Culture Shock

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So I could say that a dream came true, but that might be a bit too much *lol* Guess what? For almost two years now I do have a new job, a new boss and my boss is an American. I do have my very own American - haha, joke We do get along quite well. Being an expat in Germany for the very first time, he was very happy about my rather good English skills and boy did I get stuff to translate.... letters from German authorities about god knows what and I even helped him in setting up his online banking account with Deutsche Bank Last summer we had an intercultural training with 20 other (mostly German) colleagues from our department and to say he was shocked is an understatement. More than once he whispered "REALLY????" to me But I guess he has settled in now quite well and is even taking some German lessons. Finally, I might add. For one year, I was the only person teaching him at least the basics like "Guten Morgen" for "good morning" and "Schönes Wochenende" for "Have a great weekend". A few things that he did not understand in the beginning are: Yes, Germans ARE direct compared to Americans and it might seem rude. We don't sugarcoat much and we do expect you to be direct, too. Do not waste time in meetings for much small talk when we have met to discuss business. Do your smalltalk afterwards or be there before the meeting. And when we say that we are pissed, we are pissed and there is no need to feel shy about it just because we used the word "pissed".... or worse.... you are allowed to use the f-word or "Scheisse", have fun In supermarkets at the check-out do not expect anyone to pack your stuff into bags. Do it yourself. We Germans are really frugal compared to Americans and we do not want to pay more for our food just because there are people hired in a supermarket to pack our bags - we can do that ourselves for FREE What's most surprising for you about other countries/cultures? Any interesting things to share?