A Snapshot of German Culture
In a country that is marked with orderliness and rules, one might go into culture shock upon visiting a German restaurant. Upon entering, one can tell if the restaurant has good food simply by looking around. If there are hoards of people waiting for an empty table scanning the room like hungry vultures ready to descend on their prey, one has arrived at a very good restaurant. But how might one get a table in a scene like this? This is where the culture shock ensues and may send the person into hyperventilation. One must choose a place to stand and hope that in the area in which they are standing, people will be ready to leave soon. If one has chosen poorly, then the wait could be considerable. Keep in mind, that in any given corner, there could be a large number of people doing the exact same thing and so the person with the running shoes on will most likely win the race to the table. And of course, there’s a certain amount of rudeness that must play into it all. One must basically be standing behind the person paying in order to pull their chair out from under them and sit down as soon as it is vacant.
Now what boggles my mind to no end is how Germans tolerate this kind of behavior. Sitting for long periods of time enjoying a meal is a European trait we Americans haven’t quite donned. I would think that seeing the masses of people standing around eyeing your chair would disrupt the enjoyable nature of such a meal. Not to mention the amount of chaos so many people in such a small space can create. Chaos is not a German’s friend, but somehow, it works. While standing and waiting for a table, I likened it to waiting for a parking space. Sometimes, you are waiting for that space for a long time, sitting there with your blinker on, and as soon as the other person pulls out and it’s vacant, someone else just pulls right into the space and steals it. We waiting about 1/2 hour for a table which wasn’t bad considering we thought it might be longer. You can’t really tell how long it will take since there is no one at the front door greeting you, telling you how long the wait is and giving you a pretty little light up buzzer thing. I suppose if you do this enough times, you can scan the restaurant, pick just the right spot and know how long, but we’re not quite that practiced yet. Nor am I sure that I want to be. It was the closest to panic stricken I’ve been since we arrived – maybe it was because being pregnant and waiting to eat for some undetermined time don’t really go hand in hand. But we did eat and we did enjoy it.
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Yes, in Europe, they believe in taking their time around the dinner table. So the waiters will not offer you the check unless you ask for it because they don’t want you to feel rushed to get up from the table. Very different from American culture where we often are rushing through dinner to get to somewhere else – dinner here is the “something else”. It can be annoying, though, because often the waiter won’t even make eye contact which makes it hard to ask for the bill!
Unbelieveable. I would have never guessed especially in Germany, like you said the need for “order”..I hate the waiting for parking lot spaces and typically just park far enough away and walk in..so I am sure I wouldn’t do well in this situation either. Love your description of the experience!
This also reminds me of an incident I had in Greece where it seemed to take FOREVER to get our check after we were done. After 20 mins. I got annoyed and decided to get up and leave. My Mom stayed to get the check. I thought the waiter was ignoring us on purpose since we were Americans (we were the only ones there at the time) but come to find out that is what you need to do, let them know your done by asking for the check! You could sit there as long as you want.
Funny. I wouldn’t enjoy that system, I don’t think! It seems like here, people will anticipate that you want to sit and get up to carry their conversations elsewhere – or, they might invite you to sit with them! Worlds apart, eh?
Happy Mother’s Day to you too! Yeah, this isn’t the ideal setup for the more timid types
I think I’d end up going hungry there.
By the way, Happy Mother’s Day!