Ep03: From Germany to the South: Navigating Culture, Language, and Business with Johannes Eff

From Germany to the South: Navigating Culture, Language, and Business with Johannes Eff | From Where to Here Podcast 🎙️

What’s it really like to move from Germany to the Southern U.S.? In this episode of From Where to Here, host Alexandra Lloyd sits down with Johannes Eff, a German professional who relocated to Alabama for work. He shares his experiences adapting to American culture, navigating cultural differences, and maintaining his connection to Germany.

Johannes dives into first impressions of the U.S., the reality behind the "American Dream," and the surprises of Southern hospitality. From business culture shifts to funny language mishaps, this episode explores what it takes to build a new life abroad while staying true to your roots.

If you’re interested in expat life, cultural adaptation, language learning, or business across borders, this conversation is for you!

🔹 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✔️ The biggest cultural differences between Germany and the Southern U.S.
✔️ How business practices and communication styles vary between the two countries
✔️ The reality of the "American Dream" vs. expectations from abroad
✔️ How language barriers and accents impact daily life and work
✔️ The role of Southern hospitality and how it differs from German culture
✔️ Advice for anyone relocating to another country for work or personal reasons
✔️ The Bavarian breakfast tradition and its place in German culture
✔️ How staying connected to your home country’s culture and language can help with adaptation

💡 Whether you’re an expat, a traveler, or just curious about different cultures, this episode will open your mind to the challenges and joys of moving abroad!

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🔗 Links & How to Follow Johannes Eff
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📍 Follow Johannes Eff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannes-eff-95aa68b7/
📍 Recommended Resources from This Episode:
- Young Professionals of Birmingham: https://www.ypbirmingham.com/
- German American Chambers of Commerce: https://www.gaccsouth.com/en
- Alabama Germany Partnership: https://www.alabamagermany.org/

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Sponsor Feature: Red Cat Coffee House
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This episode is brought to you by Red Cat Coffee House and their Landmark Series Coffees. You can find the coffee blends online at https://theredcatcoffeehouse.com/shop/, at your Red Cat locations, or at your local Piggly Wiggly.

