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After I graduated from college in the US, I got a temporary job at Daimler Benz GMBH in Sindlefingen, Germany as what Germans call a Machinenbau practicant. This was a job on the factory floor intended for engineering graduates to give them experience actually working with the equipment and in the sort of environment they might eventually design.
First thing I discovered was that, when you have to stick your hands into a metal press machine (presswerk) that's stamping out parts from sheet steel, you learn German real fast!
Second, I learned to shake hands every day with every one I worked with. To not do that would have been considered rude.
And, third, I soon understood the difference in politeness codes. After I worked there a few weeks, one of the engineers called me into his office and asked me what I thought about how the factory was designed. And I politely said it looked great which got me a quizzical look because he expected me to really say what I felt. I quickly learned to be very frank.
Finally, I learned to drink beer all day and not get drunk. German women pushed carts selling milk, sandwiches, pretzels and bottled beer around the factory floor all day. And most the workers kept a bottle by their work station starting around 11:00 taking sips all day. Yet I never saw anyone drunk.
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