7 Things We Could Learn From Germany

So, last November (2014) I toured across Germany with a touring theater called Wilde Shamrock with two guys, Vinny and Ricky. We traveled to schools and venues across the land performing plays and music gigs. The audiences would improve their English, learn about Ireland and most of the time, their laughter assured us they were entertained! Throughout the 4 weeks we traveled thousands of miles and stayed in tens of towns. On the way, I got to meet some amazing people and learn so much about Germany, having never been before despite studying the language in school. There are a few things that stuck out about their way of life that I wanted to take home with me, here are some of them!

1. Take Your Shoes Off 
This is a rule almost every home I went into in Germany abides by. Quite hilariously, no one warned me about it! So the first house I stayed in, I was tromping all over the place in my ankle boots, introducing myself to everyone and wondering why the hosts kept looking at my feet. "We don't wear shoes indoors here," Vinny whispered to me. So I tip toed out to the hall and left them with the rows of shoes I somehow missed when I came in the door. 

It was hard to get used to, and some houses were fine with it so every house I entered, I had a ritual of checking to see if there were shoes by the door or were they on the feet of the people who lived there. If the rule didn't exist, I opted to keep my shoes on as my socks were cheap and not very cosy to walk around in plus I never thought of bringing slippers with me on my travels! And I really dislike walking around barefoot. On days where I was wearing fluffy socks though, it was the best thing ever! And there are so many pros to taking your shoes of at home;

• You instantly feel more relaxed and at home, even if it's not your home!
• Your shoes get less wear and I'm sure the time spent out of them adds up and they'll last longer?!
• Wearing shoes all day, is bad for your feet. They need to air! So let them breathe and they'll be less smelly too.
• You can put your feet on the furniture without being yelled at.
• Let's face it, the carpets and floors will be a whole lot cleaner, won't they? 

So buy yourself some comfy socks or a pair of slippers and take your shoes off at the door.

2. How to Drive
For a country that usually has no speed limit on the motorway, you'd think there'd be collisions and pile ups everywhere! But no, out of the 5 other countries I have experience in the passenger's seat of a car in, Germany is by far the safest country to drive in. One of the reasons behind this is not any lucky ninny can get behind the wheel with a full license. First you need to complete 14 theoretical driving lessons, then do 12 mandatory on the road lessons split between driving on country roads, on the Autobahn and in the dark. Plus you also have to do a first aid course before you can even think of getting your hands on a full license. How crazily smart is that? Yes it sounds like a pain in the hole regarding money and time but at the end of the day, they're more prepared for the unexpected. I'd sooner trust someone who studied at a German driving school when driving through Cavan at avoiding unexpected sheep on the road than I would someone with an Irish license. No offence, but seriously! The way drivers in Germany treat cyclists is another one to take note of and learn from. See the next point!

Genius I tell ya!

(They also have these super genius digital signs every few hundred meters or so on the autobahn which warn drivers of accidents up ahead or roadworks and display a speed limit drivers must adhere to, to cope with such conditions. Then the signs let you know when the speed limit no longer applies and you can go back to driving as fast as you like!)


3. How to Treat Cyclists on the Road
There are cyclists everywhere in Germany and they're treated like the road users they are. They have designated cycles lanes almost everywhere and no one walks or stands in a cycle lane or, as I almost learned the hard way had I not been pulled back, you'll be run over! If you're cycling in Ireland, and in particular, Dublin, you need to constantly expect people to walk out in front of you because...well, they most likely will! In Germany, it's the pedestrians that need to look out for the cyclists because if you're standing in the cycle lane, they'll most likely just cycle you over. And having a broken arm from a cyclist running you over is a whole lot less 'cool' than being hit by a Jaguar.

If there's a meme of it, it must be true.

If Ireland had the same respect for cyclists on the road as they do for cars, the roads will be a whole lot safer. Then it will even appeal to people more as it wouldn't as risky. More cyclists = less car users = less CO2 emissions = a healthier planet. Plus more money in pocket, plus exercise and fine looking legs! Win win!




4.  Be an Honest Customer

Cafés leave these blankets for
people to use and no one
steals them either!

I noticed when in a pub, café or restaurant in Germany that for every drink I ordered, the waiter/waitress made a small mark on the coaster under my glass. When paying the bill, they would come over and count the marks on each person's coaster and charge them for that amount of drinks. Yes, in bigger pubs and restaurants, they'd have it all in the till already and it simply made it easier for knowing who owed what for drinks, but in smaller pubs they did it too. No one swapped coasters with anyone else or tore theirs up. You could easily get up and leave without paying and not get caught, but this was unheard of. Then I thought, could you do this in Ireland and not have people take advantage of it? Honestly, I don't know. Most of the time we use the coasters for 'magic' tricks or tear them up because we're extremely fidgety people. But I'd like to think if places did start doing something like this, we'd have some respect and pay for the 10 drinks we ordered instead of 3. When it comes to supporting businesses in this day and age, we gotta be good! (However I do believe the banks here don't count, so don't be afraid to take their pens...)

5. Allowing Dogs Inside

The door of a hairdressers. Dogs allowed!

