Paying for bathrooms is common in Europe. For that you get clean bathroom (toilet paper and water is also a cost for a company who keeps these places clean.) Here in Estonia, some places are free of charege ( bigger shopping centers, gas stations.) Tipping here isnt a big deal, because the compnay has to pay normal wage to its workers. For me is the way american companies dont pay for its workers normal wages bizarre.

Store opening hours in Germany are regulated on state level, and Bavaria has the most restricted business hours. In Baden-Württemberg, lots of supermarkets were open until midnight BEFORE COVID. Most have reduced this to 10pm during the pandemic, and haven't gone back since. I guess it was an economic decision. Not enough turnover after 22h to justify keeping the stores open. Kiosks in cities are still open until late.

@anonymusum

Жыл бұрын

Von mir aus könnten alle Läden um 18:00 Uhr schließen. Man kann sich darauf einstellen.

@silkwesir1444

Жыл бұрын

I don't think it had anything to do with the pandemic. (Except maybe the other way around, less people able to work means shorter hours, but not as a deliberate choice.) In fact, there were even talks about opening shops for longer and even on Sundays because of the pandemic. Why? To spread out the people so the store gets less crowded at any particular time because there is more time available as a whole. Not sure if anywhere it was actually done, but 2020 for a time at least in some parts of Germany there was legislation that would have allowed grocery stores to open on Sundays.

@silkwesir1444

Жыл бұрын

@@anonymusum Nicht jeder kann sich darauf einstellen.

@anonymusum

Жыл бұрын

@@silkwesir1444 Das halte ich für eine rein theoretische Behauptung.

@LuxLikeGaming

Жыл бұрын

@@anonymusum 18 Uhr find ich auch zu früh, aber 20 Uhr sollte tatsächlich für so gut wie Jeden ausreichen.

Regarding the opening hours of shops: The health of the employees is a very important matter in Germany. So working hours are regulated by federal law based upon european regulation. Opening shops till late would demand more staff which will increase the costs. (Don't forget: Germany is a high wage country). If the costs for the shops are increasing, the prices for the goods will go up, too.

Montana, rlly like your vids but pls don't just talk about your 1 household u know in Germany. I always had lots of freezer space and in each of my houses my cold water is VERY cold instantly. It all depends.... And about the tipping : I wanna chose how much I tip or not depending on how good the service was and so on. I hate to be forced to tip. In the US, the way they do it I think they could just pay the employees a bit more and raise prices by 5-10% and then no tipping. It's not a tip when u have to do it..... IMHO

I personally tip depending on the service level and kindness of the waiter and usually roughly 10%. The fridge really depends and there are various sizes and combinations from different brands so you can choose what fits best for you. We also have brands selling american style fridges. For bigger families especially in more remote areas you usually have a seperate freezer in the pantry so you can buy a lot in advance but in the city you often only have a combination because the next store is only minutes away. I personally only have a very small freezer compartment inside my fridge which is just enough for me.

Opening hrs in Germany obviously depend on if u live in a small or big city coz here in Hamburg almost each supermarket closes at 9-11pm and that should be late enough, right? :)

Tipping isn't really a thing in most of Europe. Sure you can leave some money or change but there isn't really a tipping culture

Until 1996 the shop closing time was at 6.30pm here in Germany. And on Saturday the shop closing time was at 4 pm, and any first Saturday in a month the shop closing time was extended until 6 pm. Since 2006 any German state has its own shop closing time. Greetings from Hamburg

@hansmuller3604

Жыл бұрын

I remember saturdays closing at 1pm

The Freezer thing to my understanding: Anyhow, most of the families have a separate freezer, because the freezer in the fridge is too small. And a combined freezer/fridge is usually not very energy-efficient, so that's why most germans buy fridges without freezer. For a small student appartment, it is different, because you might not have the space for two devices, so you might go for the combined one.

In many cities in Germany you will find supermarkets (Rewe, Kaufland, Edeka) that are open until midnight. But each federal state has own laws. Those laws are very strict in Bavaria. In some large cities you will also have open supermarkets on Sundays like in Berlin, Hamburg in the train stations.

In Spain stores are open very late, because they are often closed on afternoons. Same goes with working life when people have a "siesta" between 2pm and 5pm. But that is just Spain.

Tip = Trinkgeld... means the same. in germany there is of course nothing for the worst case scenario. And than between 2 to 10% of the bill. depends how satisfied you was with food, drinks and service.

the amount you gonna tip in germany depends on the service level you get. I tip even more when the service is 5/5 - it shouldn't be 10% everytime when the waiter is not doing his job and getting something out of it.

