Way of life in Germany

Cash is still the preferred form of payment,

Water has to be ordered - still - I mean STILL - not sparkling if you don't like incessant bubbles in your drink - there are no free lunches for sure but not even free water (except in Starbucks - go USA),

Speaking of - there are more bier gartens than Starbucks - go Germany,

Beer in general is cheaper than water - go Germany,

People buy what they need - because they do not have cars (they export them all - go (to) USA) to haul away a 48 pack of anything,

People answer questions as they are asked and answer them literally - a slight mispronunciation makes them think you do not know what you are talking about and they will walk away,

Not much new construction going on in any town we saw - except maybe Stuttgart - leads me to think there is zero population growth,

In spite of the beer everywhere culture it is rare to see a guy or gal stoned out,

Smoking is permitted in many parts of the country - so much so that there is a Raucher (smoking) and Nicht Raucher zone at each train station. Of course remember you can always ABFAHRT!

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