Americans Shocked To Learn How Active Germans Do These Things! 🇩🇪

[@PassportTwo]

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[@Ulrich.Bierwisch]

I played Tennis (just for fun) for about 15 years with friends once a week. We where not member of a club but we had a sport hotel near by that had indoor tennis, badminton and squash courts available for rent.

[@jozilla5421]

Yes,on a table though 🏓

[@IgorRockt]

One thing to remember about "wild camping" in Germany: While it's not allowed to camp anywhere you want, you can always ask the owner of said land for permission. If he grants you permission (either for free or paid), you can camp on their lot without any legal issues. Since you normally want to camp in the middle of nature, the owners you need to ask for permission are most often farmers (or the owners of some woodlands/forests), and quite often they'll just give it to you for free, as long as the lot in question is not actively used by them right now (no crop or animals on it etc., so either the land being dormant, or already harvested) and you promise to leave it as you found it. At least that was the case in the Eifel for a long time already, and I'm quite sure it won't be that different in other rural areas in Germany (but I haven't been camping in Germany the last 15 years or so, so that could have changed).

[@pjschmid2251]

That’s very interesting because that doesn’t really sound like camping if you’re driving and pitching a tent on some farmers woodlot. When I think about camping in the US or Canada I think of a state/provincial or National park that has considerable amount of wilderness where you can hike or canoe in and set up your camp far away from any amenities or other people.

[@EnbyFranziskaNagel]

@@pjschmid2251 Well in Germany the entire forest is either someones woodlot, a publicly owned woodlot or a Nature reserve. In Nature reserves wild Camping is prohibited.

[@maximilianweltner5554]

@@pjschmid2251 you are probably already aware but Germany has a very high population density. You will basically not find any land that was not in some way altered by the inhabitants. Not saying you can't find nice places in German Nature but for sure it will be a different experience than in a true wilderness like Canadian or US national Parks.

[@rene_falk]

@@pjschmid2251 In Germany, each federal state has its own law that regulates staying in the forest. These laws can be very different. For example, in Schleswig-Holstein, a federal state with very few forest areas, staying in the forest at night away from the paths is absolutely forbidden. Camping in the forest is generally prohibited in this state. Even as a forest owner, you are not allowed to do it. Because forest owners also have to comply with these laws and are not allowed to do everything in their forest that one is allowed to do on "normal" land. In Germany there are also different gradations of protected areas. Camping or entering at night is restricted or forbidden in almost all of them. In the highest protection class, you are not allowed to deviate a single step from the permitted paths. Depending on what you have done, the fines can range from a few Euros to several tens of thousands of Euros.

[@Al69BfR]

The „Turnverein“ (TV, TSV, TuS) is also a major sports club in many villages and cities and often offers „Fußball“ and other balls associated sports as one of their activities. In my hometown the „Turnverein“ also had a shooting range. Often the „Männergesangsverein“ oder the „Frauenchor“ are part of the social live of elderly citizens. In many areas they really have difficulties to find young people to keep the „Verein“ working. But younger people are more often engaged in the local orchestras/marching bands organized often by the „Freiwillige Feuerwehr“ or by a „Musikverein“, both more and more struggling with the declining membership. There are also Orchestras organized by a music school and sometimes also by a public school And I almost forgot that in some areas there are also „Karnevals-„ or „Fastnachtsclubs“ which are involved in all events related to Fasching/Karneval especially in the more catholic areas of Germany. Sometimes they have also „Gardemädchen“ who are not only dancing at their club events but also are going to competitions the whole year, like a regular „Tanzverein“ will do. All those „Vereine“ are not only part of the social life for their members but also often organizers of local festivities like „Kirmes“, „Feuerwehrfest“, „Schützenfest, which are open for everybody to come together and drink some beer at the Monday morning „Frühschoppen“. And if there is no specialized „Karnevalsverein“ often the „Sportvereine“ or „Gesangsvereine“ are organizing „Fastnacht“-events, too. Shoes outdoors, Sandals indoors.

[@EmmaHope88]

My school offered AGs (Arbeitsgemeinschaften). It could be anything. Sports, music, art, languages... It's just that most people didn't participate in those. I had a classmate who did swimming, one who played handball, and two or three who learned Spanish. The most popular ones at my school were musical theater, big band, orchestra and choir. Those had quite a few members and also did performances that were open to others. The sports ones and language ones didn't really have that. Most of us did sports outside of school. I played tennis with my friends I had grown up with but didn't necessarily attend school with after elementary school.

[@aphextwin5712]

If I remember it correctly, the fourth foreign language (Italian) in our ‘Gymnasium’ was also offered as an ‘Arbeitsgemeinschaft’. The first two foreign languages were mandatory, the third (Spanish) was basically choosing the language track (I think from grade nine onwards) instead of the science/math track. What was different with ‘Arbeitsgemeinschaften’ was that you didn’t get grades or at least not ones that would matter in any way and that you could quit them at any time without any repercussions. Music (big band) and theater were probably the most popular ‘Arbeitsgemeinschaften’ but at least the former was a joint venture with a neighbouring school (to make the band ‘big’). There were also some low key sports ones (like playing volleyball just for fun directly after school without any fixed teams or competitions).

[@hayati6374]

When I was in school we had a Kanu AG which was always full and a Tanzania AG which went there every year and members missed two weeks of school. Also very subsidized!

[@hanna_ivanchenko]

@@aphextwin5712 what are other 2 mandatory foreign languages you learned at school?

[@aphextwin5712]

@@hanna_ivanchenko French and English were the first two (and mandatory) foreign languages at my school. Spanish then was an optional third one. But a neighbouring school offered English and Latin as a combo to fulfil the two mandatory foreign languages requirement.

[@betaich]

I wasn't in a sports social club, but the red cross and even for that we got exempt from school for good reasons, for example when we helped during the big Elbe floodings in 2002. We also got exemptions from school for tournaments, if they were bug enough. Same was for class mates that did sports and had tournaments on a state level. Smaller levels (city, county) are usually held during the weekend.Edit: Wildcamping is illegal in most circumstances in Germanyy, so Audreys way of camping is not something we do. Random Q: Shoes

[@PassportTwo]

Ya, that's exactly what I was trying to say about the camping 😅 Your experiences with sports club and Red Cross are really interesting to read about! Thanks for the input 😊

[@rolandropnack4370]

Aubrey's kind of camping would fall under the term "zelten" in Germany. "Camping" is not only reserved for what you called "glamping", on a camping ground with accommodations, but can also include the use of a caravan or trailer instead of a tent. The most extreme form (and quite bizarre, to be honest) is "dauercampen " (permanent camping). Like in a U.S. trailer park, people rent a spot on a camping ground continuously and have their trailer there all year long. It is not allowed to have your official residence there though, as in Germany you are required to have a registered adress of permanent residence.* Once settled in, many "Dauercamper" people start to enhance their place, until in the end you'd have a hard time to recognice the holiday hut as a trailer beneath the protective roof, the side panelled front extension, the lawn decoration, garden fence, flower pots and such. But still, law requires you to be able to move your trailer anytime if you take away all that stuff. * Of course this is a simplification. But even homeless people will be registered in the town of their usual residence, which sounds like stupid overboard buerocracy. But once registered, they have access to social wellfare and public health care just like every other poor citizen. ---- Oh, and shoes. 👟

[@iristinkerbell]

I would call it "zelten" whenever sleeping in a tent, no matter if it somewhere in the wild, or on a campground, which, like was said, in Germany usually the only legal way to do it.

