The Dumbest Questions Americans Ask Germans.. (American Reacts)

[@Headhunter-5000]

How is it possible for an American not to know about timezones? You have multiple timezones inside your country! 😂

[@unkeymoo]

I say this as an American, because the average American is dumber than a box of rocks. The education system is lackluster at best in most places as well as the poor work ethic of many kids.

[@mlee6050]

It as they not like the true timezone GMT, also with 11/09 surely they should of asked Australia and not us British as they are even more ahead

[@amyloriley]

I don't think they have to know about timezone time differences. Like, I believe from the few clips I have seen that programs on television are announced something like "This show starting tonight at 07:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time, 08:00 pm Mountain Daylight Time, and 09:00 pm Central Daylight Time." If you know you are using Central Daylight Time, because you live in New Jersey, it's easy to reason "yeah, they Californians always get the program a few hours early, they're treated a bit special. That's the way it is." and then not question it further. Even when the program is shown at the same time throughout the whole country. You don't need to question it any more, especially if you're never crossing state borders in your entire life.

[@mlee6050]

@@amyloriley Californians? Surely Florida people need treated special lmao

[@amyloriley]

@@mlee6050 No I mean concerning time zones, not anti-LGBT laws. Florida is in the same time zone as New Jersey, so the comparison can't be made that way regarding time zones.

[@tw8009]

As a German, I was once asked by an American if we have electricity. I must have reacted kind of confused, so he added "you know, because everything is in ruins since WW2..."

[@togsog4101]

Einfach zurück fragen ob die US-Army noch immer die Pocken verseuchten Decken an die Indianer verschenken und wann sie denken damit alle Indianer ausgerottet zu haben. ;)

[@anonymos.videos]

Zurück fragen: und wie machen sich unsere Wissenschaftler bei euch die euch halfen den Krieg zu gewinnen?

[@chanceneck8072]

Why not go all the way and ask if we have food here, too? 😅🤭 If you're going to be this ignorant, own it! 😎🤙

[@Gorf2003]

An American tourist guide once asked my if our townhall was built BC or only shortly after...

[@reallybadgamer]

Who said all America's are smart? LOL

[@ulliulli]

I worked for a small tourism company in Berlin in the 90s and had a lot of contact with Americans as a result.... One of them asked me where we "hide" the ruins. I pointed to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which as a ruin is supposed to symbolise the consequences of the war. He just said "No, I mean the real ruins. It is impossible that you guys have rebuilt the city so quickly". And another "stupid" American asked me why we Germans only drive US cars. I looked around... VW, BMW, Audi, Mercedes etc. I told him that they were all German cars. He then accused me of lying, because all his work colleagues drive such cars and they would never drive "inferior foreign" cars, because after all Ford invented the car. When I tried to explain to him that a German had invented the car, he became really insulting.

[@drsnova7313]

What did he think BMW stood for? Baltimore Motor Works?

[@chriswyss4321]

​@@drsnova7313 😂😂😂😂😂

[@LexusLFA554]

@@drsnova7313 Yes

[@LexusLFA554]

Well, Germany had the first patented car. If you count the Fardier by James Cugnot the car is technically french, but that is a real stretch. That second coworker is really stupid and short-sighted, and his comment hurts as a car-fan.

[@dorderre]

Hmm the 90's, that was like half a century after WW2 ended. How long did they expect it to take to rebuild a city? Sometines it actually did take a long time to remove them. For example the Frauenkirche in Dresden was still in ruins in the late 90's when they started rebuilding it. On the other hand, there still ARE lots of WW2 ruins, who are being preserved that way as memorials. It's called Denkmalschutz (monument conservation). Or in some cases they are being left alone bcs communities simply don't have the funds to tear them down or rebuild them.

[@HestabyFR]

When i was in the US, ordering food at a fast food restaurant, me and my friends were discussing our orders in german, the woman behind the counter was asking what language we speak and was very surprised to hear its german and asked: „oh you got your own language??“

[@TikkyNoSurname]

WTF o.o

[@StijnLampo]

Huh??? 🫣

[@willydelzongle4329]

Stupid things like that you can only hear in the USA

[@m0lDaViA]

​@@willydelzongle4329And you know why?

[@willydelzongle4329]

@@m0lDaViA I would say a lack of education and interest. I am Belgian and I speak fluently 4 languages. So does my daughter in addition that she learnt latin and old greek. How many Americans speak a 2nd language?

[@jemus1000]

When I was in Berlin with American exchange students we went to a remaining part of the Berlin Wall and told them about DDR etc. One girl asked "Aaah, DDR, it's there where Hitler lives, right". I didn't know where to start

[@crepinhauser5274]

I've worked with european people getting all WWI and WWII and cold war mixed. They were young. It's somehow all "past" to them.

[@justynaaleksiejuk1802]

Sometimes people have NO SHAME in showing their stupidity

[@thorstenwestheiderphotogra7722]

"If they're 7 hours ahead why didn't they warn us about 9/11" - made my day...

[@Pleumel]

Das Telefonat kommt natürlich auch 7 Stunden später an. haha

[@evelineperko6685]

😂😂😂🙈🙉🙊OMG!

[@MrDeflador]

funny/sad thing. The BND (Bundesnachrichtenservice, the secret service of Germany) did warned the US that the Taliban were planning a terrorist attack (but to be fair, they did not had many details that would have helped).

[@MirthaSchatkowsky]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@thomasblohm3073]

Okay, at first it may sound funny but i think you can understand it as a question with des pair...

[@deniskramer3562]

Refrigerators were invented in Germany, mainly by Carl von Linde. So for a German it is really annoying to be asked if we have refrigerators. Americans can be so ignorant. But to be fair: Germans can be ignorant too.

[@CodeNascher_]

exactly. if an american asks "do you have x in germany?", in almost all cases we can say "bitch, we invented that!"

[@cerdicw9998]

@@CodeNascher_ …and almost everything else was invented in Britain!

[@helloweener2007]

"Refrigerators were invented in Germany, mainly by Carl von Linde" Not exactly. First refrigator was invented by a Scotsman, William Cullen. But Linde was very important too because he invented the process of the liquefaction of gases which made it possible to produce ice. Before that natural ice was used. There were also other people involved in making a fridge what it is today.

[@EinChris75]

Linde AG is still around and a big company selling industrial gases and other supplies around that topic.

[@berrygrash6124]

​@@CodeNascher_ hahahaha cool...

[@ZynoaPiano]

German who grew up in the USA here! Americans love pulling that "I'm half/quarter/eighth so-and-so" BS, so whenever someone would say they're part German, I'd start having a conversation with them in fluent German. Needless to say, they'd stand there silently with wide eyes and a red face. Works like a charm 🤣

[@ZZMJo]

🤣🤣It happened to me too..he spoke German like I speak Hungarian....

[@svenbrenner3583]

My cousins are also so called germans. Never been in germany , don't speak a word german , but have a german passport.

[@luxter858]

​@@svenbrenner3583 3rd most powerful passport

[@rocketlcs8402]

Echt, krass. Bist du dort geboren oder wie? Oder mit ganz jungen Jahren nach Amerika verreist. Mit den Eltern natürlich

[@florianvo7616]

@@svenbrenner3583 "so called germans"...

[@katerinagiannioudi401]

Asked by American if we have cars in Greece. I replied, no we ride donkeys and he replied back: That must be really cool!!!

[@GNeng2027]

😂😂😂

[@spexx23]

I was once asked by an American if we have houses/ homes in Germany...I told her that we live on trees because of the radiation accident/ pollution caused by the Tschernobyl incident and she was like: "Yep, I see and I'm so sorry for you guys" #facepalm

[@mardiffv.8775]

😆

[@nest1109]

😂😂😂😂👏👏👏👏👏

[@flowerinherhair8195]

Don't say that. They take it seriously 😂

[@nataliamach7248]

I can't :D

[@alllscination]

That's such a good startng point! You could just go on and on elaborating to find out how long it takes for them to figure out that it's a joke. Had to immediately think of Pippy Longstockings: "You know, it's not as bad as you might think. For example due to the radiation our trees grow lemonade now so we never run out of drinks." LOL

[@panther7748]

I once read a reddit post in which an American was seemingly unable to comprehend that he would be considered a foreigner in another country. No, according to him the term "foreigners" only applied to Non-Americans (regardless where they are) but never to Americans...

[@warg8728]

the same with China

[@aaron5809]

Can someone link it? I cant find it because there are like a million ask reddit's about foreigners

[@animalchin5082]

A person moving to the US is a migrant, but a US-citizen moving to anothet country isn't called a migrant, but an ex-pat... Because Im(migrant) is a term for non-americans i suppose...

[@estranhokonsta]

"... "foreigners" only applied to Non-Americans ..." Lol. That is so stereotypical US American.

