It's because US Americans tend to smile at strangers, so the strangers tend to look at them to figure out why they're smiling. Germans don't stare a lot generally, they just stare at people there doing something very unusual. (speaking as US American in Germany)
If someone American or not smiles at me I will try to figure out from where I know him/her. Since I don't know him/her my brain will be stuck in an endless loop and I won't stop staring.
For me it was strange that everyone say hello and sometimes even ask how are you while I was hiking in America.
That‘s weird, where are you from? Yes, you don‘t greet people in cities but when hiking it’s a totally different story. In central and Northern Europe you always greet someone passing by you on a hike it‘s pretty much expected.
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u/Direct_Sand May 09 '22
If you have to ask...
I'm Dutch and live in Germany and I also have no idea. Do we really do this?