The Differences Between British and German Backpackers

There seem to be more German backpackers in Australia than any other nationality. At the Cronulla Beach YHA hostel there are probably as many Germans as all other nations combined and there were plenty at the hostel in Sydney too. While I haven't been observing them like a twitcher might wading birds, I have noticed several behavioural differences between the Germans and the next most well represented nationality - the British.

1. Cooking. Both the British and Germans are keen to cook in the hostel to save money, but their culinary styles differ. For the Brit, a meal is little more than a necessary refuel to be completed with the minimum possible expenditure of time, effort, and money. The traveller from Blighty relies on pasta, noodles, baked beans, and tins of tuna for an easy protein hit. On the other hand, the Germans are far more elaborate chefs. They will season pieces of meat, make side dishes, and generally look to reach the more distant regions of the palate despite their backpacker status. They also cook for more than one, groups of three or four savouring one German's culinary creation, whereas the Brit always enjoys a solo scoff.

2. Drinking. The Brits habit of drinking with a sense of urgency has certainly been brought overseas with their backpacks. They drink quickly and heavily. The Germans don't necessarily drink less, but do so at a more leisurely rate. While the Brits favour drinking games in the kitchen, the Germans will be out in the courtyard steadily consuming their beers accompanied by cigarettes and awful techo-dubstep remixes or the enjoyable in moderation 'Wake Me Up' by Avicii (video below).

3. Volume. The Germans are not that loud overall and many of them are actually very quiet. However, they have the potential for incredibly noisy outbursts unrivalled by the British. If some shouting is heard down the corridor, bratwurst eaters will undoubtedly be responsible. On one occasion, someone was fooling around with the kitchen light switch  until an angry German bellowed "I AM TRYEN TO COOK DEENER!" at them.

4. Activities and exploration. Where has the Brits appetite for activities and curiosity to explore gone? They seem bereft of ideas. For instance, I have heard a few of the longer term hostel residents complaining of a lack of things to do in Cronulla, yet they had not even walked around the peninsula or ventured out to Bundeena yet. In Sydney, the Brits seemed content to stick around the hostel and have some drinks there before drifting down to the hostel bar, leaving me to rally a small troop to join me and some goon to watch the fireworks in Darling Harbour. The Germans are certainly more active. When I went to Bundeena last weekend it was a group of Germans from the hostel who shared the ferry. My German roommate had only been at the hostel one day before getting stuck in to a debut surf and had a great time, although he did comment "the board, it was a like a sandpaper!" while displaying a red chest.

5. Concern with appearance. It would be wrong to say the British bloke doesn't care about how they look, but once they've showered, got dressed, and done their hair that will be that. In contrast, when the German guys are going out they'll make frequent trips to the bathroom just to check themselves out in the mirror and make minor tweaks if required. During the probably too brief time I spent brushing my teeth the other night two Germans came in, adjusted their hair very slightly, then retreated backwards out the bathroom, fixing their glance on the mirror until the door had swung shut.

6. Hatred of cricket. The reaction of Germans to discovering that cricket is on the common room TV is usually one of these three:
a) Immediate reverse out the door without saying a word.
b) Screwing up of the face and disapproving grunt.
c) Watching one bowl then saying something along the lines of "Cricket. How do you watch this? So boring".
They never even suggest alternative viewing, their disgust of cricket is just so strong that they seem to think we should be sectioned for wanting to watch it. Frustratingly, many of the Cronulla Brits share the German sentiment on cricket, not even being the usual "I don't mind a bit of Twenty20" brigade. Therefore my cricket buddy and I have had to be very resilient and thick skinned to watch cricket in the hostel and I think we would have received less abuse had we we been screening an old version of Top of the Pops edited so that Jimmy Saville was introducing only Lost Prophets songs.

In general, the Aussies, Kiwis, Canadians, Americans, and Irish behave similarly to the Brits, while the French, Italians, and other continental Europeans are much more like the Germans. Despite the differences everyone gets on well at the Cronulla Beach YHA - I don't think anyone has mentioned the war yet - and the hostel is a very friendly place.

This will be the last post before Christmas, so I would like to wish everyone reading a very Happy Christmas. Here is my favourite 2013 Christmas music: