Hey everyone, it's Madison! And it is about time
that I make this video. I have been living in Germany, Berlin, Germany, for a month and a half.
And right when I got to Germany and Berlin, there was a little bit of a culture shock. Of course,
there's a lot of differences. Most of them are pretty small, but when you first move to another
country, those small little differences add up and it's an adjustment period for
sure. But I wanted to film this video, culture shocks or differences living
in Berlin, Germany, compared to the US. This is my experience. It might not be
for all of Germany or all of Europe, but this is my experience so I’m gonna tell you that. Okay, so
the first one. I’m gonna kind of like break this video up into segments. So we're gonna talk
about like just basic things, eco-friendliness, rules, animals and kids, of course, food, all that
stuff. Okay, I also made a list to help me stay on track because sometimes I get sidetracked, um,
pretty easily. So hopefully, I can follow this list and not make this video like seven hours
long. Okay, so first things first, basic stuff. Obviously, Germany uses euros instead of dollars
that's basic. What I didn't know, and this is so embarrassing. I didn't realize that there were euros in 2 dollars. And I ended up tipping someone two euros instead of one euro. Which is fine,
but like you don't tip a lot here in Germany, you usually tip the remainder of
your bill. So you like round up. And I tipped him two dollars, or two euros,
instead of just one. So it actually was kind of like a big deal, but yeah. So euros
instead of dollars. The next thing, cash. Cashhhhh Germans love cash. In fact, some of the
restaurants don't even accept cards. They only take cash. So if you come to Germany,
and Berlin, make sure to get cash because like I said some of the places do not accept
card. The next thing, metric system versus the imperial system. Um obviously Europeans use
the metric system so grams, meters, kilometers, all that stuff. When the US uses the imperial
system so miles, and gallons, and inches and feet, and that sort of stuff. Okay well when I first
moved to Berlin. This was about, oh I think, it was like a week and a half after I moved here.
One of my friends gave me his gym card to go to the gym, try it out, and see if I liked it so
I could get like a membership if I wanted to. So I went to the gym, you know, hopped on my
treadmill. Put my typical like six miles per hour on. Six "miles per hour". That's
what I was thinking. And start going, and I’m like wow this treadmill is so slow. Like
what is going on with this. I was like huh. And I’m like looking around, like trying to gauge
other people's treadmills, and it's like so high. And that's when I realized. No, the treadmills are
not in miles per hour, they're in kilometers! Um and obviously, I switched my treadmill uh to a higher
pace because if I would have stayed at that pace, it would have been walking the whole time. So, that was a big adjustment. For some reason. For me. Obviously, celsius to Fahrenheit.
I feel like I’m constantly trying to convert things. Not just in the gym with treadmills and lifting,
and stuff, but also with the temperature. We're gonna move on to like more eco-friendly atmosphere.
Okay, Germany is definitely more eco-friendly than the US. And I feel like honestly all of Europe
is. First thing. When you go to the supermarket, you have to bring your own bag. You can't, I mean
you could, purchase a bag there. But if you don't want to purchase a bag, you bring your own bag. They
don't just have bags like the US has where they just pack everything in bags. And the next thing
is recycling. Germany has so many different like recycling things. And you have to separate
everything. So paper, bottles, compost. Like so many different things. I still don't know
exactly all the separation rules in Germany to be honest. Hopefully, I figure that out soon. But they're
much more into recycling. Everybody recycles. I don't know if they need to pay for recycling,
but in the US, in a lot of places, you have to actually, pay to recycle. Which is so crazy because we should be like, I don't know promoting recycling! I feel like. I don't know if they have
to pay for recycling, but everybody recycles here. They also have this super cool bonus for recycling
bottles. So if you go out, to get some drinks, like beer bottles or something. You can actually bring
them back to the supermarket and there's like this little machine that you can insert the bottles
in and you get paid some money back. So basically you're like getting your money for your
uh bottles back so they can reuse them. Which is a really nice system. I’m sure there's places in
the US that do that. I have never seen them, but maybe they exist. If not, they definitely should. All
of these things should exist in the US because I feel like everyone should be as eco-friendly as
they can be. The next thing is toilets. Okay this is kind of random, but the toilets have way less water
here. Like in the US, I feel like they're filled with water. Like so much water. Here, there's like a
a little bit of water at the bottom, but like not as much as the US. Which is also probably way more
sustainable. Reducing water consumption. Because if you think about each flush, it's a lot of water.
Oh, and while we're talking about toilets, I’m gonna switch over to talk about showers. So, I don't
know if this is a thing in all of Germany, or in Europe, or if it's just my apartment. But
the shower here has like a little like thing you can like detach and like shower off
with, and not like an actual like shower head that's like built in and stays in the wall.
