5 Random Things Germans Do That Just Make Sense! 🇩🇪
After moving to Germany and living in Germany for over 2 years, there were quite a few things we learned about life in Germany that surprised us at first...then we realized just makes sense! 😊
If you're interested, here is a balance bike I found that you can get 😃👇
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#AmericansInGermany #GermanyVlog #MovingToGermany
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❤️Aubrey was a Speech-Language Pathologist, Donnie was a graphic designer, but we both had a dream to #travel the world and experience cultures. After three years of being married and dreaming about if something like this great adventure would be possible, we decided to quit the rat race and take on the world. We sold everything we had, quit our jobs, and took off! After 9 months of aimless and nonstop travel, we now get to fulfill our dreams of #LivingAbroad as #expats as we move to #Germany!
00:00 - Intro
1:10 - Things I Gotta Say
1:58 - Thing #1
4:12 - Thing #2
6:35 - Thing #3
9:45 - Thing #4
12:11 - Thing #5
14:15 - Bloopers
Thanks for watching guys! If you liked this video, try checking out some of our others: Americans Try Nostalgic German Candy & Snacks For The First Time! - kzhead.info/sun/asWChrqGsWerZK8/bejne.html Surprising Differences Between German & American Movie Theaters! 🇩🇪 (First German Kino Experience) - kzhead.info/sun/nLChlq-ygWZ4mnA/bejne.html How Germans Don't Fit Into American Stereotypes of "Europeans" 🇩🇪 - kzhead.info/sun/jKqnf5F7g3yvhnA/bejne.html Things Germans Do In The Gym, Americans Would NEVER Do! 🇩🇪 - kzhead.info/sun/jaltotqFf2mXm4E/bejne.html The Puzzling Reason Why Germans Love Watching Videos About Germany 🇩🇪 - kzhead.info/sun/iM-qp5VtnoZ3rGg/bejne.html The Unexpected Benefits of Being An American Who Speaks German 🇩🇪 - kzhead.info/sun/h5iHeZeJpqWZnaM/bejne.html Why Germans Are So Misunderstood By Americans 🇩🇪 - kzhead.info/sun/a7Ofqa2hsImeYKc/bejne.html
On the payment issue, you might also be tempted to point out the difference in main card type used. From my understanding, the US mostly prefer the Visa type cards where you get everything charged end of month, as opposed to europe where most prefer to use direct debit cards ( no money -. no payment ) with the Visa mostly reserved for online shopping and booking / abos
Most VHS offer certifications for example (if you couldn’t finish your school degree 📜 ) . Just look it up.
We do the card reader in Blighty also
actually the balance bike is the OG bicicle. the inventor of the bike created one to get around faster durign a time known as the little ice age where people where more likely to eat their horse instead of riding it.
one of the funniest license plate combinations i know are actually from the county im living in. the license plates of all ambulances in the county of lörrach start with lö (for obvious reasons) and then get a RK for rotes kreuz (red cross) added with the result being a amanapia for puking. also common here is lö-we.
Es ist immer schön das eigene Land durch solche Videos neu zu entdecken. Danke dir 🙂
Da kann ich nur zustimmen.
Auf alle Fälle 👌
Word. Das mit den Laufrädern ist mir gar nicht bewusst gewesen. 😁 Wenn er gesehen hätte, das hier auch VW Lupo, up! und Smart hier Anhängerkupplungen haben. 😂
@@VtecPower6384 🤣🤣🤣
Die Laufräder gab's zu meiner Kindheit quasi gar nicht. Das erste mal habe ich die im Praktikum im Kindergarten gesehen als ich 18 war. Also rund 20 her.
The balance bikes for toddlers only became a thing in the last 20 years. When I learned to ride a bike in the 90's, training wheels were still the way to go.
I learnt to ride a bike in the mid70s, classically with my dad running behind. Took about 10 minutes
I learned it in the early 2000s and I had both.
same for me in the early 80`s, first training wheels, then bike with "Rücktrittbremse" around 5-6 I think, it has been some years^^
Ich habs anfang der 2000er auch mit einem normalen Rad mit Stützrädern gelernt, hat aber keine 10 minuten gedauert. ^^ Trotzdem hat sich meine Mutter immer gewünscht mir ein Laufrad zu kaufen, war aber einfach zu teuer. Also würde das mit den 20 Jahren gut passen, da die ja scheinbar Anfang der 2000er noch relativ teuer waren.
@@Balion1976 I still use coaster brakes, so much safer than hand brakes.
Laughed quite hard when you showed the pic of the 'small' car towing that trailer. This is not what I would consider a small car. :D
EIn Passat Variant ist ein kleines Auto.. für dicke Amis.
Same :D
I have a LKFZ( Leichtkraftfahrzeug) in the papers stands dis I'm only allowed to load ~400kg but I know the engine (480 ccm) can easily haul 1.2 tons. Dis is because it has a special transmission and an engine management which changes with the load. But I don't go on or over the limits because if you get caught in Germany you have a very big problem...
@@Patrick-bu4vq Max loads are not stated just because of the engines performance limits. There are things like max wheel weight capacity, structural limits and more which add quite a lot to the calculation. So better keep it safe :)
Especially if it's the 2.4l Turbodiesel version. I used to have that one as a company car and there was no left turn I didn't leave with screeching tyres.
When we were in the US and rented a small car, they told us, that it would break down during our 2.000 miles road trip. I was like … what? Small cars don’t break faster than big ones? And did you seriously just tell us, that you don’t trust the car your company owns? Should we go to a different renting place where the cars don’t break?? 😂😂
In germany we too have a few renting companies that will break down on a certain mileage. Not many places, I only know 1 among a few dozens but it's rigged cars to avoid interstate travel and theft.
They were most likely trying to up sell a higher class.
I mean if it's a Chevy Cruze it's probably true 😂
@@thatcopenguy Why is that ?. Here in Germany there are quite a lot of them in fact my brother drives one of those all the way to Stockholm 2 to 3 times a year with out any problems.
When i was in the 4th or 5th grade we took a driving test for our bikes.. we even got a bicycle drivers license.. The whole class went to a training area (usually for cars) , the police was there and they told us to follow a specific route with street signs, pedestrians and so on.. couple days later we went on a school trip with our bikes, exploring neighbouring villages, biking to a museum and so on.. fun times :)
Cool, we have this in the Netherlands too at age 10-11. Except that the test takes place in actual traffic.
War bei uns in der 4ten Klasse. Erst eine Theoriestunde und dann aufs Übungsgelände. Danach die Woche sind wir dann auch ein paar mal auf Fahradtour gefahren.
@@hanssama1954 Same
@@hanssama1954 lol bei uns war die Prüfung auf der Straße. Durch so nh paar Seitenstraßen und paar mal über die Hauptstraße Vllt liegts ja am Bundesland, lebe in Niedersachsen
Erst so spät ? Wir hatten sowas auch aber schon in der 2. Klasse, da haben wir dann den auch den "Fahrradführerschein" gemacht mit der Polizei. Wir haben die Prüfung aber auch auf der Straße gemacht, da standen dann überall Lehrer und Eltern und ein paar Polizisten die geguckt haben und dann mussten wir ne abgesteckte Strecke fahren. In der 5. hatten wir auch nochmal sowas ähnliches, was aber eher so zum auffrischen war und es war nur so ein Parcours. Achso ja und so ne kleine Theorieprüfung hatten wir auch. Die meisten sind aber natürlich schon vorher mit dem Fahrrad zur Schule gefahren.
Here in Kiel, the license plate "KI-EL 1" is kind of reserved. Not for the mayor, not for the minister president (Kiel is state capitol), but for the team bus of THW Kiel.
Hat einen Moment gedauert, bis ich raushatte, dass du die Handballmannschaft meinst nicht das Technische Hilfswerk 😂😂😂
well.. my license plate is also reserved.. because i have it registered
I thought THW have a special plate though? Most of them I see have the plate THW-XXXXX ( random numbers )
@@thatcopenguy yes that's the aid organisation with the blue trucks, but THW is also a handball team from Kiel
@@einflinkeswiesel2695 Turnverein Hassee-Winterbek seems to be the full name
Another aspect about banking cards in Germany is you have to verify any order above now 50€ (was 25 before the pandemic) with a personal 4 digit code and after some time also those below. So overall I'm always surprised about the very low level of safety in the US credit card system with whoever has the card having unlimited access to that money.
It depends on the bank.