[@juttaweise]

*Panther774* Everybody is a foreigner almost everywhere! 🙂

[@Joris.01376]

As a German, I was once asked by an American if we also see the moon at night

[@fieketran4032]

Hahahahahahahaha

[@UnifiedFriends]

Of course we see the moon.. Obviously the backside with the reptiles, Nazi bases, Russian nuclear craters and Quentin Tarantino's moon landing studio.

[@mariaeloisaapacionado2741]

😂😂😂 And we always dance to Rammstein in our Dirndls

[@Joris.01376]

@@mariaeloisaapacionado2741 yup 😂

[@3indignada]

🤣

[@baronvonjerch]

I don't think it's an overstatement to say that, in general, Americans are the most self-centred nationality in the world. And by self-centred I mean 'ignorant by choice'. I don't expect someone from a tiny village in rural Mozambique to know anything about the world beyond their local community. Americans have basically the entire world at their fingertips either physically through their melting pot of ethnicities and nationalities or the infinite library of the internet. It is literally impossible to not know even basic things about the world unless you actively choose to be ignorant. This of course doesn't apply to all Americans, but we're talking in broad strokes here.

[@DieBlutigeLynn]

Well written. They have a responsibility and kick it with their feet. That's what makes me so angry! The other question is why do they have to say what they think when they don't know anything about it? Other people would just 1) be quiet or 2) ask or 3) say they don't know. Are those concepts unknown in the USA?

[@pleaseexcusemyenglish6219]

That could be because the USA is such a large country. Perhaps many people have never been to another country besides the USA. In Europe, such differences might be more apparent to us because almost everyone has been to another European country for sure, brcause evry country has at leasr one to three other countries just next door. Additionally, a significant portion of the movies and TV shows watched worldwide are in English or American. I think in the USA, there are not as many dubbed foreign series. Maybe that's why there's more familiarity with the UK compared to other non-English-speaking countries.

[@Brandenuzis]

As a Canadian Brits are way more ignorant.

[@stephangrafer4573]

yes... before the brakthrough of the internet an apology always has been, that most people watch their lokal TV station which does not broadcast any international news besides when americans are involved

[@T0MT0Mmmmy]

​@@pleaseexcusemyenglish6219 ​it's worse: instead of showing foreign movies like "hey, there is a foreign movie in a dubbed version, cause it's really good", they re-shoot them in the USA with US actors, so no US American knows that it was originally a foreign movie.

[@johnkilcullen1051]

A former Dean of St Patrick's cathedral, Dublin, Dean Griffin told of receiving a letter from an American professor (of engineering, I think) addressed to Dean Jonathan Swift asking for permission to use quotations from Gulliver's Travels in a text book he was writing. Dean Griffin replied "Dean Swift left here on 19 October 1745 leaving no forwarding address."

[@barbaramuller5049]

Could this one have been a joke, maybe? 🤷‍♀️

[@johnkilcullen1051]

​@barbaramuller5049 Dean Griffin didn't think so. A cousin of mine who worked for IBM once told me of attending a company conference in Paris in the 1970s. There he encountered an American engineer who was dumbfounded to find that the French spoke French. He had thought that everyone spoke English and that other languages were all dead languages like Latin.

[@barbaramuller5049]

@@johnkilcullen1051 😮😯😲

[@r.fairlie7186]

My favourite one was from a Brit who was in the US and produced her UK passport as ID at a bank. She was asked if UK stands for Ukraine.

[@rhysodunloe2463]

Regarding the many names: Deutschland is the name Germany gave itself. The Old German word thiutisk means "belonging to our people". Germania is the name given by the Romans as a collective noun for all tribes North of the Alps and east of the Rhine river that they couldn't conquer. The names Allemagne, Almanya etc. which are used in South Western Europe, North Africa and the Middle East come from the South German tribe Alemanni who were neighbours of the Galloromanic tribes in todays France. The Finns and Estonians call us Saksa and Saksamaa, after the Saxon tribe that lived along the Elbe river. And in the Eastern European countries they call us Niemcy, Nemecko or similar names which comes from an old word meaning "The silent" or "Those who just don't know how to speak". 😅 To be fair the Slavic people called all foreigners who didn't speak their language "niemc" (unable to speak).

[@Andy33615]

Funny thing: „dutch“ and „deutsch“ (both from „thiutisk“) mean the same

[@vianneyb.8776]

@@Andy33615 This is also the same root as Italian "tedesco" (= "German")

[@BR618]

@@Andy33615 In Norway and Sweden, Germany is called "tyskland" coming from the same rots. ^^

[@atanaskumanov86]

Nope, nemec (sg.) nemci (plural) is only german people for slavic people, we dont use the term for any other country's people, and its; just because germans in the 70-80s didnt like to speak a lot in general, and they used to give short, one word mostly answers and continue existing in scilence

[@lulekosic5468]

​@@atanaskumanov86 ma on je to mislio za pridev nem dakle da za sve ljude koji ne znaju da govore se kaze nem ili u ijekavici nijem

[@vridrich99]

German here. Let me share my dumbest anecdote: Second to last time we had a federal election (in Germany) I went out in the evening of election day. I got to know an american guy, and in conversation mentioned that today had been federal election day. He furrowded his brows and said: „I didn‘t know you could vote in Germany.“ Me: „Of course. Germany is a democracy, you know.“ Him, looking slightly peeved for being corrected: „Yeah! I knew that! I just didn‘t know you guys could vote!“

[@Pechbird]

Ich hoffe du hast die Person nie wieder getroffen, dass die einzige richtige Reaktion darauf.

[@ankem4329]

Uff!

[@dreamdog7346]

Na ja! Was soll man dazu noch sagen? Mir kommt es manchmal so vor, als wenn die Amerikaner sich für den Nabel der Welt halten und sich deshalb auch nicht im geringsten über andere Länder informieren oder sich überhaupt interessieren.

[@mikaari2110]

Hehehe, dumme Amis....

[@Mercure250]

The fact it would have seemed less dumb if he didn't add the last part is hilarious. Yeah, uh... I think it's not called a democracy if you can't vote, dude...

[@madamemim5728]

That refrigerator question is really frequent. A friend of mine tried to explain, that Miele is a German brand, but it didn't help, they still thought there are no fridges in Germany.

[@3characterhandlerequired]

That one I can't understand. Why do Americans think that Germany doesn't have refrigerators? You would think that default assumption is that every household has one in pretty much everywhere in the world.

[@viciousyeen6644]

I came upon an American who asked me the same question. He couldn’t even answer me why he thought we wouldn’t have fridges. My guess is, they ingrain a heavy superiority complex into US children so they believe everyone else lives in caves

[@xrosso6515]

@@3characterhandlerequired after haveing heard story from people,and heard thing by american youtuber i think they didn't understand that the rest of world is go foward and they except the only country which have go foward,like everybody is still stopped at the sterotype they know

[@jeanneknight4791]

They may be more familiar with Knorr, Leica, Braun, early Gillette, Aldi, Bosch, DHL, and Addidas. I would never get into a frig conversation with this kind of person because they don't really know where Samsung isfrom either.

[@Pomoscorzo]

We often have built-in fridges which look like cupboards from the outside. Maybe that's the reason why they don't see them. 😉

[@k.s.8064]

I can agree in so many things to that video. 1996, my first time with high school year in the US. First school day I had to introduce myself. Was standing in front of the class, I said that I am from Germany, the East German part of Germany and saw some irritated faces. I noticed that and asked if they are having any questions? Answer was: "You are having brown hair, brown eyes and a tanned skin and you are not wearing" Lederhosen" at school?!? You can't be from Germany. Where r u originally come from?" My answer: "Originally born in the former East-Germany part and not all German men having blond hair, blue eyes and white skin or wearing Lederhosen all day long." Reaction of the teacher to that conversation: "I'm so glad for you that you can never become a Nazi then!" Teacher noticed that I got irritated by his sentence and the teacher put on top: "... I mean only a blond guy can become a Nazi in Germany. And coming from East-Germany the former GDR being a communist you will be hate by them!" My reply to the teacher's stereotypes was:"So all Germans born in the former GDR are still communists and if you were born there with blond hair and blue eyes you will become automatically a Nazi and have to leave the East German part over the wall to West-Germany, because communists hate the Nazis??? "... quietness was in the room. And no, I am not eating everday a Schnitzel or Bratwurst with Sauerkraut... 😂😂😂

[@chrisrudolf9839]

I'm not surprised about the students, but shocked that the teacher was just as ignorant.

[@davidbroadfoot1864]

And none of them ever noticed that Hitler himself was not blond-haired nor blue-eyed?!

[@martinlauer9104]

Wenn der Lehrer noch blöder als die Schüler ist, kann man nichts mehr erwarten.

[@Itami_]

@@davidbroadfoot1864 to be fair, hitler aint german, lol. He came from austria to germany when he was like in his thirties or late twenties i think?

