{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/697675f435a98abf7cde1a7f/69ee65471e1e8123649a351e?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"#14 - The One Where We Expose The Weirdest German Habits","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/697675f435a98abf7cde1a7f/1777229734837-94903901-6eaf-4fae-a257-f6b4efb941ab.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>After roasting the French in our last episode, it is officially payback time. This week, Coline brings a list of the most confusing, weird, and highly specific German habits that leave foreigners absolutely baffled. We kick things off with Coline demonstrating her\"fluent\" Italian (which mostly consists of ordering ice cream), before diving deep into the German psyche.</p><p><br></p><p>If you have ever wondered why your German colleagues bring their own cake to the office on their birthday, this episode is for you. We explore the ultimate German paradox: the obsession with throwing all windows wide open in the dead of winter, combined with a mortal fear of a light indoor breeze. Plus, Coline is absolutely horrified to learn that Germans not only use two separate blankets in a double bed, but actually sleep on two completely separate mattresses!</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Words and concepts you’ll learn (and actually remember):</strong></p><ul><li>🇩🇪 <strong>Stoßlüften</strong> (The sacred German ritual of shock-ventilating an apartment by opening all windows wide, regardless of freezing temperatures).</li><li>🇩🇪 <strong>Der Durchzug</strong> (The terrifying cross-breeze that Germans genuinely believe will cause instant, fatal neck pain).</li><li>🇩🇪 <strong>Die Besucherritze</strong> (The uncomfortable gap between two separate mattresses in a German double bed—where kids end up when they have a nightmare).</li><li>🇩🇪 <strong>Gästepantoffeln</strong> (The mandatory, usually terrible-looking guest slippers you are handed the second you are forced to take your shoes off at the door).</li><li>🇫🇷 <strong>Carafe d'eau</strong> (Free tap water—a basic human right in French restaurants, but something that will get you deeply judged by a German waiter).</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Also:</strong> The famous \"German Stare\" (people-watching as a national sport), why arriving exactly on time actually means you are five minutes late, the cultural trauma of restaurants that are \"Cash Only,\" and Alex’s hot take that couples get the best sleep in completely different rooms.</p><p><br></p><p>New episode every Monday! Please consider leaving a 5-star review, share the podcast with your friends to help us reach our 100-country goal, and let us know in the comments: do you share a blanket, or are you secretly Team German Mattress? 🛌🪟</p>","author_name":"Coline & Alex "}