Why is it polite asking people questions, when you are not interested in the answers. When I (as a german) ask "how are you" I am interested in the answer.
Mel, I know what you mean. American small talk is a different social tradition. It is their idea of politeness and they say, if you can`t say anything nice, don`t say anything at all. One should not take it literally though.
Isn't it actually more polite and respectful to leave people alone rather than pressure them into having a conversation about mundayne things (which is basically just making noises)? I always feel Germans are more OK with not having to verbalize things as much. So it can feel kind of OCD to a German, if people have to constantly be verbally reminded of human conncetion and that they're not alone. Makes them seem so anxious. I don't think Germans don't want to talk to each other, it's more that they don't have to. As much.
I love your comment here. That is exactly how I feel as a german. Sometimes it is almost annoying when someone comments and expresses literally everything, and the more I try to calm it down with being less talking, the other person will talk even more, because he wants to keep the conversation up. omg it can be a conflict! :-D
Germany has 16 Bundesländer. Only in one of them Oktoberfest is celebrated. I am 35 years old and I have never been to Oktoberfest. And I only know 2 or 3 people that have ever been there. Lilian seems to come from the south of germany, but that's not transferable to other parts of germany. I am from Ostfrisland (north west of germany) and there isn't a lot that is similar to bavaria for example. If I speak in my dialect and a bavarian speaks in his/her dialect, none of us would understand anything. When people from north america think about germany the mostly think of southern germany. The south is very beautiful, but when you are in germyn for the next time, take the time to visit some other places. The are (mostly) nice too.
Okay, sorry. Sounded not like that. And the american cliche of germany is always from southern gemany, because the united states were garrisoned in bavaria after WW2. I will check your chanel if there is more stuff like this (differences canada/north america vs. germany). If I will find this stuff I will watch it.
I am living near Ostfriesland (stolzer Niedersachse hier, aber südlicher, obwohl es mich ans Meer zieht) and it always seemed to me that Bavaria could be another country altogether...
In Finland we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve too:) Opening presents, official Christmas meal etc... 25th is just a lazy day at home and Christmas is pretty much done, nothing really happens except you have to eat leftovers:D
TH-cam decided that I needed to see your video. You two are too cute! I am now an American, but still consider myself German. I always liked that it is easier to make small talk in the US. But I had to learn that when someone asks you "How is it going?" They don't really want to know, because until someone educated me, I would give them my life story. But I last year I have learned the difference between friends in Germany and acquaintances in the US. And I do get annoyed when the cashier at the grocery store asks me where I am from. I used to tell them "I will tell you tonight over a drink at the bar" (no, I was not hitting on them, but I was trying to tell them that we don't have the kind of relationship where my life is any of their business. I gave that up, because I realized that they didn't understand my weird German sense of humor.
Tiger H I get your humour😂 I HAAAAAATTTTEEEE small talk. Like...how do you even do that? It's soooo annoying ICH BIN SO FROH, DASS ES DAS HIER NICHT WIRKLICH GIBT
Mal interessant das zu sehen :) Das sind teilweise so Kleinigkeiten über die man sich normalerweise keine Gedanken macht und erst im Ausland fällt es einem dann auf 🤔 Euch beiden alles Gute, ihr wirkt sehr sympathisch ☺️
I am German and yes, I watch and love King of Queens xD About the small talk topic: efficiency is kind of important in the German everday life so it is seen as polite to say "Hello/Goodbye", smile and just not waste the time of someone else. You might get into a little small talk at the bus stop because everyone there needs to wait.
German here. I don’t personally watch king of queens but I’ve definitely noticed the reruns on TV 😂 And yeah, I would definitely agree that when a german is nice to you, it’s because they genuinely like you. I also live in Canada so I see both sides of your videos. Compliments are definitely more common in Canada from people you don’t know or know that well.
THIS IS CRAZY ACCURATE! My husband is Swedish, (seems v similar to German as Im finding here) and Im Aussie! (always chatting and asking people stuff like you said Alexis). He wears the slippers, I wear socks, the small talk thing and the jokes going over his head. Feels good to relate :)
My girlfriend is Greek and I'm from Seattle. I can definitely relate to the slipper thing. Her mom and grandma thought I was crazy for walking around barefoot and kept offering me shoes while we were at their house. It was confusing at first, but now I've adopted that at home too.
I’m Dutch and live in the south part of The Netherlands. Here it’s a mix between Germany and Belgium. In Maastricht City we speak a dialect with German and French Words included. In Maastricht the French influence is still big while it’s a Dutch City.
What next, sunshine? It got less but King of Queens used to be on constant reruns on Kabel7 for years. I watched it all of the time how old are you guys though I am 23 so if you are a bit older or younger that might not have been the time you watched afternoon TV much.
Es ist superinteressant zu sehen wie es mit euch funktioniert, und dass ihr euch quer über alle Kontinente kennengelernt habt. Ihr seid ein tolles Paar. Vielen Dank für die Videos, das ihr euch so zeigt.
In Mexico we actually celebrate Christmas on the 24th. We open the presents and all that on Christmas Eve, while the 25th is more like getting together to eat the leftovers, or recalentado.