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Transcript

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today's episode is brought to you by REDCAT Coffeehouse and their landmark series coffees as a cat lover I could not resist but introduce you specifically to this bland called lightrails it features a cat on the label but not only that each bland features a landmark is inspired by a landmark of the city this one is inspired by our vibrant Rainbow Tunnel downtown and it has sweet fruits and mixed berries you can find the landmark series including blends like Iron Works Full Steam Ahead Alabama Ujuband and Johns Valley Trail either online at Redcap locations or your local Piggly Wiggly it's coffee with a story and even with a feline charm from where to here is independently produced by me Alexandra Lloyd crafted with curiosity culture and a little bit of coffee hi I'm Alexandro Lloyd a French Canadian who's called Birmingham Alabama home since 2,017 welcome to from where to here the podcast that celebrates the rich diversity of languages cultures in the stories that connect us all each month I'll sit down with inspiring guests from different backgrounds to explore their cultures languages and tackle some fun in our truth there or debunk segment whether you're a language enthusiast a culture lover or just curious about the world you're in the right place let's dive into your next favorite cultural adventure we had such a great exchange your Highness was very generous with his time and he shared so many stories I thought this was very helpful and understanding the culture the German culture he brought some goodies I cannot wait to try some authentic German food which is actually the Bavarian breakfast so he shares about that and he talked about the American dream from the movies how we all know it finding out about his impressions too of the US thought he was very aware of himself and the people that he meet very open he also shared some cool experiences that he's had with friends and family he gave some great advice for anyone looking to relocate to another country as well whether it's the US or just somewhere else so on that I hope you enjoyed today's episode and let me know what you think in the comments but today we're diving into our guest journey of moving from Germany to Alabama our guests worked as an associate partner at Ingenix Corporation USA Ingenix is a multinational corporate consulting firm specializing in the transformation and digitization of business models products and processes he relocated here for work and has a fascinating story to share about adapting to life in the south navigating cultural differences adjusting to American culture and maintaining his connection to Germany will explore his experiences tackle a few cultural myths and of course talk about languages Johannes I'm so excited to have you here welcome to the show thanks for having me glad to be here I'd like to start when we first met I remember we were in a little cafe in Homewood and I was just there working on my computer I heard a voice behind me and it wasn't English it wasn't French it sounded like German but I was entirely sure and it just interested me I thought okay I need to ask this person I need to talk to him I don't know what I'm gonna say but I just felt compelled to talk to you and just ask you like where you're from and all of this because we don't often hear other languages other people from different cultures as much as maybe in a more diversity like where I'm from in Montreal I know it's everywhere but here in Birmingham is not as common um and just I just saw start talking to you I think you were on a work call was it no actually I was talking to my parents so it was a Facetime call it was funny because yesterday I I talked to them again and I told them about you know the podcast and I remember that I was talking to them in the cafe um and it was I think it was in the afternoon early afternoon because it was evening for them and we caught up on topics basically and uh it was it was nice and then you approached me because of course apparently you know German is is different and and then we started talking and I think we be quickly also talked about in Spanish and and and your time of learning the language and the intercultural experiences we had so far so it was was really nicer yeah yeah you were learning Spanish and I think you said some of your coworkers or people that about the autobah and then we jump to the regulations the rules and regulations and then I mentioned the consulate topic you work with speak Spanish mostly and you wanted to be able to convert for them is that yeah I mean part of my team is Mexican I would say like 40% ish um so we hire you know consultants engineers from from Mexico as well because they have great experience in education and we do a lot of business in the automotive industry so for us it's basically also an advantage with their experience in the Omo automotive business um and and the knowledge to to have them you know taking part in our projects and and help us grow our business here in the US and of course you know their primary language is Spanish so for me it's gonna be um a little bit of a challenge of course to learn it but at the same time it brings me closer and gives me a better understanding of of their um their culture and and just feel like the communication is is improved you know yeah that's important so tell us a little bit about your journey from Germany to hear what inspired the move and what were some of the biggest challenges you faced when you first got here tell us all about it and it's it can be a long story because I have to go back it didn't really start with my time or my decision going to the US it was actually end of my studies I um I spent some time in South Africa so I basically my studies ended but the final evaluation of my paper went into the next semester so I had to kill some time and I wanted to you know improve my language skills and learn on you learn something about a new culture so Africa South Africa was brought up and I thought about it and I was like hmm that could be something so I went on a learning journey so to say so for three months I flew to Cape Town South Africa spend most of the time in a language school so we did you know regular lessons but also had activities um and then at the end I had a full week or so internship at a firm at a consulting firm in Cape Town so it was a combination of of learning a language but and also using it um and this just taught me so much I mean I was literally like not literally but almost shitting my pants you know sitting in that plane um it was expecting the A THREE EIGHTY which is was is the biggest airplane in the world right it's a huge plane very new Frankfurt Cape Town 11 hour flight and like what am I doing here you know I don't know anybody um going there speak the language a little bit but I have no idea so I was really afraid but a little bit excited as well so I went there and then I just the learning curve was so so stupid was amazing so learning about the people about the culture how you know how they live there what the circumstances are the politics the history of Nelson Mandela um just everything was so much um overwhelming almost it took me weeks almost months after my trip to digest and and realize what I've been through but also then taking that and and and finding out for myself hey I wanna go now I wanna explore the world yeah so uh that was kind of a start for me so when I came back from Cape Town a little bit of a culture shock because Cape Town are left at in degrees 30 something degrees Celsius probably like 95 0 ish Fahrenheit in the US sunny beautiful and I landed in Frankfurt snowing right and cold and I was like oh god I wanna go back um hmm so when I started my chop with in chenics a couple of months later in Germany they asked me about the oustland spirit I shaft which is basically the willingness to work abroad you know and how do you call that I was Lance OK but I shaft OK it's basically saying more or less hey how much are you willing to live and work abroad in which country so they go through countries and I said yeah us absolutely always dream why why us I mean you know it starts with movies Hollywood movies in Germany so the American dream was real and your it's the show was I actually watched Breaking Bad at that time which is so good amazing show so for me it was yeah it was a dream um so I said hey look us China you know whatever whatever comes up is I'm gonna I'm gonna try it out so a couple of months later actually US was being discussed for me as a first project um in in yeah outside of Germany and I said yeah let's let's do it and the plan was for one year so first project as a junior project engineer in an automotive in automotive business in Tuscaloosa Alabama flying over to Devil never forget that day when I actually then flew over to the to the US I arrived in Atlanta and had to take a rental car 2 Tuscaloosa was already late and I was driving with the rental car on the highway you know first moments in the US and people starting people started like flashing their headlights at me you know and like say what's going on what am I doing wrong right so and then one guy even gave me his middle finger you know was like what the heck is going on here and then I realized the CD lights were so bright and everything around the airport was lit up including the highway that I didn't have my my headlights on and once I left the city 10 50 minutes later on it was dark and I was driving without headlights so they were kind of reminding you of that in their way so that was a interesting welcome but I made it to Tuscaloosa safe and the next morning um I already arrived at the client it was a Friday and this almost this was already kind of my it was my first um kind of exposure to the I would call it southern late beckness because the client manager she said look I didn't expect you here on a Friday you start on a Monday that's fine I said okay okay cool I'll win another day I can get my stuff done went back home and I had the weekend to kind of like get to know my surrounding and I felt the southern hospitality right away kind of a little bit and that helped a lot hmm yeah so that was kind of my journey from Germany through South Africa to the US wow and what was the time frame that you were so going back in South Africa how long did you stay there three months three months three months yeah and it it sounds compared to now my time in the US it sounds very short but I was even like one day was already a lot right kind of in that mindset hey look I'm leaving everything I know I leave my comfort zone I have no clue what's what's ahead of me like a week is already a lot right so before that I spent two weeks in the UK as an exchange student many years before and that was my very very first interaction with a foreign ish culture right so that kind of showed me it was also it was horrible I mean the start back then 25 hour bus ride to to UK uh was sick uh the time as well uh had the flu or something like that there was really not in a in a good shape and then doing this trip I was like I I don't wanna do it and then the first encounter with the the host family food was horrible right it was just really everything was not good but I fought through it and in the end I made friends I had great experience at the end as well and this kind of showed me you know there's always gonna be UPS and downs yeah and it's a matter of how you see it and how you take it and learn from it yeah that was kind of like the very first experience for me abroad you said coming here and wow so you were very eager to get out of your comfort zone yeah yeah absolutely were you looking for a new challenge of some sort yeah um I mean absolutely so for me you know I was 25 26 ish around that time so I finished my studies I had already work experience in Germany um and Africa showed me there's more in the world so I definitely wanted to to explore a new continent and finally make my dream happen to come to the US and and you know and kind of explore this this country um which I actually did so in the first year thinking I'm gonna stay only one year I did all the trips I could do within that one year okay um even including Hawaii for example like further distances um not knowing that I'm gonna stay 8 more years after that and I'm still here haha wait so how long have you been in Alabama so Tuscaloosa Birmingham Tuscaloosa Birmingham area um nine and a/2 years almost wow okay wow it's been a long time and it was very important for me to move from Tuscaloosa out to Birmingham why is that because it's just a huge difference I think Tuscaloosa is Alabama for sure Birmingham feels like a different place um Birmingham feels very yeah Liberal that more diverse you know it's almost like if you if you if you hit a wall going to Birmingham in like then there is it's just more it's different it's uh it's in terms of also you know culinary experience and you have restaurants bars um outdoors you have stuff to do and it's closer to Atlanta the Birmingham airport I live now 6 7 minutes away flying anywhere pretty much at least to Atlanta and somewhere or direct flights you know so that helped a lot as well and then yeah just friends and and people it's a dynamic city and then you also have access to entertainment um travel I guess in the airport nearby yes so it's yeah I can see that going back to what you said about you know you got here something you really appreciated was the southern hospitality can you give an example of what that look like for someone that has never been in the south and then experiencing that southern hospitality cause I know what you mean but just I'm curious to hear if there was particular moment or um something that really stood out to you coming here yeah I give you an I give you an example and I give you um also the opposite okay so I think one of the first things I remember being in I was in the home to sweets hotel back then for like a couple of weeks when I came here and just the first interaction in the in the elevator when I was approached and they looked at my shoes and they said look I love your shoes right kind of and then we started and I said half a word and they asked me oh where you from yeah so they noticed my accent and we started talking and this happened so many other times where people just opened a conversation and even though it was more superficial it helped me you know talking getting into conversations no getting to know people the small talk part is something that we Germans typically don't do so I was a very different person before I came to the United States and then a friend of mine a very good friend visited me year one and a/2 years later and he said your honest you have changed and you've become that person that is now outgoing kind of like I released my inner self more because I was finally maybe in my natural habitat I don't know you know I was maybe never really at home at home in in Germany so that these little encounters helped a lot and then a few years ago I was invited for example to football game and this started with uh the pre gaming you know and I was yeah the tailgating tailgating yeah tailgating yeah absolutely right and the family let me in like I was their their son right and uh we had a really good time together it was just it felt so natural and that to me is also the southern hospitality I had a little bit of a culture shock again after a couple of months being here in the US and then flying to New York because New York is different New York is fast is almost no time to be nice is what my impression was at the beginning little example I was there at the ticket machine you know for the subway station and I had trouble getting my ticket out instead of someone helping me there were guys behind me saying hey what's the what's the problem what's wrong you know I pushing me like pressuring me so I was like okay that's different here I have to get back to my chairman pace and then be you know on the same level that totally different experience first time New York I did not like it at all and then you went back and I went back multiple times because I'm a huge tennis fan uh