5 things that the Germans haven’t yet sussed

I have loved living in Germany for the past 6 months, but I have a few (seemingly inexplicable) quibbles:

1) NO FREE TAP WATER

You have a go at ordering the trustworthy Leitungswasser in Germany, and be prepared for scowls and a definite refusal. Even when I have been buying a full lunch, I have always had to pay for tap water aka. the source of all life. The result? Drinking lots of sugar in the form of fizzy drinks and having no money for cakes.

2) NO LADIES FIRST

Stand at a train station, laden down with suitcases, holdalls, handbags and sandwiches, and when the train comes, there will be a river of people elbowing their way in front of you. Coming from a summer in Nepal, where females even get a separate security line at the airport (which was a lot faster than the men’s one), this blatant fight for your life in Europe always comes as a bit of a shock. I am no men-hating, women-rule-da-world kinda girl, but a little bit of chivalry now and again really makes life easier.

3)NO QUEUES

I love a good queue. Everyone knows where they are, approximately how long they will have to wait, and is confident that the world is being run in a fair way. In Germany, you rock up to a sandwich counter, and because you are a foreigner, you won’t know that there is a secret queue. The sandwich man knows who is next. Everyone else, who is standing haphazardly round the baguettes, knows who is next. But if you have just arrived, you do not know what the game is. Indeed, it is a game, complete with elbow tactics and mind games, and loud fierce shouts in German demanding your turn.

4)SANDWICHES

Food is definitely yummy here, but if you’re looking for a good ploughman’s, you won’t find one until you have crossed the sea again. Wraps, chips, schnitzel – Germany has all kinds of  delicious lunchtime delicacies, but a brown bread sandwich will unfortunately not be part of the midday menu.

5)UNFRIENDLY BANKS

Want cash? Better make sure your bank is in the area, because for some reason, banks are very hostile to each other here and don’t like helping out customers of rival banks. Accidentally shove your bank card into the wrong ATM (Say, a Sparkasse card into a Deutsche Post) and be prepared to pay a fee close to what you would if you were using a British bank card! Furthermore, if a bank card is stolen, it will not be cancelled until the customer can name exactly the account details.

Despite these small issues, there is a lot I love about Germany. Stay posted to discover exactly what…

Dressed German but not acting German