I’ve lived in rural Germany for almost a year now, and it would’ve been ten times harder if not for my neighbor. He’s probably in his 60s if I had to guess, and any time I’ve had any difficulty adjusting to life here, he’s always been happy to help.
He’s not just being neighborly and reminding my about what trash can goes out on which day, he’ll legit just see that I’ve been busy at work and decide to mow my lawn for me, or use a chainsaw to trim branches.
The specific thing he helped me with lately and really made me feel like I owe him a lot, was that he just bought me a new car battery and aired up my tires simply because I mentioned in passing that these were things I needed to get taken care of to get the vehicle ready for the inspector. I didn’t even ask him for help, he just said “I can do this. Much cheaper this way”. He’s honestly a saint and I’d like to get him something to say thanks.
He does a lot of outdoor landscaping and I’ve offered to help, as I’m much younger and likely a bit more spry, but he always says he’s okay. I was thinking about maybe baking him and his wife a Pumpkin Pie or maybe buying him a six pack of beer as a small gesture of thanks. The thing is, I know some countries could find something like this offensive or inappropriate coming from a neighbor.
Is this acceptable in Germany, and if so, any good ideas? I live in Rhineland-Pfalz if I need to be more specific culture wise. Thanks!