[@herrdirektor7071]

The two pictures for BBQ and "grillen" look identical to me. They are the same picture.

[@dorothee2314]

There is a Sportverein or Turnverein in practically every village or town in Germany, they offer a variety of sports you can do there, for a relatively low membership fee. You can start as a toddler and stay until all you‘ll be able to do is „Senioren Sitzgymnastik“. It‘s a great place to meet people when you move somewhere new. Tennis, Golf or horse riding are more expensive Sports in Germany, these Clubs have higher membership fees and lessons are more expensive. PE in school is usually just two hours per week, though some schools offer additional extracurricular activities. Many Germans who haven‘t got time to go to an exercise class once a week keep fit by running or cycling, alone, with their partner or with friends. And sometimes we‘re just slackers and stay on our Couch.

[@skydragon3294]

Describing youth football in Germany/Europe is kind of difficult. Of course there is the 'fun' or amateur part, where you just play at your local club. You got practice once or twice a week, and matches are played on the weekend. I, on the other hand, was part in an organised youth facility of a pro club. I went to a boarding school, next to the club facilities and attended a private school corperating and funded by the club, that adjusted classes (and the requirements of the German school system), so that we could focus on maximizing our sportive development. There was also time adjusted to join youth national teams, join in international youth matches and some of us also played with the mens pro team, when they were 17-18. So if you are spotted and labeled as talented and 'pro material', clubs invest an enourmous amount of money and time to form a perfect pro. But still, 8 out of 10 in those academies fail, to go pro in the sport, like me.

[@juliaclaire42]

Our Sportgemeinschaft was founded in 1862 as a Turnverein. In the 1970ies some people started playing Badminton and they did it up to the Bundesliga. We had been the only last club in the Bundesliga that didn't pay a salery to the players. Now, they are back to Oberliga which is a lot less stressful and much cheaper. My kids always got exemption from school to attend German Nationals - that had never been a problem. When a child stands out in a certain sport, it will be invited to join D-Kader with special training and possibly go to another school where training is integrated into classes (for example the Carl-von-Weinberg-Schule in Frankfurt).

[@iristinkerbell]

Funny about the Glamping vs. Camping. I know the term Glamping, too, but to me that's when you "camp" in these big permanent tents that have furniture in them and bathrooms and all, e.g. that's pretty common on Safari in Africa. What would Aubrey call that then? Because that's a whole different level of luxury. It's not really camping anymore imo, but you are still in a tent and exposed to the elements to some degree.

[@asator2746]

As an outdoor friend, the part with the "glamping" hurts me especially. Unfortunately, our country is so densely populated and there are so few forest areas left that in some states you are breaking the law if you are even in the forest at night.

[@Finster711]

We have been camping out in NRW, bayern and Saarland quite often in the last few years. Never really ran into issues. We once had the police called on us by someone who most likely walked by in pitch black while we were sleeping but they showed up, saw we were really tidy and more or less excused us because according to them the phonecall sounded like we had a huge bonfire, loud music and trash lying around which just wasn’t true at all. There is a bit of leeway if you consider on what kind of land you are.

[@Vardraq]

There are Sport-Schools in Germany, where you do actually have organised sport focus and tournaments between them in various levels of competition. I personally was in the Werner-Seelenbinder-Schule - which is now called Schul- und Leistungssportzentrum (SLZB) - and played in the tennis team and the regional league.

[@swanpride]

Yeah, but those are for students which are already interested in sport and want to hone that talent.

[@Vardraq]

@@swanpride I wouldn't call my presence in that school as 'I had interest in sports' 😅 I started at a regular elementary school, but since my mom and dad are somewhat good athletes - back in the days that is - I was grandfathered into going to that sports school. The only sport I was however interested was Golf, but that wasn't a big deal back then, as it is in the US; and even now it is hard to play golf in school 😞. So, since figure skating - what my mother wanted - was even less of a sport I wasn’t interested in, I went with Tennis - my father's. Sport.

[@helloweener2007]

Vereinsrecht (club law) is ruled by the BGB (civil rights book) in §§21-79. You can found a club on basis of this for any interest. You have to do certain things for being a registered club and you need at least 7 members.

[@hayati6374]

Another type of social club here is the garden clubs where city people can have a little garden with a shed! They have super long waiting lists, incredibly popular!

[@karinkoch8443]

Talking about clubs in Germany never forget the very important little Gesangsvereine (choral-societies). In the small villages without shops, banks and postoffices, where people in former times met and had a little chat, clubs are often the only way to keep in contact, as the inhabitants jump in their cars, driving to work in the morning and will not come back until late evening. As a little girl everybody was bound for somewhere all the time in my village. Now, streets are empty. But on Monday evenings you will see people hurrying to the clubhouse to meet with their fellow singers, enjoying the lessons and after that a nice local wine. The clubs also host festivals over the year, another opportunity to meet your neighbors. Despite the training for whatever all those clubs are the glue of German society in rural areas.

[@inotoni6148]

Ok, one question, why is everything so shocking? I mean, I also lived abroad for a few years, I was never shocked, just astonished or surprized

[@lphaetaamma291]

If a soccer team has a game against an other, this takes usually place on saturday, so noone has to attend school at the time. An other problems, sport clubs targeted to teens have, is that some years ago (maybe 10) many states introduced "G8" (4 years of primary shool + 8 years of "Gymnasium" (=the highest type of "high school" in Germany)) instead of "G9". To compensate for the lack of time, the schools have introduced afternoon lessons, which makes it much more difficult to find dates for training.

[@PassportTwo]

What are normal German school hours? 🤔 Typically American schools go until about 2:30 for the regular school day and then sports would be for an hour or two after that.

