Comments on: German Wednesday : The German Stare

By: Copito

Copito — Thu, 13 May 2010 08:05:44 +0000

I knew I couldn’t be the only one! Sometimes I’ve tried to keep staring at them just to see who would win, but I can’t. It’s too rude.

I arrived your blog by typing “german stare” in Google, BTW

By: Len

Len — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:21:17 +0000

Hi Andre! Yeah I did notice that eye contact is a big deal when talking to someone, but am I right in thinking that it’s a little different when it comes to public transport? It’s just a very stark difference from the U.K, where people just don’t look at each other on the trains or the buses, or at least not obviously. I don’t find it offensive at all, just interesting.

By: André

André — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:53:15 +0000

Don’t missunderstand our stare. It’s a gesture of respect. If you “can’t look someone in his eyes” here, it means that you show him a big amount of disrespect and you don’t like or hate him. Therefore just accept it and stare back with a friendly face and—if you are a pro—say “Hallo”.

Regards from Germany,
André