How Germany Has Changed Me (American Living in Germany)

[@albrechtkusei5085]

The metric system vs. the US system is not just about driving a car, telling the weather or baking a cake. Its officially called SI (International System of units). The idea behind it, is to convert every physical messurement into another without any weird conversion factors. It is a comprehensive system, which helps A LOT doing science and engineering. It must be a nightmare to do proper engineering with feet, pound, Fahrenheit and all those weird units.

[@btriep]

Hi Neeva. I am a German living in the US. I can probably share some light into why cash is more used than cards. Credit card companies charge businesses a percentage of the total amount. That in turn forces the business to recover the loss or cost by charging higher prices. Since in Germany most businesses are small and medium sized it is fundamental to there existence to have the lowest prices possible. These percentages can range from 1% to 5%. Also, cash can not as easily be tracked and Germans enjoy their privacy. Here in the US big corporations have negotiated substantial lower charges with the card companies to a point that even small and medium businesses have to offer card payment options in order to stay in business.

[@Rainerjgs]

Es ist immer wieder ein Erlebnis, dieses so ausdrucksvolle und überaus ulkige und verschmitzte Gesicht zu sehen, hinter dessen Stirn so viele bemerkenswerte Gedanken des freien Ausdruckes harren. Aber ich habe auch den Eindruck, daß sich die gute Neeva manchmal ganz mächtig selbst im Wege steht und aus so mancher Mücke einen Elefanten macht, doch aufgrund ihrer kindlichen Unschuld kann man ihr einfach niemals etwas übel nehmen.

[@thorodinson5034]

The trick with the packing of groceries is: already putting it on the belt in the order you wanna put it in your cart/bags after paying in the first place That way you don't have to think about it much. Hard stuff goes on the belt first, soft stuff at the end. If you buy deep freezed stuff put it together so it goes to the same bag, keeps the temperature better. Edit: xD nevermind

[@kallejodelbauer2955]

You can take your Time, if you simply put it back in the shopping cart and put it in Bags in you Car later.Or you make it fast at the cashier,its up to you.

[@cutterboard4144]

In germany we dont have credit (or debit?) cards like they have in the US. Our EC cards, if accepted, are usually bound to the bank with the account where we get our wage transferred onto. Also if you pay something with your card, the amount of money spent will be deducted shortly after - not at the end of the month. Additionally the bank then knows how much money you spent, where you spent it, when you spent it, and maybe even what for you spent it. So not paying with an EC card is a privacy thing, which is important to germans - i really dont want my bank to know how much i spend in a brothel so to say. Also having cash is useful for controlling how much you spend on things - you get 200€ at the ATM thinking that will last you two weeks for your groceries, and if your wallet is empty after one week you know you have to cut back a bit. With a credit card nothing stops you from spending way more money than you originally wanted to.

[@karinland8533]

Debit cards (like the German ec-card) are in use by 90% of Germans, credit cards much less. The reason behind this is the shop owners have to pay a rather high fee for credit card payments but ec- card payments are much cheaper. Until covid usually payments lower than 10 € where not allowed to be payed with ec-card by the shop owner. I do not think Germany is behind, they just use the different system. I find the debit card advanced because you are only able to spent as much money as you habe on your bank account. Get your self a German ec-card and you will be fine in most places in Europe. Not the bakerys, by the way.

[@fafnirdrache1210]

During "Corona" and the increased payment by card, I noticed that I was losing "contact" with my income, card payments are always debited several days after the purchase. This works much better with cash and - probably most Germans do. We were raised to be thrifty (or only buy when you have the money). That is why cash is king in Germany.

[@faultier1158]

I use a spreadsheet to keep track of my finances, so the whole "losing contact with your income" thing doesn't really matter to me any more. I always know how much money I *virtually* have.

[@typxxilps]

@@faultier1158 Spreadsheet is a list, not much more and if you miss something to write down then things get messed ... Cash is always king to get discounts, spreadsheets do not help there ...

[@Aldo_Regozzani]

I like to point out that there is a fundamental difference between debit-cards and credit-cards. Credit-cards create debts immediatly, while debit-cards are more limited in this. Cash will always be king for rational persons concerned about data-protection. Additionally: if there is any technical or legal problem with cashless paying everyone is fucked who uses it. The only thing which is actually yours, is the one which you can hold in your hand and at the end of the day you take home and hide in a sock under your matress. =8^))

[@dagmarbubolz1227]

@@Aldo_Regozzani Exactly, I remember the days of the worldwide financial crisis, when banks went bankrupt and there was a panic manifesting that at some point you might fail to get your money. A card can be just shut down. For example like the pension funds that are just gone and all the money that people put in with their hard work is just gone too and they basically don't get that promised pension. And more and more hackers are targeting institutions, so the chance of suddenly being shut out from your own money is rising.

[@Aldo_Regozzani]

@@dagmarbubolz1227 Just imagine if Banks or the Government decide that your access via card is suspended or declared illegal because of ....reasons. It's just some clicks away for them to do so and then you are f&/(ed.

