Everyone needs a little gossip and drama in their life, so it is no suprise that Germany has its own tabloid newspapers. Although I couldn't see a newspaper that a majority of Americans read having naked people in it, most of the information in the papers is pretty much the same, aside from a bit of the stories in American tabloids having some made up stories.
The closed door is extremely different then how it is here, at least for me. My door is always open and anyone can come in whenever they want. If I want to be left alone or am doing homework I close it, and everyone assumes I'm gone and leaves me alone. It seems like a lot of people have that policy as well, their door is open when they are available and when they want to be alone or remain uninterrupted, it is closed.
I like that German's are so environmentally friendly. I recycle everything, although it seems like recycling is a lot easier here than it will be in Germany, as I just throw all recyclables in the same bin and someone else does the sorting. It will be odd though, just throwing metal cans into a bin as opposed to saving and returning them for a deposit.