Grayson’s Blog

Most Germans buy thier cars with cash. This includes new cars. Even if we are talking about $25,000. The idea of financing a car is not very popular. I’m not sure why this is, but monthly payments are avoided like the plague. Only homes are financed. This explains why so few Germans have credit cards. As far as I know, there is no such thing as a credit rating. When you apply for a credit card, the credit card company calls your bank to verify your income. Your credit limit is set depending on what you deposit each month. Needless to say, the mailbox is not overflowing with credit card applications.

On March 29, a liter of regular unleaded gas was running about 1.30 Euro. That works out to about $6.25 a gallon. Only Holland is more expensive in Europe.

I have become a big fan of a drink called a Radler - half beer, half lemon soda (think Sprite). It’s absolutely awesome in summer. You can make it in the States with Sprite and Heiniken. It won’t be quite the same, but could still be tasty.

In the winter time you can order a Weißbier with a beer warmer, which is a caldren filled with warm water in which to warm your beer to the desiered temperature. Apparently one does not drink beer too cold, since it loses flavor.

Pizzas in Germany are rarely served pre-cut into slices. You have to request that they slice it when you order it. Also the toppings are different than in the US. Germans love tuna on thier pizzas and believe it or not, there is no sausage! Other strange toppings include corn, brocholi and seafood. If you order black olives, they come whole with the pit still in them! Not a pleasant surprise when you bite into it for the first time. Another note, when a group of people orders pizza, each person usually oders his own, rather than ordering one large one to share. The pizzas here usually come in two sizes - single and really hungry

In Germany (and most of Europe I believe) a comma is used to separate the decimal instead of a decimal point. The decimal point is used to separate the thousands mark. So, for example in the US one would write $32,864.51 and in Germany $32.864,51 Confusing isn’t it?

Germans count with the thumb first, not with the index finger. From 1 to 5 they use - thumb, index finger, middle finger, ringer finger, then pinky.

If you miss your exit on the freeway in the U.S., you just take the next exit and turn around. In Germany, it is not always so easy. Often times the next exit isn’t for 20 miles, and then there might not be an overpass so you can turn around.

Another often misconception is that you can drive as fast as you want. This is only true on certain sections of the autobahn. A lot of areas have limits of 120 kmh (about 70 mph). And they love to vary the speed limit. There are a lot a places where it goes from 120 to 60, and then back to 80, then 30, then no speed limit. And there are limits depending on the time of day. For example, from 6am to 8 pm you can drive 120 kmh, then from 10 pm to 6 am, only 100 kmh. Try reading a sign like that when you are driving 100 miles per hour!

Since I have been here in Germany, I have almost never seen a cashier or checker at a supermarket or drug store who stands. All of them have regular office chairs and sit at the register. It is a little strange at first, since you look down on them - especially someone as tall as I am. I don’t know why the ones in the U.S. stand, anyway. Wouldn’t you rather sit the whole day than stand?

If you have never watched TV in Europe, you probably don’t know what Video Text is. It is sort of like a web browser built into your TV - only with primative graphics. You press a button on your remote and receive a text menu with 3 digit numbers representing the headings. Usually the main page lists what is currently on and what follows. You can get a synopsis of the program, including plot, characters, etc. It is really brilliant. In addition to programming info, you can get sports, celebrity news, finance, current events, and weather.

It looks like this: