Anyone in Germany care to chat?

[Brefugee]

I got a bit (lot) sick of all the German-bashing in that cake thread, some of it comes from just not knowing anything about the place, some of it is a kind of unwillingness to understand that things can be very different in other places.

There was a fair bit of niggling about how Brits might think German directness is rude - but as pp pointed out, Germans would think it rude if you walked into a waiting room at the Doctor's surgery without saying "morgen zusammen"

There was also German Cake Bashing (😂) at one point.

So. Anyone care just to have a long running thread for the expats/immigrants/Germans here who are in Germany, or from Germany and missing/not missing it, or are thinking of coming here?

Thank you.

Now what's the gurdge holding thread got to do with Germans!

This place is amazing

www.tasty-pasty.com/collections/shop-pasties

As long as I can get pasties in Germany everything else is fine.

Kernow bus vyken!

Actually on the flip side I couldn't live without Marzipan Kartoffeln in the UK.

There's always lots of German bashing pretty much everywhere. Most people have no idea I'm German but I do often get in trouble for being too direct. I miss Germany a lot. I married an English man who refuses to engage with the idea of moving there so I guess I'll just carry on missing it.

Another Brexit German here. I've been here for over 20 years but still can't really speak German. I've never really felt at home here but it's a great place to bring up children. The language is a real sticking point for me.

I've found self-raising flour in Lidl. I bought it for the novelty value since I'm so used to making it up from plain flour and baking powder now.

I have to say German bread and cake are the only things I miss food wise whenever I go back to the UK for any length of time. Warburtons published their crumpet recipe a while back - I get a pretty good result with it when I need my crumpet fix.

@1dayatatime I make my own!

Stumbled across this thread totally by accident. I live near n the U.K. but have (and use) a set of fake forks. Does that mean I’ve been German all along?! 😉

ooooh thanks 😃good to know - it's only 70 km to würzburg from where i live!

I'm not sure about the saliva question I certainly don't exchange any with my in-laws. The high tidiness and cleanliness levels in their house make it pretty unrelaxing to stay in. However I can't complain as I've benefited overall. My husband is exceptionally clean and tidy without taking it to extremes (because I pull his standards down). He's also really good at maintaining things in the household like ensuring the washing machine is always sparkling clean. We joke that he'd have make an excellent 1950s housewife. He grew up in a home where men and women both worked and took equal responsibility for the housework which he feels is more East German thing.

@39starstartry

🤣. I have some German relatives and u always find it extraordinary how utterly obsessive and precious they are about shoes and dirt and yet during covid they never had windows open, offered dh some food from her sucked spoon etc.
Offer drink from same glass etc

Another Brexit German here! Originally from Scotland. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Our local Asia-Markt sells teabags, and sometimes has self-raising flour and custard powder. Local HIT has a decent range of crisps but alas, nothing in bacon flavour. They and Müller both stock Tunnocks though, and Müller also has oatcakes.

My Irish friends bring us black pudding and bacon from their trips home. 😋 Germany just can’t get bacon right. Cakes and bread are lush though.

Which direction from Wuerzburg are you @creamegglover

In response to posts highlighting the cultural or food differences between the Germans and Brits I would like to add that having lived in a number of other European countries that in comparison there really is not that much difference between Brits and Germans.

You could say that Germany is the most "British " country in Europe or conversely Britain is the most "German" country in Europe.

To redress the balance a bit, I will admit to being a German with very low cleaning standards - we do exist! I'm interested in interior design and love to fill our house with beautiful furniture and art, but reasonably tidy looking is absolutely good enough for me and I'm not fussed about 'dirt' or 'germs' at all. You're more than welcome to keep your shoes on, but only if you can cope with cats on the kitchen table (obviously most MNers would be horrified by the idea of me contributing to a bake sale), a dog on the sofa, dirty riding boots in the car and a bit of limescale in the bathroom.🙈

DH and I always joke about Sagrotan-Muttis (a bit sexist, but women tend to be far worse offenders when it comes to obsessive cleaning), though I'm not sure there's a big cultural divide between Germany and the UK here? Looking at the Zoflora and Mrs. Hinch cult, there seem to be a lot of neat freaks and germaphobes in both countries.

Bodensee calling 👋.

kaufland has a nice own brand Scottish cheddar and my local Netto has had Wensleydale with cranberries since Christmas!
Loving this thread.
I‘m not a Fan of German bread - the stuff in Denmark is so much better but unfortunately it’s a bit of a drive!

Yeah I have no idea what they're on about, cake/pastry forks are used in Britain, in fact they were invented by a Londoner.

Wensleydale with cranberries at Netto? Not here <books train to Bodensee>
On the whole I find mature cheddar and similar quite easy to get these days (or rather dh does, he does most of the food shopping). Was very different in the late 90s when I first came here for a year.

Ha, Katzenkuchen, the Protokoll from my youngest's Elternabend (which I completely forgot about ) mentioned parents' complaints because their children were coming home with their clothes 'mistig'. They're in 1. Klasse, they're supposed to get dirty at playtimes, FFS!

Very interesting experience having one in their last year of school (and another in y10) and one in their first - not the same schools either as we moved in the interim.

I am really enjoying the 'fake forks' typo/autocorrect, btw )

I would find it hard to go back to wearing shoes inside now. When I moved here I would wander out to the bin barefoot and wander into the kita room with my boots on. Now I like the ritual of moving from inside to out with either clothes that are good for the weather or clothes that are comfortable to wear inside including house shoes.

When I met my German husband his first gift to me was a hairdryer as he couldn't stand me leaving the house with wet hair. It seemed odd at the time, though very considerate, but it makes sense now having lived here. Even my neighbour will tick me off if she sees me with wet hair.

We bought our house, 6 years ago from an elderly lady (80) who wanted to downsize after husband passed away.
She moved just down the road and still walks past daily (now 86) , and tells us off if grass is getting long!
( we love her though, she also bakes us cake and loves our toddler like a grandmother)

I'm fully converted to no outdoor shoes indoors. At my in-laws I can't walk barefoot thought I have to wear the 'house shoes' which I find really odd.

Also a Hausschuhe convert. We all have them (mine are crocs), though youngest goes around in socks or barefoot inside, as do the older two in summer. Youngest's school is a shoes-off school and they all wear Hausschuhe inside Very normal here for guests to expect to be offered some (some bring their own) - we regularly buy a job lot of slippers at Ikea.

Oh no that's not fair on you! He won't even consider it, ever? That must be quite hard. I am in a similar situation but I was very clear at the start that I would like to live together for some years in my own country too. Hopefully in a few years. In saying that though, overall I enjoy living in his country, it's nice here.

When I met my German husband his first gift to me was a hairdryer as he couldn't stand me leaving the house with wet hair. It seemed odd at the time, though very considerate, but it makes sense now having lived here. Even my neighbour will tick me off if she sees me with wet hair.

He was probably worried you'd catch a cold! Never going out with wet hair and the fear of "Zug kriegen" (I believe we share this with the Italians and the French) is definitely a cultural difference.
I did a school exchange thing to Canada in my teens and remember my DM being utterly horrified when I told her that my host sister would leave the house with wet hair in winter and wait for the school bus in -15 to -20 degree cold.

I hate Hausschuhe and having to take my shoes off in other peoples' houses, let alone being offered those weird felt guest slippers. Of course I will if it's a shoes off household, but it feels so wrong and too....I don't know....intimate (?) unless it's close friends or family. I'm mostly in socks at home, but please keep your shoes on when you come to visit, I really don't need to see you feet or socks and would rather just mop my wooden floors after you're gone.

My local Rewe also sells Wensleydale with Cranberries, ShoesoftheWorld, maybe yours has it as well.

Ha, Katzenkuchen, the Protokoll from my youngest's Elternabend (which I completely forgot about ) mentioned parents' complaints because their children were coming home with their clothes 'mistig'. They're in 1. Klasse, they're supposed to get dirty at playtimes, FFS!

How utterly ridiculous, some parents are truly beyond help. 🙄

Yeah, my fault I guess. I mentioned it as an idea early on and when I took steps towards it he said it was completely unrealistic because he couldn't speak German. I've pointed out many times that the tech industry operates in English, he's just not listening. Pech gehabt.