[@SD_Alias]

Using AC and dryer is very expensive because of higher cost for energy. Avoiding to use much electricity is much eco-friendlier too

[@aasgard77]

Yes we have the most expensive electric energy on the globe now, due to "Energiewende".

[@HotelPapa100]

@@fhajji OTOH the dryer makes cotton and linen fluffier.

[@dahrrg]

@@HotelPapa100 Takes away the nice smell though unless you add some perfumed stuff.

[@Rainerjgs]

Doch, wir haben auch am und pm, indem wir z.B. sagen 8 Uhr vormittags oder 8 Uhr abends, oder z.B. Nachmittags um halbdrei!

[@frankmartin2085]

Regarding the hours: It is also very widespread in Germany, to name the hours after lunch "one", "two", "three", instead of "thirteen", fourteen", fifteen" aso., but without adding "pm" to it. Mostly, you can guess that someone will come to you in the afternoon, not in the middle of the night, if he says "I will fetch you at two".

[@jotcw81]

@@fhajji wow those watched would make quite an original gift.

[@m3redgt]

1 inch = 1000 thous 12 inches = 1 foot 3 feet = 1 yard 22 yards = 1 chain 10 chains = 1 furlong 8 fulongs = 1 mile 3 miles = 1 league like seriously... wtf metric system: 10mm = 1cm 100cm = 1m 1000m = 1km so for example : 100,000 cm = 1km 12.56km = 12560m 8452735m = 8452.735km seems liker it's a little more convenient to convert distances in the metric system isn't it?

[@Andrei2patrU]

I'd like to add as an explanation for the names (i think they all come from latin) : Millimeter - milli (unit of a thousand, ex: millennium - 1000 years), basically 1 thousandth of a meter (1 m = 1000mm) Centimeter - centi (unit of a hundred, ex: century - 100 years, or what you use in the US as well but for coins-cents, because 100 of them make 1 full unit), basically 1 hundredth of a meter (1m = 100cm) Decimeter - deci (unit of a tenth, ex: decade - 10 years, or decimate - this meant every tenth person in the legion got executed when they lost a battle), basically one tenth of a meter (1m = 10dm). Then you have the meter And then you have two units that are not used for convenience purposes: the decameter (10 meters) and the hectometet (100 meters). And finally you have the kilometer which is 1000 meters (kilo is one thousand of something, 1 kilogram is 1000 grams, 1 kilobyte is 1000 bytes). Same naming and rules applies to others like liters and grams. (if you work with natural sciences you'd know the rest of them as well like nanometers, picometers etc.) And celsius is fun too as long as you think about water: it freezes at 0 celsius and it boils at 100. When you hit minus it can snow and when you go above 30 celsius you start complaining about the lack of air conditioning in german homes haha. Normal body temperature is 36.5 and once you go above 37 you can say you got a fever. 38 is calling/going to the doctor, 39 and up usually involves something serious and a hospital visit

[@elisabethkerp5067]

1 inch = 2,54 cm

[@Bonsai61]

As far as I know the us has establishedthe metric system already decates ago. So I was told from a us air force officer while I spend 8 years working on a NATO air force base. I don't know if that is true. So let me know if not. But the problem is that nowone is using it.

[@stephanweinberger]

@@Bonsai61 in the military and in science, metric is the standard even in the US. Also, all US customary units are defined in terms of metric since the Mendenhall Order of 1893 (!). Finally, in 1975 Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act, which mandates metric to be "the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce"... so 'under the hood' the US are actually metric and have been for decades.

[@jsand7028]

This standard is a lot more hard to use, metric is sooo easy lol

[@johannbeitelmann8907]

Oha, Sie sind ja echt sympathisch! Und Ihr deutscher Versuch ist doch sehr angenehm zu hören, also weitermachen! LG aus Lindau!

[@teckyify]

Germans prefer the anonymity of cash and to actually see what you are spending, this gives more control over yourself.

[@DerDoJo]

funnily i have much more control over my spending if i use a card. So i can see everything in my online banking at any time, reminding me of how much money i have left. It´s very transparent and my bank shows every charge with big red letters. for cash on the other hand: It just flies out of my wallet and it is gone without me noticing it. If i have 50 Bucks in my wallet it will be gone tomorrow for some weired stuff. If i have 50 Bucks on my bank account, it will last me a week. Without cash in my wallet i am just much less tempted to buy anything.

[@hermannschaefer4777]

Besides privacy - which is a point now - it was the costs. Credit card companies charged the dealers and sellers with the fees, and therefor many stores refused to accept any credit cards way until the 90s and later. Also, EC (eurocheque, now Girocard) was kind of a standard in Europe since 70s, and it was kinda free of charge, so VISA, Amex, Dinners & others had no real chance.

[@DerDoJo]

@@hermannschaefer4777 well, in the mean time this has changed. for most stores cash has become more expensive even than credit cards. Banks have increased their handling fees for cash and change massively because of 0% Intrest politics. Now paying with cash can cost the store up 4% in handling fees. With credit card/Debit card it´s only 0,5%-2,5%, while having less problems with getting robbed, because there is less cash in the register...