[@lphaetaamma291]

@@PassportTwo if you don't have afternoon lesons the school ends at 1pm. otherwise you got a lunchbreak and lessons restarting at 2pm in the last 2 years at the local "Gymnasium" here, there is once per week a lesson till 16:30, but the last lesson is just sport in this case (for you probably PE). usually there are 2 or 3 long days per week with a length til about 3pm PS: School starts at 7:45

[@lazarusgrey7520]

@@PassportTwo my school started at 8:00 and could end at 17:10. Usually school would end at 13:10. But i also had days when school would start at 8:45 or even 9:50( because of 20 min pause).

[@aphextwin5712]

@@PassportTwo At gymnasium, my school hours were from 7:45 until 12:55, with maybe one day per week where it started later (ie, nothing in the first period) but there might have been years where school started at 7:45 every day. Additionally, we had afternoon lessons, starting with maybe one double lesson (2x 45 min) per week in grade 5, growing to maybe five double lessons per week, spread over three afternoons for the last couple of years. One double lesson meant 13:45 to 15:20 (incl. a 5-min break), two double lessons in one afternoon meant school until 17:00. So, towards the end, school was from 7:45*-12:55 on two days, from 7:45*-15:20 on a third day and 7:45*-17:00 on the remaining two days of the week (*one day likely was either 8:35 or even 9:40). The ‘Arbeitsgemeinschaften’ mentioned in another post would then either slide into the open afternoon slots or be tacked on after 17:00. A foreign language ‘Arbeitsgemeinschaft’ would almost certainly be scheduled into an early afternoon slot (or even if available a free morning slot) whereas the casual sports ones would happen after 17:00. To add a history lesson, for a long time there was school also on Saturdays. Starting in the late 1950s, some schools introduced the five-day school week. In 1970, the first Bundesland, Hamburg, completely abolished school on Saturdays. But it took until the 1990s before it was completely abolished in all of Germany. In the former GDR/DDR, school on Saturdays persisted until reunification with West Germany. In Baden-Württemberg, I think it was abolished towards the end of the 1980s. Hours were more limited on Saturdays and towards the end, there only was school every second Saturday.

[@nordichana]

When I was in the seventh grade in Switzerland, we had three guys who had medical excuses from sport because they were training professionally out of school😅

[@PassportTwo]

Now that's a whole different thing! haha, I never came across a student who was training professionally, so I don't know how that is handled in the US 😅

[@bricky_potter7424]

About the „the village Club rises to the Bundesliga“ Quote: They technically can do that, BUT only of their Stadium is big enough. (Most Village Clubs don‘t Even have a Stadium. They sometimes just have a Court, a Running area and sometimes a building with a restaurant, a Hall and Dressing Rooms (sometimes with Showers))

[@jay404]

Love your videos.. you are very cool.. Greetings from Palatine (also die Pfalz :D ) weiter so! Der beste Wein kommt auf jeden Fall von der Pfalz ;)

[@ACEsParkJunheeWreckedMeHard]

About beeting clubs to reach Bundesliga-level I think I heard once that a team can only reach the at least 3rd leage if their stadium has a certain number of seats, not sure if thats true tho but I think I heard about that. Some teams have it harder to reach 2nd league after entering 3rd cause they need to upgrade their stadium again for more people ... I think this is what most smaller clubs of mainly towns and villages don't have since the "Kreisliga" wich is lower than Bundesliga often only has people standing around to watch since the football fields are often not in a stadium

[@PassportTwo]

That makes sense! I knew that they were some sort of financing issues in order to continue raising through the leagues, but I just didn't know exactly what that meant. Maybe this is what that means? They would need to be able to finance stadium renovations and building? 🤔

[@EmmaHope88]

@@PassportTwo Your stadium needs to hold a certain number of people for certain leagues. You don't necesssarily have to have big enough stadium right away but you have to guarantee that you're going to build a bigger one or make the one you already have bigger. Some lower league clubs have fairly big stadiums because the clubs used to play in a higher league. So those wouldn't have an issue, but others obviously don't. In order for them to be promoted to certain leagues, they would need the money to make their stadiums bigger or build a new one, which a lot of them simply wouldn't be able to do. Hoffenheim is a good example. Hopp (majority owner) paid for a new stadium for them because they needed one after they had made it to the Bundesliga.

[@janpracht6662]

@@PassportTwo For example Bundesliga football-club RB Leipzig was a "planned success": In 2009 Red Bull Drinks (with their billionair-boss Dietrich Mateschitz) bought the license of a small club in league 5 named SV Markranstädt and some parts of the club Sachsen Leipzig. RB merged both clubs, started in league 5 and invested every season exactly so much money as was needed to rise up in the next league. In 2016 RB Leipzig finally reached First Bundesliga and belongs to the Champions-League teams in Europe now. If you should visit Leipzig sometime, go to Cottaweg and you can see the impressive training-fields, the youth-football academy and the modern stadium Dietrich Mateschitz bought with his money. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (1. Bundesliga) with their software-billionair Dietmar Hopp has a similar development like Leipzig, without Hopp they would not exist. Actually, Hoffenheim is only a small village- before there was nothing...

[@twinmama42]

The fact about the stadium is true - but they can use another stadium if their's does not fulfill all requirements. Most Fußball-Clubs in Germany don't own their field, most belong to the communal authorities which are also responsible for maintenance and modernization - which they don't always do as they are supposed to. E.g. when SV Waldhof 07 reached Bundesliga there was no stadium in Mannheim that fit all the requirements, so they reached an agreement with the city of Ludwigshafen to use their Südwest-Stadium until the city of Mannheim got their sh*t together and renovated Mannheim's Rhein-Neckar-Stadium.

[@manub.3847]

Small example from the youth field, why you need sponsors: In some communities, the sports club pays a "user fee" per team to the community, since the municipal groundskeeper, field maintenance, etc. also have to be paid. With regard to football clubs, one can say that a lot of things have to be paid from the usually relatively low contribution income: insurance contributions, contributions to the football association, district sports association, referees, small payment to the trainer/expense allowance, balls (approx. 20+ euros per ball; usually more than 30 balls are needed per season) not to forget the penalties for non-attendance or late reporting of results, etc. to the football association. Usually there is not enough money left to finance game jerseys and sponsors are needed for this. Depending on the manufacturer, a set of jerseys = shirt, trousers, stockings for 15 players costs around 1500+ euros. There are also costs for training suits and rain jackets. That's why youth teams in particular organize many tournaments where parents sell coffee and cake or other delicacies, and the surplus is then used to buy the youth teams' essentials. Depending on the league, adults have to sell tickets to spectators at games and part of this is paid to the football association.

[@PascalDragon]

I'm a member of a LARP social club and one that takes care of a national, technical heritage building. I went to school together with Thomas Müller (we went to the same math course) and back then he played for the youth of FC Bayern München. And some times he was indeed excused due to some game. And regarding shoes: in summer I prefer sandals in winter something more cozy 😅

[@ChRW123]

I never really was that sporty so I cannot say anything about it. But at least in my school we would sometimes need to tell teachers that we would be missing classes for rehearsals right before a theatre performance. Our theatre group was organised by our school and led by a teacher. I guess in that specific case it would be more similar to the American system. (Of course theatre clubs do also exist in Germany) We wouldn't miss a whole day, though. Neither would we travel to a different city. Maybe just a couple of hours in the morning. The same apllied to the choir, orchestra and even the school circus. The circus was very unique to my school. There might be just a couple of schools in Germany having one.

[@exploring_gwendolyn]

I am active in a riding club and was active in several ones during the last years. Communal sports club events are mostly on weekends or during holidays. But there are also turnaments between school teams called "Jugend trainiert für Olympia". Q: Shoes

[@joeviolet4185]

1) Once you move to a location you have never lived before at, the quickest way to make freidns at you new place is to join one or more Vereine. 2) In most places the local Sportverein clearly is the biggest of all. 3) In vielen Sportvereinen ist die Fußball-Abteilung die größte von allen, aber selbst sehr bekannte Fußballvereine haben Abteilungen für andere Sportarten.

[@hermannschaefer4777]

There are some agreements that schools support sport clubs when bigger events, like national championships and such happen. Normal matches and regional championships are timed for weekends, so no problems with schools.

[@chrisk5651]

In New York, we use the term BBQ & grilling interchangeably. At least outdoor grilling which involves charcoal & usually hotdogs/frankfurters/wieners and hamburgers usually without BBQ sauce. Potato salad and toss salad would also be served. Occasionally there might be sausages grill too but my father never did chicken or even steak (& certainly not ribs). If we were lucky we would have marshmallows for dessert (never s’mores which I don’t think I had ever heard of as a young child & never tried the real deal at a backyard BBQ till I was middle age).

[@joannajaworska0000]

For the last 5 years I've been taking part in Verein as a baseball mom. My son plays baseball for the youth team of Dortmund Wanderers (worth mentioning the 1. Herrenmanschaft is in Bundesliga).

[@kristoffkiefer3791]

At my school they did skiing instruction and they actually took the course to bavaria to ski for one week to get their final grade

[@ACEsParkJunheeWreckedMeHard]

Never been in a "club" but as a kid I used to visit my local dance academy here in Germany and also took 2 years of learning the flute (wich was a fail cause I never really learned how to play the flute). My grandma on the other hand was a few years part of Malteser as her freetime activity where younger senior citizen would help out older senior citizen like for example a 65 year old woman would help a 85 year old woman with the groceries

[@PassportTwo]

Aubrey also took a few years of flute lessons! 😃

[@swanpride]

Same here...ballet and accordeon in my case.

[@Olessa]

I sing in a choir since a couple of years. We are self-organised and don't belong to an institution like a church. I live in Berlin and I found a lot of cool people througth the choir. When I was in school I played a bit Volleyball in a Verein and my family was active in our local Kegelverein. Espacially in small villages you will find lots and lots of Vereine. To the random question... it depends... These days I wear shoes driving my car, but there is a pair of sandals wainting for me in the office.

[@keksdose7696]

Your question at 7:00 Yes, i took part in some soccer tournaments and these were at schooldays. So it happend sometimes

[@PassportTwo]

There's the answer then! haha, Was it difficult to get out of school to do so? Or are students encouraged to do this?

[@keksdose7696]

@@PassportTwo My mother had to write some "Muttizettel" (Letter of Permission) to took me out of school. In Berlin, it was allowed for her to took me out of maximum 3 days, everything which lasted more had to be discussed with the principal (but i never had to get more than 1-2 days). And I had to learn everything by myself what i missed in that time of course. And no, they were not encouraging me to do so. It was like "he rather play some dumb soccer than learn something useful".

[@Die_Lotte]

As a young girl i startet with carate in a club togehter with other boys and girls from different schools. I got far, to the 5th Dan. My husband did volunter firefigher, and he still des it. This is very important as little villages and towns have only volunter firefighters. Gruß Lotte

[@daseteam]

American= SHOCKED! British=Surprised

[@PassportTwo]

Real world=surprised KZbin=SHOCKED! That’s more like it 😊

[@jessicaely2521]

My friends and I "accidentally" camped in a place where it wasn't allowed. We were out whitewater kayaking in the Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee. 2 of our friends got seriously injured and couldn't continue paddling. The rock wall was 60 ft straight up. None of us had rock climbing equipment so that was a no to quick help. We couldn't continue kayaking because it was dark and there were some big class IV rapids that you needed full daylight for. Cellphones didn't work because we were in a canyon. We ended up building a makeshift camp out of our boats. We always bring extra food, warm clothes, and water for this kind of case. The next morning we had park rangers in a helicopter looking for us. They ended up rescuing our friends. We have a pact with our family and kayaking friends if they don't get a phonecall from one of us to call for help. I have to say that was the best camping I have done. Wish that 2 of our friends didn't get hurt.

[@reinhard8053]

Some people are more active as being a member of a club than really doing what the club is for 🙂. I joined 3 clubs mainly because they have some resources I need to do the sport. And as nobody likes to "work" in clubs now I am also secretary in 2 of them. In my neighborhood as a kid most were in some of the sports clubs in town. There you could try different sports. The universities also have a broad program of sports. But most of it is not competitive.

[@steemlenn8797]

I just was on a campground that was (the edge) under a bridge and on the side of a relativly busy road. Not one of our group of non-campers could understand why you would want to be there camping, especially those who lived close (judged by the numer plates). And regarding to "real camping"; There simply is no place where you would have to walk 10km into nature that isn't a protected area, even in the least dense parts. (Well, maybe a mountain in the Alps, but you don't want o camp on hard rock either, right?.)

[@PassportTwo]

Aubrey's favorite place to camp is in the mountains of Colorado! She can sleep anywhere it seems, hard rock or soft ground 😅

[@petebeatminister]

@@PassportTwo But in addition it is illegal to do "wild camping" in Germany. And especially in the Alps or in national parks they are very strikt with those rules. Try to make a camp fire in the Bayrischer Wald - and they will probably crucify you. The only other way to do camping outside designated camping grounds is, to ask a land owner (like a farmer) for permission to camp on his land (for a limited time). But you still not allowed to make fires then.