and I didn't always traveled for the US Open to New York around Labor Day weekend that's awesome and I kind of Learned to love the city more and more and see the positive sides of it yeah so do you play tennis yourself I did a long time in Germany for 20 years before I left and here I had issues playing on the hard court like outside which is mostly the case here but I got back into it um half a year ago here so it was on and off relationship and I then got into pickleball which yeah I was about to ask cause now everyone plays pickleball everyone plays pickleball which is funny and it's very easy to play especially when you play tennis and I'm doing both at the moment so there's a super cool new court or the new courts in the Walt Park in um where is it Vistavia super nice area so yeah we'll play their friends Saturday Sunday sometimes so that's cool yeah but yeah New York kind of showed me that there's differences within the US kind of you know from how people are even talking right slangs little cultural differences so yeah that was an interesting experience I love that you give it a try to explore different states in the US and also not let the first impression tell you what this area is all about like you mentioned you went to New York once it gave you a specific perception of the city and then you you didn't live that influence what the city is about instead you went back and then you know you had a slightly different experience and then it kind of uh evolve your thoughts about what New York is about and I mean we often do that with people even where you know you meet someone for the first time you think something because of how the interaction went and that might be like okay like this is who this person is and that's how they are and then it's like well until you actually ask question or get to know the person more you're not really gonna know what this person is all about you know she might have been going through a tough day or or I mean you never know what people go through but so I like I like that you said that because I think it can go a long way that's funny because um my best friend here in the US I did not like him at all at the beginning and now it's your best friend and now he was ahead of me I think in terms of I don't know you know he used to be when we met at the beginning I didn't like him in terms of we didn't get along because he was very very much more outgoing than I was and when we were going out in places he was approaching women in a you know like super you know and I was like more shy and and I was like okay that's all too much for me right now um and he had you know just out of perspectives and it took me I think two years three years is when we met again and since then I mean there's so much trust and support with each other it's it's a really good relationship and it ended up me flying to Germany for his wedding he married an American um in Germany uh and yeah we've been friends since then by the beginning hey didn't think about that at all what so you met in the first place you met in the US and he met someone he met someone from I think she's from Iowa but they met in in Birmingham okay so it's actually not the only example that I know of foreigners of course meeting the significant other here in the US so you did I did not know okay a lot of people actually come to Birmingham as part of startups because we have a hub here in Birmingham that helps startups I mean I've heard there's someone from Montreal and there are people from all over the world but in your case with your company that's a global company correct yes so nothing related to startup in this case is it I mean not directly we wouldn't directly benefit from it but we are really at the the connection between for example chairman companies thinking about going over to the United States and open their business that we have the first conversations with them usually through chambers right chambers of commerce sometimes I have a call with a German company that thinks about coming to the United States and specifically Alabama for example and I give them some some feedback some insights and this is where we usually connect right not necessary opening our own company right but I see that also I've heard it and I've met people that started a company here and there's a lot of support which is great and you can feel it in the city right that's very positive I'm curious if you can share what it's like working for a global company in bridging the gap between the German firm and to the American market yeah haha that's that's a very interesting has been a very very interesting journey so far because Chairman Companies is least our company we are very focused on structure on standards here in the US our US subsidiary the way we lead it is we adapted as much as possible to the American market because there's things that we do differently here we have um we weigh faster in decision making than in Germany we have less like levels you know hierarchy is different um we don't have all the standards in place because we have to do a kind of a smart standardization what is actually needed what slows us down and the way I'm in business development mostly the way we can react to offers or to requests uh is is much faster than in in some other areas of our company so it's really learning to understand the market and then compare it with what our company offers what is important of course there is things that we have to follow and which we all benefit from but we should not just copy and paste it I think that was one of the big differences what helped me here in the US also in my career is we can shape our future here we can work with multidiverse like teams and really create something and if something is not existing we can build it for us and drive it to success and that's kind of what would help me a lot can you share an example of that for example one of the major clients I'm working with we have had a very small team at the beginning we had like four or five people working there and at the peak we had 40 45 people working there so there was a huge development over a short period of time and I felt the need that we have to be close and listen to our employees when they're working in these projects but not every one of us can be there all the time right so what I kind of developed is I called it the group lead system so basically we identified young leaders young talents in our organization that wanted to support our company have first hand exposure in terms of yeah communicating conflict management talking to people um so we basically divided our team into 4 5 segments and then half or groups and then half each young leader lead these groups and they would then report to me ultimately and that helped a lot being closer to um our employees and get their feedback when things are have to be improved and they needed attention um and also just for communication purposes and that's not something to be do typically in that specific way in Germany for example wow so really you saw that it improved the overall culture and moral culture communication because you know they were challenges at the beginning especially when we had Mexican people come over and work in these projects because it's just a different way of communicating and they don't come straight to me and I wasn't being surprised why they're not talking to me directly about issues they going to someone else and this is something that I used as an example of building that structure so that we get still the information and this person is more comfortable you know going through corners but the information still flows to me and we can still act and react that was a big learning curve for me wow it's really creating that space for them to bring up any concerns but also maybe even ideas yeah I believe yeah yeah absolutely in the end the chance for for everyone on the one hand I see it it's a multi or it's a it's basically learning or a transfer on both sides right for the group leaders itself of course is is a little step already in terms of leadership and self growth and then also on the employee side that they have the chance to bring in ideas for improvement talk about issues at work sometimes you just wanna talk yeah you know and then this information doesn't have to come to me right yeah if they want something to be heard and it it would will be ultimately report and we talk about it but at the beginning we were so little we had you know a company has now 150 people in North America and back then it was not even half of that right wow was small well done on creating that thanks that that initiative that's great what was it like learning the English terminology for your profession we learn English in Germany it's like part of the secondary school education like high school so uh huh uh for many years I would say we start in the 5th grade I think today even sooner in in the primary school um for 8 9 years you learn English plus a second language which I chose Latin okay this has been a good choice I mean yeah in terms of Roman languages and learning other languages and understanding the idea or the you know definitely speaking I mean of course Latin right uh huh it's funny so no English um he Learned all the words most of them unfortunately which I never really liked so much UK more than American English and I don't want to say lorry to a truck or what not you know there's like so many weird just don't like it personally but yeah I just Learned something so you get the basics and then when I came here very interesting situation was that I had to learn car terminology because I was working a lot with people on the shop floor that were building the cars I knew about cars I need the basic terms right in German English but there were so many specifics I mean there's thousands of parts that go into a car right so I started learning them in English first partially because there was I didn't think about the German ones at some point they were chairman business visitors from that car manufacturer coming over to the US and they asked me chairman about that part and I had no clue because I Learned it in English I was like what do you want from me so it was very interesting said oh no yeah of course because you Learned it all in English and after a couple of months being there so at the beginning first of all as you described you think too much you still you still think before you talk right you kind of translate it and you talk and then the moment is over what I wanted to achieve ultimately is being the same person or the same character in in English and in German um and that means you know being funny you know having like some sarcasm sometimes so kind of like not changing because I'm changing the language and that I think was was at the beginning a challenge but it took three to six months until I let go and then started dreaming in English even and then started talking without thinking even though I made mistakes but we all do yeah six to 12 months later there was more and more development development development and then after a year my manager came to me and said hey look I think you have made a big step right and I could see it myself I'm just curious just in addition to what you already share is there an advice that you would give to others going through the same experience of having to learn the terminology that is not in their native language and having to interact with different groups of individual that speak different languages that expect you to show up in a certain way right as part of your job what advice would you give others I think generally uh be open right um embrace it uh it's it's a bridge that you have to go through in order to reach the other person so it's really something that open stores and its work at the beginning but it will pay off so just be open and and kind of yeah approach it with a positive mindset and then you'll be happy about the result at some point hmm and now which is super interesting so I worked awesome with people on the shop like I said earlier and they have a slang right they talk what's up cause you know this is like the things that I didn't understand the day today or you mean in the industry like industry terms in the industry but also day today I mean yeah for example airport transportation is one of the things that come to my mind you're getting into a bus and the African American driver in this case you know said something and um I was with people from Germany they visited me they didn't understand a word and I although I don't speak the same slang I could understand almost everything and I could have a conversation with Uber drivers with all you know these situations that you're getting in that helped me I think at the beginning it was not possible for me as well but I could see the development over the years and that's cool I like it and you mentioned the dreaming in another language that's a question I often get what was the dick like for you when you you realize you were dreaming in the English language that confirmation for you like I can speak as well English as I can speak German or was it just like oh that was cool yeah it was more like surprising because it doesn't happen to me anymore I would I would not recognize it I would say that right now today but back then it was weird because it happened and I was aware of it in the morning when I woke up that was weird and interesting why but I didn't pay more attention after that right nice and tell me about how has it been for you to build communities I mean he talked a little bit about different interactions and groups of people that you have met along the way how's it been for you to come here and then I mean literally starting your life from scratch how have you been engaging with others and get that sense of belonging in a way yeah and it helped at the beginning because I was in an apartment center which in which also a few other chairmans were so that helped they were partially from the same company um that was in very it was kind of supportive because you can share your experience with them you can ask a lot of questions they've been through stuff that will help you you know even if it's simple things like I don't know how to you know I don't know get my uh power going or internet you know the basics basically so that helps a lot um and then really going to as many events as possible at the beginning to meet other people and become part of the community but also which I try to do at some point later there's specifically there's as an expatriate you are most even also with experts right so you have kind of a lot of chairman surrounding which I didn't like too much why is that because they leave their home they come to the United States they work you know maybe with you so you do a lot of stuff together you exploring the country together which is nice which is great but at some point I wanted to have also the more local exposure especially after I decided to stay more than just a year because when you hang out for example I was 25 fictum when you hang out with interns they leave in six months you build up a relationship they go you know and you kind of that's emotionally difficult because you're winning and losing kind of right although you know some of them I'm still in touch with and some of them actually just returned uh in the past six months to have a leadership position in the US so it's kind of nice to see them again and have that relationship but it doesn't help you too much to build community so I was also trying to more be with people that are more local um what helped as well was the German American Chamber of Commerce later on or the Alabama Germany Partnership so there are these institutions in place that bring US and Germany together so you will still meet Germans in certain positions you know leaders but they will also show you their experiences the places they've been to the issue stay they've been through that helps a lot but also there's us or locals involved Americans and you get in touch with them so it's kind of like mixed and that you get the best of both worlds and with this you can kind of build that bilingual identity actually yeah how for anyone interested in finding those local institutions how do you go about