As an avid animal lover, one of the first things I noticed in Germany was the friendy, accepting attitude towards dogs. I was sitting in a café in a town called Amberg, having flown into Germany the night before, and I saw someone walk by the window with two gorgeous big dogs. As usual I cooed and cawed until they past. The next thing, in walks the owner behind me and walks by me sitting at the table with the two magnificent dogs!! I loved it. It's just so cool. Over the next four weeks, from Munich to Bramerhaven, there were dogs chilling in cafés, pubs and buildings all over the place. I never saw any strays, they were all accompanied by someone who had them on a lead or sitting at their feet, so it wasn't a case of dogs wandering around restaurants begging at tables. It just added a whole sense of homeliness. I hate walking by places and seeing dogs tied up outside, it breaks my heart even though most of the time they're probably fine. Germany just felt like a happier place for dogs with their lack of 'No dogs except guide dogs allowed' signs.

I don't need to vouch for why we should let people take their dogs into cafés and whatnot in Ireland. Everyone loves dogs plus they'll be more likely to be taken places and for walks with their owners. So come on Ireland! Raise your puppy not to be extremely hyper and maybe I can bring my dog, my Buddy, somewhere for lunch! Imagine how nice that would be!!! I vote for dogs. A vote for dogs is a vote for us. That is all.

6. Reliable Public Transport
Vinny told me of a time he was waiting at a train station somewhere near the border of Germany, close to Switzerland and Austria. An announcement rang out over the intercom in German and everyone started huffing and complaining. It announced the same thing in a few different languages and more and more people showed their aggrivation. Thinking, 'Uh-oh, did the train break down? Is there gonna be an hour delay?' Eventually, the annoucement was made in English saying the train was going to be delayed by two minutes. Two minutes.

TWO MINUTES!!

That goes to show you how efficient and reliable the public transport is in Germany and I experienced it myself when taking buses and trains.

In Ireland, the bus stop you're waiting at will tell you your bus is due in 10 minutes, then when it gets to 1 minute it will disappear off the system only to flash back up 5 minutes later saying the same bus is due in another 6 minutes and the bus will eventually arrive about 15 minutes later. Sadly, this is no joke. Public transport is a nuiscance. So Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann and Iarnroad Eireann, get your ass/transport in gear!

7. Be Nice to our Planet, Be Environmentally Sustainable
Our first roadtrip in the daytime was from Erlangern to Amberg, the day after flying into Frankfurt. Seeing the landscape of a new country is always exciting for me, I suppose it's because I haven't been to that many! So I was looking out the window, examining all the things that make the country different to Ireland; we were driving on the right side of the road  (as opposed to left, not wrong!), there was no Irish on the signposts, only German, and there were wind turbines everywhere. Everywhere. The more we drove, the more we'd see. Then I saw fields of solar panels everywhere. After doing my research, I realized Germany is one of the leading countries in Europe when it comes to environmental sustainability, and we need to follow suit. An investment in renewable energy will save us money in the long run and reduce our use of fossil fuels which is currently around 90%. We need more turbines and we need more solar panels.

This gorgeous view from the car was constant

    Among all these sightings, forest after forest thrived across the landscape too. I learned that one third of Germany consists of forests and over the past five decades, they've added one million hectares of forest back to the land. How does this compare to Ireland? Well, a 2012 article stated our land is less than 10% forestry, the second lowest in Europe and planting has slowed down with no signs of speeding up. Long ago, Ireland would have been primarily covered in forest. Yes, some may blame English rule for cutting them down to build their ships and it's like we're half waiting for the UK to give us some compensation money to replant them or something. Regardless, I don't think we're going to get pity money from any country any time soon in this climate. What's clear is our lack of forest is because of human activities. And we need to fix it. Why? 

• We'll reduce our Carbon Dioxide emissions and if we hit the EU's target, we'll escape hefty fines.
• The environment in general will benefit, primarily animal life. 
• Tourism will benefit. Research shows Ireland's landscape is one of the main attractions for tourists. Using personal experience and talking to tourists, many thought there'd be more forests than there is. More forests = more tourists.
• More tourists = money into the economy. Especially into more rural areas that need it. 
• Employment: If the government gets a loan or takes something out of their hefty salaries and pensions, they could put it to employing people to plant trees and perhaps maintaining forests, spreading awareness and educating people. A large but worthy investment when we escape EU carbon emission fines.

So. Forests. We need them. End of.

And may I remind you of the previous point addressing the number of cyclists there are?! Germany is amazing when it comes to taking care of the environment and Ireland looks ridiculous in comparison. For a country that is great for recycling, we really suck when it comes to everything else.

Jayziz, I could do with a cup of tea now! These are just a few things I think Ireland could learn from Germany, and maybe other countries could take heed too. Of course, Germany is not perfect and there's a few thing I'd like to teach them. Like, why can't you sell proper crisps?? There isn't anything even closely resembling a Tayto crisp or a Hunky Dory. And ye could do with learning how to make a good cup of tea! (Ostfriesland is excluded from this, their tea is pretty amazing.) Making cycle lanes a bit more obvious will also help reduce the number of poor unsuspecting travelers like me getting runover by a bicycle. Having the lanes just a shade darker than the rest of the path can be a tad unclear! Just saying...

Anyway, I'll be going back to Germany in April to learn more about their ways and maybe teach them how to make a good cup tea.


Until next time, I'll sign off with a picture of me and a giant nutcracker that actually works. Thanks for reading and Happy Travels!

Grá, 

Ceara (: