Du vs. Sie - Aaron Hodges

Unlike Americans, Germans have two very different variations of saying the extremely common word you.  There is a formal way Sie, and a informal version Du.  Wrong usage of these two different variations seems like it would be an easy mistake to make.  Only you may offend someone very easily by doing this.  For example it is acceptable for  teacher to use du when talking to a student which is the more casual form. On the other side of the spectrum the student would address the teacher as Sie because that shows respect and seniority.  This informal you and formal you can sometimes be a difficult concept to grasp for new german speakers.  More often then not when a german talks to a foreigner who is not sure which variation of you to use with the native speaker they will wait and even avoid saying you until they hear the native german speaker use the acceptable variation. They do this to make sure they do not make a bad impression and offend them.  In America It relates to when someone calls a elder Mr. and when the mister feels comfortable enough with the person they say please call me Aaron or what ever they're fist name may be.  It seems to me that the formal and informal ways of saying you makes it a lot easier for germans to offend each other. - Aaron Hodges