# Forum Other Languages Germanic languages German  Pravit ist nach Deutschland gereist

## Pravit

[quote]So Pravit, wie geht es dir in Deutschland? Hast du einige Tips f

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## Indra

*Pravit*, could you please tell the same (and more) in English or Russian? I'm very interested in German culture.

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## waxwing

> Spezi ist Cola mit Fanta.

 and who said the Germans had no sophistication?  ::  
[quote]D

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## Pravit

Yeah, it was my first time in Europe. Indra, I'd be happy to translate it, but my 'tips' aren't exactly insightful observations of German culture or anything, they're mainly things that Americans will notice when traveling in Europe for the first time.  
Also, I don't know why I said "in morgens." I must have been tired. Scratch the "in." 
translation 
* The drinks are small and expensive. There aren't any free refills here, so you shouldn't drink too quickly if you want to have something to drink with your food. If you don't want such a small drink, you have to say you want a large one, for example "a large Coke please"(a "large drink" in Germany is a normal sized drink in the US). It's often cheaper to have a beer instead of a soft drink. 
* Apfelschorle is club soda with apple juice. Spezi is Coke with Fanta. 
* German doors work a little different from American ones. You have to pull the door, turn the key either left or right, then push the door. I had a lot of problems myself with doors at first, when I arrived dead tired at the hotel.
EDIT: You can also just keep turning the key either right or left until it opens, but that's cheating.  ::  
* It's already well-known but I'll repeat it: If you order a water in a restaurant, you get club soda(and you have to pay for it, of course). 
* Germans knock on tables when they clap(if they are sitting at one). 
* Everything is much more expensive than in the US. 
* D

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## VendingMachine

> And here comes the German VendingMachine ... wtf?? German doors are the best!!!

 Zere haff been times vhen I vanted to go to Stavropol and haff a vee vord viz you, _Genosse Vaxving_, but it hass alvays been your _wunderschoen_ sense of humour zat hass saved your _Arsch_ from _eine ordentliche Tracht Pruegel_. Same on zis occasion - I applaude yer _grossartig_ sense of humour.   ::

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Es gibt  "free refills" in "kentucky fried chicken".

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## BJ

We don't pay for water in restaurants in England, though in some places they might try to bring you bottled water and then you would have to pay. Asking for tap water in most cases will not incur a charge.

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## Старик

Asking for tap water in a German restaurant will earn you irritated glances.

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## VendingMachine

> We don't pay for water in restaurants in England, though in some places they might try to bring you bottled water and then you would have to pay. Asking for tap water in most cases will not incur a charge.

 A friend of mine once got kicked out for asking for tap water in a restaurant on the Welsh border. The doorman swore at her in Welsh but she was able to answer in kind because she had gone to primary school in Wales.

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## Kamion

Guten Tag geehrte Damen und Herren. Jetzt sitze ich vor dem Computer in Rheinberg in der Ruhrgebiet, und schreibe ein Interview. Gl

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## Старик

Das Klopfen auf den Tisch an Stelle von Klatschen kommt aus den Universit

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Germanische F

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## rkdlnd

Pravit, 
I'm going to germany soon, too. Thanks for the tips. But what did you mean by the 'germans clapping at the table'? 
I'm glad to know that the U-Bahn in Berlin is einfach, because I haev a map of it and it looks quite complicated. Is it easy to transfer between different trains?  
What museums/attractions did you go to? I only have 3 days in Berlin and I don't want to waste time at a boring place when there might be something better round the corner. 
Did you go to any other cities besides Berlin?

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## mhasenst

Hi,  
[quote=Pravit]
* Deutsche T

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## Pravit

> Don't know what kind of doors your hotel had, in general doors are doors, Germany or US.

 Perhaps my hotel had a special type of door. At any rate, for the person asking how American doors work, you just put in the key, turn it to the left, and it unlocks. You then turn the handle and open it. The handle-less doors in both hotels in Germany I stayed in required you to put in the key, pull the thing for pulling, turn it a bit to the left or right(depended on the door), then push it open. I have never encountered that sort of door in the US.   

> Normally not, depends, see other replies.

 Replies noted. It was certainly a bit strange the first time I saw it.   