[@hermannschaefer4777]

@@DerDoJo Yes, things did change. But nevertheless are credit cards uncommon in Germany (and also in many other parts of Europe). Nowadays you see debit cards used (esp. Giropay aka EC-Card) and also things like Apple pay or similar new stuff used on a daily basis in super markets and fuel stations, but still not really in a Cafe or for other smaller amount of money. And still do credit card companies have problems in Germany - besides online shopping, where credit cards like Visa are very common.

[@atssonny]

And for the "Schwarzgeld 😎

[@rolfadams5208]

In everyday language, we seldom use the 24-hour period to make appointments, for example. "When do we meet? At 8 o'clock". Everybody knows that when it comes to dinner or a beer in a pub, 8 p.m. is meant, when you start for an excursion, it is more likely to be 8 a.m. in the morning. If it is not quite clear, we often say "tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock" or "tonight at 8 o'clock" (and we usually leave out the "o'clock"). Officially and in professional life, however, the 24-hour rule applies. Business meeting at 14 o'clock, the news starts at 20 o'clock, etc.

[@schnuuuu]

The heavy parts to the front, yay, you got the key to german grocery success!

[@Rainerjgs]

Das Geheimnis einer entspannten Haltung beim Abkassieren ist, daß man erst in Ruhe sein Sachen in den Einkaufswagen zurück legen sollte, bevor man zahlt, dann kann die Kassiererin nicht schon wieder den nächsten Kunden drann nehmen, sondern freut sich über eine kleine Verschnaufpause!

[@Milo_Minderbinder]

Must laugh. You're so right with the trains. Some 40 years ago, our trains were not very fast, but reliable and always on time. Now, they are super fast, but only if and when they happen to go.

[@jakobschoen6499]

many years ago i washed my jeans in south carolina and hung them up to dry. due to the incredibly high Luftfeuchtigkeit, the jeans were still wet after a week.

[@SD_Alias]

Cash is still common because people like to have better control over how much they spend. If your wallet is empty you know you already had spend the 50€ you got some days before from the ATM. With paying card only it is easier to loose control.

[@potator9327]

The fact that many small stores do not offer electronic payment or only offer it after a certain minimum turnover is certainly due to the costs that the payment system causes. You don't just need the reader, a network with the cash register system and internet access (e.g. quite impractical at a weekly market). For each booking, a percentage is withheld from the store by the service provider. Deutsche Bahn was once considered a prime example of reliability and punctuality. Since the privatization of the former state-owned company, the railroad has become much more service-oriented in minor aspects and looks more stylish, but the core business (driving from A to B on time) has been saved to a large extent. However, I don't really believe that a train has left early. Maybe the train that was supposed to leave an hour earlier came through 50 minutes late. So it looked to you as if it was 10 minutes early. My personal record for delays was an international train from Moscow to Paris. Because we missed our connection, and were kind of strandet in the middle of the night at mainstation Magdeburg, we asked if we could take this train with our ticket, which was supposed to pass in one hour. The answer was: In principle, yes, but they were still waiting for the same train from yesterday, so nobody could say when and if the train would come. When we finally took another Intercity four hours later, the both trains (todays and yesterdays) from Moscow had still not arrived. But I have to admit that this was not the fault of the German railroad and it was about as long ago as you live. So a legend from long gone times.

[@kcpinksvlogsgermany6896]

Germany Changed me a lot too... but it wasn’t so Bad.. I‘ve learned a lot of things in here.. like your Video.

[@MichaEl-rh1kv]

Shops don't like if you pay small amounts with card because it narrows their margin: They have to pay a percental fee to the credit card company, and sometimes there is even a minimum fee, and aside this there's often an additional accounting expense. Additionally protection of data privacy is a major issue for many Germans, and they don't want their bank to know better than they do themselves which item they buyed a which time at which store, much less the Credit Card Company which are known to sell the data often to target marketing agencies. Big data is for Germans still something scary which jeopardizes personal freedom.

[@furzkram]

Btw am and pm means ante meridiem and post meridiem, before noon and after noon - both parts contain night AND day parts (unless you're living on one of the poles) ... Although if "your"night ends when you get up and you don't get up before noon, am is technically "night" for you. But we're actually using BOTH, 12 and 24 hour time - maybe the 12 your time even more, but we get the before and after noon from context, and we switch to 24 hour time whenever it could be unclear which time is meant.

[@haydenrees3376]

Trains - Never early, often a little late, but once aboard make sure that you are near the door on time , just in case the door does not open when you push the button and you need time to rush to the next door. True story - tried to get off at Hosel and ended up in Kettwig when the door did not open. It was night time and had to wait some 30 minutes for the next return train. Bakery - Small bread / bakery outlets everywhere, even the servo in Hosel had a small oven and bread is bought often as it has little or no preservative and is rock hard after a couple of days. Very little sliced bread. And - and - Aussies walk anywhere on a pavement, while Germans, and most of Eu, walk as they drive, to the right.

