Moroccan on Biggest Culture Shock Living in Germany 🇲🇦🇩🇪

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• Happy Tuesday, Marina! Have a wonderful day and sending my love from Miami, Florida, USA 🇺🇲

• I am glad that there is no need for this useless act before accepting something here.
  If i want it, i say yes, if i don't, than i say no. I would hate if they kept forcing me to have cake when i cleay sad that i don't want it.

  • Majority of them may not force you if you say no. In Germany, no one may offer you sth.

  • ​@@shutting88thats Not true

• Then say what you actually think ? Wtf ...

• Hospitality is always better in traditional cultures ❤

  • Just accept the damn cake though

  • @@hirsch4155 ?

  • You’re saying Germany is not traditional? LOL, that’s really funny.
    It’s just another kind of tradition in Germany

  • @@juergenwoerz6015
    (sorry for the long reply, wanted to share my ideas with you)

    I guess she means traditional as an opposit of modern/modernized urbain,, etc...
    The non traditional societies share a common ground of values, ways of organizing private and personal life that makes them different from traditional ones (capitalism, nuclear families, tech, fast pace, individualism) These aspects might lead to the straightforwardness and apparent shallowness of the interractions.
    vs (agriculture as a familial activity, extended families, tightly-knit communities, etc...). this might explain the nurturing role of the familiy in terms of food etc....

    Ofc, any general caracterization of society wont capture all the nuances. A lot of areas in morroco are more modern then some areas of germany and vice versa in terms of "traditionality"

• That is the thing I dont like. Why would you say no to something when you clearly want it? Do not tell me it is a typical politeness! You can just say yes please or no thank you!
  Why do you have to complicate communications?

  • It might work well for Nordic and Northern Europe but it is a cultural thing even in East Asia or Asia in general as well where it is deemed impolite to accept things in the first instance when it is being offered to you without asking.It is also a way to identify if the offer is well-intentioned.But it depends from person to person too.

  • Sorry but no sorry, It is stupid to do so. unwanted conflict, unnecessary niceties.If you genuinely offer people food, please be real. You do not have to be pretentious.

  • Bro, I too find it stupid as a bengali. I don't know how come my parents and my grandparents keep up with this game of politeness. I like things simple and straightforward.

  • @@thepsychic736who said this little dance is necessary? It’s not but it’s nice. The host would insist because food is a form of love and welcoming the person. The guest will decline to show that they don’t want to bother the host and not to seem like they are only there for the food. It’s not set in stone of course, you can dive in and eat.

  • ​​@@sarahss2483what is little dance? He did not mention any of it., but food. You can ask politely and be direct, not brutally honest. What I am saying is that whenever someone offers you food, you can say yes please or no thank you. Simple! Do not complicate communications by playing useless games.

• Germans are direct and that's good

  • That's not direct; that's just being inhospitable.

  • So this women knows every german in Germany and can tell that it's like that, that's bullshit. Germans are very hospital, the thing is you have to earn a friendship of a german at the beginning we seems like cold but if you have a german as a friend, you got a very good friend in your Life . Think about this

  • @@toomuchinformationin Germany, if you are asked something and you say no, it’s impolite if you ask the same question over and over again. It’s like your not taken serious. On the other side it’s Ok to change your mind and say: can I now have the cake please?
    Politeness is always a question of the perspective. There is no wrong or right. Don’t judge so fast.

  • Lol, not direct. It’s rude and inhospitable

  • @@zeshan35 have you ever been in Germany? And had contact with the german cultur? If not say nothing. I could say things that in marroco women are worthless right? But i can not say because i have never been there , so think about your words

• It is overcomplicated. And that makes it stupid.
  1. They offer something, if I don't take it they will be offended, but I refuse it for several times.
  2. They offer something, I want it, but I not allowed to accept it for several times.
  3. How many times have to say no to be "polite"?
  4. How many times have to offer to be a "good host"?
  5. How many "offering" is too much?
  6. How many "refusal" is rude?
  And considering all those above, there will be 3 minutes haggling over something just to be polite.

  While with "reasonable" people it goes like this:
  They offer it once. If I want it, I take it. If I don't want it, I say no and they don't force it anymore, because I don't want it.
  That's it. It takes 3 seconds instead of 3 minutes.

  • I agree, it’s overcomplicated and stupid game playing lol

  • German efficiency > maroc humble dance

• And when on the streets, almost always attempted to get scammed

  • Unfortunately true

• Cultural differences are so interesting! And then you have Native American culture (or at least my tribe), where you never ask and it's barely offered. You're just supposed to help yourself!

• I definelty prefer the german straightforwardness (combined with the oriental warmth), But there is something I wanna emphasize.

  People from every culture have customs and traditions that seem unquestionably obvious and natural to them, but appear strange and laborious for other people from other cultures.

  The "stupid" and "overcomplicated" cultural norm cannot be infered to be objectively "stupid" or such because one's stance is always biased and outsider.

  Believe it or not, for the people in that culture it is as smooth and as easy as "Do you wanna a cake"/ "Yes please"

  One's culture is not the default or the only one that makes sense in absolute terms.

  Comparison's sake is not to say which is better, and one should not be triggered because of it.

  Also, these norms, varry within the same country, acros classes, rural and urbain areas. They often reflect unique historical aspects of the milieu where they evolve.

  • You are wrong. And not just once, multiple times.

