I have no idea where you’re from, so I’m not sure whether I’m a foreigner. I’m an American (originally from the Midwest and I taught English as a Second Language there), who lived in the Southern US for about 13 years and has lived on an American army base in Germany for about three and a half years. I could probably talk about culture shock for a few years.
In Germany, every Sunday is a family day with quiet time all day. What this means is that unless there’s a special reason, pretty much every non-touristy store (including grocery) is closed. It also means that you can’t mow the yard, blow leaves, or anything with too much noise outside. If you live in an apartment building, you can’t run the vacuum or the dryer. This is something that three and a half years later STILL drives me bonkers. LOL
Germans don’t mince words and won’t hesitate to tell you when you’re doing something wrong. They are often aggressive while driving HOWEVER if you have your turn signal on, someone will ALWAYS let you over. Always. Overall, they’re very orderly when it comes to driving. They know the rules. In stores…they can be impatient. If I go to a store in prime hours, I can count on the impatient sigh because I just refuse to mow down the little old lady in front of me. And maybe this is the American in me, but when they give me that loud and impatient sigh, I give it right back to them. During the holidays, they have Christmas Markets, which are so much fun. Lots of food, gluhwein, Christmas-themed trinkets, etc. At Easter, they have Easter Markets, same sort of scenario. So many places in Germany only take cash. Because of Covid, more places take card, too, but not everywhere. If you ask a German if they speak English their answer will almost always be “a little bit” and then they’ll proceed to speak it better than most of my family. LOL They’re actually taught to say that.
So, in the army culture, a few things. Wow, I could write a book on this (and might!). Lots and lots of wives love to throw around their husband’s rank. I’ve been told by another wife to do that because it will get me better treatment. Personally, I only use my husband’s rank when it will help out someone else. I have had soldiers upset with their wives for talking to me because of my husband’s rank. I’ve been told that I can’t be friends with someone because of my husband’s rank. The higher the rank/position, the smaller the social circle. Soldiers have been floored by the fact that I’m an officer’s wife. Officer’s wives don’t have the best reputation. When I get the “You’re too nice to be an officer’s wife,” I say, “Well, that doesn’t say much about officer’s wives, does it?”
I’ll stop there unless you have questions.
My dad, who lived in the states for a time, used to get sweets sent from his Indian friends. Not for years though. I miss it 