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March 17, 2006

With hundreds of thousands of travellers making their way to Germany this June and July for the World Cup soccer championship, SPIEGEL ONLINE is putting together a Germany Survival Bible -- a cheat sheet for understanding those quirky Germans and their odd ways, the good, the bad and the ugly.

More than 7 million foreigners live in Germany, and we're asking you to help us write the guide.

If you're an expat or someone who has spent time in Germany, we want your help. Why do pedestrians wait for the light to change at 3:00 a.m.? Why are the shops closed on Sunday? Is German beer a stereotype or a reality? Why do toilets have shelves? Why do we have to bag our own groceries at the supermarket -- assuming we get to the checkout in the first place? And why are there so many dogs on German streets and naked people on German beaches? Are Germans rude? Why are there so many sex shops?

Please send your accounts of German quirks to SPIEGEL ONLINE. We'll post the best of them and try to answer your questions if there's a specific German cultural peculiarity you'd like to know more about. We will be posting your accounts, our own and those of well-known current and former residents of Berlin throughout the spring.

Your entry can be as long as you want it, but please keep in mind the following:

• Entries should describe a specific aspect of German culture or society.
  

• If you have had experience with the cultural quirk you choose to write about or one of the quirks we write about, we'd love to hear your anecdotes.
  

• Did you experience something really bizarre or strangely cool during a visit or stay in Germany? Send us your questions and our experts will do their best to provide answers.
  

• Posts may be edited for length, style and content before being published on the site.

• If you have related photos, we're happy to consider posting those in our user gallery, too.

• If you're an expat blogger in Germany, we're also happy to consider republishing any blogs you may have written that are appropriate to the Survival Bible. We'll give you credit and provide a link back to your site.

All entries and images should be sent to spon_feedback@spiegel.de or posted in the special SPIEGEL FORUM we have created for the Germany Survival Bible. (Note: photos can only be submitted by e-mail.)