Oh for the love of God, they could learn something from some American customer service training!! I have been in too many situations here where I have been at the counter with items for purchase and money in hand with the clerk on the other side of the counter on the phone with someone. They turn to notice that I am there and then promptly turn their back to me and continue talking for three to five minutes.
Germans love discounts and bargains and their food is amazingly inexpensive. Their supermarket clerks get to sit down as they ring up your grocery items too, add all of this up and you get some horribly crotchety and haggard looking discount supermarket clerks that seem like they would rather poke their eyes out with a handy pen than be friendly or helpful to you. It also doesn’t help that they are encouraged to get as many people as possible through the checkout as possible per hour or day. It helps to make shopping at the discount shops delightful…such fun!! And if you happen to have cash and not your card when you pay, too often the clerk will sigh such a sigh that you might think they want to slit their wrists because you are taking so long to find the exact change – never mind the death stares you get from the other shoppers in line waiting. This in fact might be the closest thing to purgatory in Germany, much like the DMV in the United States.
22. Service is awfully/appallingly/dreadfully slow.
You can thank bureaucracy and thoroughness for that.
Also, see part two of number 22 above.
23. (The) Grimms’ (The Brothers Grimm’s) fairy tales are actually too terrifying/shocking/grim for children.
I have not read them as an adult, so I have no idea how true this claim is. I am also still rather undecided about the new program, “Grimm” currently on offer from NBC. It is actually filmed in Portland Oregon (unlike the monstrosity of ‘Free Agents‘ and is delightfully dark but I still haven’t made my mind up. It has also only aired two episodes.
24. Their consumption of cigarettes is medieval; the clouds/billows of smoke which fill every room are/stand in stark contrast to their otherwise well-developed/the otherwise widespread environmental awareness.
The conversation I was having with a group of friends today actually was about this exact topic. Ten years ago, you could smoke absolutely everywhere, EVERYWHERE! There exists today, however, a partial ban on smoking in Germany. You can no longer smoke in the government buildings, at many restaurants or business establishments. You can however still happily smoke in most bars. I hear about those days, a decade ago where you could smoke absolutely anywhere, and it makes me gag. As a child twice a year I would wash the walls of our house with my mother because, yes, my father used to smoke in the house. I remember the very first time my mother asked me to help her I just didn’t understand why she wanted to do such a task, then I saw what the ammonia diluted with water mixture did to the walls. It made them look like a fresh coat of paint had been applied. GROSS. I have met older Germans that look like they could benefit from the same kind of treatment/wash. I think they spent too much time locked in their offices smoking for far too many years.
25. Wherever they go they knock on walls and say that shouldn’t really be/have been allowed (like that) / really oughtn’t to be/have been allowed (like that) [BrE].
What? As in the Germans get all nitpickity about the ‘structural integrity’ of buildings and other structures? Have you seen some of their modern buildings and more importantly, their cars?! S.T.F.U. especially since the only people I have met in my two years who I would/could identify with this statement are AMERICANS. Perhaps that is why they say they notice it in the Germans. I know you cannot see it, but I am shaking my head at this statement right now. This is especially funny because a quick internet search of “German with engineering degrees versus Americans with Engineering degrees” on the internet came back with this information from Wikipedia: “In the United States, the degree of engineer or engineer’s degree is the least commonly obtained advanced degree in engineering.” While, at least based on the Wikipedia article, Germany seems to be first on the list. And yes, I am still shaking my head in disappointment America.
26. They always undertip / tip too little/meanly. They never tip enough.
Really? This is just a cultural awareness statement. Learn about the culture you are going to before you go their, especially for situations like this.
Also, Americans here have a tendency to either undertip or overtip, the argument goes both ways. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to tell my husband how much to tip (appropriate to the bill, usually meaning tip to the nearest euro or nearest .50 €). If I don’t he tips like he would in the US, which too often is nearly as much as the cost of the bill, seriously! Either that or he doesn’t tip at all. He explains it as evening out his Karma for the times he gets pissed (drunk) and forgets to tip.
Okay, so we are now half way through this list and (get excited) I have friends working on translating the version about what Germans notice about the Americans, so that should be up sooner than later!
livingtheamericandreamineurope.com 
Point of clarification:
I generally over tip when we go to the bar. Sometimes rounding to the nearest Euro doesn’t feel adequate and I like to tip good service well; even if it isn’t the norm. I would like to continue watching Grimm and I would like to get Grimm’s Fairy Tales in German so we can practice. Grimm’s fairy tales are the equivalent to Dante’s Inferno and Don Quijote.
Point of clarification about the clarification – usually large quantities of beer are involved in that decision. 😉
Ladies and Gentlemen, meet my wonderful and amazing husband…<3
I read Grimm’s original tales, maybe 10 years ago, so I remember them farily well. Actually, I remember only reading part way into the book, because the stories were so horrifically greusome. I am talking blood on the walls, people eating other people, death in many shapes and forms. I don’t remember if these things were blatant, or if they were just suggested and my imagination made up the rest… but I am pretty sure it was not just my imagination. With that said, they were SO entertaining. If it weren’t for the fact that I get nightmares easily, I would have finished the book right then and there. SO entertaining.