Are you moving from Nigeria to Germany in the next months? Do you have doubts about how it is to live in the country of Goethe, Einstein or Schiffer (yes, Claudia Schiffer)? Will everyone have a Mercedes or BMW? Crown Relocations has asked to some expats currently living in Germany, the best tips they could give to newcomers. Here their answers:
1. Remove the shoes when you arrive home
Something all Germans do is taking off their street shoes when you arrive at any home. They will do it when they arrive at yours and they will expect you to do the same when you go to theirs. Remember this when you are invited to somebody’s home and avoid jumping immediately to their living room with your boots!
2. Silence, please!
In Germany, the noise levels need to be reduced to minimums during the night. This means that you should control the volume of your TV, laptop and radio and avoid doing some noisy tasks during the resting hours (normally between 10 pm and 6 am) and on Sundays.
3. Always on time!
It might be a stereotype but Germans are (almost) always on time. If it is going to rain, they will make sure they will leave earlier. If there are some construction works on the road, they will leave home earlier, instead of arriving later. If they have a meeting at 10 am, at 9:50 they will be there, ready to start. And if one day, there is a delay, they will inform you as soon as they know that they will be delayed – no matter if the delay is of 30, 10 or 2 minutes. Remember: one delay can be forgiven, two is too much.
4. Recycle as much as you can
Germany is a country environmentally conscious and recycling is totally implemented. As an expat in the country, you will have to get used to recycling… and recycling well. This mean, not only separating paper, plastic, organic waste or glass (in Germany glass is divided according to its colour), but also to do it in the proper way, for example, by cleaning your yogurt containers before you through them into the plastic recycling bin!