Hi Guys! I'm from Hungary and we open the christmas presents at night on 24th of December, too. And we celebrate Santa Claus on 6th of December. So it's not a cheap month cause we give gifts to each other in the family. :)
I am Asian American and my girlfriend is Thai. We have our similarity and culture differences. Thai do not celebrate Christmas and American does. Also long distance relationship is hard but it worth it because I love her. Love you guys!!
Hey I'm from Germany and my girlfriend is from Canada... I'm freaking out a bit right now... I found your account today and am so happy. You two are really sympathic! Can't wait to see more videos😇❤️
I kind of have the same experience here. My husband is from Canada but he moved to Germany though. When we get asked by friends either side about cultural differences we actually talk about a lot of the things you mentioned. 😉
King of Queens.... Check! I have been in a cross-cultural relationship with a girl from Norway and MANY weird / funny / shocking differences accrued. I can relate to this video so much :) You two are very cute, thanks for bringing up memories to smile about.
The ironic thing about your branding point is that the German(European) product you showed to me looks more presentable and aesthetically pleasing to buy off the shelf. , than the North American one. Which I find is often the case esp when I browse for products online at European retailers . American products do try to make their products spund good but the packaging and presentation in my opinion leaves a lot to be desired.
I am American and I love to see the way different cultures celebrate holidays or even the many different holidays all around the world. This is one of my favorite things about You Tube I can learn so much about cultures around the world. I am pretty sure that you are apart now and I hope that you are doing well I know how hard it can be. I was in the military and was deployed for months at a time and it is hard to leave family behind especially during the holidays. Love you both and I am looking forward to seeing the new way that you are going to do the videos...
just came down here to comment on the king of queens thing. HELL YEAH (actually i think when they told kevin james how popular it was over here, he was surprised and excited haha) also, im in a german/canadian relationship too and you two look cute as heck together :3 oh yeah and my biggest pet peeve is when he asks me "what are you doing" and i reply with "nothing" as in..nothing important, for example, browsing youtube and he says "well, youre doing something!" germans just have a way of communicating as little as possible :D
Oh yes, King of Queens is definitely a German favourite. My wife and I used to watch in on TV, then bought the fridge-shaped DVD box set and binged the original version it while we were doing Erasmus in Wales. We cite it everyday and never grow tired of it.
We have a dinner at Christmas eve and open up the presents after the meal. After we opened up the presents, we play parlor games like ludo. We watch „Kevin home alone“ too. In the morning at December 25th, we all go to our grandparents house where we meet my uncle and aunt and my cousins. We celebrate Christmas again. We have lunch together (more feastful than usual) and get presents after lunch, again. That’s at least what my family does, and I‘m sure we‘re not the only one^^. We celebrate Christmas twice basically.
I am the child of a binational relationship and it definitely gives you lots of great stories to tell! My mum's Polish and my dad's German. One of my favourite stories is how when my parents met in England in the early 90s, my mum saw my dad and her first thought was "I hope he's not German" because there used to be quite a lot of prejudice towards Germans where she was from. Also, my mum who was raised deeply catholic and who was a little prude at the time first met my German grandparents at a nudist beach (my dad's from eastern Germany where nudist beaches were and still are quite common), definitely a slightly unusual kind of culture shock haha We still get lots of laughs from my mum being polish now, because although she speaks Germany fluently and without any accent, she sometimes messes up words, especially connected nouns and and prefixes! Just a few days ago she said "Gedankenschnaps" instead of "Schnapsidee" and she often confuses words like "einschließen" and "anschließen". It is so hilarious when she wants to say that she'll join someone and says that she'll lock herself in instead :D
the small talk thing is so real. Im a bulgarian living in germany and i really miss being able to go to the store or the bakery or whatever and just have a chat.
Im also from Germany but we open our Christmas presents after dinner at the 24th and when I was a child we visited our grandparents on the 25th for having breakfast ( or pretty much just cakes :D ) and the presents where opened after the meal but still in the morning. So I guess we did the german-canadian mix before you :D
My GF is a Filipino, but she is living in America, I'm German and I live in Germany but I'm also half russian :D I love those cultural differences tbh!
I'm from Trieste, a city in Italy that was "German" for five century, and we celebrate Christmas on the 24th AND 25th, like dinner with one part of the family on the 24th and lunch with the other part the 25th. We LOVE to celebrate this things (especially because of the food...)
here in the Philippines, we also celebrate Christmas on the evening of 24th and the next day is more like an extended celebration, we usually received guests like relatives or we visit relatives on the 25th
I just stumbled across your page today. I’m a Kiwi living in Germany with my German girlfriend! This video is awesome! Thanks for sharing. Very relatable for me and mine 😂😂
It's funny because my wife and I are both swiss, but I feel that your cultural differences apply to us as well. I'm from the italian speaking side, she is from the swiss-german speaking side and we now live in the french speaking side. The countries around us influence greatly our culture. I would say food is quite different, but one thing with which I struggle is greetings. Like, when we arrive at a dinner party with 10 or more people, I would just say a collective "Hello everybody!", she would go and shake hands with anyone and the "romands" (from the french speaking side) would kiss everybody on the cheeks, even if they don't know them.