[@jamesdunn3864]

The most parochial question I was ever asked by an American was in the Business Centre of the Four Seasons Hotel (as it was then named), In Seattle, WA. This lady and her friend were in the Centre printing some documents and graciously gave way to me when I explained the urgency of my need for various printed documents. But then I had to change the settings on the printer from foolscap (or whatever size they were using) to A4 size. One of the ladies asked me "why?" and I explained that all my documents had to be in A4. To which she again asked "why?". I said that almost the entire business world uses A4 size for documents. The lady who had clearly never heard of the A4 size of paper responded with "Well that's so silly". I was so dumbfounded by her ignorance and reply that I was lost for a reply.

[@nevillemason6791]

There's some perverse logic that Americans insist on using their own size of paper while the entire world (with the exception of one or two US colonies and Canada) has standardised on the use of A4 size (and double A4 width A3). Arrogance knows no bounds.

[@YtzenLont]

​@@nevillemason6791DIN A4 (Deutsche Industrie Norm) is based on the metric system (A0 is a square meter with length:width √2:1, A4 is A0 'folded' 4 times). It's indeed incomprehensible that a country that's so keen on efficiency doesn't use decimal/metric system, but it makes sense that a country that doesn't use the metric system also not uses the DIN A4. American paper sizes are obviously in inches. By the way, screen sizes (TV, PC, smartphone) are usually in inches also in Europe. In my youth in the Netherlands the Deutsche Industrie Norm for paper sizes wasn't common yet in my country the Netherlands, we used 'folio' (a bit larger than A4) and 'quarto' (a bit smaller than A4. It took a while before one size for all was introduced.

[@yannik1679]

​@@YtzenLontwho told you that the us is keen on efficiency? The us is literally characterized by abundance and it's wasteful use. There is nothing efficient about the us.

[@Linda-hs1lk]

I'm Dutch and an American boy (son of a friend) once told me he learned in school the Netherlands don't have any nature, it's all concrete.... I actually had to send him pictures of our country to prove we DO have nature. When he told in school what I said, his teacher got angry for 'talking back'.

[@winterlinde5395]

🤦‍♀️

[@sabineworner5202]

OMG, the teachers aren't much better either. That explains a lot.

[@winterlinde5395]

@@sabineworner5202 Not knowing is bad enough. But not to be open to learn is even worse and setting a bad example for the students.

[@Marge719]

oh goodness. the problem is much deeper then wie thought over there.. :D

[@UnifiedFriends]

America desperately needs bombing visitors. They lack the experience, they have already imparted in 24 countries.

[@warg8728]

I have argued with an American who told me Georgia wasn't a country.

[@wolf310ii]

Like why should a country be named after one of the states in the US.

[@arroe8386]

​@@wolf310ii I could easily see someone wondering this unironically

[@juliawacker]

Wouldn't be surprised when this American had the same reaction about a country named Turkey. Like why do you name a country after a bird?

[@vanessablum5667]

Laaach...so sind sie

[@reinerhoch1357]

@@juliawacker You have to tell that american that is were the turkeys come from for thanksgiving.

[@henningbartels6245]

My dumbest moment was not only a question but also a reaction. I was asked by an American: "what kind of language do you guys speak in Germany?" I thought to myself, it was so obvious that people in Germany speak German - so I wanted to be funny and answered: "Austrian" But to my surprise nobody laughted or smiled - instead my answer was taken seriously. 😵‍💫

[@Deliciousfoodofficer]

Sarcasm is not common in the us obviuosly

[@henningbartels6245]

@@Deliciousfoodofficer I guess, it has to be combined with a funny face expression to be recognized.

[@kkerr1953]

That’s OK, I’ve heard of some of these idiots asking the English what language they speak and can’t seem to get it through their heads that the root or native language is “English”and not “American”!

[@henningbartels6245]

@@kkerr1953 well, it feels "dumb" or funny when the possible answer for the language is already in the name of the country ... like asking someone from England and being surprised the common language is English ... Germany and German ... or Italy and Italian likewise.

[@SailorYuki]

@@henningbartels6245 In Switzerland they speak Swedish according to some Americans.

[@marinakolmeder5879]

I'm a tour guide in Munich. A collegue of mine once had an american group and was asked if King Ludwig II. got copyright problems with Disney when he built Neuschwanstein. XD

[@YuriCatqwq]

The one who asked was joking… right😃???

[@Drun-o3q]

probably not. But i overheard a couple asking a worker if the Castel was build for tourists. And i read so many Storys about similer thinks. So Americans have no Idea what a Castel actually is.

[@barbaramuller5049]

​​@@Drun-o3qWell, to be honest, Neuschwanstein is not a real castle. And one could say it was in fact built for one very rich tourist. It was King Ludwig's own Disney Land 😂

[@crepinhauser5274]

@@barbaramuller5049 like basically most castles after Renaissance?

[@barbaramuller5049]

@@crepinhauser5274 Right. They would rather build palaces from then on.

[@franziskaweie3898]

A friend of mine told me he was asked during his exchange year by a classmate in the US: "Is being German a religion?" I laughed my a** off that day😂

[@MarcLeonbacher-lb2oe]

😂

[@deniskramer3562]

Here is my question to all Americans: Why do you call your country "USA"? That makes no sense. "VSA" would be right, because it's the "Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika". 😉

[@Ettibridget]

Right, and in Russian it is США.

[@k.s.8064]

😂😂😂

[@lottaroos5566]

Or AFS, Amerikas Förenta Stater.

[@justasnowball]

Yeah should be "YV" because it's "Yhdysvallat"

[@markmohrmann]

It's silly, but you should choose USB over USA. It has long been established...

[@watarufge4559]

I had a strange but funny experience once with an american tourist. He came to me and did me ask for a direction. He said he parked his rented car in a street but he can't find it anymore on Google Maps when he typed in the streetname. He told me then the streetname is Einbahnstraße. But Einbahnstraße is not a streetname it's a term for a street that can only be used in one direction, so many streets in Germany are called Einbahnstraße and he wrote that term down instead of the actual streetname. But i think it's not really a case of stupidity it's just funny in my opinion :D

[@frankhooper7871]

Reminds me of a KZbin video of someone playing Geoguesser (in the Netherlands) who remembered seeing the sign pointing to "Fietspad" - cycle path in Dutch...and a very common sign indeed!

[@larsemann281]

I think it's stupid if you drive a car abroad without knowing the signs (and rules). This kind of ignorance can cost lives.

[@foodchainstop5297]

@@larsemann281 realistically not every license is considered vaild in germany. For example I had a mate in the army who was in logistics and stationed in wiesbaden. He had to take a test mostly about the german rules and signs but also a practical test to get his CDL acquitted there. Unfortunately its too much work to make every tourist or immigrant take such a test but it would definitely be a good thing. literally 2/3 people I see driving shittily on the Autobahn are foreigners with (mostly eastern european) license plates

[@september1683]

Yeah, Mr. Einbahn is a very famous German inventor :-) he invented the "one way street"

[@xaverlustig3581]

That's funny but not really stupid, he couldn't know that.

[@mpark6142]

When I was an exchange student in the USA in the early 80´s( from Finland) , people would ask if we have refrigerators, toilet paper and tv´s. Sometimes it was funny, but it´s good that people ask, that´s how you learn. There are lots of people in many other places too, who just don´t know much of other countries.-one thing the Americans had a hard time to understand, was why I could speak English, if we do speak Finnish in Finland. When I explained that we have to learn atleast two and sometimes four different languages in the Finnish schools since the 3rd grade, they didn´t believe me.

[@KaiHenningsen]

Don't even try telling them about speaking Swedish in Finland ... like Linus. No, not from the Peanuts.

[@karstent.66]

@@KaiHenningsen Well, I still don't understand, why swedish is spoken on the Aland-Islands... 42 years after my visit there as a schoolkid.

[@jeanneknight4791]

The USA stopped requiring a second language back in the 1970s of students of the academic track. Depending on where you live, it would be really hard to get language teachers to live in those areas, much less get the board of education to require a seond language. German was dropped from the curriculm in the 1940s and didn't make it back in most places, other than big cities. And, I can't imagine someone who wants to teach Latin going to most areas of Montana or northern Indiana or Mississippi. When I was in highschool French was the lingua franca and Spanish was looked down uopon. Now, English has replaced French and you would have no problem learning Spanish. Spanish is a requirement in many jobs. The type of Spanish you learn though come under fire because the immigrants don't speak continental Spanish.

[@HansJuergBangerter]

strange since Hobart Mixers had to buy a Finnish Aero Steamer producer to get their advanced technology...

