Leaving Germany

 5 years in Germany and now in Spain, 

So, if you are reading this you have found my story on Germany. An English man in Bruhl.

Culture, that is all it is. This is all my opinion, all factually correct and its just what i observed,

I do not mean any offence or harm to anyone. 

I will write this as a comparison between Spain and Germany and maybe a bit of UK too.

In general,, Germany, you worry about everything.  

Ampel

In Germany while waiting for the light to change to green,,, If you dont move the second it changes to green then the car behind will HONK, and I mean a really long HONNNNKKK . 

In Spain, there is no rush, clearly the car in front has not seen the light change to green, the driver will eventually see the light is now green, and if you feel the need to remind him,,, then a little beep is all that is needed, ( like a text notification on your phone,, pip pip.

Where are you going that you really in a rush for? is it really that important those extra 5 seconds ?

Foot bridge

Here in Spain I cycle every day on the path next to the beach. To get to the path i have to go over a footbridge over the motorway. The footbridge sometimes has people on it, not always but sometimes. 
When I cycle on the bridge and get closer, the person or people see me and say good morning, stand to one side and i say thank you. 

In Germany, if i cycle on the pavement, even if it only has a few people on it i got shouted at. Ive had a bike for over 45 years, i know how to ride a bike. Im not on a mission to hurt people. I think what Im trying to say is,, The Germans love to be the police and tell you off. 

The corner and the butchers
Last month in the village where I live ( look it up on google maps if you like,, its called Benavista, Estepona. or google Gadget fix mobile repair. ( i founded this shop)
Any way i was walking near the road, ( not autobahn) and I saw a friend of mine in a car. I walked over to say hello. We had a chat, the car behind could see i was having a chat. They know that Im not going to be long. So I wave at the car behind with a thumbs up to say thank you for waiting and thats it.  You can imagine if that was in Germany...
Later that day I drove to the butchers ( Liams quality meats if you want to google it)
There was no parking so i just stopped in the street, got out, left the car door open and walked into see Liam. Always a nice welcome and i bought some meat. 
returning to my car and a post van and another car were waiting to move. I waved at both of them and all is good. They could see that i was in the butchers, my car door was open so they could see i wouldnt be long.