[@LeoR4U]

I love your vids. I only discovered your channel a few days ago. I’ve been to about 50 countries, and it’s very interesting to me how foreigners (here: an American) sees Germany and our peculiarities.😅

[@ESCLuciaSlovakia]

I don't know how it is in Germany, but in Slovakia we don't really consider the thumb as a different "type" of finger. We have ten fingers, and thumb is the first one, so we count from the first to the last one. When you put your hands on the table, you can count all the 10 fingers from left to right, one by one, not jumping back.

[@Brainreaver79]

the "fun" thing about the german train system is that it gets worse the longer its privatized. my favorite excuses for delays i the last few years are "there were leafs on the tracks (in autumn... they were there in autumn since the tracks were laid 100 years ago...) and "there is snow on the tracks (in winter....) yeah what a surprise.... no one could have seen that one coming.... if they provide such a crucial service like mass transport for the populous they should be reliable enough that people CAN rely on it...but thats the problem with stock traded service providers... making more money than last year is more important than providing the service people pay you for

[@170INFBDE]

I have heard this from friends that still live in Germany, but when I lived in Germany (late 2009-late 2012) the train system was a well oiled machine!

[@elviraperez1893]

I am so happy to see you here Miss Energetic.

[@jan-peterbrodersen3302]

I put everything in the cart first and then I take my time and properly pack my hat.

[@neevabee_]

Makes sense!!

[@leifkunzel9843]

In the past...long time ago....i studied in Japan for a while and i noticed often that paying with cash have the same status than in Germany. Everybody (almost everybody) have a card and can pay with this and maybe this relation to cash will change in future, but for many people to have cash is kind of freedom. Not so easy to describe for me.

[@andibuletten6206]

We use the metric system. That's why the quaterpounder in germany is called Royale😉

[@TomsDoItYourself]

Haha, thanks for your video. We use just one system as far as I know in the states, called the Imperial system. It's just that the units all sound different, so it may seem like many. We mostly used the metric system in college though.

[@jsand7028]

Thank you Neeva. Your story a so nice and how you explain everything, I love it. I think I was watching all your videos. I am grow up in Germany and live now in the states, but after 20 years living here, I am ready go back to Germany. Anyways, you are really cute person and I wish you the best in Germany. I will subscribe to your channel, thanks again for sharing your story.

[@neevabee_]

Thank you so much!! :)))

[@V100-e5q]

Running for the train: Trains never leave early. They are sometimes ridiculously late but never too early. Just at arrival that can happen once in your liftime to be early on the schedule. But I had it that a tram was leaving early because their schedule is dominated by traffic. But then I filed a complaint to the operator and got my money for the cab (because I needed to be in time at the train station) back.

[@derkohler2380]

fun fact: a dryer degrades your clothes significantly - what else would be stuck in the lint filter other than pieces of your fashion, steadily fading away? so, air drying at least saves your clothes.. ;)

[@DeS-vl2gs]

I've never thought of dryer lint that way but it makes perfect sense.

[@mikereu1605]

Hey Neeva, many thanks for your insights. Two things I like to comment: We often dont use “Mil. Time” which comes with the downside that you have to be very clear, if your talking about AM or PM. So “halb zehn” could mean 9:30h or 21:30h. Trains: year, our Infrastructure is quite rotten, but we compensate it with wonderful bread ;-)

[@hessenkrone]

Hi Neeva, wonderful blog, I like it. I am from Frankfurt and I organize every 2nd year a trip with some people from our Village to our sistercity Amana Colonies in Iowa.

[@carinab.1923]

Being efficient at packing groceries = germanized! There are huge differences for the train companies: when I used Deutsche Bahn, I always made sure to take 1 or 2 trains before, ending up being 90 minutes too early instead of being too late. (Especially important when you're going to the airport and have to change in between). But the trains in Berlin are usually super on time and reliable!

[@stephanteuscher6583]

About the military time: in some southern regions - like Baden-Württemberg, where I come from - we use the 12-hour-system in colloquial language. And then it's getting weird: we use time-descriptions, that other german people often don't understand. Like "viertel drei" (2:15) or "dreiviertel fünf" (4:45). Most people would understand "Viertel nach zwei" (2:15) or "Viertel vor fünf" (4:45), but they never get our system.

[@rainerbloedsinn182]

"Viertel drei" and "dreiviertel fünf" is the way to tell the time in the entire former GDR as well. If we hear "Viertel nach zwei" here we immediately know: Wessi! :D

[@saschamohr7970]

Military time. Never thought about it that way. Good one.

[@peterkoller3761]

why pay for drying clothes (buy dryer and electricity) if air and sun do it for free?

[@16-BitGuy]

@@amm287 what about late fall and winter time?

[@oliverhardy9464]

The dryer is definitely pretty rough for fabric. It's best to dry with sunlight and air.

