Asians are sometimes baffled by how difficult it can be to make friends in Germany or with Germans in their own country. In this episode we discuss how the German concept of friendship is based on an attempted deep emotional connection, whereas in many “Eastern” cultures the beginning of a friendship is manifested in shared experiences. How this works out in practice and how work and private life are strictly separate in Germany will be the topics of this episode of Germany for Asians. Happy listening!

 

Germans are world champions in the consumption of bread. There are hundreds, if not thousands different kinds of bread in Germany and in this episode of Germany for Asians we attempt to answer why that is, how it wasn´t always like this and how Germans take pride in the quality and diversity of their bread. Enjoy!

During regular, non-pandemic “Silvester” (German for New Years Eve) Germans set off fireworks worth around 130 Mio. EUR within the course of 1-2 hours. In this episode of “German for Asians” Francoise and Andy talk about the possible origins of this “craze” and how it is a rather atypical German tradition, when one considers German culture and lifestyle. As we say in German: Guten Rutsch (Happy New Year)!

In this episode of “Germany for Asians” Francoise and Andy discuss how Christmas in Germany is celebrated differently than in English-speaking countries, what some of the traditions are and how they differ between Northern and Southern Germany. This episode is a perfect and “quick” insider guide for those who are interested in this most important of German holidays. Merry Christmas everyone!

After being asked the same questions about their home country´s cultural idiosyncrasies for many, many years Francoise and Andy decided to sit down together and record their answers for a wider audience. In this short episode they talk about their backgrounds and what motivated them to start “Germany for Asians”, the new Germany Podcast.