@MauriceDeek

Жыл бұрын

And the thing with the freezers are not true at all. We got a "Gefrierkombination" and the Freezer Part is 50%. Depends on Brand and Size of it. There's no "german freezer type"

@silkwesir1444

Жыл бұрын

@@MauriceDeek But there is an "American freezer type", which does exist in Germany, but is unusual. Really big ones, often with "ice crushing machine" built in. Maybe it's more common in Spain.

@MauriceDeek

Жыл бұрын

@@silkwesir1444 Never had a small one tbh. And the ice machine is also in it. It's a cost thing I guess. These are expensive.

Schule und Universität sind so verschieden. An deutschen Unis sind auch alle relaxed und genießen das Leben ( nicht nur in Barcelona)

i agree with all your points, its annoying, especially the water, sometimes its instantly cold or hot and sometimes it takes forever.

I feel uncomfortable with tipping in the US, so the feeling is reprociated. While workers are not paid super high wages, at least they can live from the wage alone and the tips are extra. I liked the free water in the US, at least if it tasted ok. Compared to German tap water it was usually awful - we were happy for the water filter in the fridge in our apartment. Regarding opening hours i feel more for the workers that have to staff the supermarket. It's no longer closing time at 6pm, but usually open until 10, should be manageable for whatever life rhythm you have - for the night you have Kiosks where you pay more. A point where i agree with you is paying for toilets, i think it should be managed/paid for by the state.

Hi Montana, well, wherever you are you will have pros and cons to that place.I hope the mentioned things didnt bother you that much and at least, you obviously survived it which is good, very good. Enjoy your life in Spain and make the most out of it. Stay safe and healthy. CU

Bavaria is like the only state in Germany where stores have to close at 8 pm or earlier. Here in Berlin I dont think there is any grocery store that closes before 9 pm. Many are open until 10 pm and some are open until like midnight or 11.30 pm or something like that. We also have some grocery stores here that open on sundays. And often you can also get some very basic groceries in a Späti (for those who dont know: It's short for Spätkauf, literally meaning late purchase, and it is like a big kiosk).

The worst thing about Germany is bureaucracy. It's archaic, slow, infuriating and annoys literally everyone. Literally everyone hates it, yet no one changes it and I just don't get why. Only reason I can come up with is that many bureaucrats would lose their high paying but completely unnecessary jobs

Upon arriving in Germany, I was shocked to find stores closed on Sundays 😅

You don't tip in USA, you pay the waiter a part of his wage (the employer should do)! A tip is something additional freely given for good service / extraordinary performance.

If you miss Germany so badly, you might consider to visit the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean. Mallorca is often humorously considered the 17th Bundesland because of its many German visitors and inhabitants.

Water isn't free in Germany. Not even tap water is free for the consumers and you can tip anyone here as often and as much as you want. Nobody will prevent you from doing it. When in Rome do what the Romans do :) I could very likely never live in the U.S..

Since you are an American, I totally get that you compare things to how they are in your home country and also how they are in other european countries. That's alright, we all have to compare to understand what the ideal version of something is. It's your personal opinion. The more you come around in the world, the more you will discover the many little and bigger differences between cultures, countries and how things are done. It then seems weird that countries on the same continent that are even neighbours seem to handle things quite differently. Still it's a bit unfair to e.g. expect all shops in Germany to be open until midnight or toilets to be free (that doesn't make in even bigger cities). As was pointed out, in Bavaria, shops can only be opened from 6-20, in most federal states, they can do that around the clock. Giving tips when eating outside can be annoying and costly but I'm supporting the employees with that money. The thing is that you will automatically compare the best approach for any issue with the less good approach from another country. Ah, in Germany you have to pay for a glass of water - it's free in other countries. I'm very certain, there are many great things about Germany that are way better than in other countries. It's a first world country to begin with, so while everybody is entitled to his/her own oppinion, IMHO we are talking about first world problems here. Often we don't realize that we in Germany have access to the highest standards in the world. We who are born into this luxury (and I'm not saying that life here is easy, you have to work hard to succeed) totally take it for granted but obviously there are more than enough people here in Germany that cannot afford the normal things many people can.

Paying for bathrooms? Do you believe those people keeping bathrooms in good working order and clean work for free? This is always a strange comment coming from Americans where tipping is the norm...