[@dreadskinradio]

@@16-BitGuy in winter, the air is dry, because cold air aint able to contain much water. so the clothes even dry better. electric dryer needs terrible much energy and the clothes wont last very long.

[@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS]

@@16-BitGuy Many people in the UK have a similar attitude about drying clothes (though many are becoming more Americanised). In the coldest/wettest weather, you only use the dryer for sheets/duvet covers and to toss the hardness out of towels. Even still, I don't fully dry my sheets. I throw them over a large open wooden chair to finish drying. Also, I've a shower rod strung overhead between the doors in my ensuite -- a small room that gets a lot of sun and so therefore very warm -- , and clothes get hung on hangers. And, people use their runged radiators -- the heat from them helps dry clothes. Plus, we often have wall mounted or ceiling mounted (drop down) or stand alone drying racks. When I lived in the US, I used the shower rods in the bathrooms (most here have glass shower screens) and put stand alone clothes racks in the tub. In good weather, in both countries, I used / use outdoor clotheslines. Australia sells really nice wall mounted, folding clotheslines if you have an open wall with a sunny and/or windy spot. (I do, which is why I went through the trouble of obtaining one.) In the UK, most people use those twirly clotheslines so that they spin in the wind and dry clothes faster. When growing up in the US with a British mother, we eschewed dryers even when we lived in apartments. Dryers take the life out of clothes much sooner. Not drying clothes saves not just electricity but the clothes.

[@adha2913]

When shoping, consider investing in a Klappbox or two. Much easier than plastic bags - if you´re going by car at least.

[@bertkassing8541]

So funny what you say about cash. In the neighboring country, the Netherlands, it is sometimes impossible to pay with cash. Everything is going digital. Contactless payment without PIN is normal here. Or pay via your mobile phone. If someone asks for cash, we panic here :-)

[@racingrelated4988]

You're first example describes a major scene from "Inglorious Basterds".

[@kraftandre5538]

It must be the pointer finger.In medical subject, finger number 1 is the thumb.We use the "Dezimalsystem" in Germany. It depands on the 10. 10 Millimeter= 1 Zentimeter, 10 Zentimeter= 1 Dezimeter, 10 Dezimeter (sagt niemand) =100 Zentimeter= 1 Meter, 10 Meter, 100 Meter, 1000 Meter= 1 Kilometer and so on. With your grocery you have to be quick and structured, especially at aldi.You have to be good at running for trains if you´re not driving in germany, cause of the time table of the deutsche bahn.But you´re young and sporty woman, you´ll get it. stay safe.

[@martinstubs6203]

Actually, the 12 hour time counting way is quite normal in Germany as well but mainly informally. You would say 7 Uhr morgens and 5 Uhr nachmittags for 7am and 5pm. The 24 hour way of telling the time comes into play when you need to be accurate or more official.

[@thorstenkoethe]

Cash: I hope, Germany is not behind! When you pay with cash you have a better view of the money you spend. Paying without cash gives all companies this overview of yout money you should have.

[@starseed8087]

Cash, we are behind. But I think it has to do with our history of wartimes and data privacy, people still stick to something they can feel in their hands.. Anyway it will change..

[@charlievetta1385]

You need to put in a savings account. U should not spend. Out of sight out of mind. Do not think about it. Leave it in your banking account. Budget only what u need and pay it on your phone in less then a minute. No more carbon footprint with millions of paper receipts. It's stored data that can run on green. U can't build up real credit with just cash and simple little furniture and simple car loans. U need credit cards that age and lines of credit to start a businesses. Best thing to do with credit cards is get the one without fees and forget u have them. Just let it sit there and age.

[@peterparker219]

Public transport in Germany is often late and it happens from time to time that a bus or train doesn't come at all, but they never, never go ten minutes earlier than scheduled.

[@kaywunderlich7163]

It is normal that you use units of measurement (° C, meters, liters), as they are common here and everyone only uses these. At the time, yes we have the 24 hour information. But "you also meet: nachmittags um 4 (Uhr)", so we also use the 12-hour system but say the day segment (afternoon / evening / night ...) Am / pm is not understandable to many. Drying clothes - I've heard that some states in the USA do not allow clothes to be hung outside ...? There you have to use the dryer, the electricity companies will be happy ...

[@FabFunty]

What you're experiencing is called getting "germanized" a slow and silent but deeply affecting process that mostly ends in a satisfactory living 😉

[@Fuerwahrhalunke]

Too bad this germanization doesn't apply for all cultures 😉

[@FabFunty]

@@Fuerwahrhalunke Yes, it doesn't even happen to all Germans, some still think they are something special because they got the luck to be born in this country and therefore be entitled to a better life than the rest of the world.😶

[@Fuerwahrhalunke]

@@FabFunty I wasn't talking about us Germans and you know it

[@FabFunty]

@@Fuerwahrhalunke Yes, but I included them into "all cultures" even if you don't like to see it this way.

[@erzsebetnilsson580]

You pack all your grocery shop back to the cart step on the side and in your own speed you organize and pack as you want to your bag.

