Sorry Seems to be The Hardest Word

I am aware that cultures vary in many ways, but you don't often notice the ways in which they can be similar. For example, in English it is quite common to say sorry for small things that you didn't mean to do or you feel a bit bad about (like when it wasn't my fault that the satnav went wrong on the way to Munich but I was the one who had used it so I felt responsible.) In Japan it is pretty much the same, and I feel that they have plenty of words to reflect this.

What I now find difficult is getting used to being in Germany, where it is a bit over the top to apologise (and thank) for the smallest things, and it seems that the language doesn't allow small apologies as much. You can say "It hurts me" for things which really make you feel bad, although I wouldn't want to say that for something small, and you can say "Entschuldigung" which I feel is more for things which aren't really your fault and you don't feel bad about, more as an excuse me.

It is really hard to try and not say some form of apology, and I'm sure I've got it wrong quite a few times already and the Germans may think I'm strange. The other thing I need to not do, is to say thank you for small things, as this also makes me seem strange. Japanese has quite a different way of thanking someone sometimes, especially if they have done you a favour which is to apologise for "making" them do it, even if you didn't ask.

Basically the point I'm making is, it is quite often the smaller differences which are harder to get around, and I'm probably making more of a fool of myself next door to England than I was in Japan.