People are very nice. If you're introduced to them, almost all speak English, and if they don't, they'll still try (since they know more English than I know German). But, walking by someone on the street, there is almost never a greeting. I understand this in the big city, but in the tiny suburb of Pullach, where there's not too many people that you pass while walking, it is uncommon to even make eye contact.
At the end of a lecture - or class - the students show their appreciation by knocking on the tables. Instead of clapping. Not that my students usually clap at the end of each class. But here they do. I kind of like it. Now, in one of my classes, most of the students are international, so they have to learn this custom, too.
You get a lot of coins in change. This is because there are 5 € bills, but 2 € and 1 € coins. Of course, there are also 0,50 and 0,20 and 0,10 and 0,05 and 0,01 'euro cent' coins. So basically my pockets are always bulging with coins after I go into a store.
I mentioned this yesterday, that Germans love bank transfers. I'm going to become an expert in online banking in German! And another funny thing about banks. My bank is Kreissparkasse. There is another bank, with exactly the same logo (a red S with a dot over it) called Stadtsparkasse. You might think they are the same bank, but they're not. They are related, I've been told, and I can withdraw money out of either ATM system with no fees. But they're not the same.
Finally, I had Leberkäsesemmel for lunch. Leberkäse literally means 'liver' and 'cheese', but it is a meat similar to bologna that has neither liver nor cheese. In fact only products called 'Bavarian Leberkäse' are allowed to not have liver in them. All others, such as 'Stuttgarte Leberkäse', must have at least 5% liver. Go figure. And the semmel is the roll, on which you also put some sweet mustard, which I did. Very delicious.
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