German Observations, vol. I

A few observations on German culture collected over the past six months:

1. So you may have heard that Germans obey crosswalk signals like there's no tomorrow. There could be no car in sight or earshot, no other pedestrians around, and a German will still wait for the "walk" signal before crossing the street. It's true.

2. In general, Germans obey the law. Like the above-stated traffic signals. And the speed limit. And parking restrictions. They also obey the rules. If you aren't officially registered as part of the team, they won't put you in as a sub under a different name even if they are a player short and will have to default the match (not that this happened to me or anything!).

3. Speaking of traffic, driving etiquette is pretty much the opposite as that in DC. If a driver puts on his blinker to change lanes....wait, wait for it: the other drivers let him/her in!!!! And, like, immediately!!! Seriously. I've never known the blinker to have such power. And did you know that, if another driver cuts you off or gives you the finger or some other evil gesture, you can report him to the police? And the offender actually gets fined. Can you imagine the volume of calls DC's police department would be getting? Or the fines I would have paid! :)

4. A street festival in Hamburg basically relies on one formula: tents with beer + tents with sausages + tents with crepes + tents with sweet roasted almonds + fireworks = Street Festival! I don't even want to know the line item in the city's budget for fireworks. Okay, they are some of the best fireworks I've ever seen, but money is literally going up in smoke.

5. Talking on the phone is mega expensive so people keep phone conversations to a minimum or SMS (text). You can get a cell phone plan with 100 free minutes (yes, 100!) and free nights and weekends for around 40 euros/month, with additional minutes costing 39 cents/min.. Would Verizon even offer a plan with such ridiculously low minutes?

6. The word soul (Seele, could also mean spirit or core) is used quite often and in a secular context -- in newspapers, magazine articles, conversations, as a topic of discussion. I appreciate that there is concern and interest for this part of being, and that this depth exists in the media and among friends/acquaintances outside of a church/synagogue/mosque/etc.. In the States I feel like the idea of soul/spirit is primarily reserved for a religious setting.

Okay, so that's my spur-of-the-moment "German Observations, Vol. I". Any other German observations are welcome. Anyone else who has been to Deutschland want to share?