[@ajisroadtrippin5505]

The „24 hour system” is a way to tell time nearly everywhere outside of the US. There can be no ambiguity about time when using it. It’s really not that hard since there are 24 hours in a day.

[@flybywire5866]

And its easy to translate: add 12 to any PM time

[@stephanweinberger]

@@flybywire5866 except for the 59 minutes after midnight an noon :-) 12:30pm = 12:30, but 12:30am = 0:30

[@sonja055]

It is sooo cute when you're talking German, it sounds sooo cute

[@Lukeddd]

About counting: In my opinion it is historically based. You start with index finger and count to 4. Only thump was 5 and then you count till 9 with ONLY one hand. This is incredible fast communication for trading nations on crowded markets. But somehow this became forgotten over time...

[@Marc-zi5cq]

How cute your German sounds at the end. Dont be self conscious, you're lucky American accent is considered really charming and cute, so i'm sure you will get alot of smiles when you speak German :)

[@PEdulis]

Another reason why payments by cash are more common here is because payments by card simply make products more expensive. If a store accepts cards, the card issuer always gets a certain percentage of the transferred money, so the shop owner doesn't get 100% of the money you pay and therefore, he needs to make his products more expensive if he wants to earn the same. I prefer to let the shop owner get the money I pay instead of someone who doesn't really do anything but move my money to the shop owner earn a part of that money.

[@lutz.richter]

It is so much better to pay with cash, it has the advantage that you can't track your purchases, you have more control over your spending and if the bank charges negative interest then you are on the safe side with cash.

[@manuelg.5811]

The whole card vs cash is easily explained: cost per transaction. If you google for 'Bezahlen: Bargeldlos mit EC-Karte bis 25 Euro ist am schnellsten' you will find an article by computerbase, which goes into detail about time & laborcost. Receiving money by card is like paypal, you have a fixed fee + a percentage. If I buy two bottles of beer and a Snickers for like 3€, the store will burn money. I also know this from New York, where many small food places would have a big 'cash only' plastered on the register for the same reason. This way of thinking is a bit short sighted, but many small independent stores only see the direct economical impact.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Great video just found your channel have a great time living in Germany 🇩🇪 take care from Canada 🇨🇦 Cheers 🍷👍🍺

[@neevabee_]

Thanks!!!! :)

[@bhoyetmastertvvlog4638]

new friend

[@michaelfuerstenberg7983]

You’re so beautiful!! Ben is a lucky guy!

[@neevabee_]

Thank you!

[@gisellereeves7815]

Neeva love your videos

[@argh1975]

A dryer needs a lot of electricity, which isn't good for the environment and your purse.

[@marcuszaja6589]

I never experienced myself, but one of the most punctual public transport is in Japan (esp. the Shinkansen).

[@alexcarrigan8367]

You are talking about the long distance trains ! Well done with your german text. Regards alex

[@FilipinaWifeAbroad]

I just enjoyed watching u talking because your face shape is beautiful, kind of egg. I want to lose the fats in my jaw part. Anyways, great to hear that u feel u have improved yourself in Germany. Yup, little changes but to run for a train is good for me but not eating bread a lot hehehe. Looking forward to more of your awesome videos, supporting here

[@jotcw81]

Are you calling her an egg-face?

[@axelk4921]

Time system: to say "The military time" is also wrong, in the military pronunciation a letter is always added. For example 0700 Z (Zulu), because it also specifies the location (region). During the Cold War, the ZULU time was valid in Germany in order to synchronize everyone around the world That was done to eradicate errors in the local "real time", 7 o'clock in Germany is 6 o'clock in England and so on, so when it said: we start at 0 700 Z, that means everyone around the world is doing it/something at the same time. And if someone now says we'll meet at 1500, it's only because he thinks it is special by the way Zulu does not mean "Germany" but the place where something started

[@tic-tacdrin-drinn1505]

If I try to count beginning with the "first finger" my thumb automatically goes up and the number "1" looks like "2". When it comes to the "am-pm" time, it always confuses me whether "12.00AM" is at night or noon.

[@emiliajojo5703]

I got a dryer,but don't use it,whenever possible.think quite common in Germany

[@jjinwien9054]

Because of the high energy costs, it was cheaper for me to hire a cleaning lady to do my washing and ironing (no dryer) with the same amount of money each month.

[@bhoyetmastertvvlog4638]

@@jjinwien9054 new friend

[@jbsmarklinmodellbahn1728]

Nice to hear you speak german. Lovely :-)

[@alexxseven6790]

You are a very nice person and I like watching your videos. Please do a video in German as you have announced now ! I'd love to hear your experiences in german language !

[@V100-e5q]

Congrats! You are the first American who has gotten the system at the cashier: Plan ahead. Everybody else is just complaining but not saying whether they changed developed their packing strategy.

[@saschamohr7970]

I live cashless here. Well, parked my car this morning in a street dowtown. I would have needed 25 cents for parking. Did I mention that I live cashless?

