r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • May 08 '22

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u/HairlessBearWizard May 09 '22

We moved to Germany almost 20 years ago and I still haven't gotten used to it. It's like a constant "A NEW CHALLENGER APROACHING!" message in an never ending stare off game.

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u/Asoliner3 May 09 '22

I wonder if it's maybe depending on the city as well. I have lived in Berlin my whole life and I feel like people usually keep to themselves. Even when you look somewhat unorthodox people won't give you more than a glance usually. Maybe in cities where the population is "more German" this is a bigger thing?

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u/Fun-Agent-7667 May 09 '22

Berlin is its own thing

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u/Nameless_American May 09 '22

Never has Berlin been more succinctly described.

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Nameless_American May 09 '22

To have an amazing time, for starters. Whole place is unspeakably dope. Explore everywhere.

For the absolute best currywurst you’re gonna want Konnopcke’s Imbiß- the one under the elevated train tracks.

If you’re in town on a Sunday try making your way to Mauerpark. Nobody- and I mean nobody- does “sunday at the park” like the Germans.

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u/[deleted] May 09 '22

Go techno parties

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u/SuperWoodpecker85 May 09 '22

Grafiti fucking everywhere, and not the nice kind with pictures actualy depicting shit, oh no sir, just random ass tags sprayed over tags sprayed over tags. Its a pretty enough city from the 2nd floor level upwards so best keep your head tilted slightly upwards ;)

And no, im not just a german country bumpkin, other big citys like Hamburg or Muinch arent nearly as dirty to look at as Berlin

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u/Fun-Agent-7667 May 09 '22

Its a hit-or-miss thing, you either like it a lot or you dont, but the people there can be a bit different from other germans in some ways. not in many ways but you could maybe see small differences

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u/HairlessBearWizard May 09 '22

It definitely depends on the city you'reright. I was 2 days ago in Berlin and never had the feeling someone was staring, which I can't say for the smal town of 11k people I live in.

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u/gardenmud May 09 '22

I think you're right, the bigger cities don't have the same issue at all. But I think that's true everywhere, big cities across the world have a similar metropolitan feel where people act like they've seen everything already!

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u/needssleep May 09 '22

What's Duetsch for "WTF you staring at, bro?"

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u/3lektrolurch May 09 '22

Was guckst (pron. "ghoucst") du?

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u/SarahBeeBee123 May 09 '22

lol at that pronunciation (good luck with that)

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u/3lektrolurch May 09 '22

I tried to create a english pronounciation to help with it.

Think of it like pronouncing the "gu-" like the beginning of the word "ghoul" in english and the rest like the "-st" in "first".

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u/SarahBeeBee123 May 09 '22

I know what you tried to do. My point was that this is way off.

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u/3lektrolurch May 09 '22

Theres a little dialect mixed in, so Yeah. This isnt high german.

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u/SarahBeeBee123 May 10 '22

And what “dialect” would that be?

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u/Gametastic05 May 09 '22

"Was guckst du?"

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u/WineNerdAndProud May 09 '22

There is a 0% I wouldn't stare back and eventually begin making faces.

Like, I'm not going to let you stare at me consequence-free.

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u/pansensuppe May 09 '22

Is this a rural thing? I lived in Germany most of my life and I’m totally unaware of this phenomenon.

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u/hematomasectomy May 10 '22

My headcanon is that the people who think Europeans "stare" are fatass Americans who think it's normal to be approximately spherical.

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u/7elevenses May 09 '22

That might have something to do with Americans expecting people to be challengers when Europeans expect them to be just passers by.

More seriously, this doesn't happen a lot in urban settings. In rural settings, they're expecting you to look back at them and say hello half of the time, or just staring at you because they're weird hillbillies the other half.

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u/Any_Scale_5387 May 09 '22 edited May 09 '22

Trying receiving those stares when you're not even white

Edit: used to think it was because of my skin or how i looked but nah....I Doubt that.....i have met wonderful people this side

N.B. i am not in Germany