天美麻豆

I鈥檝e mentioned this on other threads but making friends in Germany one should understand a few things. Germans like most Europeans in fact are a bit slower and reserved when meeting people. They don鈥檛 just bump into someone on the street and become close friends (supposedly) in a matter of minutes like Americans. But once friendships are made, they tend to be deeper rather than superficial.

The key is to have a common interest or participation in something. This can be through work, school, church or most often through clubs. There are clubs for book reading, chess, etc. and every imaginable sport. Most clubs are independent of schools like in the USA. Many clubs expect one to really commit to regular participation and often have activities outside of their main focus. Your club might put on a christmas party and/or a summer festival and you鈥檒l be expected to volunteer your time.

This dynamic is often described using the "Peach vs. Coconut" cultural metaphor, where Americans are peaches (soft outside, hard shell inside) and Germans are coconuts (hard shell outside, sweet inside).