finding these how do you go about finding them if your bring you in the city and you wanna get connected did someone told you about it or did you just do research online or how did it happen I'm trying to I'm trying to recall how I got into that I think the first one was the Alabama Germany partnership and I'm sure if you look that up there's probably also gonna be Alabama and then another country partnership you know so I think that's Google research is the first step always um I think it went through through a friend more or less who has been already in that partnership and he introduced me to to this group and that's kind of how I got into it and then later on I mean I highly recommend especially if you work in in business to to try out chambers there's a Birmingham Business Alliance there's different other possibilities to to meet people the young professionals right and I think through young professionals YP you get into others they tell you things so it's I believe in networks and it has proven to be super successful for me and I can only recommend that to build communities I need to share a little a little story about that proves that you've been a very good networker cause one day I went to that bar called the house of haha the house wait what is it the house of fun object yeah such a fun bar in the area and then I look at the menu thinking oh what drink am I gonna pick tonight and then I see Johan's Johannes yeah I see your name on there was it does it say something additional cause my last name other was yeah there was your last name too so I was like wait I know that's him I did I knew that was you and I think I send you a pig I was like wait and apparently they put the names of people that often come to the bar a testimony of how you've been networking going to that place at that time yeah I think there was a time definitely I was going out more and building the also relationships and people started to to get to know me um this was a little bit of help also for my best friend Daniel who is also in the bar he's not on the menu but he's somewhere on the you know on on top okay um and it was actually it's an interesting story because I there was a time when I didn't drink alcohol at all so I wanted to to I went to Collins Bar which is across the street and Collins usually makes you know drinks based on your taste what you like and I said look I like having gingery based you know drink non alcoholic if maybe some cinnamon vanilla and so on in it right so they created something and I liked it a lot then I was going to house I found objects and I ordered the string a couple of times going there saying look this can you make me something like that and faceless super good with the spa bartenders did do an amazing job so they created the string on and off you know and at some point Daniel my best friend he said Johannes we have to go out tonight and why what do you what do you want right is why I'm not in a mood yeah we have to go out tonight okay let's go so we went to that bar he walked in and then one of the bartenders came to me and said Johannes you have to sign this one said what do you mean look look on the menu and I saw my name on the menu and I signed the first menu and then we ordered of course my drink and this was a non alcoholic drink so that's why you found it in the section of non alcoholic drinks but you can add booze to it right this is when it got created and it was funny when when you ordered drinks and at the end um I paid and you know the receipt says my name twice for example yeah it is just totally funny and I stayed it stayed on there for quite quite some time but he's redoing the menu more and more and I'm not a frequent visitor anymore so much but it has nothing to do with the doings it's more my personal lifestyle if you don't mind me asking what are you more interested in these days um it is work on the one side it keeps me very busy but then in addition I started um a program with the MIT Professional Education in addition um which is digital transformation program and then also touches on cultural awareness leadership and innovation so different aspects and then also working out I run a lot um and then I see friends a bit it's all like enough and then trying to still recharge and and kind of make the right decisions and instead of like chasing every character out there right so I wanted to make sure I'm all in in one one flow basically yeah yeah that's good I mean having your priorities in line with what really you wanna do short term long term that's very important absolutely yeah that's awesome you've had a lot of experience interacting socializing with German speakers English speakers what's your approach with each is it the same or is it different and how hmm I think I think it comes naturally now and I never really followed a guideline but when I read about it it was interesting because there is a difference you know Germans German speakers they're like more informal more formal more structured um efficient and if for appear to me like the Americans they are more informal more relaxed um flexible you know in the communication and in all these social or group settings I think that you will notice some at some point that in a German group setting someone will speak and the others will listen and they they will not interrupt like right away that's kind of a sign of respect versus in an American group setting you would probably see multiple conversations happening at the same time kind of yeah um and that's interesting and for example don't do is I don't do too much small talk when I have only German counterparts in a business setting because I can feel right away they're getting like you know each year let's get started on the topic okay they like to go they wanna dive in right away I'm not gonna talk five minutes about the weather with them you know haha but here you would here in the US I mean there's you know football soccer weather location there's always something comes up uh huh there's always something I try to catch and then start a conversation and then flow slowly into the actual topic and why we are here today right if it's been it's mixed then it's a then it's kind of like a who is leading the meeting right okay where's the company from how much time do we have kind of try to get a feeling for it always okay oh that's very interesting I think French and Germans are similar in that sense when working internationally how important is it to connect with others who speak your native language I think it's it's very important I think it's a powerful tool to connect with fellow Germans and I mentioned the different chambers earlier right so these opportunities are great to to interact because they perceive your surrounding maybe differently than you do so you can get different perspectives because your own perspective doesn't have to be right can as you know from the first encounter it can change over time and it's it's a process so you adapt you learn um you make mistakes and then maybe on the next one you we do it better right and you start thinking more out out of the box and not putting people into stereotypes or something like that so that definitely is is very helpful and very important and I like your you have a natural awareness that I see about yourself and about others I don't know if you know that about you but I can tell from the stories you share you have that natural awareness and it probably have served you well to connect with people from different backgrounds to not let that first impression again dictate future or what this person is all about yeah it feels as one of my strengths is basically I wanna be inclusive right so it's very important for me if we sit at a table and we have different people at the table and different languages that we include everybody so we don't switch to German only if it's super necessary let me translate it but I wanna make sure that everyone feels part of the group and I have a bad feeling in that moment if someone is left out so that's one of the reasons probably um but yeah it's just see always chance possibility growth or I don't know just the chance for a good moment meeting someone new and learning about where they are from and what they do I love that how has living in Birmingham changed how you see your home culture back in Germany cause it I'm sure it has had an impact in your life and you said you know it's a lot of UPS and downs I think it's not I think I would I would go reach a little bit higher altitude level and not just birming him okay yeah because to me there's no difference if it's Birmingham or you know the US and general there might be differences in places like I don't know New York or so but since I've been living here and at some point you you reach more distance to to your home and I at some point notice differences for example 1 being the positivity so people in Germany tend to be more little bits you know see the things that are maybe not working you know things to complain about versus the opportunities people are happy for you here in the United States from my perspective or my experiences when you're successful and you drive a nice car they come up to you and say look what are you doing you know they see that someone's trying to lift American Dream and then they support you with that and they wanna become you right so that's they get inspired they get inspired thank you that's a really cool thing and that's what I'm missing in Germany for example that's a big difference it might has to do something with weather because here I think we have more than 200 sunny days in Alabama versus like I don't know 60 70 in Germany and some parts at least where I'm from yeah so it's really a big difference it has an impact on your mood tell us where in Germany are you from I'm from a city between Munich and Stuttgart it's called Om Ulm and it's the birthplace of Albert Einstein oh and it has the highest church in the world in the world so it beats so that city beam in clear bringing oh yeah and okay cause I think there's a lot of churches yeah yeah yeah yeah but this is it's unbeaten I mean I think it takes you 760 something steps to get up to the to the top wow yeah yeah so it's it's a it's a nice city but it also is close to the Dunupe River I think you say in English like the Duno it's a river that flows through ome and this also makes a creates a lot of um foggy days I would say in the fall right you don't see the sun so much and it really has an impact on your mood as well so around that time I try to avoid going to Germany because the sun is just not there um I think that's one of the differences um what else so living living in the United States uh definitely has has shown me that there is more opportunities and upsides right and the chance for success versus really in Germany um things that yeah can make it a little bit more difficult or challenging because people tend to see more like the negative sides but what I also see as a big difference which I love in Europe is history everything in in Europe goes back or most of it thousands of years so you have these castles um art culinary experiences um buildings and here I miss that if you have a couple of centuries here in the US um a lot of came over you know from Europe so that's something that I feel like I'm missing out on here so when I'm over in Germany I should do it actually more but really connecting with with this cities in Europe like Paris and Amsterdam I love these cities that you can see so much and learn about where we are from are you someone that enjoy a lot of museums or do or how do you actually get the history when you go in a city is it just a matter of you know walking and doing normal activities and finding history and admiring buildings or monuments or whatever the case might be or is it actually like taking a day like attending a museum or something else like how do you actually embrace the history when you go to cities like Paris and Amsterdam yeah but I think about Paris I mean I went to Loufrey I went to you know places like Eiffel Tower um walking the streets uh going to special places to restaurants it's a mix I would say what I started doing more and more is um first thing I pack when I go somewhere is my running shoes because I felt running through cities new cities is explore a lot it's not typical running I do I would stop and then oh what is this and then I you know maybe I read about it take pictures and then make it like a little tour uh what I also like to do is take rather Airbnbs than hotels and then maybe even have places that are have a special you know history so it's a mix it's and then talk to people think there's so much you can you can learn from from people that have lived or have been living in these cities and events right so sometimes they're like it was an Amsterdam for Christmas once and it was a huge a very nice Christmas concert in an old building and was absolutely wonderful oh what kind of music was an orchestra playing was including a harp for example okay I don't hear that too often right so yeah definitely a great experience and I highly recommend everybody going to Europe really taking the time not maybe sometimes the not so touristy spots are maybe more more interesting oh I couldn't agree more with that yeah do you have any any gems to recommend haha you have to share all the best spots maybe we'll put a sheet together quick disclaimer here for the next hour or so you might notice a slight change in our voices and the sound quality but I really hope you still find the conversation just as engaging I have a good question for you do you feel pressure to assimilate or adapt to the new culture or do you embrace both cultures equally in this case your German heritage culture in the American culture I would say no I'm not I don't feel pleasured at all um I just try to be the person who I am and I think the US is the land of the free kind of it gets me the freedom to to express myself to be who I am of course there are some boundaries right left and right a little bit about it's very interesting because in Germany they there's so many rules and regulations of it basically tell you how not to do it versus here in the US they let you do it and at some point come and get you back into you know your um I would say like direction where you should be going terms of I don't know it could be could be anything but my feeling or my my experiences I can really yes it is a set I can I can do whatever I like to do kind of like exploring things and do stuff but uh and not gonna hit any any limitations so much or centres of my culture I don't feel like I have to behave in a certain way um I feel like us is really a melting pot many different cultures and if someone doesn't accept the way I am I think then then it's his world right it's not mine well Sam when you say there's a lot of rules and restrictions in Germany and hear it it kind of let you do it and then bring you back could you give an example of what that might look like opening a business in Germany um I have not had the experience of opening a business but effort from friends and from other podcast that there's just so much so much documentation and paperwork we're up perceived to get it started that some people even don't get it started because it's too much it's overwhelming and here takes you hours maybe a day or two to open a new business in LLC and there you go right and then you can get some advisors or some questions along the way that's what I'm you know where I'm seeing the difference hmm that's a great example I can totally see that now hmm are there any particular customs traditions or ritual for mere culture that you continue to practice yeah there's a couple actually one is uh this one that I also bought a few you a few gifts um I'm gonna share it that is so nice of you so basically what I do explain it first okay uh it's called the Vicefrost Frooster you know wide sausage breakfast kit translated wide away where what is it calling in vice Froost Flst Froost Ooshtuk ooshtuk ooshtuk is breakfast and vice roast is the white sausage okay and it's a very typical ovarian breakfast and I usually get it when I flying to Munich at the airport there's a very famous restaurant called Air Broy

