The Questions You Should Ask . . . 

By: Liam Walsh

             The first article I read from “When in Germany, Do as the Germans do,” is titled “Questions you should ask – part 1.” In this article it proposes three questions you should ask yourself before you leave for Germany. I found this article to be ironic but eye opening because I read it after I already left, but it gave some insight to activities that I already performed without thinking much about it.

            The three questions that the article asked were: 1) Will my credit card work in Germany? 2) Will my cellphone work in Germany? 3) How about electricity and appliances? The reason that there are important question to think about before leaving is because European and more specifically German standards of living are much different then those found in America.

            The article breaks down the questions one-by-one and gives us their answers. For question 1, they say that most major credit cards are accepted in restaurants and shops that take credit cards; however they do note that not all stores accept credit. For question 2, they wrote that phones from North America won’t work Germany, but phones from England will. Lastly, for question 3, they say that German electricity comes in 220-volt, 50-hertz variety, which will destroy most North American 110-volt appliances without a converter.

            After reading the article I thought about my experience with my first week in Germany, and how this questions applied to my stay so far. For the credit card, I know that I can take money out of the ATM near by, which I might be doing often. It’s rare that I see a store that takes credit cards at all. I think REWE does and Sports Arena does, but my theory is that they only do so because they are major chains in a touristy area. For the second question I already dealt with my phone before I left. I called Verizon (my carrier) and let them know I was going abroad. So my phone can make calls and send texts because I’m on the Vodafone network. However, I should note that I don’t use the phone unless I am connected to Wi-Fi. As for the third question, I have a converter plug to use for my phone and laptop, however I don’t have a transformer so my alarm clock that I brought won’t work.

            Throughout the text I found that the article’s questions and answers are mostly correct. The only reason I say mostly is because with IPhones 4s and 5 you can have international usage, so through a technicality I can use my phone, but I still choose not to so I don’t have a major debt when I get back.  The lesson I learned from reading this article and thinking about how it relates to my first week here is that before you travel anywhere, outside the country or to another part of town, you should always think of how different it can be, similar to how in New Jersey you can’t pump your own gas, yet in New York most gas stations are self-service.