Ask a German: Bureaucracy, German pillows, standing in line, and recruitment through fruit (Dominik, Jürgen & Philipp from Ach?)

You sent in your questions, and I put them to Germans to get the answers. It's Ask A German time!

The three German guests are the always funny and entertaining hosts of the German podcast, Ach! They answer the questions that listeners sent in over the past few months, and in the process shed some light on some issues foreigners in Germany know all too well. We even come up with a new crime in Germany: Warteschlangeungeduldigkeit (waiting line impatience).

Their website: das-a.ch
Follow Ach! on Twitter: das_ach

The questions that we covered:

• Are Germans obsessed with fruit?
• What's up with German pillows?
• What are the best onomatopoeic German words?
• What things would they change about Germany?
• Why are credit cards still not the preferred payment method in Germany?
• What should foreigners in Germany do less of?
• Why do some German toilets have a shelf or platform?

Some things we mentioned:

• Dominik's previous The Germany Experience guest appearance: The top 10 grossing movies in Germany
• The Ach! episode mentioned as an example: MAURICE G. FLITCROFT: PROFI-GOLFER, KRANFÜHRER, LEGENDE
• The pillow question comes from Steph Fuccio of the Geopats podcast.
• The episode where I interview the writers of "From the Burgeramt to the Bedroom": The essential book for new expats in Germany
• Dominik's dream pillow that he didn't want to "promote": https://www.bett1.de/produkte/bodyguard-stutzkissen-plus
• The Schtzngrmm onomatopoeic poem: https://www.lyrikline.org/de/gedichte/schtzngrmm-1230
• The episode with Amy: Sandals and socks, making friends with Germans, and "selfishly" staying in Germany
• The Asterix & Obelix episode that demonstrates German bureaucracy: Permit #A38 (Passierschein A38)

A note of correction: I mentioned I spoke to a Brazilian and a "Belgian" in a recent episode about German idioms...of course, Ivan is from Bulgaria. In the heat of conversation, my brain substituted "Belgian" in. Thanks a lot, brain (and apologies to Ivan).

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