> I'm glad to know that the U-Bahn in Berlin is einfach, because I haev a map of it and it looks quite complicated. Is it easy to transfer between different trains?

 Yes. There are signs all over the place to get you where you need to go, and even if you take a little long, trains come almost every 5 minutes, so it's no big deal.   

> What museums/attractions did you go to? I only have 3 days in Berlin and I don't want to waste time at a boring place when there might be something better round the corner.

 Perhaps you've already gone. But anyhow, just go to Unter den Linden, Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag, etc. etc., everything's there.There are lots of museums and it'd be best to pick to your taste. 
I also went to Bonn and K

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## Kamion

Pravit, in M

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## Pravit

Kamion, wir waren

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## Kamion

Ich fand die Reise einfach wunderbar. Es war echt wie ein "once in a lifetime opportunity". Man hat jeden Tag die Mцglichkeit bekommen, viel ьber Deutschland und seine Einwohner zu lernen, und gleichzeitig konnte man viel Spass haben. Die Reise war sehr gut geplannt, und man merkte, dass der PAD wusste, wie er uns so viel wie mцglich beibringen konnte.  
Unsere Reiseleteiter hatten keine Probleme mit Alkohol (Gott sei dank), aber es war ziemlich lustig zu sehen, wenn vier Mдdchen aus Albaninen, mit Angst fьr Hunde, einen Hund im Hotel passieren sollten. Der Hund lag ungefдr zwei Meter weg von dem Ingang. Nach einer Halben Stunde gelang es ihnen zwei Mдnner zu ьberzeugen, Stьhle vor den Hund zu stellen. Und dann wдhrend die Mдnner die Stuhle wachteten liefen sie zu ihren Zimmern. Die Idйe jemand zu fragen, ьber den Hund zu erfernen kamen sie nie hinter... 
Meine Gruppe war sehr prall, mit Leuten von, unter anderen Lдndern, Indonesien, Tunisien, Brasilien und Bulgarien. Eine sehr interessante Mischung, und ich lernte viel ьber die Kultur in diesen Lдndern. Woher kamen die Leute in deiner Gruppe, und wie viele wart ihr?
Es gab ein Mдdchen aus Schweden in meiner Gruppe und noch zwei insgesamt. Gab es viele aus den USA auf deiner Reise?  
Der Aufsatz ja.. Ich schreibe ihn jetzt und ich muss ihn Morgen schicken. Das bedeutet, dass ich mich beeilen muss, und gar nicht Zeit habe hier zu schreiben ::

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## Pravit

In unserer Gruppe gab es nur 2 Sch

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But i just can't understand it...

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## DDT

> But i just can't understand it...

 Wo lebend Sie, Guest?

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## Kamion

Hast du auch mit der wunderbaren deutschen Sprache angefangen DDT? Toll. Ich kann dir auch ein "pointer" geben. Es heisst "wo leben Sie", nicht "wo lebend Sie".  
Ich habe gerade dieses Topic durchgelesen, und deshalb wundere ich wo der Pravit ist. Weiss jemand warum er derzeit nicht mehr schreibt?

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## DDT

Danke, Kamion.  I will speak in English since my German is so bad. I studied German in high school but learned little and forgot much.  I will soon begin to study again though. AS I read on this forum some words are beginning to come back to me. I have German CD's waiting for me already but no textbooks. My plan was to wait until my Russian gets a little better. ....Now that I think about it.......I think that I should have asked him,"Wo lebst du?" 
I really must get a text book, I don't even know if I spelled it correct!

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## chaika

wo wohnen Sie?, nicht war?

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## DDT

You bringing back all kinds of memories into my head . I am not sure if it is too soon to start another language or not, yet. Perhaps if I just dabble in German now and then to start out with. Hmm?

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## Joel

> wo wohnen Sie?, nicht war?

 Ja, das stimmt.

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## Старик

> Hast du auch mit der wunderbaren deutschen Sprache angefangen DDT? Toll. Ich kann dir auch ein "pointer" geben. Es heisst "wo leben Sie", nicht "wo lebend Sie".  
> Ich habe gerade dieses Topic durchgelesen, und deshalb wundere ich wo der Pravit ist. Weiss jemand warum er derzeit nicht mehr schreibt?