[@jeremyhelquist]

That’s a surprising difference between National Park Systems. In the US you can camp in national parks. You may have to pay a fee, but backpacking into deep country and camping is even, somewhat encouraged, thru clubs like Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

[@petebeatminister]

Yeah, some campers are a little bit weird in what they do. Some set up their caravan on a crowded camping ground and never go anywhere, much like the trailer parks in the US. Only with much smaller boxes. And then they start complaining about noisy neughbours, just like at home. :)

[@Al69BfR]

@@jeremyhelquist Scouts clubs is the closest you can get to camping in the wilderness as a kid. We had our regular camps often far away from special camp sites with toilets and running water. So we had to bring canisters of water and had to take a shovel and go into the woods if we could hear the call of the wilderness. 😉

[@uncipaws7643]

I admit I have been wild camping in the mountains. It's more common in Scandinavia where camping outside settlements and agricultural fields is generally tolerated as long as you don't damage the vegetation, don't make fire and of course leave no rubbish behind. Shoes or sandals? I'm one of the rare people actually walking barefoot whenever the conditions allow (which is pretty much constantly from the end of winter to the beginning of the next).

[@erwinerwinson5941]

Hi there, I think you underestimate the effort and the costs, at least in Germany, to maintain a tennis court. Every year in spring, several tons of sand per court have to be removed by club volunteers or paid workers and replaced by new, more water-permeable sand. Otherwise, the courts would be under water for days after rain (which happens here several times a week).

[@PassportTwo]

When did you think I underestimated the cost? 🤔 Plus a solution to me would be to build hard courts that don’t require the maintenance a clay court does…

[@atconnys8786]

@@PassportTwo Hi, that`s not tennis court then, rather a huge ping-pong table. lol

[@lobster8009]

Pretty much any village in germany will have at least a soccer field. Many also offer Tennis, Basketball, Baseball you name it. Problem is most of them are either owned by clubs or the city. City owned places you have to ask for permission to use, club owned you can aks for permission but usualy its restricted to club members and only during official practice of the club. If you want to play some casual soccer in your free time in germany you most often have to play on straight up unmaintained grass fields for public recreation use or you do something illegal and just use a club owned field hoping not to get in trouble for it. Edit: And regarding Camping in Germany. It is not illegal to camp in the wild, you just have to ask for permission of the owner of the ground you plan on camping. There is no such thing as no mans land in Germany. Every square meter of the Bundesrepublik is owned by someone, be it the state, the church or a private person.

[@karlwiklund2108]

Not part of any clubs, but the area around me has some great hiking. The last one before it got too hot was to climb up to Schloss Lichtenstein. Nice views up there.

[@m.a.6478]

Watching your videos from Switzerland I always realize how similar the German are to us in many aspects. One important note on sports clubs or social clubs in general: I observe in the clubs where I am active (music rather than sports) that it gets increasingly difficult to find people who are willing to put work into it. Jobs in the organization like presidency, secretary, finance etc. are generally not paid. Also the technical roles (drum major, director, techs, teachers) are often unpaid. There are many who teach "for free" and the kids only pay for the usage of the rooms etc. in an annual subscription to the club. I think the system is great because it is affordable to most people almost independent from the income. It also is a great way people can experience purpose in doing something for the society and take responsibility.

[@MagnificentGermanywithDarion]

Great video Sir!!!!! I enjoy seeing the differences between Germans and Americans on an array of subjects :). Yes, grilling is grilling lol. Well as far ad the random question, I prefer flip-flops lol Thank You for bringing this information to us.

[@martind6196]

7:45 your guess is right. If they are better + have the necessary funding, every little town can move up throuth the different leagues till Bundesliga.

[@TimoWolf200]

7:00 in general it’s possible to be exempt from class for several days, for instance for culture things. I don’t think it’s very common to have tournaments during the school week. Most game days are on Saturdays or sundays.

[@kalterverwalter4516]

You can still Biwak. It is almost the Same as wild Camping but without the tent. So you can Build your Base sleep under the Open Sky and Grill. But I dare you to build a Tent! 😂 Sandals with socks are actually Genius!

[@ggthjwf]

In München ist gerade die Europameisterschaft 2022 in Leichtathletik . Mit schwimmen, klettern, bahnrad, rudern, Weitsprung etc. Wollte ich nur mal erwähnen . 😉

[@Never_again_against_anyone]

There is no time for which it is generally allowed to miss school for sports. Competitions usually take place on the weekend, which can still be quite stressfull when you attend normal schools (opposed to ones catering to students that might turn pro). That does not mean that there is no way, but there have to be good reasons, one has to be convincing to get permission from the school.

[@a.g.8871]

Actually there's much more to "social communities" than just sports. The majority of fire fighters and EMTs are volunteers so if you call for an ambulance or the fire fighters chances are pretty good the people coming to help you are doing this in their free time and without getting paid, especially outside big cities. While it might not be considered sports at first glance, you get a decent amount of physical training both as a firefighter and as an EMT 😜

[@carinab.1923]

We may not have free tennis courts, but we do have the Bolzplätze, which is actually an immaterielles Kulturerbe (Bolzplatzkultur)

[@merlesstorys]

Shoes. Also, I am still part of the DLRG, which is a at least nation wide swimming club who also rescues people if they drown. I learnt swimming in my local Turnverein and Switches to them because of the possibility to reach a higher skill.

[@jackybraun2705]

You may have public tennis courts in the US, but it is hard to find a public swimming pool. Shoes? Sandals? Depends on the weather.

[@XLargeEric]

The only "sandals" I own are the Birkenstock ones I wear at home as "Hausschuhe" and my "Badelatschen" to wear at a public pool. So I probably disqualify for the "socks&sandals" stereotype German.

[@dus1213]

As a kid, i've been in the local sportsclub, that offered many kinds of sports, like Ju-Jutsu or Tennis, which I did, but also many other sports. As I moved to a University, I became part of a german fraternity, which is (at least on paper, some say they aren't) a "Verein", too. They are quite different from US-fraternities and can support many aspects of one's life. Also I'm part of a "Heimatverein" from my village, that makes "Dorffeste" and keeps all the old buildings used ans repaired. My answer to the random question iiis: Shoes 😃 I only do Sandals on hot days or when I'm in another country in combination with socks, so everyone knows I'm German 😂

[@EnbyFranziskaNagel]

Sandals with socks represent.

[@gedeuchnixan3830]

It´s not completly impossible to camp in the woods here in Germany, but it sure isn´t easy. First you have to pick a forest, figure out who it belongs to and than contact the owner and ask for promission, but most won´t give it so wildlife isn´t disturbed.

[@GeeShocker]

Yes, i was on various school sports teams (atlethics, basketball, badminton, wrestling) here in Germany, and we went to other places to compete during school days.

