One interesting thing I've noticed after moving from Poland to Germany is that while both languages have two politeness levels (du/Sie and ty/pan respectively),

One interesting thing I've noticed after moving from Poland to Germany is that while both languages have two politeness levels (du/Sie and ty/pan respectively), the rules governing their use are vastly different. It seems that the German system is mostly age-based (most of the time you only address people older than you formally), while the Polish one is relationship and familiarity-based (you address people you don't know and people you've met in certain circumstances formally). It's common to see Polish people who've met each other at a larger stage of life keeping using formal pronouns in casual conversations. However, in written communication, Germans default to the formal way; Poles write announcements, letters etc. with casual pronouns. An instruction manual written in first person formal instead of infinitives tells me that this instruction has been translated in Germany :)