Jolien - Educator
Oak Hill, VA
When I said to a friend sure or save instead of bet when we made plans and we had a giggle about it so now it is an insider.
Janet - Physical Therapist
Allentown, PA
I just loved how easy it was to meet Germans in New York! You can find them everywhere. 😂
Lara - Social Worker
Newton, MA
Just a small misunderstanding with my host mum on the phone – I told her that my host child learned something about polar bears. She was super confused and I told her again because she didn’t get it. Turns out the way I pronounce polar bear sounds like „pull-up bear“. Imagine a bear with a diaper on. It’s still an insider between us!
Anna - Occupational Therapist
Los Angeles, CA
Finnja - Special Needs Care Provider
San Carlos, CA
I was in Denver (Colorado) and had checked into the hotel. I then went upstairs with a friend to take our things to the room. At that point we were still happy that we were allowed to check in earlier than planned (it was 10am). So I opened the room door, switched on the light and went into the room, with my friend standing behind me. But then I saw that a (half) naked man was lying in bed and looking at me sleepily. I was so shocked that I simply backed out of the room, switched off the light and closed the door. Apparently the hotel staff had mixed up the rooms, as our room was one floor up. Fortunately, everyone (the staff and us too) were able to laugh about it. 😂
Nelle - Social Worker B.A.
Portland, OR
On my way to a Meet-Up hike, one of my tires from the car ripped and I was lost somewhere in nowhere. Luckily I got help from a family and the father was just like: ‚Oh, you’re fine! You can drive home with that!‘ After tears and a call with my host mum she also confirmed that I can drive up to 50mph. Slowly but safely I made it home in an hour.
Selina - Occupational Therapist
Milwaukee, WI
I asked my host dad once if he can give me a sledgehammer. I thought it was the right word for a normal hammer. He looked at me shocked cause he thought I wanted to tear down a wall in my room. 🔨
Susi - Occupational Therapist
Norfolk, VA
For example, turning right on a red light is allowed here, which is unthinkable back home. There was also the time the oven wouldn’t heat up, only to realize the temperature was set in Celsius, not Fahrenheit. Dates can be confusing too, constantly mixing up the month and day. “Howdy” isn’t just a stereotype, it’s a common greeting, and cowboy boots are worn for practical reasons, not just a fashion statement
Julia - Occupational Therapist
Duluth, MN
One of the funniest and most memorable traditions I’ve experienced with my host family is our “German Word of the Day”. Every day, we pick a new German word, write it on our whiteboard, translate it, and use it in a sentence. It started as a fun way to teach my host family some German, but it quickly turned into a daily source of laughter—especially when they tried to pronounce words like “Eichhörnchen” (squirrel).
This little tradition has not only made language learning fun but has also created so many hilarious moments that I will cherish forever!
Melissa - Social Worker
South Orange, NJ
Traffic in the USA was a real culture shock for me! The roads looked like chaos at first – it seemed like everyone was just driving as they wanted. Nobody seemed to really follow the traffic rules and suddenly I found myself in the middle of a completely wild mix of cars driving through red lights and others standing in the middle of the road talking on the phone. It was a bit like a huge, unwritten law where everyone had their own speed and their own rules!
At first I was pretty nervous as a passenger, but then I got used to the relaxed „drive as you want“ mentality and realized that it somehow works. Looking back, I still have to smile at how much this traffic madness scared me at first sight!
Nina - Special Needs Care Provider
Redondo Beach, CA
During the interviews one of the kids told me that he would love to welcome me in his family but I wouldn’t be allowed to be in his room. Guess who already had multiple sleepovers in his room and is constantly be missed when not home?
Laura-Celine - Occupational Therapist
Calabasas, CA
I remember arriving in Washington DC, and mistakenly believing that the appropriate response to “Thank you” was “Please.” Haha! 😂😅
Eleni - Speech Therapist
Harrison, NY
My american friends invited my to go “ache throwing” and let me tell you I was surprised and relieved when we really ended up throwing aches cause i thought we are going ass throwing ( still wondering what that would be)
Darleen - Occupational Therapist
Demarest, NJ
I just started doing my online bachelor program and have been talking about it. My hostgirl thought the whole time I’ve been talking about single men (bachelors). So she thought I have online meetings with them on Saturdays in the middle of the night.
Sina - Physical Therapist
Cabin John, MD
Instead of saying: Do you have back pain from shoveling snow?
I said: Do you have back pain from shivering? That was an insider I was teased with for several days
Josephine - Occupational Therapist
Brooklyn, NY
People using the question „How are you?“ or „How you doing?“ after a „Hello“ just because of politeness, they don´t even expect you to answer 🙂
Sabine - Educator
Mamaroneck, NY
In the very beginning I had a funny moment with my host dad. I was working on dinner for my hostkids and suddenly the fire alarm turned on. I was really stressed out and went to the living room, where my host dad was sitting on the couch. I said to my host dad: „Da piept etwas in der Küche“ (something is beeping in the kitchen). He looked at me with a very confused facial expression. I repeated my sentence (in German), because I didn’t realize why he was confused. After that I noticed that I was talking in German and not in English.
Helena - Physical Therapist
Arlington, VA
I had just been in the USA for three weeks when I decided to take part in a road trip. The girls had booked the car and planned the route. So the five of us drove to the rental company. When we got there, we realized that the car only had four seats … luckily we were able to take the car of one of the CP families instead.
Alste - Occupational Therapist
Lake Oswego, OR
I ordered a chicken sandwich for lunch as a little snack and was a bit shocked when I got a big burger. They say ‘burger’ when it’s with a ground meat patty, and ‘sandwich’ is used for everything else. (Burger = sandwich; sandwich ≠ burger)
Helen - Physical Therapist
Houston, TX
The Texas accent is sometimes really hard to understand, but just say hell yeah and you‘re fine lol.
Alessia - Nurse
New York, NY
One of the biggest culture shocks I experienced when moving from Germany to the US was how insanely friendly Americans are—especially waiters! In Germany, service is straightforward; they take your order, bring your food, and that’s it. But in the US? they’re on another level. The first time I went to a restaurant, the waiter greeted me with the biggest smile and said, ‘Hey! How’s your day going?’ I panicked because I thought we were about to have a deep conversation. Then throughout the meal, they kept checking in—‘Everything still good?’ ‘Need anything else?’—I was so confused, like, why are they so emotionally invested in my burger?!
And don’t even get me started on tipping. In Germany, you just round up a little, but in the US, I suddenly had to calculate percentages like I was taking a math test. The first few times, I either tipped way too little or way too much—I probably made some waiters’ day and accidentally offended others. Safe to say, I’ve learned my lesson!
Sophia - Physical Therapist
Asbury Park, NJ
I think one funny thing is that you fell like a popular person when you tell people that you are coming from Germany. Most of the people are telling you stories about their experience with Germany or what they like about it (Beer and Pretzels:)). One was so happy to give me a hug, he said it is his first time that he is hugging a German- I felt like a celebrity haha. Other ones are proud to speak some German words…”nein”- they think it is super funny. And sometimes you are getting stupid, but funny questions like: “do you have Christmas trees in Germany?… ehm yes and actually the tradition with the Christmas tree comes from Germany, but okay. Or one of my host kids asked me: “do you have rainbows in Germany?”. Or my special needs kid asked me if I was traveling by car from Germany to the US:)