Thats fr crazy... Imagine the struggle when you lose your Bank card, and then the struggle if you Lose your Credit card, which is like loosing an full filled wallet
it is actually the difference between a debit and a credit card you are referring to
@@chrish.4758 and on the card reader. Some wont let you pay without the code
Cards in the US are different. In Germany you have the "Bankkarte" and maaaaybe a "Kreditkarte". Bank cards in Germany - at least when I had one - usually did NOT work as a credit card and you always had to enter your PIN. Mine had an app with a one-time-PIN. In the US, you ALSO have bank cards and credit cards. However, there's one crucial difference: Nearly all bank cards are automatically also VISA credit cards. So you can run them with PIN and without. Which, to me, never made any sense whatsoever. What I am curious about, since I never did any online shopping in Germany: Can you use Bank Cards at online shops? And if so, do they request the PIN?
I am German, 29 years old, and I didn't have a balance bike as a kid. I don't think it was a thing yet 25 years ago. I might have had training wheels at some point, but I think I transitioned to normal biking pretty early. My niece who is 3 now has a balance bike though and so does every other toddler around here.
Ich hatte auch nie ein Balancebike. Bin 38.
I was so proud of myself (as a native English speaker recently arrived in Germany) the first time I bought my own bus ticket from the bus driver and actually ended up at my intended destination!
Herzlichen Glueckwunsch aus Canada. Have a good time and take care of yourself. 🌍💚🍁
Well done 👍😆
That's awesome!
Wow, that's something i fail at way to much, even as a native german speaker (but our buses here are a bit random and sometimes the bus lines just change while driving)
@@p3chv0gel22 thats interesting. I know that the trams and busses in my city change lines as well but they always do at their final destination and not mid-ride
About #5: more than being shocked about them taking the credit card with them, i was surprised by the way american waiters handle the whole "order the receipt "-thing. in germany you have your meal and ask for the receipt when you are finished and ready to leave. When we visited the US, we experienced it different. Once we were finished with the main dish and didn't want a dessert, the waiter soon came with the receipt. It kinda felt like you get kicked out as soon you don't order anything further
I bet the owner really wants you to leave if you don't order anything else. Americans are obsessed with what goes in and around their property, and in such establishments they take their business extremely seriously. If the customer is not doing anything and just sitting there and chilling, they may be signalled to leave. That's why they have a law called "loitering". They're so paranoid. And rightly so I mean who can blame them. Any second a maniac could walk in with a rifle and shoot everyone inside lol
It may depend on how busy the restaurant is. In some restaurants during the busy time in the US if they have people waiting for a table, then yes it can feel like your being pushed out. Because they are trying to seat the next group of people. But in most cases they will normally wait until you ask for the check or bill.
I'm german and I would actually prefer to get the receipt whenever I stop to order anything. It can be such a pain to ask a waiter and wait for the receipt when he or she is constantly busy.
@@bened22 I agree. Sometimes you're ready to go, and you need to go cuz you've been killing some time till a movie is going to play, and you have to wait 5 or more min just to get the attention of the waiter. Meanwhile, "Am I gonna miss some of the movie?"... lol I've got a system down for that now, but if you're not on top of things from the start, things can get scetchy.
@@bened22 Yeah that's true, but if you have an attentive waiter the german way is alright. In the end, you are there to eat and might as well leave when finished
It's always weird for me to see how late kids learn to ride bikes in other countries, which also makes sense if you think about how in Amerika they generally use the bike far less, but as far as I remember, the majority of my friends could ride bikes without training wheels in kindergarten
You see bikes mostly with kids in the neighborhood. Or with poor people not able to afford a car. They often share the bikes available there. Same goes with soccer though. Young kids play soccer in school and neighborhood, but then at a certain time they're told "to be accepted as a real man and get a college scholarship you must play football". And then you see that move to American football at a certain age.
Last two years in a kindergarten kids are supposed to arrive by bikes😏 Our son started only when he was six. Everyone was wondering, why so late?
When I grow up in the 90s, balance bikes was not such a thing. But nevertheless, my parents refused to give me and my brother bikes with "Stützrädern" (support wheels) - and I guess they are right: When learning to find the balance on such a thing, for me it just feels counterproductive to have support giving you a false feeling of how to do it.
Added to creditcard use: Here in Germany we have (new) laws that a waiter or a cashier is not allowed to take (not even touch) your card... (personal data protection laws)
You could probably make 3 whole videos about German data privacy laws 😅
@@XxXBlocPartyXxX So true I mean if Google has trouble doing street view because of privacy laws then thats something interesting
@@NoZoDE ah the reworked Datenschutz Act of 2019/20. It's stupid, because even if you explicitly ordered the waiter to touch your card, the waiter still commits a "crime"
@@NoZoDE not at all. Germans just don't like their house or location on public display to billions of people so Google kicked Streetview in living areas because of the backlash afaik
@@benanjerris6744 that is how you miss the point of the law. It protects the waiter! There is no way you can accuse the waiter or the business of steeling our information if they never had it.
On towing capacity differences: The 680 Kg for the Golf is for trailers that can't brake, whereas the 1800 Kg are for loads that have a "Auflaufbremse", a brake that triggers when the trailer starts pushing into the car. This is done with a clever linkage. Basicly, the hitch itself isn't locked solid with the frame of the trailer, but it can move (to an extent) and slides back into the trailer when the car brakes. Then that has a mechanical linkage to the brakes on the trailer, and they activate. As for the US not recommending the towing with a Golf, i am no american, but after a guick google-search it seems that US-trailers don't have those brakes, and i haven't really found small trailers (like the 750Kg trailers you find here). And with a Golf, i really wouldn't pull anything heavier than 700 Kg without brakes. So it makes sense that in the US, you need bigger trucks to tow stuff. Because towing is not the problem (i once towed a big van with a small Golf 3) but brakeing is. And for that, you need a heavy truck if the trailer can't brake!
Bremsen ist brake, break ist zerbrechen :) Macht einen kleinen Unterschied.
@@phchecker17 Seeing how many people drive as if the brake would break their car, this doesn't seem to be public knowledge. ;)
@@phchecker17 Ich bin ziemlich sicher dass die Auflaufbremse auch funktioniert wenn das Auto zerbricht... Habs korrigiert, danke!
They have elecric breaks or something. And much more weight in the coupling than in the EU. Typical EU Trailer habe 50-100kg on the coupling (Stützlast) A US drivers lizense allows to drive much mire wieght, 26000 lbs are more then 11 Tons. The limit for Klass B is 3.5 Tons for the towing vehicle.
@@thoughtfox2409 An der Anhängerbremse ist ein Kabel, welches mit den Auto verbunden wird. Springt der Hänger von der Kuplung so reißt diese und Aktiviert dabei die Feststellbremse des Hängers. There is a safty wire that connects the trailer to the car. If the link to the Trailer breaks it will triger the Trailer parking Brake.
I'm from Germany and was very surprised because to me this things were totally normal, whereas, in some things, in the US the total opposite is done.
i live in the US and nothing makes sense here. trust me.
@@mo938 Gun laws, probably? xD
@@einchaotenwuschel not probably. gun laws, for certain make no sense. i'm one of like the 17 people in Texas that believe nobody needs to own a freakin assault rifle.
@@mo938 Need of an assault rifle? Is there really a need of fire arms in private hand in general, even the smallest pistol? Well, that's a german guy point of view. Historically, there may have been reasons when first settlers came to the new continent and really nothing was there beside the wide wide countryside, they had to defend themselves if necessary. That's comprehendsible. But nowadays, everything should be there to solve issues without firearms, right? Rules given by the government, police to control the rules, courts if rules were broken and so on. So why not abandon firearms? It's everytime a pity to hear of shootings in the U.S. out of situations which are kind of rediculous compared to the same here Germany, where it would never be escalated this way. When it comes to the issues you have with your police, i can understand both sides. The officers need to be prepared to use their gun more quickly, as there could be a fire arm involved in really every situation... But that causes misinterpretations and unneeded use, which make the people angry who then wish to be equipped with a gun... A self-fulfilling spiral, sadly.
@@njordholm yea, I mean it's hard to argue that guns are good for anybody. that's a good point that you have.
My absolute favourite course I once found in a Volkshochschule booklet was a course called "Humour - how to recognise it, and use it yourself". That title tells you all you need to know about the place I grew up!
Another fun fact about the number plates: The company vehicles of the german TÜV throughout Germany are all registered in the city of Tübingen, so they can have TÜ-V on their number plates. :)
hahah thats adorable
Speaking of fun number plates, the German army (at least in the west) has been using Y since WWII, because there is no community or city that begins with a Y and thus this letter was "free". Which led to their nickname, Ypsilon-Reisen.
And insurance company AXA does the same, registering every car in Augsburg (A-) and then choosing the -XA behind. :)
In Munich, the players of the most successful local professional football team - the FC Bayern München - all have the license plate M-DM. For Munich - "Deutscher Meister" ('German Champion'). And the players will usually have the number that's on their jersey.
As someone working for TÜV... My company Car has TÜ-V 777
Moment of pride: I used to be an A student in German. One day I had an argument with my German teacher, and from that day, she would fail me on every single exam. Around that time, I had taken part in a state wide essay writing competition, and I won it. She had to hand me the price in front of all pupils and teachers. SWEEEEET!!!
you can point it out to the principal, normaly another german teacher would correkt youre exam then in Germany its really easy to made a teachers life into living hell, espacialy if they do a bad job
My daughter's teacher doesn't like me. We had an argument and I was right. He always seems to micro offend her everyday
@@Sinahji maiking al thease speling misstakes intentionely?
My brother had a teacher who gave him both orally and in writing the grade 5 (1 is best, 6 is worst) and wanted to give him a 6 in the school certificate. My mom went with my brother and that teacher to the principal to let him calculate the grade in front of him. End of the story: my brother get the 5 xD
@@MiccaPhone I would asume, that this person is german. He/She makes common mistakes like "then - because" but I think it's flagged as a false friend because in german the word "then" sounds like the word "denn" (another word for "because") and then there are mistakes when it is about time and writing as you hear it "espacialy". But I think as long as you understand the person, it's okay.
I really love the detail where you actually changed not only the plate letters from "B" to "DO", you also changed the badge of the state from Berlin to Nordrhein-Westphalen
Berlin und Nordrhein-Westphalen.. da würd ich mich lieber freiwillig weghängen.
Regarding the question how I feel about the waiter/waitress leaving with my credit card: After more then 20 years of traveling to the US I still feel strongly about it. Also the whole process of VAT/state tax is different (i. e. included in prices in Germany) and tipping is done differently. So paying in a restaurant always is a „high alert“ situation to me in the US. However paying in a supermarket is much more pleasant in the US to me because of the people packing your bags for you takes away a lot of the multi-tasking necessary in Germany.
Yeash I agree. Though I enjoyed people packing my bags , even if I do not really need , it was always teenagers or retired old people. FOr teenagers this is a fine job but seeing the old people it was so sad. They probably worked their whole life and still so poor that they have to do this shitty job like teen . This was really sad to witness
It's weird though. My ex was from UK, and apparently there the tip is supposedly included in the bill if you pay by CC. However, that "tip" aka "fee" suddenly disappears if you pay in cash. Hence I only pay in cash if I go over there. Is it like that in the US too?
@@benanjerris6744 i come from singapore and never have been to the us, but here we typically have to walk up to the counter and pay there directly, letting us see the bill on a screen before even taking out our cards. we have GST, goods and service tax, at a fixed rate of 7% thats included in the bill, cash or card, so tipping is typically only for those with tip jars. the worst is when some places like to not put GST on their prices or slap on an additional fee for service afterwards you only see after eating sometimes, but its hard to get scammed by a restaurant here.
From a customer perspective having the prices written including tax seems more logical. It is that amount I pay, no matter how much of it is taxes. And minimum wage is enough so that the service employees can live from it. Tips are basically a bonus for good service. You give them a bit more if you enjoyed it, but you don't have to. And it is quite common to simply round up. So if a price is, lets say 18.90€ you simply hand them a 20€ bill and leave it at that, with the difference being the tip.
I never want someone else to bag my things, cause I don't want to find my strawberries under the cans.
The funniest i have ever seen was when my dad did not choose his plate. We lived in Ansbach at that time so it was "AN". My mom whished for the initials of us kids so "AN AJ 136" was her whish. She made a list of ALTERNATIVES if the plate was already taken. He was cranky that day and told her he did not want to deal with any extras and will just get what they give him. It turned out: AN AL and some number i do not remember. He was so embarrased but didn't want to admit that choosing would have been wise...
Maybe they reserved those plates for the ones who don't specify one, because they wouldn't get them out else. Just like you tend to get the questionable vegetables when using grocery delivery services.
@@VintageTechFan They indeed do give plates with rarely chosen letters like QX but its very unlikely that AL was rarely chosen in this case. People get those intentionally a lot and I could imagine that the dad in question did that too xD
I can imagine it being a person that assigned these plate numbers to ppl who dont want to pick 😂😂😂😂
@@shinjid3705 The workers in these places are real assholes, they give you numbers like that all the time. If you have a license plate with HG and 10-20% of the other vehicles have HG -AY-xxx that's no coincidence Or the workers keep making stupid comments about your car. If you have a lot of conversions - shit I wouldn't drive at all, at most to the scrap yard If you have an American car with a small number hole, they want you to modify your car to fit the number plate. They can request the conversion at a cost of up to 10% of the car. If it exceeds this value, they will give you a smaller number plate
🤣🤣🤣
Both of my kids (in Germany)learned to ride a regular pedal bike at 4, after a year on a balance bike -totally stress free. No training wheels. Our Laufrad was actually one where you could add/remove the pedals as needed. It was great! We used it for both kids, then sold it for nearly full price.
Wow! That's awesome. Really considering taking this method and applying it to our future child when it is time 😊
The training bikes in Germany are genius.
My sons (now 17 and 14) both learned riding bikes this way, and that was trouble free... well, almost. Brings back memories how my older son loved speeding down hills. Do you have many hills where you live ;-) ?
When I learned to ride a bike some 50 years ago, I hat training wheels (Stützräder) too. If I remember correctly, balance bikes came up about 20-30 years ago.
@@PassportTwo As someone who used to sell bikes, I can highly recommend it. I've seen 4-5 year-olds learn how ride a regular pedaled bike in 5 minutes if they'd had previous experience riding a balance bike. Usually it took a little longer but some kids got into it astonishingly quickly.
After being diagnosed last year with ADHD it made me even more proud of the fact I got a college degree. So many people with ADHD fail or drop out. There were times I was considering it myself.
Watch out for a blue Volvo with the license plate B SX6969 ✌🏽
moin moin
10:28 "Small Cars" *shows picture of a Passat Variant, which is a big, especially a very long vehicle for european circumstances. My parent's Passat can tow up to 2.1 metric tons - thats a lot more than the car itself weighs when loaded normally. The max gross weight of the car is 2.205 tons I think, so the vehicle can tow roughly it's own weight. But have fun navigating narrow Italian city streets after towing your trailer to the camp site...
lol for US its still SMALL and even for europa its like medium and surely not "big"
@@alpha-cf2oi it is not a particularly big vehicle, but certainly not small - small is Polo/A-Class size, medium is Golf/B-Class size and big is Passat/E-Class size - all with the SUVs on the same platforms. Vehicles like the Amarok are humongous, not simply big.
@@alpha-cf2oi there's big, and then there's comically large
@@philipphermann9454 hhahaha an amarok is "humongous" man I am sure u never been to the states once in ur life
@@philipphermann9454 and a passat is NOT e class size LOL and a polo not A class man u rly dont know anything about cars how old are u 14?
To add to the Volkshochschule: There are also often many courses that will end with certificates that help you on the job market. Languages from beginners over casual to advanced, business English, accounting, anything from using office software to programming. And those courses are often covered by the government for the unemployed. The course descriptions mention when they're eligible so you can apply for coverage right away and don't have to pay first to be reimbursed later. Since even if, let's say, 100,- isn't much to get from barely speaking English to write formal letters and survive a business phone call, it can be when you're poor/unemployed. Several of the health-centric courses might qualify for a subsidy from your health insurance company (no guarantee, but worth asking). And a good chunk of courses is for the elderly specifically. From crafting to using computers or mobile phones. My mother, in her early 70s, took a smartphone course for senior citizens before the pandemic hit and now knows more about what smartphones can do than I. It's also not only about learning and catching up with modern everyday technology but the social aspect and "having something to do with yourself" during retirement, a change in life and structure that can be difficult for some people.