Before I visited Germany I knew this stereotypes that Germans are really cold, not friendly etc but damn I met the most friendly, kind, generous, wonderful people in Germany. And when I use to buy stuff the cashiers were always smiling and giving you the good vibe🤩 I found your channel today guys💕 greetings from Albania
To explain the danish reaction - in Danish we say "i lige måde" "_same to you_" in the way in English you would say "OK" or "yep" or "ah huh" or some other little throwaway lilt phrase. She sounds like she (the checkout girl) did a literal version of that, yah follow? Jule belongs on the 24th saadan .
This sounds sooooo familiar. I'm from Belgium, my girlfriend is from Argentina. We' ve been doing the LDR for almost 9 years now. Imagine the cultural shock shock between a typical "cold" Belgian and a typical "warm" Argentinan.... There's a lot of huge differences but just socially I have adapted a lot. Imagine that everyone immediately hugs everyone over there, I was like "what's happening"? Now I've started to be more physical with people and sometimes I see them looking "What's that hand doing on my arm"???? It's hilarious sometimes how different we are. :-D
I am Australian living in Berlin and my girlfriend is American. I moved to America for 6 months and it was crazy because everything is so meaningful there. The holidays: christmas, thanksgiving, new years .. ect. all the traditions mean so much to them and once a commitment is made then its really rude to back out. This doesn't really roll so well with me because I decide things last minute. I wanted to go see my cousin last minute for christmas because she happened to get some time off work to come to NYC I told her about it casually and she got super upset. I was confused and didn't see the big deal. For me christmas is just a chill day with the family and a bbq. This happens all the time. She loves all the celebrations and i just see them as a waste of money and a huge problem with consumerism.
My experiences are, that often people of other cultural backgrounds are more relaxed with conversations and more heartily and in this case, I'm definitely not german! I really hate this thing in Germany. There are areas in Germany, where the people like to make smalltalk and are more heartily for example in Cologne and the most stiff persons are in Schwaben, where I grew up. Today, I had a nice and interesting conversation with an american guy in the morning at a café. A german man felt disturbed, he said that he wanted to read his newspaper and was leaving angrily. So I really was annoyed by that. And I liked to talk with the man, but germans think, if you do as a woman, that you fell in love and have some serious interest. So all the people are staring at you, why I'm talking to the guy. Hey, I only like to talk and to have good conversations and it was clear, that we don't ever see us again. But people think, that this woman wants to have him as boyfriend and is not so good behaved because he actually has got a girlfriend. I really hate this, because people are lonely because of that and they can never talk. So I feel like a stranger in my own country. What I like in Germany, that people are honest, that they are good planned and this make working a lot easier. And that people try to make you the work the easiest and the most comfortable as possible. I worked with other people of other countries, it was bad organized, they didn't think that I need time for preparation, I was really angry because they were talking too late, you had to organize and prepare anything and I didn't get much payment. In this case, I like the germans more, because it's better organized, you have enough time for preparation and can show your good work, the payment is better and it's a lot healthier to work in such conditions. And you don't have to care of anything else than your own job, because you can rely on people and there aren't bad surprises.
Now living in Schwaben but people here seem more open here to me than in the place where I grew up in Bavaria. But this might also be because now I live in a place with five times as many inhabitants as in my childhood-village.
America vs. Belgium for me and my girl: We tell time, weather, weight, etc. differently, so we always have to convert them when we talk about that stuff! There are also cultural differences similar to yours with America being much more open and friendly with strangers, whereas Belgium is more reserved.
I live in Latvia (which is located above Germany) and I find a lot of things in common with Germans and Europeans in general. About the Christmas celebration - we celebrate it in the evening of the 24th as well, and I can't imagine the whole thing in the morning of the 25th. It's so unusual for me to see this in movies. But at the end - it's called culture and it is normal to have so many different cultures around the world, because that makes everything so exciting, doesn't it? 🙂
I (German) agree with most of it, I'm also not really into the tv show, well I'm not watching much in general! Since I'm back I kind of miss the politeness of the Canadians... my boyfriend is from Canada and we also noticed some cultural differences! But I'm really excited to show him my country and our culture, like Germans love to celebrate and drink together at events! :D
In France and in Germany Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve, in the same way. Cross-cultural relationships are great as long as it's possible to marry in one of the countries, otherwise the visa problem becomes heart-breaking.
i couldn't stop laughing and smiling when i was watching this video. Lilian you comment about german ppl being more serious , help me figure out why this german woman was liking me so much last fall, and yes i had a good appetite too, i was over seas in india at the time.
I'm an American living in Canada (dual citizen) and I notice even subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) cultural differences between USA & Canada. I think I'm a sociologist at heart because I love learning about different cultures like this! You two are adorable together, btw.
Asbjorn. Brother. You must be a socialist. That's why you hate Trump. I happen to respect Trump very much. He is very competent politician and his reforms will bring unprecedented prosperity to America. You must always remember that socialism is the enemy prosperity. Socialism demoralizes people and makes them poor. Just look at Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Both countries are very rich in natural resources. However, only one is prosperous. The other (Venezuela) is a disaster where people line up for bread. The difference between the two is that Saudi Arabia is a capitalist country with no taxes. Venezuela on the other hand is a socialist paradise. Venezuelans are desperate to emigrate to United States. Not too many people want to emigrate out of Saudi Arabia though.