A tip is a tip. It is what ever you want to give extra. You don't have to give anything. Just what you think they deserve.

I live in the United States, and I always make plans with my friends at least 5 days in advance. One of my friends in the U.S. ate at KFC and got food poisoning.

Well tap water has just the temperature of the storage facility? So i think that's different everywhere here in Germany. But everything else i agree - ah yeah =)) - with freezers - i think it's all okay you can choose which size you like - it's not that you couldn't buy any size you want - even US size if you want =)

First: German Version / Second: Englisch Version of my Comment :) -Ich finde es auch verrückt, wie viel Wasser kostet, aber wenn es darum geht, zu Hause Wasser zu trinken, kannst du einfach den Hahn aufdrehen und dieses Wasser trinken. Natürlich zahlt man dafür ja auch irgendwie in den Nebenkosten, aber es ist nicht so teuer, wie im Supermarkt gekauft. :) -Trinkgeld ist wirklich ein großes Thema über das man ein ganzes Video machen könnte. Ich finde es auch schwierig, wie viel man geben sollte. -Öffnungszeiten: ich verstehe, dass es manchmal nervig ist, wenn Läden früh schließen. Einerseits gibt es viele Leute, die keinen 9-5 Job haben und wesentlich später ihre Einkäufe machen können, andererseits muss ja jemand dort auch arbeiten. Wer also von Mittags bis 22 Uhr arbeitet, zu Hause aber Kinder hat, hat von seiner Familie leider nichts. Daher finde ich es nicht schlimm, dass einige Geschäfte schon um 18 Uhr schließen. Bedenke auch, dass Mitarbeiter bezahlt werden wollen und am liebsten vernünftig und nicht für 3€ die Stunde. Will heißen, wenn du länger auf hast, musst du Mitarbeiter bezahlen, danach muss man errechnen, ob sich das ganze finanziell lohnt, anhand der Käufer, die dann zu später Stunde dein Geschäft besuchen. -Öffentliche Toiletten zu bezahlen finde ich auch furchtbar und nutze dann lieber einen Park/Wald :D -Die Aussage, dass Kühlschränke in Deutschland alle kleine Gefrierfächer haben ist leider keine schlaue Aussage. Es kommt doch darauf an, welches Modell sich jemand kauft. Wenn jemand viel einfrieren will, kann man sich auch direkt eine Tiefkühltruhe kaufen oder eben einen Kühlschrank mit großen Fächern. -Ich finde es etwas strange, wie sehr du verallgemeinerst. Nur weil deine Freundesgruppe nicht spontan war, ist das doch nichts, was man an Deutschland nicht mag? -KFC ist Müll. -I also think it's crazy how much water costs, but when it comes to drinking water at home, you can just turn on the tap and drink that water. Of course you pay for it somehow in the additional costs, but it is not as expensive as bought in the supermarket. :) -Tipping is really a big topic that you could do a whole video about. I also find it difficult to know how much to give. -Opening hours: I understand that sometimes it's annoying when shops close early. On the one hand there are many people who don't have a 9-5 job and can do their shopping much later, on the other hand someone has to work there. So if you work from noon to 10 p.m. but have children at home, you unfortunately have nothing from your family. So I don't think it's a bad thing that some shops close at 6 p.m. Also consider that employees want to be paid and preferably reasonably and not for 3 € an hour. In other words, if you stay open longer, you have to pay employees, then you have to calculate whether the whole thing is financially worthwhile, based on the buyers who then visit your shop late at night. - I also find it terrible to pay for public toilets and prefer to use a park/forest :D -The statement that refrigerators in Germany all have small freezer compartments is unfortunately not a clever statement. It all depends on which model someone buys. If someone wants to freeze a lot, you can also buy a freezer directly or a refrigerator with large compartments. -I find it a bit strange how much you generalize. Just because your group of friends wasn't spontaneous, isn't that something you don't like about Germany? -KFC is garbage.

@silkwesir1444

Жыл бұрын

Yeah @KFC but you shouldn't get sick from it, at least in Germany or the EU in general. This really is unusual. They could get sued big time over that.

@bearenkindercool

Жыл бұрын

apart from that kfc is american company. :-) anyhow the restrictions and food controls are taken in all places. you just had bad luck that day, or itwas even kfc. talking about expensive water, i wonder why starbucks is kinda popular anywhere. even though the coffee is not very good, but this sugary stuff, you don't need - so let's talk about price at starbucks (horrific) rather than european water.

Typical German comments oder sich bis-aufs-kleinste-Detail-rechtfertigen… 😫 Montana, please keep making such honest videos. I was born and raised in Germany, have been to many places in the world and agree with you on many of them! Paying so much for water is outrageous, they should take a leaf out of the French book. Opening hours, especially in Munich, are atrocious, after work you can only get something decent and very overpriced in 2 Edekas in the city. Standard fridges really do have a small freezer compartment. And yes, true, you have to make appointments with your friends for meetings here. However, my friends with a migration background are a bit more relaxed, they are more spontaneous. Great video :)

We really appreciate the free tap water you can get everywhere 😊 And YES, tipping can be a bit confusing in Germany 😅 You have to do the math in front of the waiter and tell him what you want to tip 👀😬 One thing I really like in the US is that you can ask them to split the bill. Let's say you go out to eat with some friends, you give the waiters your credit cards and they just split the bill equally. I don't think that's possible in Germany 🤔

@706532

Жыл бұрын

Bill splitting is very much possible and the norm in Germany. Even on the first date it is common to split the bill.

@AmericasGotGermans

Жыл бұрын

@@706532 Maybe, I did not phrase it right. "With splitting the bill", I mean that the waiter is splitting the bill for you. I have splitted bills with friends in Germany, but usually one friend payed the whole bill and we would figure it out afterwards. Here in the US, you can just hand them all your credit cards and they split the bill equally, meaning they come back with a separate bill for everyone showing the splitted amount. Does this make sense? I haven't seen that in Germany.

@Z1.9160

Жыл бұрын

you are right.👍🏻🙂

@706532

Жыл бұрын

@@AmericasGotGermans Just say "getrennt" to the waiter. He will bring you "getrennte Rechnungen" meaning separate bills.

@AmericasGotGermans

Жыл бұрын

@@706532 But they wouldn't seperate the bill equally. If you say "getrennt", they ask you what you pay for. For my friends and I, it doesn't matter if someone had a drink more than the other and we usually just want to split the bill eqully. And that is not feasible (as far as I know) in Germany, unless you do the math and collect the money from your friends.

Paying for the bathroom is even worse in the Netherlands 🥲

The American finds Trinkgeld confusing, haha! How ironic. But yea, we don’t like paying for the toilet either. The warm tab water thing I’ve never experienced before. 🤔

how about that toilet seat? you know, with that plateau in it. are these common in spain as well? i cant imagine you would miss those. 🤔

So in Germany they don’t give you tap water in cafes/restaurants etc? 😮

@keti.rg.editzzz

Жыл бұрын

Nope. That was something I really liked about the US. You get water for free so I never needed to pay for water

@JanBebendorf

Жыл бұрын

Well yes and no. When you order a non-carbonated water you still get expensive mineral water which is usually the same or even more expensive than sugary soft-drinks. Tap water has to be served for free by law if you explicitly ask for it but nobody would order tap water (especially because tap water is very unreliable in taste).

@mausklick1635

Жыл бұрын

If you specifically ask for tap water, you will usually get some. Certainly in all establishments i frequent.

@silkwesir1444

Жыл бұрын

You will get it if you ask, but they don't offer it by default. Also they may dislike you asking for tap water, because they assume this means you will order no or less actual drinks and hence they lose income.

Wasser aus der Leitung ist in Deutschland trinkbar und von hoher Qualität

Normally we give a 10% tip in Germany. But there are stingy people who tip less or not at all.

Gut dass sie nicht an die HSG in St. Gallen gegangen ist, was sie von Deutschland nicht vermisst, ist in der Schweiz gleich.

Here is a great video on tipping and why it is so wrong in the US: kzread.info/dash/bejne/c3h62s1pl6SfoLQ.html

Wait did i really just hear you say you have instant rice in the freezer. We talking the uncle bens chicken and rice pouches or frozen ready meals? Also paying to use a public toilet, well if i was in germany they could run a buisness based on just me using the toilet due to my anxiety and ibs.