Ngl sounds better than a University. Vielleicht sollt ich lieber danach schauen
@@sunnyarts3086 I'm learning Japanese there form an authentic teacher from Japan. They even have different classes for all proficiency levels.. really.nice lol
The Federal Employment Agency will typically not pay for language courses etc. at a Volkshochschule. An institution has to be certified to be able to cash in education vouchers (Bildungsgutscheine) which most Volkshochschulen are not because this certificatiin is rather pricey and Volkshochschule is a franchise, not a big corporation. So to the smaller branches, it's hardly worth it. Also, a small Volkshochschule would likely not meet the criteria for the certification. Education vouchers are more often aimed at courses with companies like Berlitz or WBS.
I learned riding a bike at about 4 years old. I did have a "Laufrad" before but i also used training wheels on my bike in the beginning
Licence plates: driving around in my home town stuttgart( licenceplate "s") is quite funny. "Sex247" is kinda hillarious
hi German here I learned to ride a bike with training wheels, which my father had gradually and secretly bent further and further upwards, so that I learned to ride a bike without really noticing it. 😂 As far as trailers are concerned, it's more the braking power and less the pulling power that is decisive. And in Germany, all larger trailers actually have their own braking system, whereas, as far as I know, this is not the case with US trailers. And that is why in the USA a trailer has to be towed by a larger car with stronger brakes, so that the braking distance is not so long in the event of an emergency stop.
My training wheels didn't even reach the ground (not both at the same time, anyway). In all these "training wheels BAD" pictures, you see them turning the bicycle into a tricycle. Of course you then wobble (because you never actually learned to balance) when they are taken off. Proper training wheels just help you not to fall over, they still give you enough room so you *do* automatically (but safely!) learn to balance.
My parents didn't need to bend my training wheels - they were not properly attached, and upon ground contact gradually swung more back- and upwards. :-D
Cars are specified for two different numbers when it comes to towing - look at the data sheets for yourself: Anhängelast gebremst: Weight of the trailer that has an own braking system. Anhängelast ungebremst: Weight of a trailer without separate braking system. Also for the latter typically values are > 0 kg.
my parents did thtat too, i couldnt be bothered though and still leaned fully into them until it got really bent far, like 20° or sth :D after that i was finally too annoyed by that and learned to ride properly :D
Thank you for promoting the VHS. One goal is to keep ALL the people in the process of life long learning. But for many people it's just a possibility to socialize and to be part of a group. Many people say it helps against solitude. We have English, Yoga or Japanese painting classes that started 20 or more years ago. Last week an almost 50 years old woman wanted to subscribe for our Fintness ab 50 class. I had to tell her that it started 26 years ago and we didn't change the name and the participants are still the same, those who still are able to go. And most do not do much Fitness anymore. Some years ago we had to put chairs in the room.
My top german licenseplates i‘ve seen are „MI-LF“ „ANA-L“ and „FI-CK“ (which means f**k)
Saw one with M-F or something.
I live in Hanau. We have HU in Front. Most Common here.... HU-RE (Bitch/Whore), HU-LK, HU-PE (car horn), HU-ND (dog)..... 😅
I was so surprised to find out that balance bikes are not a thing in the US. My son learned to ride his bike (without training wheels) on his 3rd birthday. It took him less than 30 minutes to figure out how to do it. Once we moved to the US, a lot of people were impressed by him riding his bike at such a young age (he was already four by then), while in Germany he was not an exception. I really think that the balance bike helped him. Besides, I would ride his balance bike to daycares every day which gave him a lot of practice.
I love this so much. I am a German who spent a few years living in Michigan and all of this is so true, lol. I was so irritated the first time we were at an American restaurant and the waiter just walked away with the credit card.
I can imagine you sitting there and be like: "Ayo wtf where do you think your going?!?!?!"
Erstmal niederknüppeln um dann der Polizei zu erzählen, dass er deine Kredit Karte gestohlen hat 🤣
11:50 not to forget, that you only can tow up to a certain size of trailer with your standard "Klasse B" Führerschein (Drivers Licence), apart from what your car can actually pull... Like a trailer of this size (12:02) you will need a totally new or other Drivers license than this trailer 12:07, and for this 12:04, you can just use your standard B Class Licence or in short: Between 12:04, 12:04 and 12:02 are 3 different license classes, you need, to officially and legally tow...
Exactly! Couldn't have described it better!
But dont forget the B96, you can tow a Trailer without Trailer License up to car+trailer weight of 4250kg
You don't need a Trailer License if your Trailer is under 750 kg and the Car + Trailer Combination is under 3500 kg and the Car is at least 1.5 Times as Heavy as the Trailer. Everything else requires said BE License. But the Thing about Trucks is semi-true here too. Only Offroad Vehicles are allowed to tow Trailers that are as heavy as the Car (3500 kg + 3500 kg), everything else is limited to the Trailer being 2/3 as heavy as the Car.
@@Genius_at_Work Being able to read helps a lot! At 12:04 the car has some bikes, represents a trailer up to 750 Kg in my commentary, so Class B is enough, as i mentioned it...
@@Genius_at_Work The car has to be under 3500kg ZGG (zugelassenes gesamtgewicht/allowed weight including whatever is in/on it) and the trailer under 750kg ZGG If the trailer is more than the 750, the whole thing (car + trailer) has to be under 3500. So with a class B licence you can drive a car with 3500 kg ZGG and a trailer with 750 ZGG or a car with 2000 ZGG and up to 1500 ZGG. At least thats what i've been told today in my theory lesson.
The thing about Volkshochschulen, and why they have such a wide variety of classes, is that in principal anyone can offer any course. The basic idea is that it's from the people for the people. You'll probably have to demonstrate that you are indeed knowledgeable enough on the topic to teach a course but that's about it.
About the first thing: I had a balance bike too before i switched to a regular bike with five. My dad never allowed me to use the training wheels. I´m very thankfull for this. (I live in Germany)
Same here. I always wanted them but my dad refused to buy me a bike with training wheels cause he wanted me to ride the bike properly
On the car towing subject, part of the reason is probably that european tow-able things are smaller and often come with their own breaking system that automatically engages the brakes on the trailer when the car in front of it brakes as well. This means the trailer is much less likely to push into the back of the car and the car is permitted to tow bigger and heavier trailers. Another point probably contributing to the difference is the mandatory TÜV in Europe - if your car doesn't pass the TÜV, it's not permitted to drive on the road. Whereas in America, as long as it drives, it's allowed to drive (in certain states, at the very least). And then there's the subject of unanimous road laws and conventions, like overtaking. In the US, some states permit overtaking on the right while others don't. But when you have unanimous road laws and can reasonable expect faster vehicles to overtake on the left, the road is a lot more predictable and safer - which is especially important if you're towing a large trailer on the edge of your towing limit - you don't want any unexpected things happening on the road then. And another point is that those trailers often come with their own speed limits, which means no matter the general speed limit of the road you are on, you are NEVER permitted to drive faster than the trailer you're towing allows. If you're towing a 60km/h trailer, the road speed limit may be 60km/h or 80 or 130 or even unlimited - doesn't matter. If you're above 60km/h, you're in the wrong because your trailer isn't permitted to go that fast. Now I don't know how that point compares to the US, but it's probably a point in favour of higher towing limits. And if you really can't tow anything with your vehicle, there's always the option of renting a vehicle that can tow what you're trying to tow.
Yeah that's right Especially I'm living on the German countryside and by us almost everybody has a small trailer(because the are cheap and you can by them everywhere like in the building market or the internet or so)
By TUV I assume you mean MOT? Aka a check every few years that your car is still working properly?
@@dustojnikhummer I'm not familiar with MOT, but the second sentence pretty much describes what the TÜV does in regards to cars. The TÜVs are a collection of agencies that enforce a wide variety of safety standards - and that includes cars. A car needs to pass mandatory checks every two years to be allowed to drive on German roads. They don't do any repairs themselves and the checks are quite strict, so people usually get their cars checked at a garage in advance of TÜV appointments.
@@faultier1158 MOT is the british name >The MOT test (Ministry of Transport, or simply MOT) is an annual test of vehicle safety, roadworthiness aspects and exhaust emissions required in the United Kingdom for most vehicles over three years old. I assume every EU country has the same thing as well. US doesn't?
@@dustojnikhummer I have heard that stuff like that exists in the US as well, but maybe it's less strict and less standardised across the country?
I guess I am proudest about my oral english exam from my "Realschule". It was almost flawless and the best of the whole school year. I was so proud becaus I had a bad teacher in my elementary school that told me I was stupid and later on toled me that I would never be able to go higher than "Hauptschule" because of my dyslexia. Well I proved her wrong an even did go on to a "Gymnasium".