[@stephangrafer4573]

Have been Swedish a long time, then, during the time it has been Finish, Finnland did not take actions the "de-swede" the land or the people. After the civil war in Finnland and the 1st World War, Finland gave nearly 100% autonomy to the Islands. @@karstent.66

[@Andre-ke8rx]

The dumbest question I encountered during my 7 years living in the US has always been: "Oh you're German? I know a German from university/school/work/church, you guys should meet! Do you know him/her?" It was always asked with good intentions, so I was quite amused as I explained that us Germans don't necessarily know every other German. in the US or anywhere else. ^^

[@Brissebrajan]

classic! Sure i know her/him, do you know frank from missouri? Why not, your both americans?

[@chaiberlin]

im japanese living in germany, I experience this in here in germany too. lol i guess its classic dumb question internationally!

[@yannik1679]

I'm not sure whether that's where they are coming from, but in most cases people that are a national minority in a place often know each other. My family lives in Germany and my Latin American mother basically knew all other Latin Americans in our city. So maybe that's what they had in mind when they asked you whether you knew them or not.

[@MarcLeonbacher-lb2oe]

😂

[@Keepcalm-lovesports]

Great video. I was an exchange student in Florida for a year and have a ton of questions as well. I always took them seriously because in my opinion it's an education system problem. And I don't mean the schools necessarily. The interest in other cultures is just not nurtured enough by the media, your family or school. My worst experience was being called a nazi as a joke by my economics teacher when I cut my hair quite short. I was too shy too correct her but please guys, never do that. It's pretty much the worst insult by a foreigner I can think of.

[@alexanderzippel8809]

“Dont you drink your beer warm in Germany?” *the entire state of Bavaria throws itself out of the window*

[@avaggdu1]

Die Pfenestrazion! 😁

[@MarpoLoco]

Nur wenn wir nierenkrank sind 😀.

[@svenstackelberg2861]

Nur Duschgelaufwärmer machen so etwas.

[@fishwithmatthew]

Love Bavaria

[@wolfi7106]

Throw outside of the window is speciality of russia

[@oliviahafner561]

As a German, I was asked if we have cars in Germany. I mentioned Porsche, Mercedes Benz, BMW. He was a huge fan of all of these and had assumed they were all American :D

[@mirchen01]

Same😂😂

[@nevillemason6791]

You forgot Audi and Volkswagen. He'd probably be shocked to learn that nearly all Ford cars sold in Europe are also manufactured there and not in the USA.

[@DanLe-vr9cj]

​@@nevillemason6791 what happened to opel?

[@anjiedavie6792]

OMG!

[@VornameNachname-g7k]

Just continue it: Porsche, Opel, BMW, VW, Audi, Mercedes and do not forget MAN, a German truck brand.

[@TheAxel65]

It's the 80's, Germany is still splitted into West Germany and communist East Germany: I travelled around the US at the Age of 17 and guess how many times I was asked: "How did you escape?" 😂

[@hectphil]

stopped counting after 127?

[@Kristina_S-O]

I was asked if I was from the East or West on a regular basis. It took me a couple of days to realize that explaining why I couldn't possibly from the DDR was a waste of time. Most American kids couldn't wrap their heads around the concept of the Iron Wall - nor did they really care.

[@blackforestghost1]

@@Kristina_S-O It was called the "Iron Curtain", not "Iron Wall!? 😉

[@klopferator]

I think we should coordinate our answers to this question for maximum trollage, like we all were sneaking across the border to Australia and then fled on kangaroos.

[@erzdev5669]

@@blackforestghost1 🤓

[@Kira-km9vj]

I love how respectful and interested in other cultures you are😊 (21 year old German here, just happy that someone appreciates cultural differences!)

[@ai-musicvideo]

When I was to the US in the 1980s for the first time I was also asked plenty of stupid questions. Highlight was "Do they have electricity in Germany?" Later in the early 2000's I worked from an office in Romania. During a live video chat (!) an american asked me how we handle the electricty there cause in his mind we shouldnt have it. Told him that I use "Hamster generators" in the backyard who run in a wheel to power a 3 story office building, 50 computer terminals and a silicon graphics superserver beside all the lights and the coffee mashines.

[@perfumedhydra8866]

😂😂😂😂

[@emmal.5570]

My two biggest wtf moments (same guy): 1) I was asked if I stood out in Germany because I have dark hair 2) He asked me what I think about jeans - he literally thought Germans only wear traditional clothes and therefore the closest thing to jeans I knew in his opinion were the traditional leather pants for men... he thought it must be my first time wearing pants and seeing jeans... I´m still shocked...

[@Goldenbroiler]

In addition, the jeans were also "invented" by a German.

[@annasolovyeva1013]

Germans being mostly blonde is an existing stereotype LOL...

[@headshothunt3r414]

ah yes because all of us german are bavarians

[@andreaslindenau1190]

Lots of them think that every boy or man only wears the famous "Lederhosen" and women only wear skirts made of hard cloth . And it would be funny If Americans would only wear skirts made of bananas from the Dschungel.

[@stephangrafer4573]

Yeah, but many Germans (and other Nations) believe that all Irish have ginger hair / are redheads 🤣 apparently there are more Irish with dark brown and black hair then any other natural hair colour

[@Annikaaaay]

I once got asked by a canadian what kind of smartphones we have in germany.... while I was holding my pretty new samsung smartphone in my hand.... he just assumed that I bought the phone while I was on vacation in canada, because in his opinion there were no modern phones in germany.... that was one of the few times in my life where I was actually too stunned to speak^^

[@mirauperenko6186]

I actually had a similar experience with some Germans visiting Ukraine (they were 15yo teenagers, but still). One of them was shocked that we all have smartphones and modern cars. He just assumed that if our country isn't as "rich" as Germany, we probably live in the 60's or something🥴

[@fanolade]

​@@mirauperenko6186Next visit they wonder why u have Leopard 2 tank haha

[@wfcoaker1398]

Was it an Albertan, by chance?

[@cheriem432]

I am American/Canadian. Tim Horton's is the Canadian Dunkin' Donuts. I once had an American argue with me that Tim Horton is the president of Canada. Actually, he was a hockey player who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. But this woman was very upset that I didn't "know" this!

[@unitb7713]

Probably an Albertan ie: a wanna-be American. Any sensible Canuck wouldn't have asked.

[@maamlein]

As a german I was asked by a american if we have "BMWs" in Germany. I asked if they know what the appr. stands for.. you know, after that they just nodded and walked to another party guest

[@dadudeme]

did you at least say Bayerischer Mist Wagen?

[@sksaddrakk5183]

@@dadudeme Ich dachte immer das sei 'Bei Mercedes Weggeworfen'

[@Antidepressiva1980]

You witnessed a real redneck, now i'm jealous .

[@L0CkEyE]

B m Double uuu

[@fnie1302]

​@@sksaddrakk5183 Bring Mich Werkstatt

[@kensurridge9631]

I lived in the US for 3 years. Americans are very inward looking, and popular media is very low information. Also, Americans are raised to think that everything in America is bigger and better than everywhere else. I knew more about the US than almost every American I met, and I was repeatedly shocked by the ignorance of intelligent Americans. I was actually told by a person with a good degree that I spoke English well for a foreigner, and I am from England.

[@cheriem432]

Depressing, ain't it?

[@MrApemonk]

Dipping your Pretzels in Mustard?! Never seen that in Germany either.

[@Why-D]

"Oh, you call it football!" "No, the rest of the world calls it football."

[@emileduvernois6680]

No. Just because your native language uses an English word to name this game doesn't mean every langage does.

[@Why-D]

@@emileduvernois6680 there are many other countries that call in another way than "foot" and "ball" or the local translation of it?

[@MsFionaxxx]

"Football" means the local game in different countries, e.g. America, Australia and Ireland. "Soccer" is used to describe Association Football.

[@Brissebrajan]

@@Why-D well we dont say "football" in Sweden, we use the swedish word fotboll. fot=foot/feet boll=ball. Most nations use the native language, but it the closest translation from english would still be football, not soccer.

[@cricketbatguitar]

Its football, it's a round ball and you kick it with your feet, end of. It's not armour plated rugby.

[@SilkyH]

most Americans have never set foot outside of America and have been told since birth that they live in the greatest country on earth. They know no better.

[@barbarawhite4257]

Most Americans haven’t set foot out of their own city or state. No awareness of the outside world at all,just not relevant.

[@SilkyH]

@@barbarawhite4257 sadly!!! Believe it or not, many of the “Trumpette” Americans really are that stupid and don't seem to know other countries are just as good, or better actually!!!

[@Linda-hs1lk]

Problem is, when they're told about other countries they don't want to know. They're not even open to that possibility.

[@toolatetothestory]

Doesn't matter. Before I ever left my country, I already knew about most of Europe anyways BECAUSE I HAD ACCESS TO THE INTERNET. There is literally no excuse for Americans.

[@giacomopeters9988]

It is simple as that. And when they hear evidence that some things could be better elsewhere, they get very dismissive if not angry.