and when I land around 9: 59:48

30

10: 59:50

00am first thing I do is go in grab that breakfast with a heap of itin I go yeah wheat beer yeah that's when I I don't know how to say it but I knew what you were talking about and this is my start of you know in Germany getting back to Germany so I practice this year sometimes with France from France mostly um or certain locations it doesn't have to be special it's just like let's have a vicepass retreat you know so what does you consist of of course you I brought you two glasses of the heif of ice beer to share then we have and that's very important Jim pretzels they are part of it right yeah and it took me a long time to find it in the US German pretzels and this is a pretzel mix and you make that in the oven right you have to first put it all together all ingredients of German pretzels are in here okay so I have to mix it together follow the instructions and then put in in the oven baked down and after that it's up to me to say taste isn't true enough dying horrible times now and I get a world market and it's up so there I show you pictures later it's it's really good it went off really well so this package makes 8 10 pretzels like the big size the big like this is the regular children size like not the you know the American ones yeah yeah so but this the size okay and then these pretzels come out out of the oven I give you a few minutes but and they taste so amazing right and of course another important ingredient or part of this is the actual rice first right okay so here we have I think there's a 5 on here typically yeah when you make them fresh you can peel the skin off and needed felt the skin there's also certain technique in Bavaria where they kind of suck it out of the okay and the sausage which is funny I cannot do that but and here in the US since it's already in a class it's pre cooked to make it overseas um you just cook it you heat it up and you eat it with the skin you won't even notice the skin right so and one final piece it says pipe German Westwurst slicewurst ricewurst the sausages growth very cool the final piece is the German they say Parish Sousa host mahasenf so it's a sweet mustard to eat with and this is where you put your sausage in or pretzel whatever you like so that all makes one delicious meal and yes 100% sure has actual like true perfect Bavarians they tell you no it has to be at whatever 8 nah there's not really I tied it to the morning I would say lay morning thank you so much you're welcome so this is one of the traditions that I'll I keep doing here and I love the fact that I can get it all yeah even though it's not 100% perfect yeah but gay depresses to a trim sauna amazing the sausage I'm fine with and the the mustard I get from France so they bring it all over from Germany all the time wait so this you actually travel you brought this from your travel only the mustard only yeah I'm gonna be the monster only monster this yellow stuff is this is what market this is what market and these two are from my favorite Hop City Wine and beer in pepper price okay very nice the good stuff and technically they need to be bigger by their own small size but technically it's half a litre in Germany okay so you can also feel if you buy some glass the right way and there's also some technique to it oh okay should we get a glass and you show us our soulmates uh I should do it all actual boss okay when you see the technique or I'm curious then because I worked in restaurants and I mean we have to you will tip the glass but then I'm sure there's like more techniques since you said that yes yeah you have to have foam on top of it right not it's not foamless like 99% of the beers I'm getting here even the pilsners there are almost foamless they put it like in and inhabitantly end like sitting like that right ah serious for me that's that's a no go but with especially Heffy bites you wanna make sure that you have like this much of a foam on top you know you did a little bit um in at the end and then you you know you twist it around and then you put the rest on top of it um yeah you basically you don't feel everything and you left you you left like a little bit left then you you rotate it right and then you get all all of it out on top bad as you get more form out of it to be and face deep oh that's new I didn't know hmm I mean I would try to but it should all much once typically no but I make sure to lead the phone but I will do it okay so show it to you but later or basically yeah yeah cool so that's such a tradition with the vice post fruit stick yep and then what I had made week or two weeks ago was schnitzel with potato salad hmm which I like to do once in a while I like it a lot um typically it's made with bail um but I think I only had chicken this time and it's just a typical German dish spell I would call it like super German because it's I think originally Austrian the Beaner Schnitzel of Austria but um something I love a lot and then of course around the Christmas time now blue wine wood wine very famous I like to do it myself as well but you can get great bottles from all the year MLC hmm Aldi has the Num burger uh muld wine blue wine uh looks it's pretty good is there only one kind that they sell nope okay from what I remember it's only one kind and then I made a yaga tea Yaga teas Hunters tea I think if you translate it and that's something that I crave around Christmas especially in the cold weather because it's a typical Austrian skiing beverage when you go out skiing usually we drink yogurt tea when it's super cold it's the base is black tea and then you will mix in straw straw rum like high proof 80% Soram and uh another uh Austrian shots or basically liquor together with some spices you know cinnamon and so on it in the end it tastes just absolutely amazing and it has a lot of alcohol so you get warmers bitly um and then the Christmas markets in Chenova I mean Christmas markets in in Germany just absolutely amazing and I feel very lucky because just a few weeks ago I went to Germany and right before I left I went with my little sister to a very small romantic Christmas market in Munich and it started snowing really thick you know the big the big yeah snowflakes looks just like the slow motion yeah like super like Tourette's super picturesque it was cold and we had all the the food and drinks we you could have was really nice and I have to say the Coolman Christmas Market is super good I was surprised you've been I've been for the first time this year okay I heard about it and I didn't get to go but and as a chairman I was super picky you know yeah yeah what was your impression of we're evaluating everything is it is it according to the stand UPS that's a thousand test that's thousand test yeah and I was super surprised so we celebrated our Christmas party there and we had a see through tent in the middle of the Christmas market so we got all the surroundings and the lights still you know is it where the igloo star it is the igloo star but it's not like the same shade it's a regular tent okay but it's the same material and uh we had some catering there it was super nice but just all the middles you know shops around it were super churn style the food was good the drinks were good it's funny because sometimes you read signs with German words in it that just they don't add up bad c funny yeah yeah it's funny because they try hard and they're gifting credits for it but it it's it's from the Christmas markets I've seen so far if you see in the salts it's one of the really good ones how many little Mark I mean one market it's the one that we say used to back home it's like little houses or I don't even know how to describe but it's like different individual shops of food drinks um arts and crafts yes how many of those how many vendors yeah that they increased it this year so the years before I heard it was much smaller so they builds a bigger menu and they included way more markets in total I would have to estimate say probably 40 40F 50 so was a decent size and big variety sometimes I mean you know Germany it's basically focused on the some leather crafts some some wooden basically toys or so you can buy and then of course alcohol and you know drinks food everything and I think it's pound even in Coleman people they were selling Botox or so there were ladies there was a hey you wanna come by so now I know my lips are still fine so it was funny it's I think it's they they kind of mix it together you know um they keep some core shops that you would see in Germany but then also let other vendors say hey oh yeah like so it's diverse see it's the best diverse is in the least actually in Chicago is was the best hall up into so far I went multiple times every year basically consecutably or for good time and they do a really well chop that's um very authentic and gives you a great feeling as a journal to be closer to home oh that's great did you get the snow too that day yeah yeah it was but it was also freezing I mean at Chicago at that time freezing windy cold all of it all of it but I mean it's it's closer to it would be expensive Germany and you want to drink that blue wine right yes also yeah these are the kind of important ones around Christmas and then there was one thing I wanted to mention because it's very important for us as well as Octoberfest yes so the Octoberfest also have been to dub on this year in Germany and Munich and it's a huge fest I did the biggest beer fest in the world and a million visitors each day just a quick correction here the October 5th welcomes about half a million of visitors a day and it says that yes it is the world's largest folk festival that attracts millions of visitors each year in 2024 the festival was attended by around 6.7 million people and the attendance record was set in 2023 with 7.2 million visitors it's uh I think it starts at the towards the end of September and goes into October and you dress up you know the ladies have the trndall and uh special dress of her right uh and then the event they wear a later awesome like leather pants you know and you have all all the different kind of of course benders but at the tense and the beer tense and the Masque lugei you know you have the the one liter ear in Mars um and just a good time it's it's really really nice and you see copies of it around the world the world and in the US especially also course in some breweries and and it's nice to see that it makes it across the world but it's very big fest or big festival for us and intro do you try to open each you I try to beat her when I in there so sometimes we have our annual management workshop around that time Germany so I'll try to connect it this year was the wedding of my little sister so of course it wasn't been part of it which was a super nice surprise because she didn't know I was coming and nobody knew I was coming because I got my green card this year and congratulations had fixed and I didn't tell anybody so I just walked up to the it was in a courthouse it was the small small ceremony before the big wedding next year and I brought my inner horse in my leather pants as well for the fest festivities I was guessing we might be going there as well and we did so it was perfect wow now that's awesome that you are able to do that it's really a huge part of the German culture to have them snapsolve yeah that the what is in the south in the south of Germany yeah and Bevaria and Bevaricia pit okay you can even involve that into the wedding was it like the action Celebration or was it just you brought some of the festivities into the wedding was actually it was a regular ceremony in the courthouse and then we had a get together afterwards in a little area outside yeah for a few hours and then we all went back to the hotel dress up in that specific confession and then went to the to the October fest through because it was the reason huh and spend a few