but it still just really surprised me to
see something that I see as a true
product of US capitalism being mimicked
by Germany hey guys what's up it's Kelly
again and welcome back to my channel for
today's video I'm going to talk to you
guys about eight different things that I
saw during my last visit to Germany that
really shocked me it surprised me to see
these things given what I know and
understand about German culture so let's
just get right into it the first thing I
saw that surprised me were a lot more
options to use your phone to pay for
purchases like Google pay or even more
surprising to me Apple pay since iPhones
aren't nearly as popular in Germany
Germany is notorious for its very strong
cash culture especially compared to
other countries like Sweden which is
making giant steps toward becoming an
entirely cashless country in the US
where electronic payments are accepted
nearly everywhere you go even small food
trucks or vendors and then other
businesses in the US are like Sweden
moving to become cashless a lot of
Germans prefer to pay in cash and it was
my experience while living there that
there were a lot of businesses that just
wouldn't accept credit cards because of
the additional surcharges credit card
companies levy / credit card transaction
so seeing devices configured to be able
to pay with your phone by using Google
pay or Apple pay in Germany really
surprised me and I saw it in some
vending machines and I remember even
specifically seeing Apple pay available
at a Burger King Mesha and I went to in
Bavaria another thing that I was really
quite shocked to see was a sign at a CNA
store CNA is a sort of low-cost
department store chain in Germany and
the sign said that the deutsche mark has
now come back into fashion and that you
could now pay with the deutsche mark for
purchases at the CNA the deutsche mark
for all you youngsters out there not
watching my
was the official currency of Germany
after World War two and before it was
replaced by the euro in 1999 and it was
officially phased out in 2002 2002 that
was 18 years ago yet the CNAs store
chain decided to start accepting the
deutsche mark for payment for a one-week
campaign that I just happened to be
shopping during apparently the campaign
was quite successful as it's believed
that some 17 billion deutsche mark are
still in circulation across the world
and you can only exchange them at one of
Germany's federal banks I can also tell
you that my parents have at least 500 of
that 17 billion toys to mark sitting in
their home right now from when they
lived in Germany back in the eighties
all right the next thing that I was
really surprised to see were these
military recruiting advertisements
Germany used to have a conscription
military from 1956 until 2011 which
means that they ended really quite
recently I mean 2011 that was only nine
years ago but I understand that now
Germany like many other countries is
struggling to recruit enough people to
voluntarily join the military I also
understand that serving in the military
in Germany has a bit of a different tone
to it especially compared to the US and
it isn't exactly seen as a positive
thing an honorable or prestigious job
like it's often really hyped up to be in
the US and this is largely because of
Germany's history and it's now aversion
to using military power I've heard a lot
of different stories about German
soldiers being really careful not to
wear their uniform in public or stories
about when soldiers have worn their
uniform in public they've been
personally insulted by a passerby
and I imagine that this makes it a very
challenging culture to recruit with
thing in the u.s. there are military
recruitment billboards on highways or in
magazines or military displays before
sporting events or commercials before
movies and I think that most people in
the US don't even really give it a
second thought
because it's been normalized to see all
of this Pro military advertising but in
Germany it's not normalized and so it
was just really surprising for me to see
these military recruitment
advertisements and in a similar vein
although in my opinion very different
another thing that I was surprised to
see was at that same Burger King that
Misha and I saw the apple pagan was a
sign advertising a military veteran
discount that the Burger King was
offering its customers veteran and
military discounts and benefits are a
very common thing to see in the u.s.
because businesses see it as a way to
get more potential customers in the door
and also it's good publicity since
supporting the troops resonates really
well with the American public but again
Germany doesn't have a very Pro military
culture and so I was really shocked to
see this and I guess I should add that
it's not lost on me that Burger King is
of course an American company or that I
was in Bavaria which is a region I
understand to be much more supportive of
the military compared to the rest of
Germany but still I was surprised to see
it
alright the fifth thing I was surprised
to see where all of these electric
scooters parked all over the streets I'm
used to seeing these in DC but I really
didn't think that Germany would allow
these things because it's my
understanding that there aren't really
traffic laws that address scooters
specifically and if there are and there
might be but if there are then chances
are tourists don't know them because
there aren't signs or lanes
specifically designated to address
scooters and I'm making a big assumption
here but if it's anything like DC then a
lot of tourists will be using these
scooters and then also these scooters
are able to be parked anywhere and
everywhere and I didn't think Germans
would be okay with this sort of
disorderly or an organized approach and
also given what I know about the labor
laws in Germany I'm very curious about
whether there are official employees of
the scooter companies going out to
collect the scooters and charge them or
if it's sort of like the freelancers
that we have doing it here in the US
another thing that really surprised me
to see were all of these black friday
sale signs and shops for the same day or
at least the same week or weekend that
the US held it's Black Friday which of
course is the day after our Thanksgiving
holiday stores in the u.s. started to
hold their sales earlier and earlier on
Black Friday and in recent years some
stores are even holding their sales on
Thanksgiving Day which has become quite
controversial since it means that
employees are working on this very
family centric holiday of course Germany
doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving so this
controversy isn't a factor for its Black
Friday sales and I suppose the intent of
Black Friday is still relevant in
Germany although the particular day it
doesn't have any real significance to
Germans aside from being a bit ahead of
the gift-giving season of Christmas
after doing some research on this topic
I actually learned that like Germany
many other countries have adopted Black
Friday sales but it still just really
surprised me to see something that I see
as a true product of US capitalism being
mimicked by Germany the next thing that
really surprised me to see was the John
Deere factory in ban Hyman
I grew up with the brand John Deere
because I lived in rural Pennsylvania
where there's a lot of farmland and
so a huge market for tractors and other
John Deere equipment but I didn't expect
to come across a massive John Deere
factory in Mannheim Germany as I'm sure
you all know Germany is famous for its
manufacturing and one of the world's top
tractor companies fent is a German
company now obviously that doesn't mean
that there isn't a market for other
tractor companies in Germany but still I
guess I was just surprised to see that
big john deere logo and signature green
and yellow tractors sitting in front of
a factory in the middle of germany
alright guys the last thing that i was
surprised to see and i'll be honest I
don't even really fully understand what
I was seeing so hopefully you can help
me out in the comments but I saw these
certain canned cocktail drinks on
display in an Etica but they were put in
these plastic cases I'm not sure if
these cases were locked although that is
my assumption and if so I don't
understand why since there was an entire
aisle chock full of wine and beer and
then by the cash register there were a
lot of full bottles and mini bottles of
different liquors and alcoholic drinks
that weren't locked up at all Germany
has much more relaxed alcohol laws
compared to the u.s. so in Germany I'm
used to seeing beer for sale in vending
machines or being able to buy beer and
liquor in every single gas station so I
was really confused why these cans of
these cocktail drinks were locked up I
mean I'm assuming again that they were
locked up so if you know please tell me
in the comments because it's obviously a
mystery to me all right guys that's it
those are the 8 things that I was
surprised to see during my last visit to
Germany I hope that you enjoyed this
video and if you did let me know by
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at Kelly does her thing thank you so
much to my patrons for all the support
you've given me and
we'll see you guys next time bye
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