Asbjorn. Do you have statistics on emigration in your country. How many people move between USA and your country? If more people move out of your country to USA, then your top ranking on "happiness" list is kind of meaningless. Why would people move out of happy country into a miserable country?
I live in a cross-cultural relationship myself. My husband is Russian. The cultural differences between us have turned out to be much bigger than I imagined at first. It is sometimes interesting, sometimes funny and sometimes getting on your nerves. You have to either overcome it or accept it.
Where I'm from we have a phenomenon called "the Seattle Freeze," which refers to the fact that newcomers to the area tend to perceive Seattleites as cold, standoffish, and distant.. Polite but not particularly friendly. I haven't spent a significant amount of time elsewhere in the States so I'm not really sure how we compare.
Hey beautiful ladies! Just discovered your channel and absolutely love it already! You're so cute together! Please don't stop filming :) Best wishes from Vancouver ! xx
My girlfriend is Canadian living in America. I notice a lot of differences. She definitely is more reserved in public and is more open behind closed doors.
Why is it polite asking people questions, when you are not interested in the answers. When I (as a german) ask "how are you" I am interested in the answer.
ask me the same question and I`ll send you my 450 pages of my medical record, and the ones of my family ;-)
Yeah but if I would ask you I would be interested. I, as a german would like to hear about your issues and what’s currently bothering you when I ask.
Mel,
I know what you mean. American small talk is a different social tradition. It is their idea of politeness and they say, if you can`t say anything nice, don`t say anything at all.
One should not take it literally though.
ElRackadusch lol Chinese people greet people with 'have you taken your meal?',and they never care about the answer.
wait chiness cna use youtube ? i heard they have their own apps and sites
Isn't it actually more polite and respectful to leave people alone rather than pressure them into having a conversation about mundayne things (which is basically just making noises)?
I always feel Germans are more OK with not having to verbalize things as much. So it can feel kind of OCD to a German, if people have to constantly be verbally reminded of human conncetion and that they're not alone. Makes them seem so anxious.
I don't think Germans don't want to talk to each other, it's more that they don't have to. As much.
Interesting point! Never really thought of it this way, but it’s true! - L
I love your comment here. That is exactly how I feel as a german. Sometimes it is almost annoying when someone comments and expresses literally everything, and the more I try to calm it down with being less talking, the other person will talk even more, because he wants to keep the conversation up. omg it can be a conflict! :-D
Lilian's english sounds so great!
Germany has 16 Bundesländer. Only in one of them Oktoberfest is celebrated. I am 35 years old and I have never been to Oktoberfest. And I only know 2 or 3 people that have ever been there. Lilian seems to come from the south of germany, but that's not transferable to other parts of germany. I am from Ostfrisland (north west of germany) and there isn't a lot that is similar to bavaria for example. If I speak in my dialect and a bavarian speaks in his/her dialect, none of us would understand anything. When people from north america think about germany the mostly think of southern germany. The south is very beautiful, but when you are in germyn for the next time, take the time to visit some other places. The are (mostly) nice too.
I‘m actually from Berlin :)
Okay, sorry. Sounded not like that. And the american cliche of germany is always from southern gemany, because the united states were garrisoned in bavaria after WW2.
I will check your chanel if there is more stuff like this (differences canada/north america vs. germany). If I will find this stuff I will watch it.
Hey, I'm from Berlin!!!!
The US Army was not just in Bavaria. However the cliche that all Germans act/look like bavarians is one of my (many) pet peeves!
I am living near Ostfriesland (stolzer Niedersachse hier, aber südlicher, obwohl es mich ans Meer zieht) and it always seemed to me that Bavaria could be another country altogether...
Ich dachte, Hausschuhe zu tragen wäre ganz normal.. ^^
Und wir machen die Geschenke erst nach dem Essen auf, ich denke, das ist überall anders
Zaprina ja andere Länder andere Sitten😂😂
In Finland we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve too:) Opening presents, official Christmas meal etc... 25th is just a lazy day at home and Christmas is pretty much done, nothing really happens except you have to eat leftovers:D
Same in Poland! :D
same in hungary
Czech republic also :)
same in Argentina :)
yeah Poland too but UK they have 25th and Santa Claus is father Christmas :))))
TH-cam decided that I needed to see your video. You two are too cute!
I am now an American, but still consider myself German. I always liked that it is easier to make small talk in the US. But I had to learn that when someone asks you "How is it going?" They don't really want to know, because until someone educated me, I would give them my life story. But I last year I have learned the difference between friends in Germany and acquaintances in the US. And I do get annoyed when the cashier at the grocery store asks me where I am from. I used to tell them "I will tell you tonight over a drink at the bar" (no, I was not hitting on them, but I was trying to tell them that we don't have the kind of relationship where my life is any of their business. I gave that up, because I realized that they didn't understand my weird German sense of humor.
