So not much is going on over here in Bayern. Well, I have noticed a two differences from my almost 5 years living in the former East (in Berlin, Rostock and Potsdam):
1) Almost everyone immediately recognizes me as American as soon as I open my mouth. Even the kids that come round and write “20 * C * M * B * 07″ on doorways after singing a bit and getting a donation said “Thank you” to me (instead of “Danke”). My previous experience has been that people clearly recognize me as foreign but most have no idea where I’m from (and some even doubted that I was American even after I told them – “aber nicht in den USA geboren!” – uh… yeah).
2) Previously, I found line-cutting to be annoying, but if you yelled at the person, they usually went to the end of the line. And sometimes I didn’t care enough to yell (it wasn’t SUCH a frequent occurrence). Here that wouldn’t work. Line-cutting seems to be a problem of epic proportions, at least in Regensburg. While waiting at Real on New Years Eve, I left Rainer waiting in line for a moment to have a copy of our keys made, and when I returned some 5-10 minutes later, he was still in the exact same place where I left him and I didn’t recognize any of the people in front of him. Apparently, it all started when a 50-something year old woman asked if she could get through (not in) the line, when Rainer made space for her, she promptly entered the line in that space. Rainer claims to have yelled at her and she yelled back that she’s an old woman who’s been waiting there in line for a long time and how dare he pester her. Two college age women then decided to take this opportunity to also cut in front of Rainer. Perhaps this is the reason for the rectal exam by shopping cart that I’ve heard is often performed by Germans in what was West Germany.
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i think line-cutting is more frequent in west germany. not to be rude or anything, but when i lived in frankfurt/m for three years, i had been subjected to this kind of rude behaviour more often than at any time before and afterwards. that’s all instances added together! but maybe that’s the general rudness that is very common in frankfurt — but NOT in the rest of hessen. must come with the trade…
My ex-wife (very English) used to hate the German “Ellenbogengesellschaft” (Elbow Society), most of all the fact that they rarely used the word “Please”. (One of the reasons she moved back to England).
@rita: maybe it’s a cities in the West thing…
@vailian: Yes, there was quite a bit of elbowing and such going on in Berlin. It used to drive me bonkers and sometimes leave me crying. But I haven’t noticed it so much in the rest of Germany.