Do
- Shake hands when you’re introduced to someone – it’s impolite not to.
- Say Prost! (cheers!) before you sip your beer – and look your drinking buddy in the eye when you say it.
- Feel free to have serious discussions in social settings – Germans like talking politics and philosophy. They don’t relish idle chit-chat or small talk.
- Say your name at the beginning of a phone call, even if it’s followed by ‘do you speak English?’
- Address people with the formal ‘you’ (Sie). If the familiar ‘you’ (Du) is cool, they’ll let you know.
- Hit the ATM – cash rules in Germany and many restaurants don’t take credit cards.
Don’t
- Be late – everyone else will be on time.
- Send a German friend lilies – they’re for funerals. Carnations symbolise mourning, too.
- Dig into that Sauerkraut before your host says ‘Guten Appetit’ (good appetite).
- Stroll in the bike lane. You’ll get bruised or yelled at (or both). It’s marked red for a reason.
- Jaywalk. Nobody else does, and you might get fined.
- Drink yourself into a stumbling fool. We know the beer goes down easy, but public drunkenness is frowned upon.