 Pravit hat sich vor l

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## mike

Soon to be a permanent resident of the EU, I thought I would add my observations to Pravit's.   

> The drinks are small and expensive. There aren't any free refills here, so you shouldn't drink too quickly if you want to have something to drink with your food. If you don't want such a small drink, you have to say you want a large one, for example "a large Coke please"(a "large drink" in Germany is a normal sized drink in the US). It's often cheaper to have a beer instead of a soft drink.

 I've found it is cheaper (and preferable) to find a place which serves you soda in a bottle instead of a glass.  Most of the cafes will do this (the more bourgeois restaurants will do it too, but apparently--as somebody scolded me for doing--it's really rude to drink out of a glass bottle in these types of places so you have to pour it into a wine glass like you're some sort of sophisticated Coca-Cola aficionado).   

> German doors work a little different from American ones. You have to pull the door, turn the key either left or right, then push the door. I had a lot of problems myself with doors at first, when I arrived dead tired at the hotel.

 What the hell is with the doors inside having frosted glass windows in them, btw?  Walking around in somebody's house I feel like I'm in an old film noir and they just haven't gotten around to painting "PRIVATE DETECTIVE FOR HIRE" on the pane yet.  I can definitely see myself stumbling around in the dark one night and that will be the end of it.   

> * It's already well-known but I'll repeat it: If you order a water in a restaurant, you get club soda(and you have to pay for it, of course).

 Yes!  They love their Mineralwasser!  I do not get it either!  If you want a free tap water you can always order a coffee.  They'll bring you a glass of water along with it.   

> * Everything is much more expensive than in the US.

 I think it would be more accurate to say, "Everything is much more expensive _in the cities (Berlin, Bonn, Cologne) that I visited_ than in the _smaller cities in the south/midwest that I am used to_ in the US."  You would receive much the same shock at the prices if you visited Manhattan instead of Berlin.  On the contrary, I find the prices of most things (except junk food and, yes, even now, benzin) to be lower than what I was accustomed to in New England.  I can go to Eurospar and do a few days' worth of shopping for about 10 euros.  The equivalent cost if I went to Stop and Shop or Shaw's Supermarket would be almost $30.  Like I said, junk food is a lot pricier.  Even my beloved "Coke Light" is almost 3 times as expensive, which really hurts my caffeine addiction.  But all of the fresh items like Eierschwammerl and tomatoes etc. are muuuuuuch cheaper.  And the chocolate is a little bit lower in price, but tastes a lot better (my favorite is kinder Schokolade with the adorable little Lebensborn child on the front of the box http://www.kinderschokolade.de/images/ks_t1_old.jpg ). 
There are some things lacking in the consumables department.  You forgot to mention that they have almost no knowledge of Mexican food  ::   Except for "nacho chips" (which are so heavily flavored with chili powder and salt that you can't really eat nachos with them anyway) you'll be hard pressed to find a lot of rather common southwestern food items in the US.  I only found one place that sold pinto beans, and it was 30 minutes away.  And forget about flour tortillas, taco seasoning, etc.  They apparently don't exist.  I also can't get Boca Burgers either.  Those dirty sons of bitches.  And they only sell American Spirits in the unmentholated variety.  Who the fuck likes those?   

> The Berlin subway is fast, always on time, convenient, and simple. The best way to get around Berlin.

 True, the subways in Europe lack that wonderful "urine and recent murder" bouquet that we have filtering through the air vents back in the States.

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## midnightsun

yes, it is considered rude to drink off a bottle (don't ever dare do it if you're somebody's guest!). Also, they don't give you wine glasses if you order a Coke, but tall, thin ones (most times they're cylinder-like shaped). 
I don't know if they're really that cheap in Germany, but you don't get much food to live off for 10€ in Italy.

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## mike

> yes, it is considered rude to drink off a bottle (don't ever dare do it if you're somebody's guest!). Also, they don't give you wine glasses if you order a Coke, but tall, thin ones (most times they're cylinder-like shaped). 
> I don't know if they're really that cheap in Germany, but you don't get much food to live off for 10€ in Italy.

 You're right, they weren't regular goblets.  They were more like..well I don't know.  What do I know from wine glasses?  I'm used to drinking shitty, $10 asti spumanti out of the bottle at 2am with no pants on.  That's just how I rollz.

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