2 in no longer true, many small supermarkets have been open until 4pm since around 2006 and the larger ones stay open until either 6pm or 8pm.
In towns and cities, many shops open until 6pm or 8pm during the week.
Banks and chemists annoy me though, they close lunchtimes and banks are closed on Saturdays, which means, if you need to go to the bank, you have to take time off work!
I love a good chicken Döner Kebap, it is the best selling fast food in Germany, outsells McDonalds (burgers in general) and even Currywurst (sausage in curry sauce). It is also very healthy, due to the type of bread and the amount of salad, plus the meat is less fatty than hamburger meat.
I've experienced late trains a few times, the worst was a 10 minute delay, because we had had 2M of snow over night, surely an acceptable excuse.
Deposits on bottle is a way of life and I find the "waste" in the UK, when I visit, as unfathomable and inexcusable. As a kid in England, I used to take the Corona bottle back to the local Co-Op to get my deposit back, but the UK scrapped it and Germany brought in new legislation. The sturdy plastic Cola bottles get recycled around a dozen times, glass bottles even more, the PET bottles get crushed by the machine at the supermarket and the plastic is re-used.
I can't wear open back shoes, so the Birkenstocks aren't an option.
Sauna and health areas of spas are "naked only" in Germany, you can carry a towel, but no trunks or bikinis allowed. FKK beaches aren't as common as the article makes you believe, but they do exist. But there are nudist beaches and areas in the UK as well... It certainly has a bigger following in Germany, but it is hardly mainstream.
I've been in a few health spas and spent the day wandering around naked between saunas and steamrooms etc. it seems very natural after the first 5 minutes. I was in the male sauna in the Marriott in Frankfurt once and a Japanese woman came in and laid down on the bench opposite me, the ladies sauna was next door, I pointed that out to her and she said she preferred to use the men's sauna, as the ladies one was too heavily perfumed (ladies' sauna is ladies only, men's sauna is unisex).
I've not really experience number 8, most of my friends are fine with spontaneous visits.
Not experienced number 9 either. Most of my neighbours speak to each other, so no passive aggressive notes.
Number 10 is rubbish as well - apart from the fact that flirting means something a whole lot more than it does in the UK. Flirting, the German word, includes touching, kissing etc.
I'm pretty much integrated