[@peterauge1274]

I love it :-) My most favorite questions when I was in the US for almost a year in 2004: from a 17 year old one: do you know Hitler ? From an adult: do you have ketchup in Germany ? From another adult: you‘re so slim, do you have enough food for everyone in Germany ? I was around 90kg with 1,94 m that time …. BUT these stupid question have been exceptions. Many people did/do know more about Germany due to military service or relatives living here.

[@p3chv0gel22]

I had a really stupid story happen to me once with an American (i think it counts as a customer?) I was working as one of the IT guys for a company and we had a rep from one of our US partners for a week at our HQ. We also had a few bedrooms at that place because we often had spontaneus guests from Partners. I got a call from that guest, lets call him joe, saying that the network port in his room wouldn't work. Went up there, fixed it and made the stupid move to say "If you need Something else, call me" That was a thursday and i had taken the next day off. That thursday after work, i fired on a barbeque with some neighbours. It was 2 or 3 in the morning, when my phone rang, and i, still a bit drunk, took the call. Joe, trying to Skype with his wife in the states. I don't remember what the issue was anymore. When i came Back to my office on monday, my boss told me that joe would have been screaming through the entire office about me being a drunk moron, who wouldn't do his job, without realising that a) my shift was over b) that call was way outside our business hours anyways and c) my private life is no matter to him. My boss and i laughed about that guy for years

[@threedungeondwellers]

Funny question of an American Couple, visiting the City of Venice in Italy, asked a police officer. When does this park close? The look on the cop his face was priceless 😀

[@yesitsvivien]

“Do you have cars in Germany?“……. „Yes, we invented cars…..“

[@lassebrynildsen7814]

Pure logic: A game thats played by using only feet to move the ball, you call soccer. A game thats basically played by holding and running with the ball, or pass with your hands, you call football…. 😂

[@cornishmaid9138]

Fun fact. Rugby is actually called rugby-football. When Americans tweaked the game and made it their own they therefore called it American football.

[@Hive__]

To be completely fair: The Brits are the reason why Americans call it soccer. There used to be Rugby Football and associational football (or something similar) which was abbreviated to soccer

[@vorrnth8734]

It is called football because it is played on foot and not in horseback like Polo.

[@lassebrynildsen7814]

@@vorrnth8734 Thats a thin argument. Basically all ball sports are played on foot, except Polo. The most logical and obvious name would be american rugby.

[@avaggdu1]

@@Hive__ Like many things, the Brits have fads in naming things and move on. Funnily enough, I'm aware of football, Rugby football (both Union and League), American Football, Aussie Rules Football (not to mention the many varieties of disability football) and yet still manage to comprehend they are all very different sports. Both the Americans and Australians call their version just "football". For some reason, countries around the world seem to object to calling the original version "English football" to differentiate it from others. 😋

[@Meaulnes]

French, I’ve been asked by an American guy if we had washing machines in France. I then answered « No, my mother goes to the river to wash our clothes ( I then lived in Paris and he knew ) » and he trusted me !

[@mardiffv.8775]

Great, I love it "playing dumb" humor. Greetings from the Netherlands.

[@cheriem432]

Americans ask stupid questions of other Americans who are from different parts of the same country. I moved from Boston, MA to San Jose, CA and my family asked me "Do you have a furnace in your house?" "Uh, yeah, it's Northern California, and it gets *cold in the winter*." I know they were thinking of the Southern California stereotype of everyone being at the beach 365 days a year. . . sad.

[@Meaulnes]

@@cheriem432 I used to work for a Westboro, MA based company. Once while there for a meeting I got invited for a dinner at his home by an American colleague of mine. During the dinner he complained he was loosing the French he learnt in his childhood when his father was military based in France at the former NATO base of Orléans. As I suggested they could go for extended week-ends in the province of Quebec ( 200 miles north of Boston ), he replied me : « do you think we have time to travel to the pacific coast during week-ends ? » which kept me speechless !

[@alestbest]

When I was younger, French people were known for not being the cleanest. The term “French showering” meant when instead of showering you try to cover up your body odors with perfume. Maybe that was his question?

[@mardiffv.8775]

@@alestbest Ths same in Dutch: "met de Franse slag.": Doing stuff the French/ shoddy way/ bad quality.

[@gamer07208]

As a DUTCH person I got asked by an American if I knew who Hitler was and if I'm a Nazi. I explained how the Netherlands was on the Allies but got occupied by the Germans, next thing they said was quote "So if the Germans occupied the Dutch it must've been a civil war."

[@nest1109]

Tell him a little about Operation Market Garden. Some american veterans (If they're still alive) would laugh in his face. The Dutch population was soooo happy being under Nazi occupation, especially after Rotterdam was destroyed by Luftwaffe. And what about the destruction of Arnhem made by the third Reich? Another reason to be happy?

[@DJone4one]

I find it embarrassing that in some games where you have to guess where which country is, or where the capital of a country is, the Americans often get the answers wrong. There was a poll in NY 10 years ago during the federal election. Some Americans were asked what they thought of Angela Merkel as German Chancellor. Most of them didn't even know that she was Chancellor. As often as she was in America and spoke with the presidents, it was really embarrassing. So geographically, the Americans either don't learn anything or if they do, it's only for 5 minutes.

[@michaelkuschnefsky362]

I think it's because the US is too isolated from other countries. In Europe we all sit on top of each other. My home country Germany alone has 9 neighbors. But console yourself, there were many people in my home country who also didn't know anything in a survey. So it's a personal education story.

[@DJone4one]

@@michaelkuschnefsky362 i know. Greetings from Northern germany.

[@michaelkuschnefsky362]

@@DJone4one Greetings back from Schleswig-Holstein

[@listey]

​@@michaelkuschnefsky362Australia is more isolated than the US and people aren't so ignorant

[@hellemarc4767]

Their schools must be pathetic. I've seen videos where even American citizens had no clue about the USA, how many states there are (a woman said "32" without hesitation) let alone the names of the states and their capitals (one woman even thought that Indiana was a country outside of the US); history was even worse, most were unable to recognize Ronald Reagan when shown a picture (some however guessed he was an actor, so they weren't totally wrong), or answer questions about the War of Independence, the Civil War... These are all things we European kids were taught in junior high school.

[@Nightgrauen]

Yeah, I share her experiences. I took part in an exchange programm in 1999, when I was 17 and I got asked similar questions, like "Do you drive cars or do you still have to use horses/carriages?".... Uhmm... yeah. Never heard of BMW or Mercedes probably? And yes, I also got asked, if Hitler was still alive.

[@Linda-hs1lk]

They think Mercedes and BMW are American for sure.

[@modersmp6441]

@@Linda-hs1lk they even think they invented the car, when they didnt haha

[@Ransombarde]

The car is literally a german invention.

[@stanleymill4910]

Ah, Hitler, that guy with his cavalry blitzkrieg - imagine what he would have done if he had tanks! Perhaps he would have invaded France and Poland (do those countries have a border with Germany?) ... 🤣

[@Idontknow-2shits]

@@stanleymill4910 Uhm actually he had invaded them…

[@JohnHazelwood58]

Yeah! Me as a german is seven hours ahead ... actually i am writing this comment on your video 6.5 hours before you uploaded it! :) *amazing_german_life

[@Knittely]

I don't mind been asked if the Food is authentic here. I think that's actually a quite nice questions. in my opinion It shows genuine interest in a foreign culture! And in general please don't stop asking questions! Better a stupid question once and learn, than not to learn at all! :)

[@JS-bl6dc]

my best conversation in the usa was in florida: i asked a young woman which cities she knew in germany expect berlin. she said munich, hamburg, stockholm. and i said, but that's in sweden and she thought for a moment and said, oh, that's where the good cheese comes from. and i said, no, that's switzerland, whereupon she said, but isn't that the same? it was like omg

[@peterc6156]

When we were kids, my family hosted a girl around our age from Australia. When she arrived, we brought her around to our friends and neighborhood kids to introduce her. When we introduced her to the neighborhood kid, Adam, a son of an immigrant and an American, he stated with great confidence, "Boy! You speak English really well!". All our Australian "sister" said was, "uh... Thanks?".

[@Artemis_-yy1nt]

It's so interesting, everybody I know who was an exchange student in the US has the stories about the WILDEST questions, it's unbelievable!😂😂 But they've also experienced US education and they always say that explains a lot😂🤭

[@tar_lars_yt9961]

Yeah, I think the biggest problem the US has is the school system. I think what emerges most is that the school system is far too patriotic. It deals far too much with the history of the USA, which is understandable because the USA has a lot of history but only teaching the US history is not enough for general education. As in Germany, more international politics or general education overall should be taught in the US. It really hurts to read the comments here.

