit, in der es wichtig war, dass möglichst viele Leute Gemüse und Ost anbauten, auch, die, die keine Landwirtschaft betrieben oder ein eigenes Areal zur Verfügung hatten. Noch heute ist es sehr oft vorgeschrieben, dass wenn man einen Garten bekommt, man verpflichtet ist, einen Prozentsatz, z.B. 60 % der Fläche mit Gemüse oder Obst zu bewirtschaften. Es gibt, in Berlin jedenfalls, jährlich Begehungen durch den Gartenvorstand, der kontrolliert, ob diese Fläche wirklich dafür genutzt wird.
Dark ist eine meiner Lieblingsserien, finde die ist einfach absolut perfekt, hätte nichts daran geändert 🥹
@AncapDude
3 ай бұрын
Man hätte die Zeiten einblenden können hatte echt Probleme allem zu folgen.
@roseblue-castle2734
3 ай бұрын
@@AncapDude einfach ein zweites Mal gucken, dann versteht man alles besser :)
There is a trend towards paying in cash in German restaurants. Some have signs on the door saying “No card payments allowed” (Keine Kartenzahlung möglich) or something similar. This is due to the German tax system and the current behavior of the federal government. The owners also want to avoid fees for card payments. The general rule is: always pay in cash in Asian, Turkish, Italian, Greek, Indian restaurants and snack bars or Street Food (Imbiss). Always use a card at McDonalds because they have an electronic ordering system. It has also become very expensive there. Ich schaue schon länger zu und finde den Kanal sehr gut.
@AncapDude
3 ай бұрын
Der Trend geht eher zu daheim essen weil die Scheiße einfach unbezahlbar wird 😂
isn't that called oblate? i'm not sure as a german i should know.
@MontanaShowalter
6 ай бұрын
omg yes!! I 100% forgot about that word
why aren’t you making videos?
@yuliawolf1617
Ай бұрын
Ikr
I wish I could have gone - my problem is I grew up with a German Grandpa and he gave me this love of sausages. Luckly I have a local butcher who makes all handmade/fresh sausages.
@MontanaShowalter
6 ай бұрын
I hope you can return to Germany soon!
Have never had that ranty card experience until recently. Usually people just tell you "no card payment under x €" if that is an issue for them and that's that. But the other day, I did have a pharmacist explain for at least a minute how they'd make very little from what I was buying (woulda bought more but they were out of stock) if I paid with my regular old banking card like everyone does all the time and so on. It wasn't a rant and she was nice about it but I was still just standing there, thinking "why are you telling me this? Can I pay with card or not? Are we negotiating?". Again, she was nice about it and just let me pay but that interaction felt so weird.
@dees3179
5 ай бұрын
Our local takeaway is like that. It’s really annoying. They prefer cash for any amount. Their card machine is often ‘broken’. It happens suspiciously often. They must have the worst luck in the world. I don’t think they realise how much custom they lose because of it. Everyone pays for everything by card here and there is not even anywhere to get cash in the village. We all suspect it’s so they can fiddle the books, it’s that sort of place. I wouldn’t go there, but it’s the only takeaway in the village and I have no willpower so occasionally I weaken. I’m thankful for their unpleasant ways, or I’d do it more often and be a lot fatter and poorer. The Lord moves in mysterious ways.
TV and streaming services have never been my cup of tea. I'd much rather listen to good music, go to a concert, or read a book.
@tasminoben686
6 ай бұрын
❤
The original reason for the introduction of the small gardens ("Kleingarten" oder "Schrebergarten") in 1814 was hunger and poverty. Poor people should have a place where they could grow their own vegetables and fruit. Back then, it was also important for the people to have an own place where they could rest and relax.
WB Montana. Nice to see you again in 2024. 2:24 you mean "Kleingarten Kolonie". My grandparents got such a "Garden" way back in the 80´s. They grow vegetables, fruits and other stuff. As kids we love to play there.
Schrebergärten are not just a German thing. In Switzerland people will put up flags so people immediately will know what nationalities rent these gardens (Spanish, Albanians, Croatian). At big Christmas markets in Switzerland it's card only, no cash anymore. I work for a bakery, people will pay 50 cents with card. If they want to pay for a 10cents for I tell them no, that makes no sense anymore.
5:32 that was me. I was trying to make a point.
Schrebergärten must have a playground, originally for poor Innercity children. The other gardens are called Kleingärten.
Die Grundlage für die Lebkuchen heissen Backoblaten. Die haben nichts mit der Kirche zu tun , man kann sie in jedem Supermarkt in der Backabteilung finden.
@rairei
6 ай бұрын
These wafers are a part of the ginger bread - just eat it. I guess I was not the only German child eating half or full packages of these wafers (smaller version) without anything else when my mom baked Kokusmakronen for Christmas. Not exciting taste but I would still eat it LOL
@yt-viewerfromger320
6 ай бұрын
Backoblaten sind nichts als getrockneter Eischnee (Eiweißschaum)
@olehamburg3404
6 ай бұрын
@@yt-viewerfromger320 Backoblaten bestehen aus Wasser, Mehl und Stärke. Keine Eier oder Eierprodukte wie Eischnee, die werden zu Baiser.
Last video 5 months ago?
@greenkeymon1860
7 күн бұрын
Ich finde es auch sehr schade, so lange nichts mehr von Montana zu hören. Aber so wie ich sie hier kennenlernen konnte hat sie zurzeit einfach viel zu tun. Hoffentlich findet sie bald wieder Zeit uns ein kleines Lebenszeichen zu geben. ❤
Check out the history of "TATORT" .
Mich erstaunt, daß eine simple Erklärung als "Schimpftirade" wahrgenommen wird.
I would never expect to be able to pay with cards at the Weihnachtsmarkt. 😅 …or any Markt in general. But yeah, the man‘s rant was definitely overkill.
@MontanaShowalter
6 ай бұрын
some stands in munich took card!
Hey ?... You´re back again ? ^__^ Oh, WOW ?...Only 1 Week with really Loads of Snow, this Winter here, and of all possible Days this is exactly when YOU arrived here ? =D Poor Montana. Also because of the grumpy Man´s Reaction. It´s so typical for Germans´ Way of "coping" with Stress: At first, People always accumulate Frustration, where it would be better to say something immediately... and when some rather small stressful Happenstance takes Place, as "the last Straw", they just EXPLODE ! 8-o ...Not a very healthy and balanced Strategy. But what I find even sadder, is the Imagination, that this exact grumpy Guy would most probably have acted quite DIFFERENTLY (in the SAME Situation) towards ,for Example, a TALL MAN, with an expensive Suit and a Tie. 8-P Those tiny Gardens you mentioned, are called "Schrebergärten". Yes, they are especially for Inhabitants of the Cities, who don´t have a Garden at their Houses/Appartments. HEY ? ...The "Oblate" / Wafer BELONGS to the "Lebkuchen" like "Krapfen / Berliner" belong to the Carneval Time ! ^__^ It CAN´T be questioned ! 8-P Haha I don´t know, if it´s JUST a German Thing... but for MY Favour, I also even consider MOST of ALL Story-telling Entertainment being TOO dark and scary. 8-o OK, I used to "enjoy" Agatha Christie´s Detective Stories for a While... but only for the GUESSING in these "Whodunnit"-Stories. NOW, I even can´t handle THIS psychotic, violent Kind of "Entertainment" anymore. 8-/ Times are weird and shocking enough... We´d need some more UPLIFTING and ENCOURAGING Stories, for a Change.
Jes pay Card ist a Robery the Shop day Service fee.
@michaelschlueter3069
6 ай бұрын
Pay
There will come a time when going back and forth will no longer make sense and you should just stay for good. 🙂
Bavaria and Hamburg have different definitions of being german @MontanaShowalter Geez Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein are neighbours and we are different
@MontanaShowalter
6 ай бұрын
oh FOR sure!
to comment ur intro many people live for rent and its less comon in rural areas where people have lots of land XD and if u live in an apartment for rent guess waht u not gonna have yes a house with an garden edit: never mind u just said it britian has comunity gardens as well i also dont think it be happenign in the usa couse parking requirements it only would be on the edges mushed between town and suburbs couse inside the city there is no space for it and eh also i dont see americans renting a piece of garden when housing already is that expensive
I love Germany! T-30 days till I go again!
@MontanaShowalter
6 ай бұрын
safe travels so jealous!
A cool a New Video
3:50 - Das nennt man "Oblaten", die kann man aber mitessen. 🤔🤷♂
Enjoy all time from nepal👌🤘
German speaking here: That TV-Show thing... I don´t like reality-TV and so do a lot of people I know. It´s just like selling people for fools. They are made up and they want to make us believe that it´s the real thing. So we mostly like good stories, exciting stories. That German Series "Dark" is something special on its own because it is intelligent science fiction, which has become rare nowadays. I admit, that it was hard to understand to me, too, although I am into Sci-Fi. But it was just such a refreshing series to see. Far away from all that Hollywood alien invasion crap and movies that show me that the makers think I´m stupid. Oh, and, what bothers people more and more is seeing that stereotype of a typical American hero. That´s why Hollywood reproduces movies which were successful but not "American" enough, like "The Experiment" (German) or "The girl with the dragon tattoo" (Swedish). So, if you want to watch light entertainment in Germany there´s that public TV-Station RTL2, for example. Why should people watch that crap also on Netflix, which costs money?
@jrgptr935
5 ай бұрын
RTL2 ist das genaue Gegenteil einer unabhängigen Öffentlich-Rechtlichen Sendeanstalt, nämlich ein privater Sender.
Passau, die schönste Stadt des Landes ❤
„light“ shows like reality tv you find less on German Netflix. But we also have that here, but on RTL2 / RTL+ und some more. But not so many Germans enjoy this non-educated shows (thank god)
Hi baby,I'm from Brazil,I like to watch your videos to practice english,you're so gorgeous,I fell in love❤❤❤❤❤
The gardens are named Klein- oder Schrebergarten de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleingarten Most are organised by a club with strict rules. You have to plant X Trees, 40% with vegetables etc.
the clusters of gardens is called Kleingarten
RIP
Ja man diese nervigen Bahnstreiks, soo annoying!! 😵💫😲
I think your vid is weird. The US desn´t set the standard of what is "normal" and what is weird. And only the fact that you are not used to some circumstances don´t make them weird. Different - yes, but not weird.
Erster und erstes " Like" !
Boring
These gardens are in lots of countries. Just look at wikipedia : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotment_(gardening)