I was originally going to call this post “German Things,” but I’ve now been in Berlin long enough to realize it is a unique place within Germany. I suspect that many (most?) of the observations below are common across Germany, but I think it’s best not to generalize based on what I’ve seen here. My previous two trips to Germany were either long ago enough or short enough while on business travel that I can’t be sure what is broadly true and what just goes for Berlin.

So here my observations, in no particular order.

Washer pod wrappers don’t dissolve

I learned this one the hard way after running my first load of dishes. Unlike what I’m used to seeing in the U.S., the soap pods here must be unwrapped before placing them in the dish or clothes washer. Otherwise, you end up with well-rinsed but not washed items and a pristine, still wrapped pod in the machine. D’oh!

Clothes washing machine cycles can take 4 hours

Another lesson learned the hard way. I didn’t think the first load of clothes I washed would ever be finished. I’ve since found a setting that only lasts 2 hours.

Nearly every store is closed on Sundays

Forget to buy groceries on Saturday? Tough. With the exception of small 24-hour kiosks that sell beer, cigarettes, and snacks, no retail stores are open on Sundays. Get your shopping done on Saturday, or do without.

You can go clubbing on Sunday morning (seriously, that’s a thing), but shopping any time of day is out of the question.

Garbage separation is serious business

Thankfully, I was warned about this one in advance by my landlord. Germans take their responsibility to separate garbage into different categories VERY seriously, and they don’t suffer lightly fools who do it wrong. My apartment has three bins: one for food waste, one for plastics and “packaging,” and one for glass and paper recycling. When taking the bins down to the larger collection bins, the last one then gets separated into clear glass, colored glass, and paper.

At a social gathering of tech professionals I attended, one visitor to Germany related a story about having been chastised by his neighbors for not sorting his garbage correctly. A German local who overheard the story piped up, in all seriousness, “As they should!”

No one checks subway/bus tickets

In Berlin, the subway and busses operate largely on the honor system. There are no turnstiles in the subway, and you can board the bus through any door. You just get on.

What you are supposed to do is either buy and validate a ticket or pass (24-hour, 1 week, or 1 month) using the BVG mobile app, or you can buy a paper ticket from a machine in the subway station and then validate it before you get on the train by sticking it in a second machine that stamps it. Individual tickets are time-limited. You can travel as many stops as you need within the specified travel zones and transfer between bus and subway for the duration of your ticket – two hours for a regular ticket or 20 minutes/6 stops for a “short trip” ticket.

In the almost one month I’ve been here, I’ve never seen anyone checking. My theory is that Berliers/Germans are such rule followers that traveling without a proper ticket or pass is virtually unheard of. I’ve also been told the penalty for getting caught without a ticket is quite steep.

Almost everyone respects crossing signals

Continuing with the theme of rule following – pedestrians and cyclists are by and large very attentive to crossing signals and wouldn’t dream of proceeding until getting the green light. That also means that if you are a scofflaw and cross against the light, you better be damn sure the bike lane is clear because they will run you over.

Tourists need to know which airline terminal they need

I’m accustomed to seeing signs on approach to U.S. airports with multiple terminals telling you where to go based on what airline you are flying. Not so in Berlin. My Uber driver was quite impatient with me when I tried to get by with telling him my airline and then simply saying that I needed the international terminal when I had to take a flight while I was here. Neither of those pieces of information helped him at all.

I still don’t know where to find this info, and I’m flying out again on Thursday for a trip to Paris so I better add that research to my to-do list!

MILFs are as popular here as they are in the U.S.

All over town, you can see large vans and passenger vehicles emblazoned with “MILFS” decals on the side. I initially assumed that it must not mean the same thing here. Nope. It means the same thing.

It turns our that there is a vehicle share company called MILES and that people regularly scratch the bottom of the E off to make it say MILFS. Because who doesn’t like MILFs??

Loaves of bread are endless

As in – they come without end pieces! As someone who has only ever eaten the end piece of a loaf of bread in an act of desperation, this is definitely one of my favorite grocery innovations of all time.

Photo booths are all the rage

When I first arrived at my apartment in Berlin, I noticed that my host has several of those little strips of photos stuck around on cork boards and computer monitors. I just assumed she was a fan. Then I started exploring Berlin and discovered that the photo booths that produce them are f’n everywhere. On the street, at museums, at stores, in bars and clubs. Old ones. New ones. Everywhere. And virtually always in use. Sometimes with a line.

Bike helmets are just barely a thing

I admit it. When I ride my little 3-speed grocery-getter bicycle around Denver, I don’t wear a helmet, and I do occasionally get dirty looks, especially from the neighbor kids. Most of my travel is on protected bike lanes and even sidewalks, and, well, I don’t care what helmeted riders think. I also drank water out of the “hose pipe” growing up, and I’m still doing fine.

Cyclers in Berlin are everywhere. The city is super flat, and bike lanes are plentiful, and much fewer than 1% of cyclists wear a helmet. I’m guessing they are all Americans.

People love to just hang out

As I mentioned in my previous post, it’s legal to drink in public places in Berlin – on the street, in parks, wherever. I assume this fact contributes to a phenomenon that is very common here – hanging around with friends and drinking beer but not in a bar or someone’s home.

I first learned about this at a Meetup at a biergarten when I woman I was talking to told me that the previous night she hung out at a bridge, Admiralbrücke, to be precise. Thinking I misunderstood her, I at first assumed she was talking about an establishment near or under a bridge. Nope. People just hang out on the bridge itself. I took the photo at the top of this post the next night when I went to check out the scene at Admiralbrücke for myself. I left pretty early, and the crowd had been growing steadily. I’m guessing a lot more people arrived before the number of loiterers reached its peak.

You do you, Berlin.