[@flybywire5866]

Das doofe ist dann immer wenn man doch mal Kleingeld braucht, hat man nix.

[@ProjektleiterBroteundBroetchen]

@@flybywire5866 aber für Kleingeld kannst du meistens jemanden fragen weil ist ja nur Kleingeld

[@flybywire5866]

@@ProjektleiterBroteundBroetchen Kleingeld ist auch Geld, nicht "nur" Kleingeld. Ich bezahle meinen Kram selber und würde niemals erwarten das mir jemand auch nur einen Cent gibt. Ich würde auch nie fragen. Wenn ich kein Geld habe, kann ich nichts kaufen.

[@ProjektleiterBroteundBroetchen]

@@flybywire5866 ja genau und wenn du zB 50cent zum parkieren brauchst dann fährst du zur Bank und hebst 50 cent ab oder was

[@flybywire5866]

@@ProjektleiterBroteundBroetchen Das ist Unfug und du weisst das.

[@DoktorIcksTV]

Because so many people complain about the fact that you need cash to survive in Germany, I thought about it a bit: 1. cash is freedom. Germany has a very long history of surveillance and we might be a bit paranoid about it. But just because you are paranoid doesn't mean that nobody is spying on you ;) My bank, the state and my wife (or whoever can look at my bank records) don't need to know what I bought with my money where and at what time. Period. 2. if I use cash, I have much better control over my spending. When I go shopping in the city, I put in exactly the amount I want to spend at the maximum. With a credit card I would exceed my limit much more often. This could be one reason why so many Americans are over-indebted, especially since the whole society is also very consumerist. 3. cashless payment costs fees, it costs me fees at the bank (depending on the bank) and it costs the business a lot more fees. Especially for small purchases the fees can be higher than the actual value of the goods. And of course the store owners would have to pass these fees on to the customers, so the prices would have to be increased drastically. That might be also the reason why so few small stores offer card payment and why card payment is possible only starting from a minimum amount. I think these are three very good reasons to stick to cash. It helps against theft if you don't carry your whole monthly salary with you all the time, but only what you need. Against tax evasion there is the Bonpflicht since this year. The only disadvantage I see is that criminal business, especially organized crime and drug-related crime, is made a little easier. On the other hand, I might give a homeless person a 10 Euro banknote, but I will certainly not give him money by credit card, not even a cent.

[@SvEd76]

It really depends on where you live in Germany. Here in the north near Hamburg, I can even pay for my bread rolls using my phone. Also I can't remember when I had to pay with cash this year. Thanks to the pandemic, Germany isn't *that* far behind any more. 😉

[@ruthCatalunia]

great content thanks for sharing

[@naseimwind1]

Germany was hit by the worldwide recession in the 20th very hard. Also Germany was Location of multiple wars (others started), one major one we contributed among many others, and one big one we started. In all these valuables you couldn’t carry with you lost their value or were gone. This experience is culturally engrained in older generations. In Addition small, private stores loose money on electronic Money. With an EC Card (Cash Card) you can pay in most places. Credit Cards are less common, you had to pay annual fees (in addition shop’s loose profit as 2-3 % of your payment is going to the credit card company) and American Express (it was 4% if I am not wrong) due to expensive fees is uncommon!

[@saschamohr7970]

Supermarket and working there. There is actually a stat scanned items per minute...

[@Macca-zx7gz]

I was today years old when I found out Americans start counting with their index finger & not the thumb..... and now I can't stop thinking about it 😂 The UK also uses the 24hr clock or 'military time' but when we say the time we'd say; for example 'quarter past 4' rather than 16:15..... and i never thought about that until today either 🤔 My mind has been blown 🤯 😂

[@TheRockingjack]

It is the same in Germany, wir sagen auch fünf nach drei statt 15:05

[@sinusnovi3826]

@@TheRockingjack In meiner Gegend sagt man auch "dreiviertel drei" für 14:45 Uhr

[@TheRockingjack]

@@sinusnovi3826 warum nicht Viertel vor drei;)

[@sinusnovi3826]

@@TheRockingjack na ja, ist ein Wort mehr, das spart man sich bei uns. 😎

[@bjoern0975]

In most cases, prefering cash over cards is motivated by the wish for control over personal spending. But there's also a political movement and many books against electronic payments. They are warning that, if cash is gone, besides other dangers, a potential future totalitarian government would be able to control all money flow and it would be very hard for any opposition to form at all. Deutsche Bahn used to be famous for its punctuality - but that waned after its privatization, when it was restructured to generate profits.

[@dagmarbubolz1227]

As a mom I would say it's so mch easier to teach your kids about the money when you use cash. You can basically do it from a young age, that way they learn how to not spend much and kind of grow a feeling for it. They also have to do math while doing so, a nice side effect. The kids can also put part of it aside and save. I see youth that use preferrably cards and usually they already start to have dept at young age. Of course you could document your spendings when using a crad, but the fact is most people don't.

[@z.z.vonschnerk1386]

I ever wondered what "bread persons" would like. I`m impressed.

