Germany obviously differs from America in many ways, but one very prominent way it distinguishes itself is its lack of credit card use. Sure, some supermarkets or electronics stores accept credit cards (mostly VISA, sometimes MasterCard, and never Discover), but overall, cash is king. Germans really love using their cash, and of course the numerous coins as well. It's been a bit frustrating for me because I have found it really impossible to keep track of my expenses. For me, it's always felt like spending cash was like eating the crumbs of a cake; it doesn't really count. That mindset really only functions when the majority of transactions are on a credit card. Finally today I downloaded this app called Dollar Bird. We'll see how that goes, but so far it seems like a good way to input my expenses. If that doesn't work out, I may try using Google Forms combined with Google Sheets, but that seems a little hacky and I love a good user interface. Luckily, soon I'll have an EC card! That's Germany's version of a debit card pretty much (EC=electronic cash) and soon one will be in my possession because today I made an account at a German bank. Oh man was that difficult. There was a lot of vocabulary that I didn't know and at times the employee switched to English to help explain some ideas but I made it. I already have a bank account back home with Bank of America specifically for this trip since they partner with Deutsche Bank and let you take money out of Deutsche Bank ATMs for only a 3% exchange rate fee, but it was also important to get a German bank account for a couple of reasons. For one, I want that EC card. It'll be so nice when I can use a card again, instead of always paying in cash. Most places at least accept an EC card I think, unless they're really tiny. Another reason though is for rent and health insurance. Here, everyone gives their landlord, insurance company, etc. their bank info and the money gets automatically withdrawn. Seems sketchy to me, but then again it'll save me from having to pay bills so there's a plus. I got an account with Kreissparkasse, with the thought process that now I can use DB ATMs and Kreissparkasse ATMs. Plus I had a coupon for a free year with them. Honestly the hardest thing to understand was their online banking process. The lady told me that their app was super confusing even for a German speaker, so I should go with the "TAN Generator" option. I guess they sometimes exist here in America for added security, but I've certainly never seen or heard of one. For anyone wondering, here's what I'm talking about... It looks kind of like a calculator, and you have to stick your card into it and physically hold it up to your computer screen. The concept is totally foreign and bizarre to me... but I guess I'll get used to one. It's luckily only about €10 to buy one, and the woman insisted it was far easier to use than their app (how horrible is this app exactly??). So now it's time to wait for my card to come in the mail and then I can start better monitoring my money flow and carrying fewer coins everywhere.
For more about why Germans hate credit cards, check out this super interesting Quartz article that I found the other day.
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Germany is somewhat infamous for their environmental awareness, particularly in the area of recycling. My dorm has so many bins I can't keep track. Throwing anything away becomes a big unknown of if I'm doing something wrong. In fact, I'm writing this blog post while I am still in the learning stages, so if any of my German friends notice something awry, please comment so that I don't mess anything up! For containers, at least in my dorm, there's Altpapier, Biomüll, Gelber Sack, Glas, and Restmüll. Sometimes there's also one for toxic waste.
For more information, I found this great website! The guide from it is below. Wish me luck with being a good German and properly recycling everything.... So far I am loving German food and beer. The food has been amazing; I've had Schnitzel, Spätzle (noodles), schwäbisch Kartoffelsalat, and "Torte Flambee" which is like pizza but very thin crust and no yeast. For breakfast, the hotel has served sausage, bacon and scrambled eggs, as we might find in America, but then there was such a wide variety of breads. They had wheat and rye artisan breads with a bunch of jams to choose from, and the most amazing buttery croissants. Of course there were also fresh Danish pastries as well. Every dish has been absolutely delicious. My friend and I became good friends with the bartender in Mike's Urban Pub, the bar attached to our hotel (Ibis). The food there is great and well priced, but more importantly, the staff is hilarious and very amiable. It gave us a great opportunity to practice our German, too. We also tried out the Biergarten nearby, Neckarmüller. They had some delicious food ("Tomatenbrot" which turned out to be similar to bruschetta) and beer as well, and with an amazing view of the Neckar river. I've really been enjoying German beers. They are far less bitter than beers I've tried in America, and so far I have yet to meet one I don't like. And since at restaurants they tend to be cheaper than water, I've been taking the opportunity to order a small beer with my dinner to try out new types. The best food I have eaten here so far was at this adorable little Schwabian place called Wurstküche (meaning sausage kitchen). It's set in the Altstadt (Old Town) right in the center of tiny walking streets. I had an amazing dish with Spätzle (German noodles), pork, and Schwäbian potato salad. And now it's time to adult....Once my friend and I landed in Frankfurt, we had to navigate their train system. We bought tickets for a route that had 2 connections and left us with only 9 minutes to find the right track. Turns out that was the easiest part of our train journey. The real struggle came in navigating my luggage. I am a small human and I was trying to maneuver an enormous bag and a not-so-small carry on through very narrow train corridors. And each train entrance had steep steps. It was horrible and in fact simply didn't work. We had second class tickets and somehow managed to enter the train in a first class car on all three trains. From there we tried to navigate to a car where we could sit, but inevitably we would come to a place where people or luggage was blocking us, so we just chilled by an exit with our bags. The first two trains were ICE (Intercity Express), Germany's fastest trains. They had food cars and nice seats (although we experienced no seats ourselves). The final train was older and slower. We didn't make it past the door though, because there were stairs leading up and stairs leading down and both were first class. By then we were absolutely not in the mood to attempt finding second class seats with our luggage. Interestingly, German trains do not run as on time as we were lead to believe. The first train left late, leaving us with only two minutes to find our next train, which then arrived at its destination 10 minutes late, causing us to almost miss our final train in Tübingen. It was also kind of pricey, at about 80€. In the future I think I'll stick to buses.
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AuthorJust a girl trying to get by in Germany for a year and having adventures along the way! Archives
April 2017
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