It was great speaking with all of you last week. During our call, we briefly discussed that restaurants in Germany (and in most of Europe) won’t serve you free tap water. Instead, you’ll need to order (and pay!) for an entire bottle. This got me thinking about other ‘culture shock’ moments: things that are done differently here than back home. Here are some of the highlights:
Tap water may not be free, and neither are the bathrooms. In Germany, most bathrooms in public places have a turnstile with a coin-collecting machine (or person) guarding the entrance. You typically have to pay 50 cents or 1 Euro (about $1.05) to use it. You see this often at train stations, malls, cafes, or restaurants. This is incredibly frustrating at first, especially if you didn’t remember to bring coins and need to go. Thankfully, these bathrooms tend to be very clean because the money goes towards cleaning them. Speaking of coins, in Germany cash is king. Coming from the U.S. where nearly everything can be paid for with your credit card or phone, I was surprised when I learned that most businesses will only let you pay with cash. As a result, I need to go to the bank and withdraw money frequently, and my pockets are always full of coins.
