South university |
The United States and Germany |
This document compares and contrasts the societies of The United States
of America and Germany. |
Did you know that Americans and Germans have a whole lot more in common
than you would think? Many of the customs of the Germans are similar to those
practiced in the land of the free. Germany is a real little country which is
heavy in population. The United States of America however is very large and
heavily populated. The freeways and the roads in Germany are quite a bit
narrower than our roads here in the United States are. I bet you did not know
though that the Germans are the ones who invented the interstate system.
Perhaps the biggest shock to us Americans is just how fast the Germans drive.
You see inside of the cities in Germany there are speed limits which are
very strongly enforced. They do however have an autobahn which does not have a
speed limit that restricts just how fast the Germans can drive. Germans
sometimes get impatient and tailgate other drivers at very high speeds even
though it is against the law. Sometimes they may even go as far as to honk or
flash their lights when they believe you are in their way and they want to pass
you. In Germany left lanes are for passing only so if you ever go there for the
first time be sure to stay in the right lane. Here in the United States,
Americans usually like to drive in the lane of travel meant for driving faster
or to pass other cars which is the left lane. Germans think that if you are
going too slow or not passing anybody that you need to stay in the right lane
of the road. On the other hand Americans seem to think if they are going the
speed limit that they will just stay in the left hand lane.
In Germany unlike the United States train travel is a normal way of life.
You see in Germany you can go to any bahnof which is a train station and travel
to any part of Europe that you please. Germans choose to use this method as
their main means of travel because of the inflation of gas prices and the
pollution. However us Americans use the automobiles to travel as our main means
of transportation probably a little more than what we should. Germans also like
to greet each other in a respectable manner. You see when Germans walk into a waiting
room, or a store of some sort it is usual for Germans to greet one another. In
southern Germany they say Greuss Gott, and in other parts of Germany they say
Guten Tag. Germans also enjoy shaking people’s hands. The Germans shake hands
with everybody they meet for the first time and they also shake hands at every
meeting of the individual after that. The Germans consider it very rude to have
a hand in your pocket when shaking hands and it is also considered rude to not
make eye contact.
Germans also think of Americans as friendly, so if you ever see one it
would be good to take the initiative to introduce yourself to them. In Germany
people speak mostly Dutch. In America our main language is English. Germans
think it is neat and appreciative for Americans to learn their language. When
you go to a German home unlike here in America it is a custom to bring a gift.
It is custom here to wait to be seated at a restaurant where as in Germany it
is not. Even sharing tables with complete strangers is very usual in Germany.
In Germany, most public spaces, restaurants, and offices used to be full of
smoke. (This changed with anti-smoking laws being passed in 2008.) People
habitually throw cigarette butts on the ground. Older people dress a lot more
conservatively in Germany than in the US. It's not uncommon to see a
seventy-year-old American in shorts, sneakers, t-shirt and base ball cap; this
is unthinkable in Germany. (Likewise, you will never see a German senior
citizen at McDonalds.)
Success in the US is almost exclusively defined as economic success;
those who have such success try everything to show it. It is cool to be rich
and people look up to the rich, to the extent that someone whose only
credential consists of being a billionaire can almost become president (Ross
Perot). By contrast, the rich are not particularly well-liked in Germany. In
politics, being extremely rich would certainly be a disadvantage. In the back
of the German's mind there's still the assumption that someone who owns that
much must have exploited others to get it.
As you can see there are some differences in the two cultures, however
there are many the same as well. You have learned some on the behavior of both
cultures, language, material objects, and symbols.
REFERENCES:
Mitchell, D. (1993). Sociology -- :A comparison of german and american
policy by john bendix: A sociopsychological analysis by edgar krau. Annals of
the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 526, 226-226.Retrieved
from http://search.proquest.com/docview/219594626?accountid=13931
Kendall, D. (2016). Sociology in Our Times (9th ed). Wadsworth. Retrieved
from http://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/books/9781285309682/id/L3-1-1
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