Hey everyone! Dana here.
Today I've got Cari with me from Easy German.
And Cari, you're from Münster in Germany, right?
Yeah, but living in Berlin.
Living in Berlin now.
But this past summer, Cari went on a tour all around the U.S., and we did a video this
past summer talking about that.
And now we've got a little follow-up video; I get to find out how that trip was.
I have some questions for her as a German traveling around America.
So you went to some new places during your trip.
What were some of the new areas that you had never been to before?
Anything west of Virginia.
Oh, okay! Wow. So, there was lots of stuff that was new.
Okay, what was the best food you ate on the whole trip?
Okay. The best food I ate in the U.S. was tacos.
Tacos!
And generally spoken, ah, I loved Whole Foods.
You know this...
Oh, the store!
Yeah the store.
Because in Germany we always think America's only about fast food.
And fast food is all we know about America, but in fact they also have all these kind
of super fresh, ah, healthy stuff, organic food.
And since I cannot eat like lactose and gluten, you find all this kind of diet stuff there.
Gluten-free bagels with raisins was my favorite.
You can't find that anywhere here.
What about the strangest or the worst food that ate?
Was there anything?
There was no really bad food.
But the strangest was definitely, um...
One thing I appreciated a lot was the free tap water you have everywhere.
Okay.
But then there's tap water which really tastes like chlorine, you know? - Yeah.
And in Germany we're not used to it.
And in America people just drink it, you know?
And for me it feels like drinking from a swimming pool.
I never noticed it.
I had never noticed it. - Really? - Yeah, until I came to Germany and then people told me.
I'm trying to think if I thought water in Germany had a taste. I don't remember.
For me it tastes normal. - Yeah, yeah. Of course.
How about the most interesting cultural thing that you learned about Americans that you
didn't know before.
That's really a tough one.
Well actually I learned even more about us, you know, Germans.
So you went to the U.S. and you learned about your own culture. That's really cool.
I mean that's what always happens, kind of. - Exactly. I have that same thing, yeah.
You probably learned what's typical American once you - Yeah.
- went out of America. - Exactly. Yeah.
It's like when you're in it, you can't see it as well as when you leave.
Then you can kind of see it from above.
And then you're like: oh my God, I'm that American! - Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
That's the same thing like that I had. You know: I'm that German, oh no.
I didn't know that I was a loud person until I moved to Germany.
I had no idea that I was loud.
And then when I went to Athens, I realized that I was actually quiet. - Oh yeah!
Because compared to people in Greece, I was quiet.
So, yeah. It's all relative.
What was something you experienced in the U.S. that you wish would be done that way
in Germany, or you think like: ah, it would be cool if we did it that way in Germany.
Okay, two things. One is free tap water in every restaurant. - Okay.
I mean, obviously that, it should be like, it should be like a service.
Since we are back from the U.S., we order always tap water in the restaurant because
it should be for free in Germany.
And what do you call it?
Do you, is that Tafelwasser? - Leitungswasser. - Leitungswasser, yeah.
And Leitungswasser, it's like, in some restaurants, like last time in Berlin, it was so, like
they said like no, we don't give it for free, but it costs one euro.
We thought like, okay we'll get a big glass, you know?
And they brought us this. - It was a little thing! - It was like a shot glass.
Yeah - It was really ridiculous. For one euro. - Okay.
And then today Janusz ordered at, in Munich, he ordered Leitungswasser in a restaurant,
and they brought us, like the glass was like this, but it was only filled like this. - Filled that much!
And the water was warm! - Oh gosh!
So that was kind like the way to tell us like,
you don't order anything for free here. - You don't do that, yeah.
Oh, and the second thing is just being kind and friendly.
Okay. - Germans can learn so much.
Just like being nice to other people in the streets, I mean it's...
Did you make small talk? - Yeah! - Did you do it? - Yeah, I mean, obviously.
I think it comes naturally when you go to the U.S.
And sometimes if you are, like, a typical German tourist who has never been abroad you
will be, what is it in English, like "überfordert"?
A little overwhelmed.
Yeah, you will be overwhelmed. - Okay. - Like why are all these strangers talking to me?
And what do they want?