[@TristanKocot]

I live in a German village and we have a spot Center where you can play the most sports (in and outdoor) for free except golf

[@christianloser5038]

Vereine "social clubs" are so important in Austria/Germany and cover nearly all topics you can think about (e.g. chess, sports, literature, boy scouts ....) also firefighting and ambulance are based on that. Espacally in rural regions the "freiwillige Feuerwehr"/ volunteer firefihters is the center of the community and do not only appear when your house is on fire, but organizing in each village, one of the biggest social events of the year, the so called "Feuerwehrfest". One advice for all of you moving to a new place in Germany/Austria: search for "Vereine"/social clubs which you are interessted in (e.g. you like to play chess look for a chees club, and so on...). Even for me as Austrian it was much more easier to move from Lower-Austria to Upper-Austria beeing a member of one of the local social clubs, to get integrated and find friends. The historical background, why Vereine "social clubs" are so important, is a story for itself.

[@negativ-dekadent]

When you participate at sport events at a certain level (Landeskader/state team and upwards), schools are supposed to exempt you from classes if said practice, events or travel therefrom collides with school hours.

[@aphexart]

I am also so bummed out that it is illegal to camp wherever you want in most of Europe... You will get a fine if they find you! But then again, Europe is so densely populated that it is really hard to find a spot that is far away from it all. Luckily there are countries in Europe where you can camp in the wild, especially Scandinavia and the British isles are known for it.

[@BrokenCurtain]

There are actually different rules for hammocks and bivvies: while it's usually not legal to set up a tent in a forest, you might still be allowed to spend a night there, sleeping in a hammock or a bivvy. The background of that rule is that hikers or wanderers might get lost and not be able to reach their destination before sunset. So if you don't establish a camp site and move on in the next morning, you should be fine in many places. And even camping might be possible if the forest warden okays it. Nature reserves often have stricter rules, though, so you should definitely check first.

[@ralfhtg1056]

Shoes or sandals? Shoes! About Vereine: I am a member in a Karate club.practising for over 24 years now.

[@himmel-erdeundzuruck5682]

No, there is one exception to wild camping. In Schleswig Holstein it is allowed to spend one night in one place. So if you are changing the place every night, e.g. with a hiking tour, you can experience the camping Aubrey likes. ok, it might be difficult to find a place hours away from a street. Just try and get a Wanderkarte of Schleswig Holstein.

[@th60of]

Students are excused from school for tournaments on an individual basis. The answer is usually yes unless there is an exam scheduled on that day or if the student is struggling academically. Shoes, my feet are ugly.

[@PassportTwo]

lol! Great answer to the random question of the week 😂😂 Also, thanks for the information! Very interesting 😊

[@Cpt_Mackenzie_Calhoun]

Wait for it, when you child has the first time Bundesjugendspiele

[@ClaudiaG.1979]

ohh noo,, the bundesjugendspiele.. i hated it.

[@undo2613]

I’m member of a sailing club. At €150 a year fairly cheap and very comfy (clubs usually have fees and ask for voluntary work, too, youths are often exempted to get them started). 😊 Am thinking of joining an equestrian club. I do miss them horses! I don’t like sandals. No idea who decided the “sandals, no socks” fashion rule, but then I’m out. 😂 In summer it’s very loosely tied Chucks for me.

[@janpracht6662]

When kids at a young age show a promising talent, for example in swimming, gymnastics, athletics or winter sports, they can apply on a special Sports-Highschool (Sportförderschule/Sport Gymnasium). There the focus is on their professional sports- career beside the other school subjects. Because football is "sport number 1" in Germany, many professional clubs in German Bundesliga have own boarding schools where the talents live, practice football and go to school.

[@ChocoBetty]

Shoes. For me it's way easier to walk in them long distances. And I really enjoy putting my headphones on and walk to a meeting, an appointment etc. while listening to a podcast or music. It's a great workout and free, well, apart that I probably need new shoes faster than people that walk less.

[@himmel-erdeundzuruck5682]

soccer - yes, it rarely happens, but it happpens that a club climbs up several leagues. E.g. Hoffenheim...

[@Why-D]

Yes, basically you can move from the lowest league to the premium league with your team. Especially, if you have "no professional" leagues, like in Field Hockey. In some tournaments, like DFB-Pokal even amateur clubs down to the fourth or fifth league compete with premier league teams and sometimes beat them and also get some money from the DFB for the advance in the tournament. Of course, from some point on, you have to pay for good players, as other teams in the league also do so, and some players even in the amateur leagues want money for goals, wins, playing etc., but basically it is possible to go from Kreisklasse to Erste Bundesliga if you win the games. And if the children play in a good team and it comes to a big tournament, like the european championchip for U16 Baskeball or similar, the players for the team could ask to get free from school for the tournament. There are also German masterships for schoolsports and the best teams of schools in a certain sport. For this, many schools have AG (Arbeitsgemeinschaften), where the train this sport after school with other students from the school. Later on this alsosometimes happens for Betriebssport-Teams, but not soften. Companies sometime attend to a Volkslauf or Company Run, and depending on the company the employees train after work or sometimes even in the working time.

[@PascalGienger]

May I add golf clubs and golf courts? In Germany you need to be member of a golf club which incurs quite hefty yearly fees and typically an entry investment. In the US that exists as well, BUT, you'll find hundreds of public golf courts where you just pay an affordable green fee and you're good to go. So very far away from the more "wealthy elite" kind of experience.

[@TrangleC]

To me Tennis is something I associate with the 80s. Back then it was huge in Germany. So huge actually that they would even tell you the Tennis news outside of sports news within the regular world event news. For example the newscaster would tell you something about Ronald Reagan meeting Michail Gorbachev for peace talks and then tell you who rose or fell in the Tennis world ranking before talking about acid rain destroying the forests and striking coal mine workers. Regular sports news were reported on separately. Must obviously have been because of Germany having two successful Tennis athletes in Boris Becker and Steffie Graf, but it still was weird in hindsight. It seems to me all the Tennis courts you see all over the country are just left over relics from that time. I never see anyone playing on them.

[@_Yannex]

I loved to play with the ball against a wall on our property as a child. If I was looking for a Verein I realized how expensive it was. Sadly I couldn't learn it. Tennis often connected with snobby guys with polo shirts.

[@bio7738]

As a teacher at a German Gymnasium I would like to mention that it is a misconception that there are no organized sports tournaments in school. They might not be such huge events as American High School football matches, but still there are tournaments for a huge variety of sports on city, regional, state and even federal level and we also have sports days where classes compete with each other or even with the teacher team. However, those who want achieve more in their sports career are also active in sports clubs.

[@PassportTwo]

So you're saying that German schools have, for example, an organized basketball team that students join that play against other schools' basketball teams? I think sports days where classes compete against others isn't what I was talking about in this video. I was specifcially talking about organized sports teams that play competitively against other schools' sports teams. I still believe what I was discussing in this video holds true, that Germans schools don't have sports ogranized the way that American schools do. Also, I will throw out there that American high school football games aren't ALWAYS huge events. This depends greatly on the size of school and communities.