hours there okay to the actual event the actual event um had a few benches together you know seating area together and and it was fantastic and then from there left to continue in a restaurant for the rest of the night really cool I love to see pictures oh that's so cool I love that I love that you're able to still like experience these festivities like these cultural moments even though you've been living in the States for for quite a while uh one thing I'm curious cause I went through that process of the green card as well and until I got my green card I could not leave unless you do a special request you technically cannot lead the country did you make that special request for fill on the form to get the ability to get out of the country prior to get in your green card or were you waiting for your green card yes yeah I had a trouble ban that started uh travels a year ago for one year I couldn't afford until I bought a green card in July I couldn't travel so they taught me even 12 to 18 miles I was like oh no I'm gonna miss the wedding I'm gonna when anything happens I have to get a special approval like you know deaf in the family to to leave the country and we don't you don't wish that you don't want that to happen luckily everything came and the funny part was also my case my little sister and her fiance we met in Puerto Rico this year because I could travel to Puerto Rico so with my ID yeah so we had a super nice vacation there for 2 weeks and they thought I'm not gonna make it to the wedding I don't ask my hey Johannes do you have any updates and signal I'm sorry got already had it like that you know so I was very close to telling them but I kept quiet and two months later was there that's amazing it was the most moving emotional moment in my life when I walked up the stairs and I saw my little sister there and she she didn't quite get who is standing there and that was really really nice man is she crying of course not all of her makeup does anyway was she was she was for a second she was a little lucky but it was it was amazing real and and it was worth it um and it was just an amazing time wow so glad you are able to do that I'm sure it meant a lot to her as well yes no for all of us mean and yeah it was a short trip for me it was only four days there due to to business topics but um and it worked out and and and was very interesting and I believe in that just everything will perfectly the whole travel there going going to Germany going back no delays no problems of luggage you know hotels everything were perfect I got upgrades where I didn't expect to get upgrades so I guess if someone wanted to help me to get there was perfect so I'm very grateful for that experience well it's great your ring card did you actually get it through your work as I'm kind of jumping back to this just cause you mentioned the green card I know a lot of people wonder you know you talked about the American dream and obviously the dream is different for different people but as it been the route for you to to get to where you are today yeah I'm in the company after a couple of years to offer me the sponsorship and uh I definitely wanted to pursue it just for the fact that I couldn't see myself back in Germany already so a better career opportunity here and I figured hey what's it's a great opportunity for me um and then once I got it you know feeling I was the moment the day I got it I was actually going for a run later that that evening I was smiling like a kid like for hours I was so happy was just so happy because it's a part of the freedom you know I have my my full decision making back by because through the process of course you're tied to the company right and that's definitely something you have to acknowledge but you know that something goes wrong you have to go back something doesn't work out if you're chopped out to go back now if something happens I can still wait here and that's that's cool oh good for you thanks we're gonna switch dears a little bit for last segment I have a little game I'd like to play with you but before we get into the weeds of bad have you picked up any phrases or habits from your time here that you'd never expected to could be anything yeah 1 1 um one habit which is weird I mean so weird but it's it's crazy that I let now is the way I eat it's a Truman you know you you hold your fork on the left you know and the knife on the right that's how you eat when you cut something no no no throughout the whole meal of course if you eat soup that's different but now from what I've discovered in probably just took over is I cut something at the beginning then put the life away and keep the phone right hand and then eat with my right hand cause I'm right handed and that's just something it's unbelievable because whenever I have friends from Germany come over or even recently a business researcher and I saw him eating and I saw the way he did it and where's this I didn't was like wow how thick now another moment of it's actually crazy because it's such a basic thing and and and this goes back to the early days right you have done it for 25 years and suddenly it changes so that was a big a big discovery in terms of phrases that's hard sure I'm using phrases and you say hey y'all hey y'all bad really hard really and open up pissing yeah we sound there yeah what's up y'all hey y'all no I'm not doing that okay all at all um I use filler words like you know no you know so that's that's interesting because that's not something you learn you don't learn that you just take it over and also then using some some phrases or um in in specific sometimes when you wanna say something and it just comes to you because someone else told you about it in the same exact moment you remember that and then use it in the same exact moment without even knowing exactly the German meaning guide hmm I don't ask me for examples what but in no other examples I know it happens to me yeah it happens that's interesting how you number no army is just natural right you don't think about these things and then suddenly you're there behaving in different way or or saying things in a way that you've never said those before but it's here it's actually funny you know I have to tell another story you know lifreska yeah the pizza place yeah well Marco is a great guy and I will never forget the moment when I sat down and ordered a pizza and he came with a pizza at one of his um waiters put down the pizza Eddie started cutting the pizza for me and I said what are what are you doing I said I'm from Europe I know how to cut a pizza and he was like I was I was offended you know and Marco Kaye said hey hey let this guy he knows what you know what he's doing but at the beginning he had to do that in his restaurant because people didn't know how to cut a pizza because when it comes out of this oven I guess one piece he just brought it out right and people like okay what do I do now you know because it's usually when you get for money Domino's also it's pre cut right people just grab the slice and that's not how you get it in in Europe you start eating pizza by making slices herself right yep and uh that was interesting experience and then once I had my family over we went for dinner at this place he made a comment oh nice to see people from Europe using fork and knife doing the meal again I wasn't doing it but it's we're doing it again oh um it's awesome fix or share a button welcome we're talking about food I believe food is a universal love language and bridges borders definitely it connects people it really brings people together what's one dish from Bong you wish she could introduce everyone here in Birmingham and on the flip side what's one dish that has won your heart in the south I would say I mean the dream would be I could introduce all the meals that my mom cooks here in the US so they could take it and implement in all restaurants that would be alright but if I had we didn't you do that he said it opening a business is easy opening the SSC thrust around business is quite interesting yeah and I haven't seen a German restaurant here in Birmingham or it's hard to find good ones um I know this place in Tuscaloosa but yeah so I would if I had to choose one I would definitely go for a schnzel potato salad make myself you know it's just something so easy and very close to where from or what we eat um this from Alabama I'm not a super fan of fried food you know and there's a lot of fried food to you if I had to choose one I took barbecue for example salsa Kitchen barbecue is amazing it's very just very good dish I love eating at not very often to be honest but when I get the chance of coleslaw you know and maybe the end of banana pudding or something like that it's cool it's really a very delicious dish this things like fried Oprah and it was interesting I don't mind eating that but everything fried is something I like because they will try to stay away from it yeah what's your favorite editions in Alabama actually I tried fried tomatoes for the first time and I was from a neighbor who cooked them for us and I was in love really with it I thought wow the acidity of tomatoes I would the crunch I just never thought this was a thing but to your point I don't eat a lot of fry food either so that's not something that I naturally gragged into words that I wouldn't actually order for myself but um when I have it I enjoy it mice yeah I think I had them too long time ago but yeah I can see that yeah it's cool yeah and one thing or when we're about you two is you were talking about how you try to eat in bide organic produce how it's sometimes difficult to to just go with organic coders obviously they have a higher price tag as well how do you navigate that is is it the same as doing it in Germany or is it more challenging to do cuter if this is something that's important to you let me step it up and start with you are what you eat absolutely yeah and I wanna fuel my body um I wanna give my body the energy that it needs to to do all the things I'm doing which is when I work staying focused using less energy for digestion um when I run you know have have all the fuel that I need to to do long withouts for example and um so yes I still I'm still following this end of diet and I try to buy fresh foods veggies and make sure it has certain origin and in quality and it's it's super expensive and that's what really annoys me because in Germany as you mentioned I think it's way cheaper right I'm not I'm not walking away to for $250$200 Bill and have a another basket full of of of very high quality uh stuff in Germany it's 50 to under it right it's more than half of it what you could spend to get the same quality and access to healthy food is is way better in Germany as well so the whole obesity topic in the end that comes out of fast food and and the lifestyle gear um we don't have the too much in true any and it comes richly out of I think the way this can be excessed and the way it is communicated in maybe into educational part as well what sponsors are behind I mean it's a topic it's another topic to talk about and what's interesting is also an initial lifestyle fast food so in the US there's a lot of focus on on work right on on working long hours um heading a career versus develop life benefits at Germany in Germany people work between 35 to 40 hours they value a vacation a lot on holidays and they are off they are off here go to Urban Weekends partially or you are you know still reachable somehow so that creates already a difference and then it just made sense to me to say okay fast and grip and go coffee to go you know everything is on the go kind of like and has be quick and this kind of is also seen in the in the in that part nutrition basically so when I went to my old car Spain last year and I remember sitting down drinking an espresso for €1 50 maybe not even that hmm and just sitting down like everybody else yeah