German culture has a big distinction between acquaintances (Bekannte) and friends (Freunde). You have to know everything about someone and be able to talk about anything with them in order to be a 'friend.' Or if they are a friend of the family, you can classify a person as your friend. But otherwise, German people tend to have many more acquaintances.
Perhaps, in the US, we overuse the word 'friend'. It' not something that I think about often...when can I classify this person as a friend...but I have been forced to in my new cultural environment. I think in the US, we use the term 'friend' to describe both our friends and those we see as potentially becoming 'friends.' Acquaintances are people that you barely know and don't care to know that much. I'm not sure if I'm way off base with that brief analysis, but I provided it anyways.
Last night, I made 3 new Deutsche Bekannte. Three German girls took us out to their favorite club. I also learned about the different way that Europeans dance in comparison to American dancing. I really can't go into an explanation of how young Americans dance, but if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. In Europe, it is quite different. Then, they asked us to show them how Americans dance. Let's just say that we were the comic relief for all of the Germans in the vicinity.
Of all of the cultures in the world, German and American are realitively close to each other. However, the little differences are what makes life over here so interesting.
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