    "People from every culture have customs and traditions"
    I am fed up with this cultural/traditional/customs nonsense. Just because people do something for a long time, it doesn't make it any better. If something is wrong, it is wrong. Even after hundreds or thousands of years. Human sacrifice, slavery, genital mutilation, forced marriage, sex with underage children, whale hunting, honour killing, suppressing women, domestic violance, animal fights, etc.

    "The "stupid" and "overcomplicated" cultural norm cannot be infered to be objectively "stupid" or such because one's stance is always biased and outsider."
    An "insider" is even MORE biased. And that's why they defend their "traditions" until their nose bleed, otherwise they should admit they regularly do something that doesn't make much sense.
    Furthermore. An insider's opinion is always subjective (and usually false, bacause of it), while an outsider's could be objective. That's how therapy and marriage counseling work.

    "Believe it or not, for the people in that culture it is as smooth and as easy as Do you wanna a cake/ Yes please"
    I don't believe it. It cannot be. And this sentence shows how biased you are. One offers something several times, the other one refuses it several times, until finally accepts it. How could it be "as smooth and as easy" as ONE question?

    "One's culture is not the default or the only one that makes sense in absolute terms."
    Nobody is talking about a whole culture, it's about an action in the culture. Some actions should be default and should "makes sense in absolute terms". Check the list I wrote above.

    "not to say which is better"
    I think that not allowing honour killing is better than allowing. Not overcomplicating things are better than overcomplicating. I dare to say if something is better or worse than something else.

    "one should not be triggered because of it"
    How you aren't triggered because of my previous comment? ;-)

    You saw the words stupid and overcomplicated in my comment, but you either didn't read the whole comment (which tells more about you than your comment), or willfully ignore what I also wrote (which tells more about you than your comment), so I ask again:
    A.) How many offer is okay and how many is too much?
    B.) How many refuse means that one simply doesn't want something?
    Please, only reply if you can answer these questions!

    I hold my opinion that offer-refuse-offer-refuse-offer-accept habit is overcomplicated and that makes it stupid. If you could do something simplier, but do it in a complicated way, it is stupid. If you can't see that way put it in some other context:
    - Take a seat.
    - Give you a hand?
    - Should I carry the luggage?
    - Need a ride?
    - Will you go out with me?
    See, how overcomplicated and stupid if you refuse something when you actually want to accept? How bad and dangerous if the "offerer" thinks that the "refuser" deep down wants it, just plays hard-to-get?
    Still think that running circles make any sense instead of a direct (and honest) reaction?

  • Well thank you for reading the entierty of my comment.
    (I really used words like stupid cause a lot of people used them. My comment is not a direct response to you but to everyone who has another opinion, cause why would I write if I dont want those who dissargree to me to see it. I was awre you used the two words, but I couldnt find better ones and I dindt think you d read it and consider it a direct response. Maybe I shouldnt have used these words, didnt mean any passive agressiveness or sthng. Entschuldigung)

    I dont think I am biased because I am a sorta outsider , sorta not . I share your feelings about finding refusing what you want to seem polite thing weird and awkward. Never liked it, and I never do it. BUT BELIEVE ME it's easy and smooth for people who do it. They don't question it, they dont even think it's a scenario or something, they feel it's a way to not be burden or to not seem too opportunist. The fact that I find it myself wierd doesnt mean it feels the same to others. That's it. And in most cases no one would judge you if you say yes directly.

    I don't think that extrapolating my comment to make it include honour killings etc is reasonable. I didn't say you are not allowed to find other cultural norms absurd even the morally insignificant ones like that.

    Like for exemple in Japan in restaurants, when you pay you dont hand out the money directly but you put on the counter so that the cashier picks it up or it's considered rude or sthng. Doesnt make sense =, but it makes sense for them and thus it makes sense.

  • @@ahmedtoufahi5198
    Of course I read all of your comment, otherwise how would I know what you mean?

    I mentioned honour killing, genital mutation, etc. because - based on my experience - I have to be extreme, otherwise people usually belittle the problem.
    Picture this: I grow up and live in a house where I must turn the switches on and off several times before the lights actually start to work. It is not a problem for me, I don't even notice because I am doing it for decades. But for you it seem stupid and cannot understand why on Earth I don't want to change the switch to make it simple. And I highly doubt it that you wouldn't mention it.
    Same with this useless offer-refuse play. For those who live in it, it's natural ("it's easy and smooth for people who do it"). Everybody else found it overcomplicated and can't get their heads around what's the point of it.
    Yes, I know that there are people who don't find it weird, but that doesn't make it not-weird. Just because slavery was a common thing for thousands of years and almost in every culture, it wouldn't make it any less problematic.

    "in most cases no one would judge you if you say yes directly"
    You can literally read in this comment section, that someone had been spanked for takeing after the first offer!

    And here are we again with the same questions: How many times do I have to say 'no' to avoid 'being greedy'? How many times do they have to offer not being un-hospitable? How many offering is too much and annoying? How many refuse is rude?

    First of all, you cannot give a number, so it isn't clear how long do people should play this. Secondly, even if you could give a number, it is still overcomplicated.

    With sensible people it works like this: the host presents the food and drink he/she wants to offer, the guests take what and as much they'd like. The host is still hospitable, the guests ain't rude and/or greedy. Everything else is just make it more complicated.

    Who'd like to flick the switch umpteenth times?