That is AWESOME! Love when people overcome silly expectations of silly people 😊 You're a rockstar!
Same.here because i was super shy and silent
Reminds me of me learning english back then, thogh it is not exactly the same situation. Note that in my years, english classes weren't yet part of elementary school education. I learned my first bits of english on the Realschule. Thing is, I was HORRIBLE at english and for years on end I mostly got a 5 or even 6 on my exams. I think the problem was mostly that I have a really hard time remembering words in general. Anyway during one summer vacation I started to do more on the Internet and I especially became interested in Anime which there wasn't that much of in Germany, so I watched versions with subtitles. English subtitles for the lack of options. I pretty much didn't understand anything, but I diligently sat there with a dictionary constantly checking all kinds of words. And of course I also learned the grammar in a natural way, just constantly reading english sentences. After just a few months I went from being the worst in english to being possibly the best. I probably was already average after just a few weeks, actually. I can almost certainly say that I wouldn't be able to even watch this video, let alone comment on it, if that didn't happen. It goes to show that even in your worst subject, you may pull it off if you learn it in a fun context.
my chemistry teacher of last school year laughed at me, when I told her I am going to be a chemical lab assistant (I had to apply with grades from year 11, where I had a better teacher, who could explain chemistry good to me). My Klassenlehrerin from grade 6 told my parents to not let me learn French, because they only tought Russian at the Realschule and she didn't think I will make it to the Abitur. I did my Abitur. I finished my apprenticeship to be a chemical lab assistant and I work in that job for 14 years now. Fuck teachers thinking they know what you can do. Especially languages aren't for everyone in the school system. I sucked at english, because I just didn't like to put in the effort to learn grammar and vocabulary the way it is tought in german schools. One summer I read like thousands of pages of harry potter fanfiction in english, because I was done with the german ones and BAM I suddenly was good at english in school. (except the theory part, cause I still cannot explain why I use tenses...) I learned more vocabulary and understanding of that language in this one summer than in the last 4 years, tho the basics I learned in school ofcourse helped me a lot.
Let's just be honest, there are some teachers out there that just suck. Probably in any country. Its awesome that you didn't let those comments bring you down and instead chose to show everyone that your dyslexia doesn't define you and you can do whatever you want
I like the idea of the balance bike thanks for making this vid and sharing the information
Oh Boy, u should start a series about this. There is so much potential about things that make more sense in germany :)
I just finished writing my doctoral thesis this week... I can say that I'm extremely proud :D
When I visited the west coast in USA the most confused thing was how they handle their gas stations. I had to first pay and then I could fill up my car. In Germany you just fill up and after that you go inside and pay. Was strange.
Never seen a Selbstbedienungstankstelle?
As a german I never thought that these things aren't common in the rest of the world (except of the VHS), especially the trailor hitches.
The way you described balance bikes is exactly the way I was taught how to ride a motorcycle. Very smart
What I am proud of: My father was an immigrant without a high school degree and my mother only finished the equivalent of middle high school, no further education. Both were simple working people, my father a truck driver, my woman a sales clerk in a shop for glass and china. Therefore I am proud to have accomplished not just one, but two university degrees: a Bachelor degree in public administration and a Master degree in German studies. I am very proud to have achieved post grad status.
And your job is....
@@orangie8426 not easy to explain to non Germans, but I am a kind of bureaucrat of public administration, working in the field of social care and special needs for handicap people.
@@orangie8426 public service bureaucrat on county government level.
Here in Germany, when you're willing to learn, you get it. I was helping a refugee back in the day. He hated everything his country did to him so he fled to Germany with the intention to "become better then the bloody Muslims!" Not only did he surprised me on how quick he learned German, he outright made me proud on being on a higher educational level then many German-born Turkish people. I will never remember your name, friend. But I will always smile for your future.
I love how many Germans translate the "Passt nicht, oder" directly to "Doesn't fit, or?" instead of "Doesn't fit, does it?"
"Passt nicht, oder tut es doch?" just doesn't sound's right does it? :D
I’ve seen a vanity plate here in Texas that was “LED PHT” (lead foot) and the owner drove like it too… passed me in no passing zones multiple times when I was traveling at the speed limit!
There is a fundamental difference in trailers between the US and Europe: In the US the trucks are nose heavy, ie. the heavy engine is in the front and the back of the truck is light, it basically needs good pressure on the hitch (tongue weight), typically 400 kg whereas European travel trailers are differently balanced, ie. their wheel base is further up front to have less pressure on the hitch (ie. lower tongue weight), max. 150 kilos as these limousines are more evenly balanced to begin with. Just have a look at the famous "Airstream". The US version has it's wheels further to the back to create that downforce whereas the models they sell in Europe have the wheels more in the middle. So, you have a totally different concept. BTW: European models usually have a mechanical push brake, American models an electrical one, controlled from a controller in the truck, as far as I know.
I never had a "Laufrad". I learned riding a bike with a simple bike for toddlers and "Stützräder" attached. But hey, it worked :D
It definitely does work! I can attest to it as well 😅
A Laufrad is not to learn to ride a bike… it is mostly used that the small ones are faster and can accomplish further distances.
These Balance bikes were not a thing when I was young in Germany. I learned it with the attached wheels too.
worked for me, too i drive a motorbike!
The "Laufrad" is a recent invention from the 1990s. You are probably older and - like me - have learned to ride a bike with training wheels much later (maybe five years old?) Surely with a lot of more effort an with running parents too. All children who have ridden a Laufrad can ride a bike almost automatically because they have learned to keep their balance.
I really enjoy watching your videos. Being a born and raised German I sometimes don't even realize how funny or different the things we do are. Today I learned something new (that makes me feel a bit old actually). In my childhood there were no bouncing bikes for little children. So I did it the "American wobbly way". Now that you are mentioning these bouncing bikes I realize how right you are! Things are different nowadays! Happy Easter and keep rolling! :D
He said "balance" bikes and not "bouncing" bikes. Balancing = Balancieren. Bouncing = Hüpfen. Quite a difference.
@@marvintimke3978 yeah, well. I think everybody knows what I was trying to say. Sorry I remembered it wrong. But neither bike was a thing in my childhood. ;)
You seem like a super nice person. Glad i stumbled upon this video. The balance bike thing is new for me (no kids + learned to ride a bike about 30 years ago). But it does seem great and i wish i would´ve had it cause my own bike riding lesson memories still haunt me to this day. :D Also i didnt knew that in US the staff takes your card with them. I think i would freak out about this the first time. :D
Funny thing is (and even as a German, a little confusing), when you're from Hamburg, your licenseplate actually has the letters HH, which means 'Hansestadt Hamburg' and describes the area you come from, just as the B for Berlin. Then however, the HH is forbidden if you want to personalize it. So if you have any tendencies in political opinion, just muve to Hamburg😂
Rofl
Moment of pride: I'm a really shy and private person and have an extra hard time talking to strangers. ...So I went to a 3 day music festival, by train and completely on my own. My tent-neighbors were the nicest people and took me under their wing, offering me hot coffee in the morning and some food whenever they were eating. So I had a great time and learned to open up a little more!
And in addition: We are proud of not being proud!
To be honest, I live in Germany and my siblings and I had two "Laufräder" (the things you use to train for riding a bike), but I never realized, they were made for that. Well, im still kinda using them with a few friends by just rolling down hills, its quite fun tho
Same! It was just a fun way to get around, kinda like a more useful Bobby car
@@jean7464 Reminds me of about a month ago. There's a small hill just around the corner and some friends brought their bobby cars. In the end we all were hurt somehow but it was very fun. :D
On my street there is one guy with the plate: "SEE YA 420"
I love that
Just found this, and you present your experience so sympathetic, i subbed.
For your last question, the thing I am most proud of is passing my B1 German, passing my Einbürgerungsteste, and starting to become part of the German community I lived in, (Marienfeld, near Harsewinkel, where Klaas have a Mährdrescherfabrik.) My young adopted son was in the local Kindergarten and locals were beginning to recognise me and talk to me. Sadly Covid ganged up with Brexit and now I am back in my native England wishing I had managed to find that elusive way to stay in the country I had learned to love. I was so close.
Sorry but i have to do it. To Company is called Claas and the Harvester is Mähdrescher. Lg Jan
@@Knallteute oops! Why did I write Klaas not Claas? Sorry!
@@Knallteute I got Mähdrescher almost correct! It has sadly been two years since I have been back in England and I’m forgetting most of the German I picked up. I certainly wouldn’t pass my B1 today 😢
@@Knallteute It's called "THE company".
@@randomjasmicisrandom Respect for anyone learning German, it's full of weird irregular stuff you can't logically deduct, you just need to hammer them into your brain. And the grammar isn't a breeze either, compared to English. Maybe one day we can welcome you back :)
Actually the towing is something I never got. Every car can tow a trailer, it's a matter of size, weight and whether that trailer has brakes. There is a point about towing in the US though: few states in the US limit speed when towing. California is one of them (55 towing, 65 or posted speed limit when not), but i.e. TX, AZ, OR, NV etc. do not. I've been towing my trailer in TX with 95 (for Germans: 150km/h) because that's the speed limit on some highways in TX. Trying to slam the brakes while towing at that speed is a recipe for disaster. Keep in mind, generally Germany doesn't have a speed limit on highways unless posted, they do however limit trailers and semi trucks to usually 80 km/h - thus reducing accident risks with these kind of vehicles. That said, while small utility trailers are great in Germany due to the lack of Pickup Trucks (which would be too big and expensive to operate in Germany for the most part), camping trailers are a frequent source of accidents in Germany and Europe in general (particularly the UK who have a whole camping culture going). Card readers: you will see them more and more in the US when you come back. Historically nobody in Germany accepted cards. In the 90s maybe 1 in 20 Restaurants would even accept card payments, so most restaurants don't have old POS systems with the stationary card readers. The restaurants which accepted cards in the 80s and 90s did what you know from the US: take the card to the terminal. That said: there's a difference in Germany: Banks are liable for fraud unless they can prove gross negligence on behalf of the client. That means banking systems are a lot more secure in Germany and banks require new systems every few years which are designed to prevent fraud (remember, the bank pays for fraud). In the US the bank has virtually zero liability, which is why you can still access online banking with a simple password where in Germany that hasn't been possible in over a decade (also, the chip cards you see show up these days in the US have been standard in Germany since the 90s). So in the end it's a matter of banks being liable why adoption of these new portable systems is so prevalent.
On the Volkshochschule subject. The public health insurances often subsidise fitness, wellness and health courses you can take there or give you a credit when you complete one. So check with your health insurance on what they offer and see if thats something for you if you want. My mum for example takes a class for gymnastics (for her back) and my grandma takes senior gymnastics to stay fit.
the procedure of leaving your charge or credit card in the cover with the invoice (to be taken away from the customer/patron) was also normal in Europe until bluetooth and wireless lan became a fairly standard communications format. That then allowed remote devices to be brought to the table so that the card owner can keep control of his/her card and isn't robbed or deceived in any way. The US has for some odd reason (in that case) simply fallen behind. Such transceiver systems (wireless lan and bluetooth) have obviously been in the US as long as in Europe (perhaps even before Europe!). Why the US is so slow to pick up on that is most odd.
Actually most of these terminals have a built-in 2g/3g modem, because the payment providers don't trust the wifi of their clients. There are systems which use a VPN to connect directly to the provider as of late. But I know of many places where you are asked to come to the cashier where cell reception is too weak for portable terminals. I can't speak of the pre-2000 era though since I didn't have a credit card back then.
Even weirder because German internet tends to be rather slow and expensive in comparison. But then we're also pretty interested in privacy and data protection, so just giving the card away feels very unsafe. Besides the fact that there is more of a tendency to pay in cash anyway.
I guess the thing with pulling capacity is due to the different ways we handle traffic. Every german is educated in driving in a driving school and knows (or at least should know) how to handle trailers (there are different licenses for bigger ones, so once you get past 3.5 tonnes, or get bigger then a certain size, you need another license). On the other hand we have TÜV, which checks the cars for even slight damages (wich is mandatory every 2 years for any car holder) and guarantees save cars in traffic. I dont think its the size, cause just because a car is big, its not said that its also strong. I think some Golfs have a more powerfull engine than some trucks, tbh :D
I very much doubt that is the reason. My guess would be that models manufactured for use in Europe are using a different suspensions than are used in the US. Also take into account that the vast majority of the cars sold in the US are automatic transmission which is not the case in Europe where manual transmission still rules. That means the engine/drivetrain is by definition different. At this point to get a manual transmission car in the US you pretty much have to order it and wait for it to be manufactured in most cases.
Dunno - the difference in towing capacities was probably already in place well before Germany started using standard EU drivers licence classes. I got my Class 3 licence (the standard car licence back then) in 1994 and I am allowed to drive everything included in the new classes B, BE, C1, and C1E - IOW, vehicles of up to 7.5 metric tons towing trailers for a grand total weight of 12 tons (and on top of these new classes, combinations with an even higher grand total weight as long as the weight of the towing vehicle doesn't exceed 7.5 tons and the trailer only has one single axle) I was allowed all this the day I passed my licence test on a normal VW Golf. Needless to say, the test didn't include even one meter of driving while towing a trailer, let alone a 7.5t truck towing a trailer.
@@pjschmid2251 actually I think the suspension is not the reason, otherwise it should be the same case with the pick-up trucks, shouldn't it? I'm no expert, so I don't know. I drove some in the US, they were struggling with their own weight already, but were allowed to pull a trailer. And they had automatic suspension.
@@arthur_p_dent okay, that was before I was born xD my father also has an old license and is allowed 7.5 tonns, too. But in driving school he had to drive different cars, small trucks and trailers back then. At least once. Not the biggest deal compared to today :D but hey, we're getting off topic.
@@dus1213 I’m not sure what an automatic suspension is do you mean automatic transmission? As far as the differences in suspension systems that wouldn’t carry across from cars to trucks. Trucks in the US are designed for towing; cars not so much. I think the lack of trucks sold in the EU means that they build their cars to allow them to tow since people don’t typically own trucks. The widespread ownership of trucks and SUVs in the US means that if you’re going to tow some thing that’s the type of vehicle you would typically buy. Even minivans in the US have some reasonable towing capacity but something is tiny as a Golf would not. The reason I say that I believe the suspension on European cars is different than the US is that the ride quality is different as well. US drivers expect a car to have a fairly smooth, what probably Europeans would consider bouncy, ride. European cars ride hard and that probably is a tributable to a more rigid suspension system that might allow towing.
I started with the training wheels on a bike method as a child and remember that it took some time before I could ride a bike without them. My daughter had a "Laufrrad" very early and I was so astonished how fast and easy she made the transition to a normal bike.
I see a lot of the 2 wheel balance bikes in Oregon and about the towing thing I've seen many people in Oregon with tow hitches on their vans or other small family cars.
4:45 In larger Volkshochschulen you can acquire lower level school certificates, typically the middle school certificate, which qualifies you to go to a different type of school for adults where you can get the highschool certificate eventually allowing you to go university. I work at a state school for adults, which is not only cost free but students can also apply for state support, that means they get a couple of hundred Euros so that they can finish their school education.
I think the Credit Card issue comes from the US having adopted them a lot earlier when creating carbon-copies of the card was still common. When CCs became popular in europe, digital terminals were already available everywhere and waiters could just carry it to the table. The US just never bothered to change their process.
To add another point: Debit Cards are much more common in Germany, than in the US. Card payments also became popular much later; Germans simply love their cash. And to process a debit card payment, a digital terminal is mandatory. Also, the debit card payment had to be authorized either by signature or with a 4-digit pin by the customer, but this is not predictable. (Before contactless payment was possible until 50€) Therefore, either the guest must follow the server to the digital terminal, or the digital terminal is brought to the guest.
@@mmc4654 I've noticed just in the past few months in the US that restaurants are putting a QR code on your bill that you scan with your phone and pay by phone never even getting your credit card out. We've also had card scanning kiosks at every table at some restaurants for a while but printing a QR code is much easier and cheaper to implement than those kiosks so I see the QR code scanning as the future of checkout.
That’s not correct. I remember 30 years ago absolutely every restaurant accepted credit cards and we paid in the “American way”. Europe just preferred to change their process.
That seems to change in the US too. I was on a business trip in Hershey, PA last September and the process was almost everywhere as here. Server has a mobile terminal and you swipe or insert your card and it's asking for a pin almost everytime. The biggest difference is with the tips. In the US the tip is added to the amount deducted from you card, in germany im used to pay the bill with the card and give the tip in cash. But I think that is due to the difference in tipping. Here you usualy round up or give around 10% for realy godd service, while in the US your'e expected to give 20% in general
I don' understand, why US are so archaic in using cards, but I can accept it. Of course card which they want to carry away is blocked for Internet usage.
