Blogabroad
by Mary Pinckney Waters

A few more American-German differences:

• The standard paper size in Germany is slightly different than the 8.5-by-11-inch letter used in America. Germans use A4-sized paper, which is about 8.27 by 11.69 inches. Good luck squeezing a U.S. letter through a German fax machine.

• Stock up on water bottles if you're in Germany. You won't find water fountains.

• Tax is already included in displayed prices. If you're buying a single item, the cashier expects you to have your money ready.

• The smallest bill is a five-euro-bill. Coins come in 50• , 20• , 10• , 5• , 2• , and 1-cent pieces. The euro sign is €, and the Germans write it behind the price. (Example: "The shirt costs 5€.")

• The pay system for phone calls works differently for both landline and cell phones in Germany. First, incoming calls are always free. Ask a German if this is true, and he’ll answer as if you’d asked whether the sky is blue. Every outgoing call costs by time, whether it’s from a landline or cell phone, local or long-distance. Your landline phone company sends a bill every month documenting your phone usage. Cell phones offer two pay options. You can buy a monthly minutes plan from a service provider like the ones we use in the States, or you can buy pre-paid minutes. Most exchange students use prepaid minutes, which can be purchased, say, 15 or 30 at a time on cards from automats. This method lets us avoid any outrageous end-of-the-month surprises. Maybe I should keep prepaying when I get back home, too ...

• Don't throw away that coke bottle. Notice how it's a lot sturdier than our flimsy American ones? That's because Germans recycle the heck out of it. Take it to most grocery stores and you'll get back at least 15 cents called a "Pfand" for it.

• Germans eat mayonnaise with fries as often as ketchup.

• Germans are legally required to pay a license fee of 204.36 euros for TV or 66.24 euros for radio per year. The unemployed and disabled are excluded.

• Remember sneaking out the window as a teenager? You probably wouldn't have had to if you'd grown up in Germany. The majority of my German friends tell me their parents allowed them as high schoolers to sleep over at their significant others' houses or vice versa. I'm not sure to what extent this is a cultural difference with the United States or the Bible Belt, but the Germans explain that as long as parents meet their child's partner and approved of him or her, most have no problem with sleeping over, according to the theory that kids eventually find a way to do what they want anyway.

• Many cafes are stand-only, with tall, circular tables and zero chairs. A friend explained to me that a few years ago sit-down eateries were legally required to provide a restroom, so many of them got rid of their chairs as a result.

• Potato salad is often served warm in Germany.

• All Germans write the number "1" with that little slanted hat on top. If you simply write a straight line, they will cock their head in confusion. Just when I'd finally re-taught myself to write my 1-2-3s, I visited the States last week and was asked by a UPS worker whether my "1" was a "7." Sigh.

Mary Pinckney Waters welcomes your comments and feedback: marypwaters@yahoo.com