Things About Germany That Might Surprise Or Even Horrify Americans, As Shared By This Woman

While most of us have a basic understanding that people in other places live differently, it can be hard to grasp what that looks like until you’ve experienced it. Often this means no small amount of culture shock as it redefines what it means for something to be “normal.” So it’s not surprising that the internet has all kinds of content just showing people some of the differences.

Content creator Laura Love went viral for sharing some examples of life in Germany that might sound truly unhinged to Americans. We reached out to her via email and will update the article when she gets back to us.

It is important to clarify that some of the things she says in this video are not entirely true. For example, Germans are not, in fact, given three years of maternity leave, the minimum by law is 14 weeks. Certainly, there might be a company here or there that could have a significantly longer leave, but three years is almost unheard of.

For example, the longest maternity leave by law is in Bulgaria, at 410 days. That is, quite noticeably, almost two less years than three. That being said, the US has no provisions and can only offer unpaid maternity leave, according to Federal law. Incidentally, German law sets the minimum paid time off for workers at 20 days a year.

Similarly, while “coffee and cigarettes” are a stereotypical European “breakfast,” the Germans are actually not at all unique by EU standards. The EU and German average is 24% of the population being smokers. This would suggest that the average German is either skipping their cigarette breakfast or just eating something else.

On the other hand, many Americans are often surprised that in most places around the globe, you do bag your own groceries. The very idea of a cashier doing this rather easy task for you is practically unthinkable in Europe or really anywhere else. However, stores being closed on Sundays is more specific to Germany and other Central European countries, as well as Chick-fil-A restaurants in the US, for completely different reasons.

All that being said, you can’t really blame a person who has only lived in the US for probably having a good deal of culture shock when moving elsewhere. Remember, there is a pretty clear difference between visiting as a tourist and actually living somewhere. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the feeling of “I could live here” when you are staying in a hotel and only visiting the nicest parts.

Buying groceries is one thing, but learning even how the garbage works can be a lot more time intensive than one might first think. For example, Germany in particular is famous (or notorious) for its pretty strict recycling laws. There are strict fines for non-compliance and various sub-rules for things like Christmas trees.

This is all to say that if you are feeling a bit “insulted” take a step back and remember that millions of people all over the world have changed their place of residence. Going through some degree of surprise is normal, indeed, “culture shock” is to be expected. And if you get offended at the idea that folks in another continent think they live better than you, you should probably work on your self-esteem issues.