[@FabFunty]

I always thought they are a bit darker but she's more of the 405 type, I guess 🤣

[@usagi67]

Cash; A good way to keep expenses under control.

[@zam1am]

am/pm used to be morgens/(vor|nach)mittags/abends/nachts before Tchibo started to sell more (digital) watches than your local jeweller, late 70s/early 80s. Vier Uhr morgens, elf Uhr vormittags, zwölf Uhr mittags, zwei Uhr nachmittags, acht Uhr abends.

[@bhoyetmastertvvlog4638]

i loved it to share your story staysafe always see u around

[@renewalsch43]

I don't think we Germans are hesitant to use credit cards (some are). I am German for 57 years now, and at least I would LOVE to pay all my stuff with credit card (or its little sister EC card). I do believe the simple reason why credit cards are often not accepted in Germany (it became better in the past years) is the share of money the merchant has to pay to VISA, AMEX, MASTERCARD etc. and the pretty high rent for the electronic device that is needed. I am not an expert but I heard of 4 to 7% of the price a taxi driver has to give away to the credit card company when you pay with credit card (EC card about 1%). The advantages of the credit card system for the merchant (customers spend more money) are apparently either still unknown or not convincing to many of them.

[@capricorn1970i]

I believe paying with cash (groceries, restaurants etc.) prevents yourself spending more money than you have and that many Germans see it that way. My sister was married to an American and I got the impression that many Americans cannot handle their expenses, as you said, paying by phone or credit card does'nt feel like spending money. If I have 150 Euros in cash I see directly where and when I spent it 😊

[@m3redgt]

I just realized you do look a little bit like GoodnightmoonASMR (Erin Timony) in some shots

[@patrickmathis9212]

Can you tell us, how you learned german. Your german is very good and I’m interested in witch time you learn it.

[@arnolsi]

We use 1,2, 3, 4.... for time in the afternoon also. You never heard for example quarter 4 (viertel 4) for 3:15 or half 4 (halb 4) for 3:30 and three-quarter 4 (dreiviertel 4) for 3:45? It's not used everywhere in germany, I think most in the southern parts. It's confusing even germans:-)

[@neevabee_]

Haha yes! I know you can say it this way :) but it’s things like technology where I actually see the numbers. For example if I see 16:00 now I immediately think it’s 4 o’clock, but most Americans have no idea what time it is

[@TheRockingjack]

Ist in Ostdeutschland auch so, hab schon paarmal versucht denen zu erklären das die Uhrzeit kein Kuchen ist;) viertel vor und viertel nach macht weit aus mehr Sinn.😂

[@nerisaednalino]

hi to u new friend here from Philippines happy to see u there thanks for sharing this video

[@IIIOOOUS]

We have also am and pm. We call it e.g 11Uhr morgens and 11Uhr abends .

[@MyEconomics101]

You brow game. Can you make a video, or reply what products you use and how to apply for your brows?

[@tonzelle2720]

Playing in cash is a typical Herman thing, in the Netherlands we mostly Paul with our debit card or a phone app

[@benderon2940]

Hi ton .. what did you smoke to make somany mistakes??funny as hell:)

[@sanctanox]

The reason for cash: It's cheaper for the shops and restaurants. That's the main reason for it. You have to pay for every single credit card transaction.

[@florchannel4750]

Thank you for the tips

[@Kessina1989]

6:45 During corona some shops in Germany only accept cards.... 7:40 Never heard that trains in Germany leave earlier, mostly there are late...

[@jarrad2000]

Nope, I've had it happen to me twice within one year. It's rare but it can really happen that a train arrives and leaves early. Especially the 3rd party (not Deutsche Bahn) trains sometimes have very spontaneous "only for a day" schedule changes that are only announced online on their website (not the DB website).

[@loosusan5412]

Using dryer would waste so much electricity

[@Honeyfruity]

it is not behinde too pay with cash. it shows you how much money you have and you build less debts. my opinion

[@Baccatube79]

Trains will NOT leave early. That is the one thing they just don't do. They are late or don't go at all but they don't leave early. So if you've gotta run that's because you were late in the first place.

[@jarrad2000]

They do. I've had it happen. It wasn't a Deutsche Bahn train though, it was Eurobahn (I live next to the Dutch border and they go from Venlo through a whole lot of other stations to Düsseldorf). It's very uncommon but it happened twice in one year.

[@HotelPapa100]

"It's not like a big deal" Inglorious Basterds: "Hold my beer!" As for military time: 3 Uhr Nachmittags will be understood, it's just fallen out of fashion and feels slightly dated. What I find funny about American bread is that Americans seem to think that their 'Sliced bread' is the best thing since, you know, sliced bread... Trains will NEVER leave early. Late, that's a different story... The super speedy checkout is mostly a contest among the hard discount (lidl, aldi and their ilk) checkout chicks (don't sue me; I learned this term from an ozzie sheila) in my experience.

[@thomashubert2977]

There is nothing better than sun dried clothes 😊