Tiger H I get your humour😂 I HAAAAAATTTTEEEE small talk. Like...how do you even do that? It's soooo annoying
ICH BIN SO FROH, DASS ES DAS HIER NICHT WIRKLICH GIBT
Lilian totally looks like Anne Hathaway with blonde haire 😂
Jessy I'm dying 😂😂😂 Lilian and I were just talking about how multiple people have said this. I don't see it at all !
Now that you mentioned.....
@@AlexisLilian its the eyes, eyebrows, and lips
I’m Brazilian and we open presents on the 24th after Christmas dinner! At least my family does... haha
I´m Dane and we do the same thing :)
Mal interessant das zu sehen :) Das sind teilweise so Kleinigkeiten über die man sich normalerweise keine Gedanken macht und erst im Ausland fällt es einem dann auf 🤔
Euch beiden alles Gute, ihr wirkt sehr sympathisch ☺️
I am German and yes, I watch and love King of Queens xD
About the small talk topic: efficiency is kind of important in the German everday life so it is seen as polite to say "Hello/Goodbye", smile and just not waste the time of someone else. You might get into a little small talk at the bus stop because everyone there needs to wait.
German here. I don’t personally watch king of queens but I’ve definitely noticed the reruns on TV 😂
And yeah, I would definitely agree that when a german is nice to you, it’s because they genuinely like you.
I also live in Canada so I see both sides of your videos. Compliments are definitely more common in Canada from people you don’t know or know that well.
THIS IS CRAZY ACCURATE! My husband is Swedish, (seems v similar to German as Im finding here) and Im Aussie! (always chatting and asking people stuff like you said Alexis). He wears the slippers, I wear socks, the small talk thing and the jokes going over his head. Feels good to relate :)
Swedes open their presents the night before as well, found it very strange!
My girlfriend is Greek and I'm from Seattle. I can definitely relate to the slipper thing. Her mom and grandma thought I was crazy for walking around barefoot and kept offering me shoes while we were at their house. It was confusing at first, but now I've adopted that at home too.
I’m Dutch and live in the south part of The Netherlands. Here it’s a mix between Germany and Belgium. In Maastricht City we speak a dialect with German and French Words included. In Maastricht the French influence is still big while it’s a Dutch City.
I'm German and could relate to almost all of this except for the King of Queen thing 😄 I really don't know anyone who's watching that show
Loo Ping haha ja ich auch ^^ hab von der Serie nich mal was gehört 🙈
Pro7 hat eine Dauerschleife mit "the big bang theory", King of Queens….No thanks
Same ! Noch nie davon gehört
Carry and Doug... Carry and Doug :-D
What next, sunshine? It got less but King of Queens used to be on constant reruns on Kabel7 for years. I watched it all of the time how old are you guys though I am 23 so if you are a bit older or younger that might not have been the time you watched afternoon TV much.
Es ist superinteressant zu sehen wie es mit euch funktioniert, und dass ihr euch quer über alle Kontinente kennengelernt habt. Ihr seid ein tolles Paar. Vielen Dank für die Videos, das ihr euch so zeigt.
Vielen Dank dir für den netten Kommentar! 😊
Also my grandma is from Germany and the whole slipper thing wearing them around the house is definitely true
i am from germany and i can say that this isnt true... i dont know one...
In Mexico we actually celebrate Christmas on the 24th. We open the presents and all that on Christmas Eve, while the 25th is more like getting together to eat the leftovers, or recalentado.
Hi Guys! I'm from Hungary and we open the christmas presents at night on 24th of December, too. And we celebrate Santa Claus on 6th of December. So it's not a cheap month cause we give gifts to each other in the family. :)
The same in Poland - christmas presents on 24th of december, Santa Claus on 6th of december. Greetings from Poland.
In Poland we celebrate Christmas on 24th as well:)
And also the small talk thing is pretty much the same as in Germany here!
I am Asian American and my girlfriend is Thai. We have our similarity and culture differences. Thai do not celebrate Christmas and American does. Also long distance relationship is hard but it worth it because I love her. Love you guys!!
Hey I'm from Germany and my girlfriend is from Canada... I'm freaking out a bit right now... I found your account today and am so happy. You two are really sympathic! Can't wait to see more videos😇❤️
haha that’s awesome! we’re actually going to film another one in the canada vs germany series today 😊 so you can expect that to come out soon
I kind of have the same experience here. My husband is from Canada but he moved to Germany though. When we get asked by friends either side about cultural differences we actually talk about a lot of the things you mentioned. 😉
I'd never had guessed that you're from Germany, because your English is soo good!
I know right no thick accent wow 🤩
in austria we open the presents on the 24th as well :)
Karen R i
Karen R yeah wo wohnst in österreich ich wohne linz and am from africa😉😉
Agnes Wangari wohn in Graz 😄
Karen R super i know jakominiplatz,kunsthaus,schlossberg, graz is very beautiful bin aus kenia und ich habe einpaar freunde aus kenia in graz
Karen ich auch haha
King of Queens.... Check!
I have been in a cross-cultural relationship with a girl from Norway and MANY weird / funny / shocking differences accrued. I can relate to this video so much :)
You two are very cute, thanks for bringing up memories to smile about.
