Their host family said Germans always hold a fork in their left hand and never put the silverware down. Once done with the meal, the fork and knife are placed diagonally across the plate, which signals the person is done eating. The students learned the proper way to eat an egg. A German custom is to serve an egg with its shell in a tiny cup. The tip of the shell is cut.
People eat the egg out of the shell using a miniature spoon.
Another table side mannerism is to set a coaster on the top of the glass if you are through drinking. Some restaurants have English speaking waiters or the menu is translated into English. If not, Reschly acted as the translator. But Reschly is human and made an error when ordering. He and another student asked for a fish dish, not realizing it came cold.