Yeah, the best thing was, I didn't get it when I moved to Germany, and I thought that
nobody was talking to me because I didn't speak German. - Yeah.
So I was like, I'm gonna learn German. And then everyone's gonna talk to me.
So I learned German... - Yeah, nice try. - And then still nobody talked to me.
And I was like, I don't get it!
What was one thing that while you were there you said to yourself: phew!
I am so glad we don't do it that way in Germany, or like that in Germany?
Okay, I know that might sound a little bit arrogant, like the Germans know everything better.
But the use of plastic was really...I mean this is already a stereotype, but then it turned
out to be true everywhere we went to.
Especially in, like in some of the motels we went to. - Okay.
I mean they offered breakfast but the breakfast was literally just, like, toast and
jam. - Okay. - And that's it.
And they served everything from plastic. Plastic plates, - That's true. - plastic knives, plastic
cups. - The bowls, the styrofoam cups, bowls. - Everything!
And I'm like, I feel bad using it, you know.
I ended up, like, like, eating from the table because I feel, like, bad using something for five
minutes and throwing it away. - Yeah.
And this was really, it was a lot of plastic. - Okay.
What was the most beautiful scenery that you saw in the U.S.? Monument Valley!
Okay, tell me about it, I haven't seen it.
Yeah, I don't know, but I've always feel fascination for this place.
And I've...whenever I've seen it on pictures or in the movies or anywhere I wanted to go
there, and then I went there and it's one of these places that is even more stunning
in, in real life than...
You know there are so many places that look, like the White House, you know?
You always see the White House on TV and then it looks like, just like a house.
Like smaller maybe.
And the Monument Valley, it's, it's one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
What was the most shocking or sad thing that you saw?
Was there anything that comes to mind?
We, I have to say we had to think a lot about that one because I thought there was nothing
really shocking, but then to pick one thing it was maybe, like,
people wearing guns in the street. - Okay. - And like, it was not policemen. - Okay.
And it was not people who looked any trustworthy, you know?
So that's really shocking for Germans. - And do you remember where you saw that?
I think it was in Washington D.C.
What is the one thing you think Germans should know about the American culture before their
first time going to the U.S.?
Okay, they should know that it's like...Germans know a lot, obviously,
about America and American culture and... - From movies, or...?
Yeah. Mostly from movies.
I mean, American culture shaped Germany to a large extent one can say, you know.
And we think we know so much about the U.S. that we shouldn't be surprised but you will,
you will be surprised.
I mean, everything, I mean New York doesn't look like New York in the movies.
Yeah, because often New York, the movies is filmed in Vancouver, Canada. I think.
I think. - Possibly, yeah I don't know. - That's what I heard or something.
I mean, - Yeah. - a lot of things are like you expect them to be. - Okay.
But most of all, you know, you wouldn't expect...we know like a few places, you know?
And we think all, everything in America looks the same, and all Americans are the same.
And it's like, America is huge, you know?
Imagine, like, in Europe a distance from, like, Moscow to Lisbon.
This is America, you know? - Yeah.
Obviously in Europe you have different languages, different ethnicities.
But then still, America also has this distance and has all kinds of different people different
political views and different ethnicities too, you know?
People should know that it's huge. - Yeah.
I mean, and that it's not all, I mean, not all is like in the movies.
And what about public transportation?
Did you take any public transportation?
That's the worst! Why I didn't talk about that?
Okay, so... - There is no public transportation. - That's, yeah...
I mean, except for, like, New York and maybe San Francisco. It's terrible for me.
I could never imagine living in a city where I'm like really need a car.
So our question for you is: what has your experience been traveling to the U.S.?
Please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks so much for watching.
And thank you so much for coming to film
a video with me. - Thank you for inviting us. - Of course.
You can check out the video that I'm gonna do with Cari for the Easy German channel.
I'll put a link to it down below.
And until next time, auf Wiedersehen!
So our question for you is...
Oh hey, Mr. German Man's here! - Oh, hallo!
We celebrated Halloween and actually we liked it, yeah. - Oh! Yeah!
I was Leonardo. - Nice. - No, Donatello.
Was that the pizza one?
Donatello's the pizza one, right?
I forgot. - Okay, well, let us know that as well.
Do it that way in America...