it's sitting down watching people walking by having a good time adding maybe some reflective moment I don't know uh reading the newspaper that was so nice and a trend of show me that what a difference it is to how people do it here like Starbucks you know that my thing to go everything so that's that's something where I try to be more aware I'm having foods in a more quiet setting and uh enjoy it and not really be like you know in fast food all the time so of course I have a pizza sometimes of course I have a burger with a friend um that's totally fine I love it and and sharing the tacos with Mexicans so survey order to to breakfast with with children so that's the bridge again right on the connection with people and exchange that behalf of food which is which is nice in its relationship building but ultimately I wanna have um my way of nutrition for the most part to stay healthy and and and happy absolutely it's so important yeah and we all have different different ways of looking at consuming food and the type of food that we consume giving different levels of importance I know you mention even cure people in general and that's a generalization here but you know fried fruits very like popular or something that it's part of the regular consumption I would say right dude really vapios to a certain extent um and my husband's family even though they all are from here I mean they are very health conscious and I think it's because some of them or either dairy free gluten free you know have some limitations in terms of like what they can eat um so I think that naturally bring more of that health consciousness even another aspect to it is here often times we have the vigor stores where we can get everything in one place and I never mean back home and I would think in Germany too where you have a specific place to go get your fresh bread to a binkery you go get your meat at one place you might go get your cheese specialty cheese in the blender even the fruits and vegetables it's more of that quality that she go get at a specific store that know how to get the produce locally and they're fresh and that's that's all they do is it more similar to that experience in Germany or is it a maybe a mix I mean you have still chains right yeah I still have um I think they're the most common ones going to Aldi a little and and so on you do have uh versions of I was called Metro Metro in Germany but here Costtroit Costco okay and you know that's like Costco is you know yeah can I get it yeah big oceans you do have that in Germany as well especially for people who own businesses and can make taking advantage of it but definitely there's difference when you get it straight from a bakery you know or or a butcher but you do get it also maybe not as super fresh but you still get it in supermarkets that buying all these things in Germany however it is especially with smaller communities and villages towns smaller towns there's a baker bakery you know there's a butcher and you get all that stuff and and do you have that at home and it's it's it's very nice you kind of know where it's coming from right absolutely yeah and we have a feuague in Birmingham and that's why whenever I can I like to go to that local bakery or go to that local specialty store because like you said I know where it's coming I know where it's from I know it's fresh and I know they do their stuff if you have additional questions so it's always it's like a different experience I think now it's time for the game we had reached that point oh so let's do a game that's called Truth Dare Debop we will play a couple of rounds for each round you'll choose either a truth dare or the book where you share surprising cultural fact if you pick a truth a dare while you teaching us a phrase in your native language and you pick what that is or a debunk where you clarify a common stereotype about your culture are you ready I think I'm ready let's see how this goes it okay for the first round would you do a truth dare or debunk let's go with the truth the truth okay so tell us what's one thing about your culture that peaceful as soon as true in it actually its hmm I think one pretty famous one is that we have a terminal autobahn and um there's no speed limit right and that's actually something that is almost true because I think still 60 70% of the German autobahn doesn't have a speed limit to our highway system in Germany you can go as fast as you can with your car there's some portions where you know of course it's limited but others other portions where tells you the speed that you should be going you know but it's not like restricted and I think was what what you need to know is that it takes us a lot to pick to get a driver's licence in Germany so we spent 35 40 hours of driving lessons um through the city through country roads and highways because you have to get to you have to get used to the speeds right and there's a Porsche coming if 200 miles per hour from the back how should I behave right or even you being the person driving haha that's fake so it's a lot of gut get goes into it as well as the um theoretical part of it so you spend 50 hours easy getting a driver's license plus 2,000 or more dollars getting one right so it's a big thing and um I have to admit I feel a little bit different here in the US now heading the driver's licence and and the education and then being restricted to 80 miles per hour 75 a 70 or whatever the speed limit is um and knowing I could go way more and I also educated to do that right almost feel like a little bit superior but and then when you go to places like Atlanta you like what the heck is going on here nobody knows huh and it's it's an interesting topic whenever I go to Germany and I have the chance to get a rental car I'm gonna pick usually a better one yeah and hit the highway and go haha do you drive a car with a stick man whore automatic or both in Germany or here from all the cars ahead I had 2 stick um and 2 automatic yeah first was stick then it was again stick then it was automatic and now automatic okay um but I prefer this is how grew up belong on the stick shirt say yeah yeah that's amazing I mean you're in full control of the car I was just telling your husband recently I was like ah I really would like to get a carb at a stick it's just it's hard to find one that these days I mean you probably need to go back to an old car to have this thing that you move and shift gears I I don't know if I I found that a lot of the recent cars it's just like you change to manual mode but it's not the same thing cause you just a little push so you do find older cars inhabit but also there's certain brands that still keep that um yeah I would I would say that the brand heritage you know on the corset or BMW are they still make stick shifts okay so you will still find that and yeah I mean it's it's amazing I like it a lot that's basically temple uh the speed limit topic and temple limit as we say in German uh the speed limit topic and in Germany is definitely true it gets harder though to really sustain higher speeds because many people allow using the left plane which is supposed to be the lane for people that drive fast yeah wouldn't you know yeah they're blocking it now more and more with trucks or elderly people just going anywhere it's it's still more um structure or older than than in the US but you can go left right over here along okay how many lanes is it just two or do you have more it depends I think it's almost never as many as three can get here like five six whatever lanes it's usually two to three I would say in here okay and we're talking on the highway highway and you're talking narrow right we're talking about really not the same width off the street and you have way higher seats also I can see how people and a know from people that went on business trips to Germany Americans would say oh I'm not in trouble well it's crazy it's just absolutely do you call it Autobahn Autobahn okay that's the hard day that's the highway Autobahn okay cool okay let's do another one truth dare or debuck has to dare dare you'll teach us something there to teach can you share a phrase in your native language that everyone should know and tell us maybe what it means I can give it a try okay then we'll start with something I would say easy Espio whenever you're gonna have that October fest October fest the device was first to and you're gonna do cheers then you say roast basically so host gross there we go so this is when you do make sure specific yeah or when you're more like a formal setting glass of wine and a restaurant for example at home we say some wood soon more soon more soon more I usually say not Prost when I to choose to the glass of wine I use they say it's so moy versus with beers of a friends of with like you know cash a like posts okay okay so depending on what type of drink your mandate setting and in the setting the people might be that's your right so like a business meeting you'll probably use the formal one yes it's a business meeting I would use the formal one and then also when you say Bon appetit right you would say put an Appetit Newton appetit very good yeah good appetit but when you like with workers of a friends and you just want to take you don't you say my side say that again mild side melt side that's like smile is like meal yeah and side was the time my side mouth side so that's a very big yeah so that's also more and more in fall one casual one versus I love it that there's a distinction you think I see make it just don't say mad side to wrong sending because it happened to me and it's very embarrassing why why not I mean I was at a very nice it was still a friend's dinner but it was you know white tablecloth and and when everyone said when you said I could not petite I said my side and I was like coming with like as a worker you know that was still you regretted it that was but they laughed about it but I know exactly you know how I fell to the moon I surely forgot about it but yeah it's okay see round 3 truth dare or debuck that's so deep but better the book yeah what's a one of the biggest stereotypes maybe about your culture that's totally false it's totally false yeah so that people think about it that is the case so it's really a stereotype and Assumption something that people think that is a certain way and he can help by debunking that myth this will be a couple of things or stereotypes that might be true for some Trumans but you cannot really say that it's you know for everyone so being punctual for example that's definitely something with Trumans tend to be more punctual time you know it's about respect but I know for example my case it's very much individual because it depends on where you spend your time OC and what influenced um your behaviour I would say because when I came back from South Africa where time is a completely different topic then I was late I was really late I was not paying so much attention to time anymore I was laid back so it can change people right and I feel it all is also had an impact on me living here a bit it's still more strict I would say people still you know but there's small flexibility if you're five minutes late I think it's still fine um so I would say yes and no it's it is out there the Trumans are punctual that's somewhat true but it's something for you have to really take individual and his story and experience into a calm big punctual means what to be there 15 minutes in advance is it to be there right at the dot or is it to be there a few minutes before you can also be too early right so it's it's on the dot plus I would say a few minutes over um and then there's an expectation if you're late that you give a notice right you will never experience that of course of the Mexican culture from what I've experienced so far when you say they're partying out and we have that situation when they have a Christmas party starting at 5