If that makes sense. In the US I feel like all, or most, like 95% of showers are attached to like
the wall or like the ceiling. Most of the time the wall. I think you can like get attachments where you
can take it off and like use it, but most of the time it's attached to the wall. And here, at least
in my apartment, it is not like that at all. Like we don't have an attachment to the wall we just
have a handheld one. Which I didn't like at first, but now I actually like it. You know. I like being
able to just use it wherever. It's kind of nice. Um and also, I think it actually reduces the amount
of time you're in the shower because you're physically doing things. If that makes sense. Like
you're not just standing there having everything done for you. I guess. I don't know. I like it. It
was an adjustment for me, to be honest, um a small adjustment. Okay next thing is windows I guess
this isn't necessarily eco-friendly, but I feel like a lot of Germany doesn't use air conditioning.
That's what I heard. And the windows, like the windows, you can open the windows you see the
little latch. Most people open their windows every day to like air out their room which is
really good for your health and it's also good for your room because you don't get mold as often. In the
US, at least in my dorms and in some other places, you physically can't open the windows. You can't
open the windows to air anything out. Like they're bolted shut. Which is so crazy. Next section, rule
following. Germans are strict with rule-following. No jaywalking. If you jaywalk, people will look at
you. They have quiet hours that you really need to respect. Every day, I believe, there's quiet hours
between like one and three. Okay, so you can't even like mow your lawn during these hours. I’m
not over here mowing lawns, I don't have a lawn, but it's a funny thing that you don't. I don't know.
Like in the US, I’m pretty sure, there's got to be rules, I’m guessing, about mowing the lawn and when you
can do it, but I don't think between one and three. Like anybody's just doing what they do whenever
they want. I feel like, um but here quiet hours is a big thing. Oh and everything's closed on Sundays. I mean
you can go to a busy train station and you'll find some stuff open, but most of the things
stores like grocery stores, convenience stores, everything, is closed on Sundays. So get your
shopping done on Saturdays or during the week. Last thing in the rules category is drinking
anywhere. Like you can just carry around a drink wherever you want. If you're on the U-Bahn you
can have a have a drink with you. It's so different in the US. Like you can't just carry around
alcohol wherever you go. And then next category is acceptance I guess. Like people's
views towards others maybe and how they feel about how people view themselves. Body acceptance is
huge here. They have co-ed saunas that are completely nude. And like people just don't care. Like that's
just a thing. Body acceptance is a thing. People don't put so much emphasis on nudity
as an inappropriate thing, but rather it's just normal. You're just human. You could be nude in saunas with other people of opposite sex.
In the US obviously, people are nude in saunas if they're same-sex, but like together
usually people were clothes. But I feel like nudity is much more prevalent here. So they just I feel
like they don't care what other people think as much. Literally saw chick the other day, wearing a
picture frame as a necklace and she was rocking it. She did not care. Like she got off that U-Bahn
and she was going with her picture frame. Okay, maybe it's just Berlin. I don't know. I’m
assuming it's just Berlin for that one, but people, at least in Berlin, they don't
care. They could be rocking anything and they are totally fine with it and everybody
else they don't care either. You do you. If you're not harming anybody else it's totally fine.
Okay, next one is animals and kids. Squirrels. They look a little different. They look like lynx
squirrels. Like they have a little like I don't know. I'll also insert a picture or video here. I almost
get attacked by one other day. Okay and look at this. Oh my goodness it's so different. Oh
my gosh it's coming at me. Okay um kids. The little kids here are so cute. I mean little
kids everywhere are so cute, but in Germany in the wintertime like they're
like bundled in like huge snowsuits. And it's not even that cold anymore here and
they're still in these huge snow suits looking so cute. And it's every one. It's like
all the kids. They're all wearing them. Even if it's not snowy. They're just chilling
in them outside walking in their little lines and it is absolutely adorable. And going along
with that the kids here are so independent. When I’m on the U-Bahn in the mornings they're on
the U-Bahn going to class. Like I'd say as small as first grade probably. In regards to that, Berlin
is so safe. Like so safe! The US cities that I've been to Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta, all those. They're not safe. You can't do that if you're a kid. Like no. No one in their right mind would
do that. I feel like. It's just not safe. Here, it's it's very safe. like it's so safe. Obviously,
there are places that you want to avoid still but in general like the city itself is more safe
than other cities in the US that I've been. Okay last are just like two little points. The food
is cheaper in the grocery stores. At least the fresh produce is. I spend way less on groceries here
than I did in the US. Some weeks I spend 20 euros on groceries a week. Some weeks I can spend up to like
50 euros. It really just depends on the week and how much I got the week before and stuff like that. But
in the US, I spend way more on groceries I feel like. Then lastly, cafe culture is so big here.
Everybody loves their cafes. They don't just go to Starbucks, in a drive-through, and get their little
Starbucks and go off somewhere. That is just a few items like culture shocks or differences between
Germany and the US. As I mentioned, some of these might not be for all of Germany. They may only be
for Berlin, and they may only be for like this area, and my experience. But yeah. I hope you enjoyed
this video! Thank you so much for watching. If you liked it, make sure to subscribe
and have a great rest of your day. Bye!
