Grayson’s Blog

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:

Sure, if you want to pay for it. Water at restaurants is not free and I have never seen someone order tap water, it is almost unheard of here. Most people drink sparkling water or in my case, beer. A beer actually costs less than a Coke and you can get beer everywhere - except McDo and BK.

In the states, just about every business has a toll free number. In Germany, almost no businesses have a toll free number (only two come to mind, the phone company and the train) In fact, not only is it not free, you have to pay to call, usually between 15 and 20 cents a minute. That is more than the direct call would cost. That goes for ordering stuff per telephone, too. If you want to purchase a 800 euro couch from Ikea, you pay 20 cents a minute to call them and order it. Lufthansa also charges if you want to call and book a flight, or change your reservation.

There is one advantage of course, you almost never have to wait on hold. People don’t jabber as much when they are paying for the call.

If you have never been to a movie in Germany, then you may not know they serve beer, wine and cocktails. It is even in a glass! Also popcorn is usually sprinkled with sugar, not salt. The prices here in Munich are pretty steep. A normal movie runs about 8.50 euros. I say normal because you pay more for longer movies. Yep, you read right - a long movie like Lord of the Rings costs 0.50 to 1.00 euro more! But, you can reserve your seat, which is awesome, so you can just show up right when the movie starts and avoid waiting - free of charge!

I have only seen about to personal checks since I have been here in Germany. Basically everyone pays with cash or the EC card (much like a debit card). In order to get paid, I had to have a bank account, it was stated in my contract. Everyone has direct deposit, which I actually really like. Never have to go to the bank to cash your check.

You might be asking yourself, without personal checks, how does anyone pay thier bills? Easy, using bank transfers. Unlike the US, bank transfers are free (well, included in your bank fees). When you get your telephone bill, there is a payment slip with the phone company’s banking info. You just fill in your bank account number and drop it in the bank’s mailbox and it is withdrawn automatically. Sure beats having to buy a stamp and mail it. Also it is much safer, because you have 6 weeks to cancel any transfer.

Oh, and you can set up automatic withdrawal, and the utilities just pull out what you owe them each month. This is already in the US, too, but kind of scarry.

I finally borrowed the Mini Cooper S from my work for the weekend and took it for a test drive! It drives like a go-cart and is a ton of fun to drive. What is more amazing is that I can actually fit in it. A perfect car for the city.

Did you know that movie titles (and TV) are not directly translated from English into German? For example, the English title Meet the Fokkers is called (translated) My Wife, her in-laws, and me

Here are some I’ve learned along the way.
Try and guess what the English titles are.

1. Over the rooftops of Nice
2. She loves me, she loves me not
3. When dreams learn to fly
4. One always dies
5. Chocolate for breakfast
6. Big Shark, Small Fish
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1. To catch a thief
2. Sliding doors
3. Finding Neverland
4. 6 feet Under
5. Bridget Jones Diary
6. Fish Tale

Something I’ve noticed about the gas prices here in Germany (well, Munich at least) is that they fluctuate. I’m not talking about one a week, but hourly. When I drive by the gas station at 8:00 am the price is 1.10 € a litre ($5.36 gallon). At 5:30 pm the price has changed to 1.15 € ($5.60). I amazed that it doesn’t seem to bother anyone. It isn’t like the gas station is changing its prices because they are constantly refilling their tanks and need to adjust the price, they just do it try and make as much profit as possible.

So we wanted to get a copy of our house key made, easy right? Just go to the locksmith and ask for a copy. Not quite. We showed him the key and he looked at it and told us this was a key to an appartment. So far so good. Then he tells us it costs 30 Euros and he needs to see our lease. Unreal. I guess we don’t need an extra key that bad.

Did you know that Germany goes to daylight savings time a week before the US? We set our clocks forward on last Saturday.