The ironic thing about your branding point is that the German(European) product you showed to me looks more presentable and aesthetically pleasing to buy off the shelf. , than the North American one. Which I find is often the case esp when I browse for products online at European retailers . American products do try to make their products spund good but the packaging and presentation in my opinion leaves a lot to be desired.
I am American and I love to see the way different cultures celebrate holidays or even the many different holidays all around the world. This is one of my favorite things about You Tube I can learn so much about cultures around the world. I am pretty sure that you are apart now and I hope that you are doing well I know how hard it can be. I was in the military and was deployed for months at a time and it is hard to leave family behind especially during the holidays. Love you both and I am looking forward to seeing the new way that you are going to do the videos...
same in luxemburg.. we open presents on the 24th before the christmas dinner hahah xx
Lilian, you definitely picked up the Canadian accent a little. Same thing happened to me living in Australia 😅
she definitely did. I guess thats what happens when you live somewhere for 5+ years :)
-A
Alexis & Lilian wow, probably the quickest reply I ever got on TH-cam 👍
I only lasted 3 years in Aus but the accent there really rubs off 😅
In Quebec (french Canada) we celebrate on the 24th December too.
just came down here to comment on the king of queens thing. HELL YEAH (actually i think when they told kevin james how popular it was over here, he was surprised and excited haha) also, im in a german/canadian relationship too and you two look cute as heck together :3 oh yeah and my biggest pet peeve is when he asks me "what are you doing" and i reply with "nothing" as in..nothing important, for example, browsing youtube and he says "well, youre doing something!" germans just have a way of communicating as little as possible :D
I loved seeing the Tim Hortons included for Canada!!
Oh yes, King of Queens is definitely a German favourite. My wife and I used to watch in on TV, then bought the fridge-shaped DVD box set and binged the original version it while we were doing Erasmus in Wales. We cite it everyday and never grow tired of it.
Finally someone who agrees! 😆
We have a dinner at Christmas eve and open up the presents after the meal. After we opened up the presents, we play parlor games like ludo. We watch „Kevin home alone“ too. In the morning at December 25th, we all go to our grandparents house where we meet my uncle and aunt and my cousins. We celebrate Christmas again. We have lunch together (more feastful than usual) and get presents after lunch, again.
That’s at least what my family does, and I‘m sure we‘re not the only one^^.
We celebrate Christmas twice basically.
I am the child of a binational relationship and it definitely gives you lots of great stories to tell! My mum's Polish and my dad's German. One of my favourite stories is how when my parents met in England in the early 90s, my mum saw my dad and her first thought was "I hope he's not German" because there used to be quite a lot of prejudice towards Germans where she was from. Also, my mum who was raised deeply catholic and who was a little prude at the time first met my German grandparents at a nudist beach (my dad's from eastern Germany where nudist beaches were and still are quite common), definitely a slightly unusual kind of culture shock haha
We still get lots of laughs from my mum being polish now, because although she speaks Germany fluently and without any accent, she sometimes messes up words, especially connected nouns and and prefixes! Just a few days ago she said "Gedankenschnaps" instead of "Schnapsidee" and she often confuses words like "einschließen" and "anschließen". It is so hilarious when she wants to say that she'll join someone and says that she'll lock herself in instead :D
the small talk thing is so real. Im a bulgarian living in germany and i really miss being able to go to the store or the bakery or whatever and just have a chat.
Im also from Germany but we open our Christmas presents after dinner at the 24th and when I was a child we visited our grandparents on the 25th for having breakfast ( or pretty much just cakes :D ) and the presents where opened after the meal but still in the morning.
So I guess we did the german-canadian mix before you :D
My GF is a Filipino, but she is living in America, I'm German and I live in Germany but I'm also half russian :D I love those cultural differences tbh!
My parents were German and I am Canadian and I so relate to both perspectives! Thanks for you lovely banter :)
I'm from Trieste, a city in Italy that was "German" for five century, and we celebrate Christmas on the 24th AND 25th, like dinner with one part of the family on the 24th and lunch with the other part the 25th. We LOVE to celebrate this things (especially because of the food...)
I'm American and my wife is Swedish and we can relate a lot to these differences hahahaha
here in the Philippines, we also celebrate Christmas on the evening of 24th and the next day is more like an extended celebration, we usually received guests like relatives or we visit relatives on the 25th
I just stumbled across your page today. I’m a Kiwi living in Germany with my German girlfriend! This video is awesome! Thanks for sharing. Very relatable for me and mine 😂😂
In Portugal we open presents at the 25th too :)
Im from Portugal and half of my family opens them on the 24th starting around 22pm. :)
It's funny because my wife and I are both swiss, but I feel that your cultural differences apply to us as well. I'm from the italian speaking side, she is from the swiss-german speaking side and we now live in the french speaking side. The countries around us influence greatly our culture. I would say food is quite different, but one thing with which I struggle is greetings. Like, when we arrive at a dinner party with 10 or more people, I would just say a collective "Hello everybody!", she would go and shake hands with anyone and the "romands" (from the french speaking side) would kiss everybody on the cheeks, even if they don't know them.
I'm a Canuck; very much enjoyed this pleasant and informative video. I've always been fascinated by German culture and this was nice to watch.
I always appreciate your videos together. ❤️🇨🇦
Poles are a lot like Germans too, to be honest. Also, in Poland we also celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December. Nice video!
Before I visited Germany I knew this stereotypes that Germans are really cold, not friendly etc but damn I met the most friendly, kind, generous, wonderful people in Germany. And when I use to buy stuff the cashiers were always smiling and giving you the good vibe🤩 I found your channel today guys💕 greetings from Albania
In Poland we open presents on 24 as well at the evening, but after dinner :)
omg girls! I am from the Czech Republic and unwrap our presents on the 24th as well, it's not just a German thing, many European coutries do that
I'm Polish and we also celebrate Christmas on the 24th. We open the presents after our Christmas dinner but before we go to church in the late evening
also LOL at cultural difference in branding 😂😂😂 So true!!
Congratulation for 11k subscribers alexis and lilian 👏🏼💃🏻 Proud of you both
oh thanks god ive been rewatching the old videos so many times
What I've learned from this is that I should move to Germany...
Alison Jane it’s nice here in Germany
Nah you better don't it's so boring over here
Aragorn, Son of Arathorn warum sollte es hier langweilig sein?
It's boring as fuck in Germany...
Lindt sis it isn’t boring??
In France, some families open their presents on the 24th at night too, it just depends on the family traditions!
To explain the danish reaction - in Danish we say "i lige måde" "_same to you_" in the way in English you would say "OK" or "yep" or "ah huh" or some other little throwaway lilt phrase. She sounds like she (the checkout girl) did a literal version of that, yah follow? Jule belongs on the 24th saadan .
We wear slippers in the UK too. Just wearing socks is not enough, especially if you catch your toe in a doorway etc! : )
Thanks for your video! I enjoyed a lot watching itMy situation is Netherlands-Mexico... so also we have quiete some differences in culture :-)
I‘m german and I‘ve never had slippers😂
In Argentina we also open presents on the night of 24. We have dinner with the family and then we go out with friends.
In Poland we also spend Christmas on the 24th and open our presents in the evening ~
My dad is German, from Central Frankfurt, and my mother is from the States. We open 1 or 2 gifts on the 24th, and the rest on the 25th.
In Czech republic we open gifts 24th also at night but after dinner not before.
This sounds sooooo familiar. I'm from Belgium, my girlfriend is from Argentina. We' ve been doing the LDR for almost 9 years now. Imagine the cultural shock shock between a typical "cold" Belgian and a typical "warm" Argentinan.... There's a lot of huge differences but just socially I have adapted a lot. Imagine that everyone immediately hugs everyone over there, I was like "what's happening"? Now I've started to be more physical with people and sometimes I see them looking "What's that hand doing on my arm"???? It's hilarious sometimes how different we are. :-D
I am Australian living in Berlin and my girlfriend is American. I moved to America for 6 months and it was crazy because everything is so meaningful there. The holidays: christmas, thanksgiving, new years .. ect. all the traditions mean so much to them and once a commitment is made then its really rude to back out. This doesn't really roll so well with me because I decide things last minute. I wanted to go see my cousin last minute for christmas because she happened to get some time off work to come to NYC I told her about it casually and she got super upset. I was confused and didn't see the big deal. For me christmas is just a chill day with the family and a bbq. This happens all the time. She loves all the celebrations and i just see them as a waste of money and a huge problem with consumerism.
My experiences are, that often people of other cultural backgrounds are more relaxed with conversations and more heartily and in this case, I'm definitely not german! I really hate this thing in Germany. There are areas in Germany, where the people like to make smalltalk and are more heartily for example in Cologne and the most stiff persons are in Schwaben, where I grew up.
Today, I had a nice and interesting conversation with an american guy in the morning at a café. A german man felt disturbed, he said that he wanted to read his newspaper and was leaving angrily. So I really was annoyed by that. And I liked to talk with the man, but germans think, if you do as a woman, that you fell in love and have some serious interest. So all the people are staring at you, why I'm talking to the guy. Hey, I only like to talk and to have good conversations and it was clear, that we don't ever see us again. But people think, that this woman wants to have him as boyfriend and is not so good behaved because he actually has got a girlfriend.
I really hate this, because people are lonely because of that and they can never talk.
So I feel like a stranger in my own country.
What I like in Germany, that people are honest, that they are good planned and this make working a lot easier. And that people try to make you the work the easiest and the most comfortable as possible. I worked with other people of other countries, it was bad organized, they didn't think that I need time for preparation, I was really angry because they were talking too late, you had to organize and prepare anything and I didn't get much payment. In this case, I like the germans more, because it's better organized, you have enough time for preparation and can show your good work, the payment is better and it's a lot healthier to work in such conditions. And you don't have to care of anything else than your own job, because you can rely on people and there aren't bad surprises.
Now living in Schwaben but people here seem more open here to me than in the place where I grew up in Bavaria. But this might also be because now I live in a place with five times as many inhabitants as in my childhood-village.
America vs. Belgium for me and my girl: We tell time, weather, weight, etc. differently, so we always have to convert them when we talk about that stuff! There are also cultural differences similar to yours with America being much more open and friendly with strangers, whereas Belgium is more reserved.
I agree on compliments it makes your day bright ❤️
I live in Latvia (which is located above Germany) and I find a lot of things in common with Germans and Europeans in general. About the Christmas celebration - we celebrate it in the evening of the 24th as well, and I can't imagine the whole thing in the morning of the 25th. It's so unusual for me to see this in movies. But at the end - it's called culture and it is normal to have so many different cultures around the world, because that makes everything so exciting, doesn't it? 🙂
I (German) agree with most of it, I'm also not really into the tv show, well I'm not watching much in general! Since I'm back I kind of miss the politeness of the Canadians... my boyfriend is from Canada and we also noticed some cultural differences! But I'm really excited to show him my country and our culture, like Germans love to celebrate and drink together at events! :D
Hey girls!, first time I see both. Im from Mexico, have lived 6 years in lovely Canada and now I live since 2 years in Germany!, Yei!
In France and in Germany Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve, in the same way.
Cross-cultural relationships are great as long as it's possible to marry in one of the countries, otherwise the visa problem becomes heart-breaking.
In Poland you also celebrate Christmas and open presents on 24th Dec.
very cute video. but i cant help but notice the beautiful artwork in the backround... the lounghs with the flowers ...can i ordeer it somewhere??
I'm Canadian from Hungarian decent, and we do presents after dinner on December 24th!
i couldn't stop laughing and smiling when i was watching this video. Lilian you comment about german ppl being more serious , help me figure out why this german woman was liking me so much last fall, and yes i had a good appetite too, i was over seas in india at the time.
Please make a video after meeting the inlaws. Thanks.
In Argentina we also celebrate Christmas on the 24th and we open presents at midnight.
I'm also in a cross cultural relationship and I've learned to change the word "weird" for "different".
WOW, the way you said "Guten Appetit" sounded SO GERMAN! I had to repeat it like 5 times, I couldn't believe it :D
I'm an American living in Canada (dual citizen) and I notice even subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) cultural differences between USA & Canada. I think I'm a sociologist at heart because I love learning about different cultures like this! You two are adorable together, btw.
Canada is a socialist wonderland. It consistently underperforms USA. Just study the brain drain phenomenon.
I'm Canadian and have American relatives. I notice those subtle differences too.
Canada sometimes is called Mexico North.
Asbjorn. Brother. You must be a socialist. That's why you hate Trump. I happen to respect Trump very much. He is very competent politician and his reforms will bring unprecedented prosperity to America. You must always remember that socialism is the enemy prosperity. Socialism demoralizes people and makes them poor. Just look at Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Both countries are very rich in natural resources. However, only one is prosperous. The other (Venezuela) is a disaster where people line up for bread. The difference between the two is that Saudi Arabia is a capitalist country with no taxes. Venezuela on the other hand is a socialist paradise. Venezuelans are desperate to emigrate to United States. Not too many people want to emigrate out of Saudi Arabia though.
Asbjorn. Do you have statistics on emigration in your country. How many people move between USA and your country? If more people move out of your country to USA, then your top ranking on "happiness" list is kind of meaningless. Why would people move out of happy country into a miserable country?
In Denmark we only open Christmas presents up at 24 in the evening, not the 25th
I live in a cross-cultural relationship myself. My husband is Russian. The cultural differences between us have turned out to be much bigger than I imagined at first. It is sometimes interesting, sometimes funny and sometimes getting on your nerves. You have to either overcome it or accept it.
We Danes also open Christmas presents in the evening on the 24th (after the Christmas dinner).
Hi 😊 in Finland we have the same tradition that in Germany, we celebrate and open the christmas presents in 24th 🎁
Lots of countries in South America open gifts at midnight
Where I'm from we have a phenomenon called "the Seattle Freeze," which refers to the fact that newcomers to the area tend to perceive Seattleites as cold, standoffish, and distant.. Polite but not particularly friendly. I haven't spent a significant amount of time elsewhere in the States so I'm not really sure how we compare.
Learning each others culture is such an amazing thing...
Such a great video, guys! So interesting and funny, you're both so lovely together ❤
yeah!! King of Queens!!!!! Love it!! Schaue es derzeit beim Bügeln auf amazon prime wieder von Anfang an...
Hey beautiful ladies! Just discovered your channel and absolutely love it already! You're so cute together! Please don't stop filming :) Best wishes from Vancouver ! xx
Never heard of that king of queen show🤷🏻♀️
In Argentina we also open presents on 24th at midnight
I’m german and I was in Canada for 5 months last year and this is so funny 😂
Here in Brazil we open up the presents on the 24th at night too!
I agree compliments are awesome as long as it’s sincere! 😁
In Slovakia you open presents on Christmas Eve and on Christmas you get presents in your stockings.
My girlfriend is Canadian living in America. I notice a lot of differences. She definitely is more reserved in public and is more open behind closed doors.
We are a Brit and a German and we do the same, one Christmas in Germany and the next in the UK.