German Social Norms I Neither Get Nor Particularly Like
If you’re in Germany in the summer, you won’t get around to seeing at least a few Germans barbecue outside.
As soon as barbecue season starts, Germans tend to get crazy, there are portable barbecues in almost every supermarket, with sausages, pork, chicken and other meat already marinated. Ready to go on the grill.
Barbecue time starts in summer or late spring it really depends on the weather. My whole family starts going nuts at that time. Beer is bought, sausages and heaps of other meat, bread and salad is made. Essentially, it’s all just a big amount of stress. At home, I would run around, gather food, put it on the table, bring it to my dad so he could grill it, and keep an eye on the sky in case it would unexpectedly darken and start to rain. Basically, that’s all we’d talk about while waiting for the meat to get mouth-ready and while eating. (Can I have some more salad? Is the chicken done yet? You need to eat the sausages now, you wanted it! This marinate is amazing, don’t you think? I think I felt a drop. No, really, it’s starting to rain now. Gather all the food, don’t forget the barbecue! Where’s the wine? Oh, forget it!)
Yes, it’s stressful and kinda annoying, but you do it for family and friends. (If you tell it yourself often enough you might start to believe that it’s fun when you eat black meat and pretend it doesn’t taste like you are chewing on a piece of coal). If you belong to that kind of people who actually enjoy bringing fresh meat and a small grill to some place outside your garden, which results in feeling like a donkey carrying way too many things on its back, then, yes, I do have a place I don’t dislike.
Because, yes, sometimes I do barbecue as well, I think it’s somewhere woven in the German DNA that you have to barbecue in summer at least once. Germans seem to have the ability to smell if you haven’t barbecued in summer yet and are pestering you to go with them. (Come on, it’s fun! I mean I only have barbecued for 10 times and it’s not even July yet. I know, ridiculous, right? I definitely have to catch up! So, we’ll have a few beer and watch young men pretend to know how to cook meat and end up eating it either undercooked or black, while they pride themselves with being the Grillmeister [barbecue master] while bickering with their other friends and forgetting what’s actually on the barbecue over it.) Though those methods aren’t in the least persuasive!
It’s annoying, but somewhat expected by social norms I guess.
It’s not all bad I guess. Just most of it.
If you’re looking for a barbecue spot in Rostock, because for some reason you do enjoy this crazyness, there are few places I’d recommend. One of them is Fischerdorf. It’s allowed to grill there and there is a lot of space, meaning you won’t sit on top of each other if there are more groups that decided this is the place they wanted to go.
If you want to have a barbecue at the beach, you have to look out. It’s not allowed on every beach, in Warnemünde there is actually just one beach where it’s allowed; you should go to the beach entrance 27. In this area you won’t have to worry if you have an open barbecue. At least if you do between the 1st of May and the 30th of September.
If you do choose to barbecue somewhere, I hope you enjoy it. A little at least. As far as I understand it, it’s a big part of German customs.
