#Giving roses as a gift

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random lynx
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Hello. A friend of mine told me a story about a Brazilian who moved to Germany and who eventually grew to admire his (female) teacher. In Brazil we don't pay much attention to the colors of flowers; the shinier and more colourful, the better. So this Brazilian guy gave his teacher red roses, which was terribly received and the teacher was very embarassed. Then he was told that in Germany every flower and respective color has a specific meaning, and if he wanted to give them out as a friend, he should have chosen white, yellow or any color other than red. I gathered this was in the 80s, if I understood correctly the timeframe.
Another story I heard is when a Brazilian expat in Germany bought his girlfriend a bouquet of flowers. When he was about to give them to his girlfriend, a friend of his intervened and said it was extremely corny in Europe. So he threw the bouquet away and gave his girlfriend the flowers only, and it was then well-received.
Does this correspond with what you guys know about German culture? Or were these experiences very anecdotal and unique and not representative of it? What a cultural shock!!! 😄

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@quasi fulcrum I'm interested in Switzerland too and neighboring countries.

random lynx
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Though nowadays it all does feel a bit tacky and corny Lol. The stereotype of the old timer students who would give their teacher a red apple is long gone.

quasi fulcrum
# random lynx Hello. A friend of mine told me a story about a Brazilian who moved to Germany a...

Yeah, I really don't know. I'm not a flower expert. 😅 I don't see anything wrong with giving flowers here, but I do have to admit that giving someone a full bouquet of flowers is pretty rare. Most of the time, I just see people giving them only the flowers without the bouquet, as you said.

I do think red roses are usually closely associated with love (as is the color "red" in general, really), so I can see why his teacher was embarrassed. 😂