Andere Länder, Andere Sitten

[kandrathe]

When I travel in Europe I don't want to be treated as the cliche' American, so I try to dress European. For me this means slacks, leather shoes, shirt, jacket and optional tie. If you are in the larger cities then fashion is also a consideration. My experience is that most American men are ignorant of any fashion trend. Jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts, sportswear, and tennis shoes scream American.

For Germany specifically, and you must understand that I come from an area of the US that is populated with Germans, Norwegians and Swedes; :-)

Not just punctuality, but rules in general are very important. If the sign says "XYZ" you should do "XYZ" because if you don't someone will point it out to you. I discovered this many times while in Germany. Once, I was stopped at a train crossing where a sign said "Turn off engines while waiting for the train." Well, when I got to a stop I saw that the train would pass within a minute or so, so I did not follow the letter of the sign. Within moments of me stopping and not shutting down my engine, the horns were honking and lights flashing at me indicating to me to shut off my engine. Another time at a sidewalk cafe my wife took more than one napkin as she was always used to grabbing whatever she wanted in the US. Also, she then got a lecture on conservation. So my advice is to begin to culturally get inside the German psyche, which I find to be very ordered and revels in its adherence to detail and order. Conservation is crucial and waste is not very well tolerated.