On the towing capacity subject, this is determined partly by legal conditions and partly by the manufacturer. Legally a passenger car can’t tow a trailer that’s heavier than the vehicle itself, unless it’s four wheel drive, in which case other limits apply. However, both cases apply a) to a maximum gradient of 12% (roughly 1 in 8) and b) to a trailer that has its own brakes. The lower value in your Golf example is for trailers that have no brakes of their own. Another limit can refer to the total weight of towing vehicle and trailer. Legal requirements and liability of the manufacturer include respecting the limits of the drivers’ license, the capability of the vehicle to pull off from standstill in the 12% gradient, and of trailing in a prolonged climb without the engine blowing up through overheating, etc. It must be safe, in other words. Bear in mind that you can’t go faster than 80 km/h with a trailer, unless you have an exemption to go at 100 because your car-trailer combination has been proven safe. (But cross into France and you may legally drive at 130 km/h without a flic (gendarme) furring a brow...)
There is also a big difference on how the trailer is built. Look on the wheels on an european trailer and an american trailer. US has the wheels further back and europe more in the middle. This makes the tongue weight much higher in US then Europe. Higher toungue weight put way more stress on the tow vehicle. Europe normaly have 80-100kg and and midsize truck in the US can have 400-450kg tongue weight. Downside with the european trailers is they get sway in higher speeds. Thats why we put lower speed and weight in our trailers. US is more stable and can tow in higher speed and higher weight but they need a huge truck to do it. its common to put sway hitch on trucks in US to make them even more stable to tow faster and heavier. This is not something done in Europe. Then there are difference rules about brakes etc.
And lobby from the manufacturer to simply not allow towing with smaller less expensive vehicles.
@@KristoferOlsson yeah us Truck + Trailer save at higher speeds but actually they drive 5-10mph faster at max and well it isn't so uncommon to see a euro car pull a trailer 65mph ~105 kmh and nothing happens but for sure the safety margin is reduced by a fair bit And I personally don't mind that the US has the faster trailers we Germans have saver roads (mostly because we obey laws and rules like no other and the TÜV keeps dangerous shitbox cars off the street)
130km/h is the maximum speed limit on the autoroute (autobahn, highway) in France for a vehicle WITHOUT a trailer, with a trailer the limit drops to 90km/h, which is generally why everyone hates being stuck behind them !
One important point is that for the US market the brake pads are different then for EU market, also Disk size and calipers can be different resulting in lower performance. Therefore not able to stop the additional mass.
That part about towing stuff. I pulled a 500kg trailer with a 1600kg car (-98 Volvo V70 2.5T) loaded on it behind my (now scrapped) -01 Volvo V70 2.4 (170hp version).
Another thing that just makes sense in Germany are the Units like "Grad Celsius", meters, centimeters etc.
Finding a car that can tow 3.5t is getting harder and harder these days. Got an old KIA Sorento now for the large horse trailer.
What he forgot to mention is that there are quite some limits when it comes to pull sthg with a car. There are different types of trailiers - with different max. load capacities. A trailer with no brakes must not be heavier than 50% ot the mass of the vehicle pulling it, with the max limit of a trailer with brakes being 3.5t. And the huge trailers you see on european highways are still pretty light weight which can be destroyed by simply toppling over. So germans are not a folk of trailer-pulling petrolheads. But yes, loads of cars have the hooks, but also most of them are rarely used. They come in handy when squeezing into a parking-log, though, leaving only a tiny imprint on the license-plate of the car you bumped into, and keeping other cars from causing damage to your rear.
It's really strange when a retired (?) KZheadr you used to listen to frequently posts about some everyday stuff under a random video you found in your recommended tab. Weird vibes.
Got a BMW 330d xDrive 245hp and 520Nm on 4WD is enough to pull a few things... 😎
Really? Every car ad in TV is of an SUV-type car, it seems
Der gute alte Kia Sorento
I also passed my B1 Deutsch für Zuwanderer after doing my A2.1, A2.2 and B1 courses at the Gütersloh Volkshochschule. 2 hours in the evening twice a week with other people learning German. It was a brilliant experience.
Herzlichen Glückwunsch~
And you probably came out cheap where as in the US you would be in dept.
@@Maxsao Oops! haha, danke :-)
@@ZacklFair Sorry, I don't follow...
I live in the german town of Witten near Bochum and Dortmund. I do love german licence plates in general. So much fun to "read". Mine is WIT - CH 48 . Many more nice witches around. We also have WIT - Z, german for 'joke'. Did you mention that big towns usually have one letter, next ones two, smaller ones (and regions) three. Witten has around 100 000 inhabitants, that's small. The towns of Bremen, Lübeck, Rostock, Hamburg have an H in the beginning. (HB,HL, HR,HH) because they belonged and belong to the "Hanse" trade Union since centuries .
Vanity license plate I saw 4 years ago while vacationing on Sylt was a white VW New Beetle with the plate MI-LCH 1. :D
Towing: Whilst having different cars myself and in my family + friends, I recognized that the towing capacities vary a lot from brand to brand or model to model, even if they are roughly similar in size. In fact my father one fine day decided to buy the smallest / most economic vehicle that was capable to pull his caravan or the boat-trailer (both 1800kg) . He, after searching most possible dealers, ended with a Golf 6 Variant (Station wagon). He asked why other companies have so much lower towing-capacities and the dealer said that only the germans and some other middle-european people want such cars and so it is cheaper to make a car that can tow less, but is lighter to construct. If people worldwide buy them ...
The capacity (in germany) is calculated by weight of the vehivle the engins power and some other parameters. So yes, a VW Pasat and a Toyota Auris have a similar size but weight differently and have different powers, so the can'pull the same trailer...
If you tow a trailer with a mass of 1800 kg, then your car plus its load must not be heavier than 1700 kg, else you won't be allowed to drive it with the normal B license. So if you want to drive a fat heavy car and tow a heavy trailer you need a BE license (or maybe B96).
@@charlestaylor7591 I never had to bother since my license included BE, but the rules for towing with the basic B license changed at least once. I remember a rule where the towing cars empty weight had to be more than the maximum weight of the trailer with both combined less than 3.5t (or maybe 4.2t, not sure anymore). To make things worse I have the old BE with unlimited combined weight. New licenses for BE automatically are limited, so you can’t e.g. use an old Unimog (downsized to 3.5t to not fall under the C license) and pull a 12t truck trailer. Funny thing to note: There actually is no valid license for this combination anymore as the next class that allows for such trailers (C1E) starts at 3501kg weight for the car and is not applicable for cars.
@@ThePlumbeus Well, the special rules for people with old licenses are a mess anyways. For example, my dad has an old, grey "Klasse 3" license from the early 60s, the equivalent of today's B. But with his license, he is allowed to drive vehicles up to 7,5 tons, plus a trailer if the total mass is not more than 12 tons. This is pretty crazy considering he never had any driving lessons with such a vehicle.
@@charlestaylor7591 they are indeed a mess, my father got an additional license in the seventies during his Wehrpflicht mostly driving tanks and unimogs, with this license he’s pretty much allowed to drive anything which has wheels, excluding motorcycles, including transporting nearly any dangerous goods (because of the tank thing which obviously could carry ammunition), he only needs to do a one day course every five years to renew some parts of his license. He used this license throughout his professional career but hadn’t really have any proper training on most of the stuff he is allowed to drive. It’s somewhat insane how much was allowed back then
Hello, I am from Hesse and my neighbourhood region is Limburg. Their licence plates are starting with LM. For many years the combination of LM-AA was forbidden on the cars. LMAA is an abbreviation of “Leck mich am Arsch” and that is not one of the finest sentences in german. When this combination was finally allowed, all 1000 number plates where almost immediately sold out. In my youth many years ago, I think balance bikes didn’t exist. I learned using the bicycle with supportive wheels like the Americans today.
I live near Hanau and in the passt before we got MKK , the HU - was common sight. HU has a lot Funny things you can Make from. My Most Loved was HU-ND , HU-PE, HU-RA, HU-RE and HU-PS
I have been wondering forever how many PIR-ATs there are in Pirna.
It is said that it was allowed because someone sued with the argument that it means "Lebensfroher Mensch Auf Achse" (Life-Happy guy on the road) in his case (of course it didn't).
I really like this video because you really reflect nicely on cultural differences. I have seen so many videos that focus on one point and just don't realize that it is only in one area. I can relate to the credit card thing. We went on a trip to NYC in early 2020 (pre-pandemic) and I always felt uncomfortable when my card was taken away or in the case of a bar kept behind the bar. The latter case actually made sense to me, but it was still weird. I am used to paying directly from my visits to Britain and in Germany it is common to pay the tab at the end of the night (and sometimes having to hope that you can pay by card).
my three childrend learned on a balance bike. The resolution- with 4 years, all of them used a normal bike without any problems.. thats the point why it make sense :).. greets
Love your channel. It's so interesting being a German and given a review from a human being which was not born and raised here. Often helps to take things not for granted. Often it shows existing rooms for improvements, which sometimes are hard to find if you are mentally stuck in the way you do things. Thank you!
The towing difference in weight is mainly because we have trailer that are with brakes or brakeless. The 680kg refer to the capacity with a brakeless trailer. Depending on your Golf configuration (bigger brake diameter) this number will variate. If your trailer has brakes the weight of your car and the subframe will dictate your towing capacity. In you example 1600kg is allowed. Most of the germans have permit to drive cars that have a max weight of 3500kg (with trailer). Most of the "typical" cars are at 1600-1900kg and are allowed to pull 1200-1600kg to stay below the 3500kg number :) I hope u could understand everything :)
To add to this; most american trailers also are not balanced on their axle(s), they're designed to put 10-12% of the total weight on the trailer hitch, whereas european ones are supposed to have their weight, excluding the A-frame, etc., balanced and only have the A-frame's weight on the hitch, usually around max 50 kg, you'll realize this if you search for an european towing vehicle
We put our toddler on his first balance bike at 18 months. He did love it from the get-go. I recommend Woom bikes from the start.
I'm from Seattle and now living in Rheinland-Pfalz as well, and I definitely agree with this list.
As a german, I started on the balance bike (Laufrad) before I could think. Really enjoyed watching the video, because for me those things are just natural and seeing your perspective is really entertaining.
the thing about towing capacity in Germany is that we don't really measure by the weight of the towed part, but often by the weight of the whole combination (Gesamtgewicht). For example if you have a total towing weight of 1000 kg it doesn't matter if your trailer is 500 kg if your car is 600 kg. that has, as some already mentioned, to do with the breaks. if you get the momentum going you can tow pretty much anything towable, but to break, the momentum of the whole mass is critical.
This is the only logical way of thinking of it and is just common sense really. Why ever in America you would need a big truck to pull everything is beyond me.
@@Kiwi_Bayer Because the trailer doesn't have breaks.
@@HappyBeezerStudios Not all trailers require brakes and not all trailers or loads require a truck to pull them. Common sense and logic should tell you that if your load is too big for your car should you really tow it? Generally speaking double axeled trailers have brakes.
BRAKES, ffs, BRAKES. Not breaks.
Those balance bikes are pretty new. 25 years ago in germany I learned it with training wheels. But we had a driving test in elementary school.
In Germany you must also be certified to tow larger things. So if someone tows more than 750 kg of weight, they had in general also like 10 hours of training and passed a practical and a theoratical test.
Regarding the license plates, I do remember the case of Sun Microsystems, who (before being acquired by Oracle in 2010) did make sure to register their German corporate cars not with their headquarters in Kirchheim near Munich (area codes: M, AIB and WOR), but their branch office in Stuttgart (area code: S) - just to make use of the customised license plates: S-UN 1234.
Hi Anders. When was this? I was with Sun from 2000-2011 based at Heimstetten and my company cars were all with M registration plates.
These cars were probably leased from SIXT
german postal service still put every car under Bonn and Adac every car under Munich. for private owners it is also permissible to use your elder license plate when moving abroad. your loving plate is not waived anymore just because you are in another district
imho the best place for license plates is Starnberg (STA). So many combinations! STARK, STAR, STAHL, STAU, STAB, STALK, STAMM, STAAT, STAN, etc.
😅 I often think about how lucky some people are to come from places that have a lot of possibilities for combinations as opposed to someone from say, Altenburger Land with "ABG." What can you do with ABG?? haha
Many combinations doesn't necessarily mean good combinations though. Most of them are rather "peinlich" imo.
@@PassportTwo How about "ABGAS"?
Rosenheim (RO) is also a close contender for good letter cominations; especially for names. ROSI, ROSE, ROSA, ROMI, ROLF, ROFL, ROBO, etc...
A few days ago I saw the license plate ZI-EL. „Der Weg ist das Ziel“. The owner took that sentence literally.
About trailers - automatic gearshifts can't handle heavy trailers, so their weight is limited. A human driver can adopt different power and load patterns, an automat can't (unless built for it). This is all of the secret.
lol, I'm so surprised about the last fact. Nobody in germany would ever hand out their credit card 😄
My biggest accomplishment so far, how silly it might seem, was standing in a concert crowd with moshpits and not having a panic attack due to my claustrophobic tendencies… Also I‘m pretty sure I learned biking with a balance bike too, though I‘m not sure… I definitely also had a "city roller" that was my go-to for a few years 😂☺️
I'm German and I had training wheels. It wasn't a great experience learning to ride a 'proper' bike because I fell over a lot. But in the early 90s balance bikes weren't really a thing. My nephew has started on a balance bike and I think it's really the better way to learn to ride a bike.
i had training wheels too, but my parents angled them slightly higher every other week and at some point i was sitting on it like a 20° angle (with 0° being straight upwards for reference), so the training wheel would still support me. when they angled it even more i was bothered too much by sitting so crooked and tried to ride properly thus the training wheels didnt touch the ground anymore and then we got rid of em :D
The thing with the Laufrad and adjusting at a earlier age is a more recent thing in Germany. When i was young in the 1970s this wasn't common and i went the way of the supporting wheels to normal bike ;)
Can relate the last point so bad🤣🤣🤣 was shocked the first times!
The VHS is great! I actually met my girlfriend at a Volkshochschulskurs haha Always enjoy your videos, keep them coming :)
Well, I guess that you proved me right that they are great to meet people with common interests! 😅 I just didn't realize that they also could double as a matchmaking establishment! 😊haha Thanks so much for that! Glad you enjoy 😊
i think the best car licens plate i've seen so far is HA:RI-80 like haribo. and in the car were a lot of plush bears 😅 Mischief Aubrey with Mustache is 🤣
My dad installed a easily detachable pole with a handle onto the back of my bike when I was like 4 y/o. He’d guide me at first, so I didn’t lean over to the sides or fall and then just pushed me, pulled out the pole and let me roll/ride. 👌
Haha, thanks for the nice video. The thing with the towing was really interesting. as a matter of fact when I am in the US, I always wonder why everyone has so big cars, I did not know that you need one for towing.
I learned bike riding with an old method from my grandpa: He would tie my small bike to his big one with a strong rope. That way, he would always stabilise my bike by riding his. Whenever he slowed down, I would notice the need for balancing until I could do it on my own.
That's a really interesting method! This sounds actually how one learns to "wake surf." You typically tie a rope to a boat, just like for water skiing, then you stand on the surfboard behind the boat and have the boat pull you until you finally get the feeling for the wake's wave and the slack goes out of the rope. You hold onto the rope with slack until you get the confidence to finally get rid of the rope and then you surf behind the boat with nothing but the wave propelling you and your balance to stay in the sweet spot of the wave. Very interesting technique to learn to ride a bike I had never heard of before! Thanks for sharing 😊
@@PassportTwo that is even cooler than riding a bike! How old were you when you learnd it?
I have two things to share here: As a young guy living in Dortmund, I went to the Strassenverkehrsamt to register my new Motorbike. The Lady behind the counter gave me the number of my licence plate: DO-IN 6. Hmm, maybe she was interrested in me, in some way. The second thing to share is, that in Sauerland, a middle high mountain region near Dortmund, the shortage for the region on the licence plate is HSK, that means Hoch-Sauerland-Kreis. Because a lot of the people, who live there, come to Dortmund for shopping and working, the licence plate has an other meaning: HSK - Hilfe, Sie Kommen. Help, they are coming.
In saarland we got a city called saarlouis or SLS on the plate. The other meaning is "saarländische lenkrad sau" something like "saarland's pig behind the wheel" Don't know how i'd translate it better
Been living here for 30 years. I dont know why, but the deposit shopping carts has always been my favorite difference. Sometimes in the states, there are more carts in the parking lot than cars. Great vid. Try Flammkuchenhütte while in KL..