I know the Mexican Spoon shop before 6 6: 1:45:24

30 uh huh so that's kind of like and it's because it's their capture it's it's it's like that I even learn in Duolingo so it's it's funny um yeah it's time is perceived in a different way in different that's nice when a chairman invites yeah for some of best friend Daniel um this party he says hey 8 8 PM we start I'll make sure I'm there shortly after okay um if if someone else invites um I had African divide to Mexican parties and know that I can be half an hour hour late no problem it's already yeah being late yes so I take that into consideration one thing that I need to mention the wedding that I was invited um for was we know my little sister's wedding in Germany I got an invitation and there was a tie on the invitation and it's the only piece ahead right so there was all the information I had for the wedding nobody knew I was cutting and I could go by that invitation with all the details that were mentioned there they were 100% accurate I had to trust in this information and I showed out at that time actually five minutes before and everybody was already there so I came at the right time for the wedding and that's just show us how much of German punctuality was always is in that right hold up hold up so this one is not a myth it is actually true our guest just hit us with a fact check and we're here for it round 4 round 4 the truth there are debut uh let's do a little truth okay what's one other thing about your culture that people assume is true and it actually is um I would say we like us a lot so also in regulations so not on the highway not on the auto band not on the auto band it's true I mean for for many of us and if you probably has changed over the past 10 years as well since I've left the country but it's just in our I think nature especially in the in the government in order set of our rules everything is more ordered a structure which which has its advantages but it can be also too much for example street science we have millions I think they go over 20 million streetsides or something I mean we have 8 million people living in Germany you know in a small county less than the size of Texas and we still have so much regulations of so many regulations in place and trust to go from a to B and there's almost not one thing that's not written on some piece of paper right and and you have to get approval for this and that and one example for for example my my recent trip to to the consulate in Atlanta the Truman Consulate in Atlanta for my passport renewal even though I was in the United States of okay small interruption coming back um we had to put some more memory in the card by question we were talking about the truth you want me to ask you again so we talked about truth regarding and I mentioned the rules yeah so how that's true that Germans are real followers yes but except on the highway yeah I mean there should be right at this speed spot for for this topic in terms of rules regulation structure bureaucracy and so on I want to mention that example that I went to to the consulate in Atlanta and I wasn't really expecting much in terms of German regulations maybe it was my my fault but I came there I thought I came to prepared you know being German and having all the documentation all the documents everything with me and then the first kind of interface is security guard and they check your documents and want to see if you have everything that you need for your appointment so that person looked at my documents and said do you have copies of everything I mean what do you need why do you need like why copies yeah you need a copy of every document you bring say no I don't I didn't know that so but you have a copy machine right so we can do the copies real quick no you have to come again with your copies was like I came all the way to Atlanta yeah said how much time do I have left you have 10 minutes so embarrass the next place I can get copies yeah there's like a FedEx so I took all my stuff I ran to the next FedEx store I got it all copy all copies in and then went back up went to my actual appointment made it in time and then the lady stepped in German to do my passport and she said oh

it was 10: 1:50:58

00am you're the last one today so we can take our time so I basically had all that stress you know and all these I don't know issues to to get there in time and and do the copies and everything that I apparently missed but then we had all the time for ourselves so you could have done probably the copies too because I asked her and she said yeah yeah yeah they would have would have would have worked you know so this is kind of my touchpoint again with German rules and regulations and you see that the moment I mean when I hear it from France the moment they come back to Germany and they they have to um basically go to the to the courthouse and get registered again and everything the whole process is is just lengthy and it's something that we definitely have too much of okay before we wrap up I'd love to hear your advice for anyone interested in of moving abroad what's one piece of wisdom what's one piece of advice you'd like to share to make the transition easier I would say be open be uh flexible no take chances um really seek opportunities to talk to people get in touch get out of your comfort zone make mistakes learn from them use them as as a chance to make it better in the next encounter that you have accept others as the way they are learn about yourself learn about how you basically are as a person in different settings with different cultures just you know how you how did you reflect yourself um and have fun because you get a lot of stories you you gonna see many interesting people and it can take a lot away for yourself in life well said your Highness thank you so much I do wanna give you an opportunity to share if people are interested to follow you to hear more about what you do or to get connected with other maybe Germans um or or events of some sort cause that was one of your recommendations I'd love for you to to share or they can find you or follow you or get in touch yeah absolutely with your if you're interested in in the German culture you can hit me up on on LinkedIn for example uh I can connect you with also the Alabama Germany partnership if you wanna learn German if you're on the process of learning German if you wanna connect with chairmans the German Society here in the States also for the German American Chamber there's so much stuff that happens reckless tables in in nice breweries around town uh and events so just hit me up I'm sure you're gonna share maybe my link don't don't hesitate um I'm happy to to support him thank you so much your highness it's been a pleasure I've Learned so much about your culture and just really your transition here and it's been amazing I'm sure our listeners have to so thanks for your time again I really really appreciate it thanks for having me thank you for tuning in to from where to hear if you enjoyed this episode be sure to hit subscribe leave a review and share it with someone who loves discovering new cultures follow us on Instagram at from where to hear pod for exclusive updates behind the scenes moments in a peek at upcoming guests until next time keep learning keep connecting and keep celebrating the beauty of languages and cultures