[@Artemis_-yy1nt]

@@tar_lars_yt9961 Oh yes totally. It's painful to hear when your classmates tell you about school life in the US. It's sad that people of the same age know so much less, they're taught now what we learned many years ago. And always that pledging to the flag thing, that's too much. And yessss, they don't know any history outside of their own. Not good.

[@Vracka]

​@@tar_lars_yt9961 I just realised, I learned like over 1000 years of centraleuropean history in 5 years. What do Americans do with 300 years of history? Do they know every native they betrayed or killed by name?

[@tar_lars_yt9961]

@@Vracka probably lol

[@corvuscorone7735]

@@Vracka If only! Apparently, they do not learn all that much about their native people and how they were (and sometimes are being) treated. Saying The USA has a lot of history is rather amusing in the context of us in Europe learning about Greek and then Roman history, and then 2000 years of our area's history. To be fair, though, we in Europe did not really learn about African or Asian history, either, unless it was colonial stuff.

[@zeebitz]

Just found your channel today. I'm a baby boomer. I grew up during the cold war era. I wasn't encouraged to travel the world. Thanks to KZbinrs like yourself for showing me that people the world over share many similarities. You are helping to further my education in the global community.

[@dominikstaudt4674]

Hello man fellow german here. I just have to say it is so heartwarming to read such comments. Regardless where you are born it is so nice to see that not every baby boomer just demonizes the the things the new technologies are providing for every person on the planet. I wish you all of the best on your journey to get to know other cultures and countries whether it is Germany or any other country. What culture/country fascinates you the most that you had the possibility to learn something about? Greetings from a Gen Z dude ✌

[@zeebitz]

Thank you for your Kind Words. I've watched videos about Germany. Your Country is Beautiful. I hope to visit there someday.

[@dominikstaudt4674]

@@zeebitz you're welcome. I hope i am able to greet you in my country one day. It is indeed beautiful. I don't think it will happen under any circumstances but if you want to you can comment again on this conversation when you planned your trip to germany. I would be glad to show you my hometown Stuttgart.

[@dirkfischer5463]

I like this joke: The teacher in an international school gives their students an assignment: "Write down your own opinion about the lack of food in other countries". Everybody returned a blank paper. The Chinese and Eastern European students didn't know what "own opinion" means. The Western European students didn't know what "Lack" means. The African students didn't know what "Food" means. And the US American students had no idea what "other countries" are.

[@R4ts_]

nice racism you‘ve got there

[@dirkfischer5463]

@@R4ts_ yea. Because that's all "races". Ignoring the fact that this joke makes fun of stereotypes about all parts of the world, there are people of different ethnicities in every part of the world. There is no specific skin color or ethnicity mentioned. And the main point of that joke is bashing US Americans for their ignorance that the USA are not the only country in the world. I am in Western Europe and ofc there are a lot of people here that know what Lack means. And not everybody in Africa is starving. And although own opinions have been suppressed by "communist" regimes, inhabitants of these countries still know what it is, they just weren't allowed to voice them if it went against the principles of "communism". And there are US Americans that know very well what happens in other parts of the world. Still there are these stereotypes that have a certain amount of truth within them. There's nothing about this joke that's racist. But you do you boo, have the life you deserve ✌🏻🕊️☮️

[@Ba34qt]

A couple of years ago my daughter went as an exchange student to a university in Los Angeles. One day she told her American room-mate that she was expecting a friend from Germany. So, what are you guys doing tonight, the girl asked. Oh I think not that much, my daughter replied, I guess my friend will be very tired after her 20 hours trip. Wait, said the girl, if Germany is that far, why is your friend driving and not taking an airplane?

[@KimDammers]

Why was it twenty hours? The flight from FaM to LA is about twelve hours.

[@ShagoR282]

regarding the refrigerator question. friend of mine was an exchange student and gets this question. He pointed at the company that made the fridge which was bosch and explained that this was a german company.

[@hellemarc4767]

In Japan, they also drive on the left side. I've never been to the USA, unfortunately, but I've met a few US citizens and I've also noticed that, when somebody here is fluent in English, they seem to have trouble understanding that we also have our own languages and that we're obviously fluent in those, too. I remember some of their faces, how their jaws dropped when they heard us ordering drinks or talking to the cashiers in stores in our native tongue(s). Or when some assume you don't speak English when you're somewhere with other American people they know: they show up and blurt out not always nice things about you in English, as if they were speaking in a secret language, and their faces when you tell them "could you please keep your thoughts to yourself?". It's priceless. And those I've met were people who have been travelling outside of the US, not people who had never left their tiny towns (where, I imagine, they live in wooden shacks, ride horses and send mail via smoke signs or drums; the more urgent messages are shot with arrows and sometimes, there is no written message, only a burning arrow). By the way, do you know Nick Alfieri? He has a channel here, NALF, which has some great videos, too. He initially came to Germany to make a documentary about the Unicorns, an American Football team in Germany; he intended to stay a few months to shoot the documentary, but ended up staying several years (6 or 7) and eventually playing football, too. His documentary is now done (it's on Netflix and co., "Unicorn Town") and he went back to the USA. Check him out. I'm not sure he speaks German now, though, maybe a little, since most people around him were perfectly fluent in English... I'm sure he's able to order food and drink. xD

[@Danaos2736]

NALF did not move back to the USA, he still lives in Germany. He even got his own proper appartment, outside of what his team provided him the last few years.

[@hellemarc4767]

@@Danaos2736 I thought he said he moved back in one of his last videos. Good for him if he came back.

[@hertelantje]

@@hellemarc4767 He went back to the US for the premiere screening of his docu, but came back to Germany to live. For a while at least. But yeah, I thought he moved back to the US at first too- his video was called - Why I went back to the US ( or something similar). It’s a bit misleading for sure.

[@zorrothebug]

initially he did not come to make a documentary, he came to Germany because he had an offer to play American Football in the German league. He began to film videos for KZbin and his idea to make a documentary began to rise. Though he already was interested in making films before moving to Germany and had film making classes. And now he is in the transition to become a permanent resident and is fighting the German bureaucracy.

[@hellemarc4767]

@@zorrothebug OK, it was my understanding that he came to Germany with the intention of making the documentary, because he had said at some point that he thought it would only take him a few months at best. I had no idea of what's going on in the German league of American Football (I'm not even sure I knew it existed). Well, let's wish him good luck and patience with the Amtsschimmel.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Bonus points to Feli for wearing that cap for the American character and nailing the brief lol

[@TomHenry-g9s]

Well well! How cool, it's you again. And hopefully it's cool that it's again, that 69 years old guy from Edmonton Canada responding to you for the 2nd time. My 1st was a lengthy one on how Germans respond to Sirens while driving. I'm liking your style & attitude overall so just wanted to let you know that I think you are a breath of fresh AMERICAN & truly are doing your country proud, & on the WORLDS STAGE! You show a cool sense of humor as well. I even subscribed to you today so will look forward to seeing what you put out there. TTYL.

[@KimDammers]

It would be nice if he'd clean up his grammar, though.

[@TheThursty100]

Imagine seemingly thinking that everyone else is driving on the different side of the road compared to you and still calling it the "wrong" side.

[@johnfisher9816]

That was a fun way to start the morning Joel! As a Canadian we laugh at Americans (but not Alaskans, or those from northern border States) for how little they know about us, being right next door; especially given we share a 8,891 km (5,525 mi) long border together. It's getting better though. As a kid, we used to see Americans crossing the border into Ontario in July with skis on their car's roof racks! Of course, we play along with living in igloos and having dog sled transportation. All good fun. I loved at 9/11 warning comment about time zones - hilarious!!!! You nailed it Joel, an ethnocentric American culture and education system that is so self-absorbed that it cheats it's citizens out of a more rounded global understanding of the world. This situation is at odds with America's place in the world, politically, economically, and militarily. Naturally, this point drives everyone else nuts. Another great video from Feli and reaction from you!! Cheers, John in Canada

[@leop3009]

I agree.... With what John said.... Minus the skiis in summer on American visirors cars as ive never seen it 😂. Guess Americans smarten up by the 70s then 😊

[@Toddel1234567]

That's why I prefer to vacation in Canada as a German. ;-)

[@edwardkuenzi5751]

America is self centered because we can be without suffering nearly as much of a disadvantage as any other country would. The better question would be why other countries spend so much effort learning foreign languages. The answer is that they have no choice.

[@klotz__]

Of course we don't have refridgerators. We put all of our effort into building the most advanced cars but after work we go back into our house made of wooden logs, shoot a dove with an arrow and roast it over a nice fire while we drink fresh water from the well. after that, when the sun goes down, we light our candle and lay down in our cosy bed and rest our heads on pillows stuffed with straw.

[@avaggdu1]

The funny thing is, (some) Americans do live in wooden homes, hunt for food and drink water from wells. Not only do Germans have a sense of humour, they understand irony better than Americans too! 😉

[@Brissebrajan]

you have candles? ;)

[@lukasvandewiel860]

As funny as it was meant to be, that does not even sound like such a terrible idea. :-)

[@yourlocalloseroffical]

I’m Scottish but the amount of time I’ve been called English isn’t even funny, also once I was on Xbox and this American was explaining to me how I wasn’t Scottish because we apparently all live in cottages/castles and have no electricity. I’ve also been asked to “speak normally” and “stop using made up words “ when I’m speaking to extra ignorant Americans

[@CSchaefer1960]

Hey, man, I JUST LITERALLY found your stuff. I love it - not because Americans mit be considered dumb, but because your column basically opens people's minds, eyes and ears to the fact that not everything in the world is identical and that we should be tolerant, curious and interested. And yes, I'm German, but I worked for WWF/WWE for 31 years ... Thanks for this great and entertaining column!

[@BasiliskenWrestlingFan]

Oh mein Gott... Die Legende... Carsten Schäfer... Dank Ihnen und ihrem tollen Kommentarstil bin ich WWE Fan geworden... Ich blamiere mich wohl gerade aber ich bin ein richtiger Fan, schon seit 18 Jahren, seitdem ich 12 war... Um einmal die fantastischen 4 zu zitieren: Ich wollt noch Danke sagen.

[@sputnikmarko]

Hi, I'm from Germany and I like your reaction content. 😂 And, Yes my english is bad, but learning by doing. I love it, when Americans have Questions. Lets go to the bar and we have fun. ❤

[@arnodobler1096]

Hi Joel. You might be interested in Feli's latest video: How Germany teaches about the Holocaust and WW2.

[@BlackWater_49]

13:06 I appreciate the pain in your eyes and the fact that you're dying inside a little because that's exactly how I feel every time I hear someone ask shit like this and I'm not even American, I'm German but man, that the fucking definition of _Fremdschämen._

[@babs926]

I can’t even begin to explain how many times I have to deal with fremdschämen as a German living abroad (2 years in the states and since 2009 in Ireland) 🙈

[@BlackWater_49]

@@babs926 C'mon, Ireland shouldn't be that bad...

[@babs926]

@@BlackWater_49 you have no idea 🤦‍♀️ Maybe not so much in regards to Germany (after all, it’s only a 2 hour flight away), but on so many other things.

[@SilkyH]

I had a friend from the us visiting me in Germany and he thought we don’t have no electricity because he didn’t see no overhead power lines 😂😂 OMG they think we live like Hansel and Gretl 🤦‍♀️ or they think we still live like after WWll 🙄

[@LexusLFA554]

In the southern regions, especially in the country side, you can actually find these, but they are rare.

[@manuelrentz4728]

Ja weil Amerika in Wirklichkeit ein 3. Welt Land ist. Vorne alles super, aber geht man tiefer, sieht man die Mängel sehr deutlich. Vegas ist vorne hui, hinten pfui und so ist es bei allem in Amerika. Die Häuser sind aus Pappe, die Kabel wild verlegt usw. In Europa und allen voran in Deutschland würde sich der TÜV überschlagen. Da hängen die Kabel wild durcheinander und verknotet übereinander, in Deutschland wäre so etwas nicht möglich, genau so wie bei den Autos, die fahren teilweise Autos die 30 Liter auf 100 km brauchen, zumindest gefühlt und die niemals ne Zulassung auf unseren Straßen bekommen würden. Deutschland ist 1000 mal fortschrittlicher als die USA, außer halt nach vorne, da steht die USA wie eine 1, nur dieses Konstrukt zerbricht immer mehr und mehr, bis es nicht mehr zu halten ist

[@LexusLFA554]

@@manuelrentz4728 Die sind nur in wenigem vorne: - Militär - Leute mit Medizinschulden - Mehr Schusswaffen als gesundes Gemüse im Haus Die Autos von denen, vor allem die Pickups, sind bei uns auch zulassungsfähig. Das Problem ist eher, dass man fast 33% Importgebühr draufgehaut kriegt. Aus einem Auto, das neu knapp 60000 kostet, wird bald ein Auto, das knapp 90000 kostet. Da lohnt es sich fast, auf dem eigenen Markt eine Option von VW oder Nissan zu kaufen. Natürlich endet das am horrendren Spritverbrauch gar nix - der bei uns knapp drei mal so teuer ist.

[@stephang.5998]

Naja, wenn Deutschland eigene, riesige Ölvorkommen hätte, dann hätte kein Ingeniuer sich hier Gedanken gemacht, den Spritverbrauch zu senken. Und erst seit der Ölkrise in den 70ern hat man sich darüber so richtig Gedanken gemacht in Europa

[@JayJayInDaZone]

@@LexusLFA554 We have them in the North as well.

[@andrewwiddel77]

I really love to hear the voice from Feli. Awesome, how she is so positive. Thanks for this Video.

[@frankright4454]

I can relate about the "authentic German food." I love Thai food, so when I went to Thailand I couldn't wait to order my favourites dishes in their country of origin. Turns out all the Thai food I was eating at home was made up bullshit. Actual Thai food is absolutely amazing. Next I will try fake German food and compare.

[@hijiri0794]

I think the stupid thing about these people who ask these stupid questions is that they assume 100% that they know something from their beliefs and ask these stupid questions to have their beliefs confirmed. such as the video at the beginning, where an American assumed that the people in Morocco also celebrate the 4th of July... so please, the world is not America, although I also noticed through such videos that there are exactly such people who really believe that.

[@e.s.7272]

40 years ago I was in Dover (New Jersey) as part of an high school exchange program. Two of the most annoying questions back then: Do you live in houses and do you have cars?

[@viciousyeen6644]

No we live in the trees and use wild horses

[@Linda-hs1lk]

Just answer 'yes' and let them think, lol

[@PokhrajRoy.]

The way I cackled at “No, Kyle! We don’t.” 😂

[@mok1138]

This video is by far my favorite. Especially at the part where she is asked about the 7 hour time difference to the warning of 9/11. And the current Cologne video, I love that too

[@sanazafzali]

As an Iranian in Germany, I have faced the same question: Do you have refrigrators in Iran? 🤣 And guess what, not even from a teenager

[@perfumedhydra8866]

Ignorance is universal. 😊

[@patta8388]

My Partner is from Iran. I was asked why we live in the last century and don't have AC's :D

[@garnix6390]

14:44: As an European to be fair: You have enough states + capitals to memorize, so I really can't blame you, when you get confused about Europe. Even some Europeans are ignorant of other European Countries. The most American thing I encountered in online discussions is, when I try to point something out, and tell somebody that he or she is wrong (Like for example "But this country doesn't even exist!", although it clearly exists), and then get the answer "I am not wrong! I have only a different opinion than you, and you can't handle this!". This can be really annoying sometimes, but it kind of reflects the very democratic nature of the US. But I otherwise never had this kind of problems-and my English teacher in school was a really cute girl from the Appalachian mountains!

[@lulekosic5468]

Same questions people ask me in germany , i am from balkan

[@krobotak]

It is not about information but about confidence and attitude. Normal people, if they don't know, they ask about more information OR act as they knew to don't look dumb. BUT Americans just accuse you of lying and deny existence of everything they are not thought in school (and that are lot of things)

[@martinhuhn7813]

13:06 Well, of cause we are ahead in time (time zones are no joke and that is how they work!), but it takes us 3 hours to load our bush-telephones. We also have all that german buerocracy. We cannot just call somebody in a different continent without spending 2 hours to fill out forms before! And we need another 2 hours to hide from Hitler, before we can get anything done. Therefore it is usually to late for warnings anyways. But the main reason is, that the dates do not match. When we heard the news from 9/11 we all thought, that this refered to then nineth of november, so we believed, that we had plenty of time to warn the US. And finally: Even if we manage to warn the US quickly enough about something (which sometimes happens in spite of all the obstacles, because of our incredible german efficiency), it tends not to have an effect. "No functioning public healthcare is bad for your citicens health" we said, but it was not taken serious. "Guns for everybody can lead to shootings", we told the US, but there are more guns than ever ... Therefore we usually fall into a deep hole of good old german "Weltschmerz", whenever we consider to warn the US of something.

[@winterlinde5395]

… and that’s why they think we have no humor and will continue to ask… weird questions.

[@cerdicw9998]

Ninth of November! Brilliant!

[@SQUID0NKEY]

Hahahah, the german "Bürokratie" got me😂😂😂 "Yeah sorry guys, we cant just call you, we first habe to get like 200 forms from our local department and after maybe 3 months of waiting for them to reply to basic questions we could maaaaaaabye finally call. But again "Warteschlange"... it may get a few houres to get throu..."

[@Dennis-xj8nh]

This is a great example of the irreverent comedy that Germany is so famous for

[@Brissebrajan]

😂

[@sabineworner5202]

My sister-in-law was as an exchange student for a few weeks in the US. On the very first day she was asked, why she is wearing so beautiful and modern clothes. Did she buy them at the airport directly after the arrival.

[@viciousyeen6644]

She had to bought them! Everyone knows we’re still wearing lederhosen and Dirndl everywhere, especially at the northern sea!

[@dragondiana8]

5:56 "Because Americans think that the entirety of Europe is like Britain, because Europe looks British for the Americans", hahaha, that got me really :DDD "Europe looks like Britain for the Americans" xDDD

[@_kekstantin]

I love how he got more and more ashamed on the timezone question the more he realized that people are actually asking those things😂😂😂

[@LexusLFA554]

I once had an American in voice chat, who somehow managed to combine the Netherlands (Niederlande) and Germany (Deutschland) into one word, calling it Dutchland xD When I asked him if he meant the Netherlands, he said yes.

[@vorrnth8734]

Well, the word dutch is actually related to deutsch.

[@himmel-erdeundzuruck5682]

When I learned english this indeed was very confusing to me. Indeed, there once was a "wild west" book author named Karl May who constantly got it wrong, calling himself dutch instead of german. His most famous stories are those about Winnetou and Old Shatterhand (the dutch german)

[@modersmp6441]

@@vorrnth8734 well, dutch and german are very similar languages, however not the same, so mixing up the netherlands and germany into one word is kinda ironic + the dutch call themselves nederlands, so even worse lmao

[@vorrnth8734]

@@modersmp6441 Well yes, nowadays. But it is a very germanic country.

[@modersmp6441]

@@vorrnth8734 thats true, im german myself and i can and will understand most dutch sentences, just because the languages are pretty similar

[@johncrwarner]

When I was first in the US I came for five weeks to visit my sister who was in Baltimore doing a Post-Doc One of the things I noticed was the lack of news from out of state even It was amazing how localised the news and information was. I think in five weeks there were THREE stories not from the USA or much beyond the state.

[@SilkyH]

that’s how they keep the people dump!!! America has a invisible wall around it. Nothing from the outside comes in😂. The media anyways private owned and us- centric doesn’t want that people get informed about the outside world 😉 don’t open up a can of worms 😂

[@GermanMythbuster]

Why not type every word in a new line? 🤪🤪

[@jeanneknight4791]

I can assure you as someone originally from Baltimore that while there is a great deal of truth in what you say, many of us, in addition to reading the Baltimore Sun, also subsribe to the Washington Post and The New York Times or Wall Street Journal. It is a shame that the Sun deteriorated so much after it was bought by a conglomerate because it used to be one of the top three or four papers in the US. Also, if you were getting the TV news, CBS or ABC networks have world news but charming little WBAL is purely local. Johns Hopkins probably has more foreign than native students so they definately could not live in a bubble.

[@johncrwarner]

@@jeanneknight4791 I know that there are sources of news in Baltimore and nearby Washington I was definitely intrigued by how local the news on the TV was I was almost randomly sampling it as I didn't know where to get news or programming in general I ended up watching a LOT of Maryland Public Television and they had the PBS NewsHour which was good but still mostly national stories (As my sister pointed out the USA is a continental sized country) I think I am spoilt as I understand English, French and German as well as bizarrely Finnish and Estonian. I try to maintain my languages by reading news websites and watching the news in those languages so I felt very isolated when I was in the States.

[@jeanneknight4791]

@@johncrwarner You have an admirable command of languages and you are right in realizing that part of the problem in the USA is that it spands the continent from Atlantic ot Pacific. There is no doubt that Maryland Public Television is a life saver! However, did you notice that MPT hs a HUGE amount of programs from the United Kingdom! One way of discerning if someone from the US is going to be a thinking individual is if they know what Masterpiece Theatre is.

[@peterkopp970]

Hi Joel. I'm from Germany. Stumbled upon this video. Have been several times in US. Very good Video and nice comments from you. Some questions I had to answer too when I was in US (Fridge...) My advice: stay curious - the best way to learn a lifetime. Learning means understanding. And that's what we all need.

[@ich_musste_das_fur_komment5897]

As a Russian learning German, I asked myself the "Why is it Deutschland"-Question. The answer is pretty interesting. Some languages group around the Germanic people, such as English and Latin. Some languages group around the Alemanic people, such as French and Spanish. Russian related languages use "nemezki" which translates to "Those, that cannot speak" (our language) And Deutsch comes from the Germanic word "þeudisk" which translates to "part of the people." A lot of northern European languages use this, such as Germany, Denmark, Netherlands. There are a lot more words in other languages, too but these were the largest groupes. It is quite interesting.

[@mardiffv.8775]

And Finnish and Estonian call Germany Saksa/ Saksia, after Saxony. If I may add. Should you ever visit Lower Saxony, they may speak Nedersaksisch. Which is German with Dutch words added. For me, a Dutchman, very easy to understand.

[@KimDammers]

@@mardiffv.8775 Is that why some many Dutch tourists stay at Seeburger See?

[@mardiffv.8775]

@@KimDammers Dutch tourists go to every part of Germany.

[@slartibartfas0428]

I love the kind of humour you both do take all of this mental punch below the belt 🤣😂

[@PokhrajRoy.]

Joel had second hand embarrassment in the few seconds and I don’t blame him.

[@KaiHenningsen]

Hell, I have second hand embarrassment when hearing these dumb questions ... and I'm a German! But at least we have a word for that: _Fremdschämen._

[@jayayen3243]

tbf, Joel seems a bit smitten with Feli, so that might help. Not that I blame him, so am I.

[@YuriCatqwq]

@@KaiHenningsen ich wusste nicht das wir ein Wort dafür haben… merk ich mir!

[@cornishmaid9138]

Joel, hopefully you’ve noticed by now how well ‘foreigners’ speak better English than Americans, even though it’s their second/third language.

[@thorstenbrandenburg4338]

I was asked the refrigerator question two times. Strange! Even: students visiting the country and despite that asking if we had electricity at home?

[@Barbarossa125]

5:41 Not just the UK. Ireland, Malta and Cyprus also drive on the left side, but are former countries of the british empire. c:

[@jayaet]

Football (soccer), Rugby (Rugby football), football (American football - a variation of Rugby football), Rules - the Austalian version of Rugby football, notable for its absence of rules - a bit of Australian humour here maybe? Anyway, these sports all have their origin in Britain. Ende der Diskussion.

[@vankroenen2145]

Once an American complained in the Squade Enix forum about his copy of the video game Sleeping Dogs, set in Hong Kong. He said that he obviously got a UK version of the game by mistake because everyone in-game is driving on the left side. He asked for a patch ... and if there's none he wanted to exchange his copy for a US version.

[@sabineworner5202]

American Football: the ball is not a ball it is actually an egg and played with hands. Ergo American Handegg 🥳.

[@CodeNascher_]

we should start calling it "american soccer" just to confuse them even more, lol

[@zorrothebug]

10:41 you gotta admit, despite the saying, Germans do have sense of humor, don't they? At least Joel is cracking up. 😆

[@avaggdu1]

You've got to admire Henning Wehn who has managed to overcome stereotypes and prejudice to be a genuinely funny comedian in the UK. I think he single-handedly overturned the idea that "Germans have no sense of humour" in Britain; a heroic feat.

[@WikkeSchrandt]

I really relate to this woman. My entire country is literally half the size of South Carolina, and I currently live in a village seven kilometres from my hometown. The thing is, there's a river in between, so despite the country's small size, we speak entirely different dialects. It's not size which determines accents, but age and history.

[@johannesadamec8670]

About that slang/dialect thing: I'm from Austria (more specific Vienna) and we have many different accents and dialects. So, eg I can easily hear if someone comes from Tyrol or Vorarlberg, even if they don't speak in their dialect. I once met a group of people from those two regions. The ones from Vorarlberg I had a hard time understanding even as they tried to avoid using "proper german", but still managed, the Tyrolians had their accsent, but I had no problem understanding them. Now, there was one guy from a region within Tyrol called Zillertal where the others would say, if he spoke in his own dialect, even they wouldn't understand him... And just remember, Austria is just about 84k sqarekilometers (something between 32k and 33k squaremiles) big and has only about 9 million inhabitants.

[@londongardens8100]

I once spoke to a group of of Americans on the London Underground. They we very nice and proceeded to tell me how much they loved London and that they’d been out all day taking in the sights. So I politely asked where they’d been and told me the Hard Rock Cafe 😅

[@hebneh]

The Hard Rock Cafe chain actually originated in London, I believe.

[@justasnowball]

@@hebneh Yeah might be idk, but imagine going to US and saying "I've been sightseeing all day!" "where have you been?" "Mcdonalds"

[@KimDammers]

@@justasnowball Well, that seems to be about the only place a lot of visitors to the US seem to go for food.