[@martinohnenamen6147]

@@PassportTwo German schools have sports teams which compete against each other, most noteable as no surprise a Football team. It's not a league systems similar to the US and it's not as highly organized in the school as in the US. For each year it starts with games on e.g. the Landkreis (county) level where the winners then go on to the next bigger region and so on till even up to the federal level with finals in Berlin (before the virus). A disadvantage is that if you lose early on the season is over. Another thing as far as i know is that not all schools automatically participate every year, instead they have to sign up and it's mostly down to a teacher to make that extra effort. This exists for a number of sports like among otheres Football, Handball, Basketball, Tennis, Swimming ...

[@steph1518]

@@PassportTwo There are tournaments/leagues where schools can send teams. But as far as I've seen those teams just "recruit" students who already play that sport (in their regular teams in clubs outside of school) to participate in those games, it's not something that you learn at school or practice there regularly all year long. Since both schools and clubs are usually made up of local students there is often quite a bit of overlap, so they don't necessarily need to practice at school... could be different for higher leagues though. I played in a lower league with mostly people from my club (including the teacher=coach) for two years without extra practice, we got the game days off from school which was cool... Definitely not the same things as in the US though.

[@DiesdasAnanas-ku5rv]

I'm German and have never seen such thing here in NRW.

[@ZeneSand]

Hi there, nice video as allways 😀 I only rarely write comments, but this time I just had to, sorry for that. I know it sounds rude, but here are my thoughts on that: One thing I have to clarify because I heard it wrong so many times. Schools in Germany offer club activities called AG; it is not entirely a social club(/Vereins) thing. These are mostly for other social activities, like a band music, choir, school newspaper or art club. In my school days I took part in chemistry club, where we did some experiments in addition to basic chemistry class. But also in a table tennis club. But there are also a lot of sports activities like (table) tennis, Volleyball, Basketball or Football (Soccer...), but mostly without bigger contests with other schools. (But that could sometimes also happen). Sometimes these school clubs are cared for by members of official clubs as a form of recruitment for later years. As for being excempt from school because of club activities, that can happen for many different reasons: For tournaments and contests for both social and sporting and within and outside of schoolactivities. But it also does not happen that often. One of my siblings was excused from school about 4 or 5 days a year when his football team had to travel a long distanz for a away game. A friend was excused from school for some days when his Music AG (choir club) did a club trip once a year as preparation for a life performance at a choir contest. I myself was excused nearly every year at least one day from school when taking part in a math and later also latin contest. There are (or at least were when I want to school till 15 years ago) also some other reasons you can be excused from school for a day. -like doing the check up for military enlistment (ok, that is definetly a thing of the past...) -civil protection (some children are members of organizations like German Red Cross, Johanniter, Malteser, ASB etc.) in case of disaster (same for employees enlisted in civil protection: you get excused from work and the Country pays that daily salary) -attending a funeral (also an additional holiday for employees) -moving to a new apartment (also an additional holiday for employees)

[@jamesharrison2374]

In our area in NC it is either school sport, or college sports. There is a wellness center for the elderly. The community recreation center may have some sports, but not familiar with them. I do miss my Verein, and the US clubs are no comparison to those in Germany.

[@s.zander6211]

There are all kind of clubs. That is how to make friends with same interests.

[@readingirl1984]

In hot weather sandals, in cold weather shoes and boots. :D

[@herb6677]

I guess there is not enough wilderness in Germany to do that sort of Camping as you would do in America. You can always try to find a spot, where you could camp as long as nobody finds out. That would be the main challenge. Because for finding food you have always a small shop somewhere nearby. Camping illegal ist not that much an issue than illegal fishing or hunting. If you do the latter and get cought, the fees are pretty high. But if you get caught camping wild, the owner would tell you to leave and probably would not call the police. People who camp in Europe do it mainly to spare money. Some folks, especially young people can't afford a Hotel or B&B. Sandals or shoes - that depends on what you want to do. I use both, but sandals certainly not for hiking.

[@michaelz.7140]

in germany glamping means going with your luxurious RV with tv, showers, your own restroom and your own showers and probably your own pool probably never engaging with nature... when you use a tent you are camping

[@rolandk.5720]

Sometimes students will be permitted leaving the school. Personally I know a dancer, a soccer player and a fencer that are attending games or tournaments during the school-week. Shoes. Or Boots, Sandals only in Spa or on the beach.

[@peterschutzek325]

Gute Beispiele für die kleinen Vereine, die ganz nach oben kamen sind Hoffenheim und RB Leipzig. Wobei bei Hoffenheim es imho eine tatsächliche Verbundenheit mit dem Verein dahinter stand.

[@floberlin5]

Vereine sind in Deutschland ein wichtiger Bestandteil unserer Kultur. Die deutsche UNESCO Kommission hat die „Gemeinwohlorientierte Sportvereinskultur“ sogar in die Bundesweite Liste des Immateriellen Kulturerbes aufgenommen.

[@PassportTwo]

Ich habe das nicht gesehen! Sehr Interessant 😃

[@scherzkeks7524]

At my school they were some sports tournaments between us and other schools, but no one apart from the athletes really cared. Although sports teams aren't as popular in german schools, they are "AG's" (Arbeitsgruppe) in which kids can participate. Those can be Sports courses (Basketball, Football/soccer, etc) or "social" classes (for example IT, a language course, gardening, etc). Usually everyone is free to sign up for any course. At Uni there are sports teams as well, but it's more about having fun than about playing competitively.

[@philipps1646]

tennis is considered a luxury sport

[@ladonnaashburn1401]

Great video! Is Athletic Greens offered in the US? Shoes? Both, but if I’m doing a lot of walking, my tennis shoes are preferred!

[@PassportTwo]

Yes it is 😊

[@undo2613]

I’m surprised, you didn’t discover „Schützenvereine“, because they’re such a big thing. At least in Bavaria. Clubs for shooting, and one of the few legal ways to own a gun (which, unless air gun, is usually stored at the club). Those clubs are mostly very conservative, with traditional clothing and Schützenkönigen (shooting kings, best shooters). There’s an age old tradition behind it. Rooted in civic defense I’d guess and way older than soccer. I trialed it with air rifles, which was fun, but the setting way too conservative for me to feel comfortable. 😉

[@eifelwolf1719]

such dir einen Sportschützen Verein 😉

[@cuzimvanz1376]

Many schools here in Germany actually have sports clubs, mostly just football or tennis but not as „professional“ as outside football and tennis clubs. The members of these clubs can actually miss a few days per year because of school tournaments. It’s just really not nearly as professional as the clubs in the us 😂

[@lazarusgrey7520]

We dont have so manny tennis courts but at least where i live and lived we had fussballfelder

[@micha_el_]

I am active in 5 different Vereine and board member in 2 of them. Just one of them would be classified as sports. Yes, the German Vereinskultur is extensive😂 Oh, and shoes. Or none at all.

