The school has already given us a schedule for what we can do. We’re going to museums, factory tours, that sort. So no suggestions for any activities to do or places to go to.
I would like some tips on some things I should know about Germany, perhaps some German phrases I should understand, cultural differences, or laws I need to know. Anything important that I should be aware of?
It will be about a weeklong trip
This thread gives me so many opportunities to go “well actually” with useless knowledge.
Pepper spray is kind of legal in Germany. You can freely buy it without age restrictions as a defense against wild animals. It is however illegal to deliberately use it against humans. But then again, German self-defense law allows you to use “whatever is necessary” to prevent an attack. So if you can make a compelling argument that your bare hands were not enough, you can totally use pepper spray, a knife, a baseball bat or even a gun to protect yourself, your property or others. Of course, for the gun you might be on the hook for illegal possession but that’s a different question.
On the other hand, CS gas (a form of tear gas) is fully legal for use on humans.
True but some of these are not allowed to carry. Usually a crime even.
So you need to find it (accidentially…) in some dark corner on the street right at that moment before you happened to need to use it. No joke.