They are good at everything and smart.
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They are good at everything and smart.
Given that simulator games, especially bus simulator, are quite popular there - I can at least imagine some German bus drivers, who after getting back from work, washing and eating will then play German bus simulator. :D
The only positive stereotype I can think of about Germany is that they work well.
Even my grand-father, who became Germanophile to an extent and spoke fluent German after spending his service in Germany (and worked with German companies for decades afterwards), wouldn't say much more than that.
perfection but soulless
Over here, people forget that Germany existed in any form prior to WWII.
One of the most eccentric people I've ever met was a German. I remember him standing and dancing out his car sunroof at traffic lights once when he was giving me a lift in Germany. I should also add he was a middle-aged bank manager. He broke all the stereotypes.
Its really a stereotype I think invented by foreigners to rationalize an efficient and well working German economy.
I've worked in Germany all over and comparing with USA and UK where I worked, lets say Ive worked with plenty of lazy Germans. Germans also take much more holiday than UK/USA people.
The main thing which for me distinguishes the German character are...
> Need for stability/security (vs. risk/imagination) which leads to (see below)
> Need to follow orders and bureaucracy to the extreme
If you dont follow the rules...You are seen as associal and weird. Even simple things like jaywalking, standing out in a crowd, etc.
In companies you often as a man will be judged extremely by appearance. If you stand out its not tolerated.
Clean shaven, short hair, perfect suit. Anything other will be seen as "associal".
Also...
> Extreme group-think. The German is part of the Germans group. He judges himself based on the standard of the German society. He doesnt think individually.
> German character has tendency to exaggerate in everything and do everything 100%.
This can be anything.
For example in WW2 they were extreme racists. Nowadays they are extreme anti-racists. It goes back to "group-think". They always think like the majority of the Germans of current time think.
> German neatness.
Even in chaos there is order in anything. Hard to explain in writing. But for example from Punk Rockers to executives, all Germans somehow have order in what they do. Its definitely a German trait.
> Alcoholism is common. Especially amongst men. Germans like to "saufen".
> German men tend to be corpulent (not the skinny type) due to lots of eating and drinking alcohol (beer especially but also hard liquor).
They are about the opposite of latin people Ive met (who watch what they eat, dont eat fat, etc).
Nazism is a funny thing.
In one way the initial Nazism is really un-German (rioting, disorder in streets = very un-German thing).
At the same time, when the Nazis took power, You could really say Third Reich Germany exemplified the German traits (stability, group think, bureaucracy, etc)
All in all Germans are one of the best in Europe, but their biggest flaw IMO is the neurotic group think.
They cannot think outside the rules. You have no idea how annoying this can be.
And their bureaucracy and rules are quite annoying.
PS: I am German but didnt grow up there. So I am not really German :)
Does my German-ness come out in my writing? I hope not!
fat guys
Ugly
Punctual
Discipline
Humourless
Blond ( though only 20-25% are naturally so)
Emotional