EXPATS AGAIN

EXPATS AGAIN! Experiencing other cultures while enriching our global view.

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Munich, Germany
I am married to the love of my life and am finally able to shower him with all of the attention he deserves. I am now retired and living the life here in Europe. I am an American, he is an Australian, and this is our second overseas address. The first was Shanghai, China and now Munich, Germany. Come along and live the life with us as we continue our adventure of discovering all Europe has to offer.

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Sunday, August 21, 2011

DOING THINGS THE GERMAN WAY




Today we went to visit a local "Bad" (swimming pool) in our community.  While there, we were asking the clerk at the desk questions about memberships, hours, etc. and she was extremely pleased to be speaking English with someone.  Since it wasn't very busy today, we humored her and spent a few moments with her so she could use her English.  During the conversations, she asked where we were from and the hubby said, "Australia" and I told her "America."  "America?" she asked. "Isn't there a lot of violence and shootings there like we see in the films?"  As I started to explain that what one sees here in Germany is what Hollywood portrays as real, isn't necessarily reality, the husband goes into an uproar about how all Americans carry guns and our crime rate is so far above Germany's.

Now I know he does just this to pull my chain, and between us it is funny and I get it that he is exaggerating just to get a rise out of me.  But,  after we left I began to worry that her notion of what America is really like is probably no different from what the rest of the world sees.  They only see what we (Hollywood) want them to see--a violent America.  I guess we shouldn't be surprised when they actually believe it.



Another event that happened today had me practically doing cartwheels across the lawn was when I went to the drug store to refill my prescriptions.  I take four different medications daily.  I have them refilled for a three month supply.  Even though I have medical insurance in the U.S., I rarely leave the drug store under $70.00 every three months. Now, since we are local in Germany, we carry German medical insurance.   Today, under the German medical insurance, I paid €18.30 for the very same three month supply!!  Imagine!  I couldn't!  Even though I questioned the pharmacist a number of times, she assured me the amount was correct.  Yea for German medical insurance!



We spent another lovely weekend by the lake and I came to appreciate another fact about Germany that I hadn't realized until now.  There are no speedboats, motor boats, or jet ski's on German lakes.  WHAT??  How can that be?  American's would be in an uproar if they couldn't race around in watercraft on the lakes and rivers. What would a weekend on a lake be if not for the yacht, high speed motorboat, or revved up Skido?  Not so in Germany.  They have been banned for years.  Noise pollution and environmental pollution.  Again, I just love Germany.


One more tidbit, before I go,that I would like to share with you is how German's pay their bills.  Like Americans, they can go online to their bank account and have money transferred to pay a bill.  But what they cannot do personally is send a check.

Instead, they take the bill to the bank and the bank pays the bill directly. The bills come in the mail with a detachable form that you write in the amount, your account number, and your signature.  You drop it in the slot and off you go.   Now how cool is that?  No checks to order, ever!  No waiting in line at a store while someone writes a check.  Like us, Germans use cash, credit, or debit cards; otherwise, all bills are paid directly by the bank.  It couldn't be any easier.

 We have a lot to learn from our German friends.

4 comments:

Betty W said...

No motorboats on the lakes? I didn´t know that. But I guess they are really conserving the water that way. Cool.

G in Berlin said...

Well, to be fair, I pay all my bills in the US on line. And to be fair to Germans, only the older folks still go into banks to pay bills: the rest of us pay our bills through ueberweisungen onlne, just as I do in the US. Beautiful picture lof the lake.

Expats Again said...

@ Betty, I know right? So strange to hear silence...
@G, Yes, I pay bills online too, but it is an option to drop them in the bank. Checks here are nonexistent. Then again, I only use checks to send to the U.S. for birthday gifts, etc. In time, I bet they disappear along with things like CD's, landlines, and (hopefully) gas driven cars.

Unknown said...

Love the lakes without boats and yes I'm still in an uproar about these damn checks/cheques I hate them!!! How backwards is n.a. sometimes!