[@chkoha6462]

Sandals? Only in combination with white socks pulled up all the way!

[@michaelz.7140]

I was in the youth fire department as my social club... but somehow I couldn`t connect with them. I was there because i loved and still like the fire department

[@DarthLenaPlant]

I think it really depends on the school itself, I went to a school that HAD its own sports (and other activities, like learning certain music instruments or random stuff like CHEMISTRY) "clubs", but that was because it was a private school, and had "Nachmittagsbtreuung" (afternoon care). But then even the higher technical school (HTL) I went to between 15 and 19 had some clubs, but not many since it was vocational and basically full-time learning. (So managing to squeeze in driving lessons at the end of the day was quite the feat LOL) But usually, yes, a lot of stuff is managed in all sorts of Vereine and Clubs, no matter the age group. Vereine are actually a really big and important part of people's social life here, and there's Vereine for all sorts of things, and be it model trains. Wildcamping is illegal in both Austria and Germany, mostly due to not wanting random ass people who have no idea what they're doing getting lost, hurting themselves, or just destroying the environment. Also, shoes. Sandals are supposed to be worn without socks, but then they always rub my feet bloody, so I avoid them.

[@petebeatminister]

I guess also in the US a small football, baseball, basketball or whatever club could climb in the leagues. If they fulfill certain conditions - and that is the same in Germany. Yes, the basic requirement is to beat the competitors, but that is not all. At certain league levels you need to have a appropriate sportsfield, or sportshall. Meaning, it has to have a certain standard, like a grass field for soccer, big enough grandstands, parking, proper amenities for the players and so on. Plus a certain amount of money as club budget. That is very hard to achieve for small clubs in the lower leagues, since they dont have much money coming in. The only option is to find a potent sponsor. All thats pretty far away until you appear on TV at least sometimes, like the Fußball Regional Liga. And to compete in the Bundesliga you need a big home stadium, professional players, a coach, a management and all kinds of other staff. But thats where the big money is, and competition is fierce.

[@n_other_1604]

The big leagues in the US are franchizes without relegation & promotion. So US teams can't climb to the top by just winning their own league (& fullfilling some basic standards) but only by making a bid to join that specific league with the financial & infrastructural background.

[@PassportTwo]

The other response is correct, teams in the US can’t climb out of the leagues they are in, just individual players. A minor league baseball team, for example, will ALWAYS be a minor league baseball team, but the individual players can be called up to play in the major leagues. The systems are set up completely differently.

[@petebeatminister]

@@PassportTwo Well, then how did the major league teams get there?

[@michaelkloters3454]

talking about my fitness is a sensitive topic, of course i was in a football club until I was 16, i was also in a rifle club. nowadays i'm my own 1-man club with the aim of balancing my beer belly and big ass on the sofa and watching youtube videos. the advantage is that i am both president and treasurer as well as the main speaker at the general meeting! 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Pixel_Higitsune]

Are wall walkers not like the hiking clubs in germany?

[@naneneunmalklug4032]

I don't have ever heard that student would miss school for a sport event on official approval. Sports beside school is considered a personal affair and has to be done outside school, therefore most youth tournaments are on weekends or holidays. But I never played in a Verein, so I might not be a reliable source.

[@RustyDust101]

The running joke about Germany is that it has a higher number of social clubs than population. Yepp, I'm a member of two social clubs: an archery club and a LARPers club. And I'm not a typical German, with being a member of ONLY two social clubs. Many people I know are members of five or more clubs each. So that explains how there could theoretically be more clubs than population. The wild camping issue probably has to do with our long history of being split into too many tiny fiefdoms. You couldn't just pitch your tent anywhere cause you might have already wandered into another neighboring fiefdom when hiking a many miles. Which means they wouldn't have liked anyone from outside crossing their borders. In addition to that, like the "Geography Now" video said so succinctly "after two thousand years Germans have cultivated the crap out of their country". Meaning that roughly 1/3 is arable land, another 1/3 is woodlands, but often it is not directly obvious. So you might pitch your tent on a meadow somewhere that is supposed to be mowed by a farmer on that day without even knowing it. While there are no trespassing laws like in the US, with wild camping you aren't trespassing, you are probably squatting on someones land (probably completely unintentionally). Slight but significant difference. Walking across the land is fine, camping not so much. random question: definitely shoes. I always get chafe sores from sandals. And no-way am I going to wear socks in sandals. Hell, no. There is a limit to how much I'm going to conform to a German stereotype. 😂

[@geneviere199]

I am into shoes and do not like sandals. About clubs - I have been in various clubs as a kid but aren't today anymore. I was in two choirs and was in the local Turnverein (I guess that is even more a stable in German's towns than football is - often the Turnverein noch just offers gymnastics but Handball, Basketball, Track and Field, volleyball etc.) to do first the usual kid gymnasic class and later on track and field and handball. My son played football, table tennis and tennis (+ kid gymnastics from 4 to 6) - and was in the local music club to learn to play the drums. There is a saying in Germany - "wenn 3 Deutsche sich treffen gründen sie einen Klub" (actually you need 5 as much as I know". In my village with about 8000 inhabitants we have more than 50 clubs. Kid sports in Germany - with the exception of probably tennis and golf - is pretty cheap compared to the US. My village pays big amounts to help the clubs organising kids sports and the cost e.g. for the local Turnverein is somewhat between 50 and 80 EURs/year. With football I had the experience that even if they had a little yearly fee the X-mas presents for the kids was usually as expensive (often club shirts, bags etc.) as the fee and they often got free drinks or food from the small restaurant that was in the club facilities. Apart from training clothes and football shoes (+driving the kids around or the kit washing duty for the team every some weeks) everything was covered. My cousin in the USA whose daughter plays football pays for the club, for the instructors, for the referee, for the match kit etc. and that is more than 1000 EUR each year without extra training courses in summer etc. Tennis courts in Germany usually are owned by a tennis club. They often even have a fulltime tennis instructor who has to be paid per course.

[@eagle1de227]

I personally do not know any german who is not in any kind of "Verein" (physical activity or not). But that's maybe a rural thing (?) Our sport clubs do attend competitions only on weekends where kids are not at school (obviously). Or at least it's extremely rare. random question: shoes!

[@felixgrimm408]

I said this before: Donnie needs to sign with a German soccer club asap!!!!