It's ridiculous when you were an exchange student in a family a long time ago and want to draw conclusions about the whole of Germany from your very brief experience then. You're telling stories about stereotypes that are none, but your stories lack objectivity and research. Instead of telling again and again the same nonsense, which was forgivable when you were 17. Tab water, opening hours, kitchens, toilets, ice... It's annoying. Examples: No freezers in Germany. Complete nonsense. In Germany most people have a house with a basement, there stands a chest freezer in 87% of German households. We don't have to give away any space in our kitchen and we're not so lazy that we couldn't walk down the stairs to get an ice cream. Most German refrigerators also have a small freezer compartment for temporary storage. If your host family didn't have one and didn't have a chest either, they are an absolute exception. Example of opening hours: here you fulfill the total stereotype of American consumerism with no thought of employee rights and no social-economic sense. In Germany we have rights for employees. Also the right to at least 24 hours of free time per week. You are not allowed to work more than an average of 48 hours a week throughout the whole EU, so second and third jobs are not possible and nobody with a job needs them. In addition, employees are entitled to supplements for night work, work on public holidays (which would have to be paid up to 2.5 times as much) and on Sundays. Our shops would incur considerable costs if they were open at night and on Sundays, with not much more sales volume. Because dollars, like euros, can only be spent once by the customers. We also think before we buy. That's why we don't use credit cards, we use debit cards, and we have a lot less debts than the US. You only have your great opening hours because people don't even get the subsistence level, not to mention social security. In Spain this works, because of mass tourism, an high unemployment rate and with a lot of undeclared work without paying taxes. But, as you may have noticed, even there small shops are closed at lunchtime. Example free tap water: In Germany, waitresses are paid fairly. Even when ordering tap water, work is done and the landlord incurs costs. Also costs that people like you have no idea about. We have high hygiene requirements. A restaurant must have two water pipes. One for service water, one for cooking and drinking water that will be heated, e.g. for cooking or coffee. If cold water should be served, the restaurant needs a third water pipe. That's very expensive. Since the vast majority in this country prefers mineral water to tap water, it's not worth it. Especially since we Germans are also in a generous mood when we go out to eat and enjoy our nice meal with a nice drink. We also don't want drinks watered down by ice cubes, which take up 70% of the volume in a glass, so that restaurants can of course refill generously in the US. Germany is Germany and not the USA. Thank God!

Hallo Montana, wohin bist du denn nach Spanien gezogen? Übrigens stehen dir die kürzeren Haare richtig gut! LG aus Berlin

Wow Montana, nice look.

Kennst du eigentlich "Kentucky schreit ficken"? kzread.info/dash/bejne/i4CftcxsmKjbnKg.html

Well,... Gandhi would have seen it as a "Service to the Community", to clean the Toilets ONESELF ...and for free. =)

Excuse me, but i stopped watching your vid after 90 seconds. There are far too many hard cuts in it. That makes me nervous. Cuts need some time between them for "old" people.

from sri lanka

adorable as always.👍🏼💎👍🏼

Cellar is a English word. 👌

@melindar.fischer5106

Жыл бұрын

I was going to write this 😊. Keller = cellar. I can understand why Montana paused for a moment, questioning whether Keller was an English word or not. I think it's funny that she concluded that it was an English word. Close! Those words are cognates.

I miss the old bw habits for young men in Germany ;-( (get out for a weekend or so.....now they can't maybe for climate protection reasons or so...but CO2 is compensated through other hands...guess what it means than..... ;-( )

imagine tipping

@Ltsyy

Жыл бұрын

why not?

@lukpro

Жыл бұрын

@@Ltsyy because we pay our waiters good enough

@Ltsyy

Жыл бұрын

@@lukpro not really + it‘s just common decency to give a tip tbh

Nice... love from Israel 🇮🇱

Hast Du die Haare kürzer geschnitten?

I remember back in 2009 I had them got a letter that this new "crypto" was goona officially launch no lie there was an offer saying that for just a little as $500 can get thousands of BTC which obviously wasn't even worth millions of a penny as I'm writing this BTC is worth $40k for share damn how I regret that😢😢😢

@antonyromeo6523

Жыл бұрын

This post is so valuable and so honest. I'm very grateful for this content, I have been making losses trying to make profits trading. I thought trading demo account is just like trading, the real market. Can anyone help me out or at least advise me on what to do

@matthewdozie

Жыл бұрын

I will forever be indebted to you I will continue to preach about your name for the whole world to know you have saved me from a huge financial debt with just little investment thanks so much expert Mrs Amelia

@silkwesir1444

Жыл бұрын

Well, you know the saying "who gets the last laugh"... Now that crypto is a sinking ship, you can be glad that you made the right choice after all ;)

Du mußt noch viel lernen. MfG

@janab.7037

Жыл бұрын

was meinst du?