Yes, I think I understood that - it's what you find on most English hamster info pages. I've had a good look round, and I'm a little more familiar with the English hamster keeping ways, since I'm a member of the SHC as well. However, if you look up German pages, you'll find no information on how to gently wake up hamsters, because there's a strict no-wake-up-policy.
Two of our past syrians came from shelters, where they were handed in because the children wanted to see them during the day and they resorted to biting... Once they were with us and allowed to sleep, they were the loveliest and tamest hamsters we've ever had.
Also, I guess there is a difference in the cleaning out practices - we recommend cleaning only pee places and the house every few days and never the complete cage. Obviously, if they pee outside the house, that can be done without waking the hamster, and cleaning out the house only is quickly done and can wait until the hamster wakes up of its own accord.
So there's another difference that leads to different ways of handling the hamster.