Everybody’s Working for (part of) the Weekend

There are plenty of topics and happenings in this world of ours that serve to divide us nowadays. Crazy times, crazy times, these are. You know the one thing I’m pretty sure all of humanity can agree on? The wholesome goodness of those two days every week where the daily grind comes to a—well, grinding halt. Say it with me: the weekend. Yaassss, the weekend. And the next one is already here! And just LOOK AT THAT WEATHER!

With sunshine like this, the weekend can’t come soon enough (provided the sun sticks around, of course)!

Okay. Before I veer too far off-topic. The premise remains that everybody loves the weekend. No discussion. Blog entry finito.

Noooo, not yet. I wouldn’t dream of making things that easy for myself. I will devote some TLC today to how weekends are similar and different in my two home countries, the USA and Germany. Then it’s TGIF time for reals.

First, lets’s look at what’s similar: going out, sleeping in, meeting up, dressing down (like what I’m doing there?) shopping-till-dropping, gardening, cleaning, tidying, birthday party-throwing, soccer playing, binge-watching, hosing down the car, firing up the grill. Does this sound familiar? Anything missing? Certainly for Saturdays, relaxation may or may not have anything to do with the program both in Germany and the USA. Cramming all things necessity and pleasure into one day is a tall order.

(STOP THE PRESSES! The German hubs just had a peek-see over my shoulder and informed me that hosing down the car is not allowed here! A quick Google search has confirmed this. For environmental reasons –the chemicals from the soap can make their way into the ground water supply–car washing on your private property is mostly a no-no. I guess I wouldn’t know because I’m the gal who drives her car through the commercial car wash once—maybe twice– a year and that’s about it.)

Anyhoo, back to cramming everything all into one day…the weekend is two days, no? What can’t be done on Saturday can be checked off the to-do list on Sunday!

Well…not necessarily. In the States, it’s true that Saturdays and Sundays are almost equally commerce-heavy, save for slightly shortened opening hours for many businesses on Sunday. Some shopping juggernauts remain open 24-7. Exact laws regarding opening times are left to the states and local jurisdictions. Trivia for my US friends: there is one area where Sunday shopping is prohibited…can you guess where it is? (answer is at end of post)! But, as a rule, Sunday shopping is permitted—and exercised—across the country.

By contrast, in Germany, Sunday shopping is much more restricted. Though jurisdiction for laws regarding shop opening times have been handed over to the individual states (much like the USA), state and local governments have generally held to the no-shopping Sunday rule. Many areas designate a handful of Sundays throughout the year for „shopping Sundays“, and facilities such as airports and major train stations keep their shopping arcades open throughout the week.

The neighbor cat agrees: Sundays are for relaxing, not shopping. Meow!

Despite the relaxation of opening hour laws over the last decade, culturally, Sundays continue to enjoy their status as a day for relaxation, recreation and family. Facilities such museums, swimming pools, amusement parks and restaurants remain open to support said relaxation, recreation and family time. To the oft-asked question directed my way of „but what do you DO on Sundays if you can’t shop?“, here’s a sampling of a typical Sunday agenda:

1. Sleep in (I can still snooze till 10:00 with the best of ’em)
2. Enjoy a leisurely breakfast. This is the ONLY day of the week I MIGHT indulge in an „American breakfast“ of eggs, sausages, pancakes, muffins
3. Plan a Sunday-ish activity, such as a hike or bike ride. Where we live, we have the yuuuge advantage of being proximate to the Palatinate Forest, the Black Forest, the Odenwald (another forest-y area), many lakes, the Alsace region of France and, a perrenial American favorite, the town of Heidelberg. If we want to get our big-city culture on, we can make the under-an-hour hop to Frankfurt to enjoy the museum alley along the Main river (closer to home, Mannheim, Heidlberg and Speyer all have museums, too).

A family favorite destination is—don’t laugh—the Frankfurt Airport. Here, we can indulge our plane-spotting quirk, have a lovely walk along the trails around the airport’s perimeter AND mosey through the ever-expanding shopping arcades in the terminal itself. Plus, there’s a nifty airport train that shuttles between terminals, allowing a great view of the awaiting planes docked at the gates. I understand this might all sound weird to many folks, who may spend their career-driven weekdays living at airports and hotels. To each his own!

You’d be AMAZED how entertaining watching a plane de-icing can be on a dreary Sunday afternoon!

Soccer is a common Sunday activity, as are kiddo-related get-togethers. During the weather and light-challenged winter months, we often spend Sundays cooking, baking, reading, visiting museums, hitting the fitness studio (my husband, not me!), watching movies, visiting with friends, playing games, taking advantage of whatever „Shopping Sunday“ happens to be taking place in reasonable driving distance. I honestly don’t miss the shopping, or at least the stimulation of a well-lit and bustling shopping area, unless the weather is really cold and dreary. On those days, the airport works nicely in a pinch.

Another Sunday difference to the United States is that Germans are not big church goers, at least not on a regular weekly basis. The topic of religiosity and the role it plays in culture is outside the scope of this post, but a comparison of Christians to Christians (the dominant religion in Germany) in the USA and Germany indicates that only 13% of Germans self-reported as churchgoing, in contrast to 47% in the USA.

On a real-life level, aside from the fact that this means few Germans spend their Sunday mornings at church, it also means that the church in general plays a far smaller social role in the everyday lives of Germans. Rather, it’s the „Verein“ (club) culture that glues together townsfolk here socially. So, very little talk in these parts of the „church family“ or of various youth-group or other church social club activities.

While you’re not likely to find many Germans at the Sunday church service, you will find plenty at the bakery, stocking up on fresh Sunday-morning goodies. Sadly, the bakery pictured–the one a stone’s throw from our house and one of the last independently-owned in our town, closed its doors this week. Sniff, sniff.

So, with those last thoughts in mind, I will close out this post and declare the weekend in effect in…three…two…one…now! Have a great one!

Oh…the answer to the trivia question is Bergen County, New Jersey!

If you are doing business—or are about to business—with Americans, make booking an intercultural training your first priority on Monday morning!