Germany

Did you see any of the migrants that
are taking over some German towns?
I'm reading a lot of horror stories.

Quote: Evenbob

Did you see any of the migrants that
are taking over some German towns?
I'm reading a lot of horror stories.

Not that I know of. When I went to Frankfurt (Oder) in East Germany, where my aunt lives, my cousin's wife told me they were housing thousands of them in old Russian military barracks. She pointed out pretty decent looking buildings that she said were full of refugees.

In northern Germany I think they are doing their best to keep as many as possible out of sight and mostly in rural East Germany, where West Germans almost never go anyway. I think the government only cuts them loose if they have a family member or some other source of support somewhere in Germany. They do not want them just roaming the streets or in tent refugee camps in the middle of major cities.

It may be different in southern Germany where they may be crossing over on their own and establishing colonies on the streets. Somebody I met told me she moved to Berlin from Munich because there were too many refugees in Munich. Her English wasn't very good so I couldn't press her on the details very well. Besides, she had an Elvis tattoo, so I preferred to torture her with Elvis trivia.

My fave Elvis trivia question is how
many Cadillacs did he give away.

Over 200. He once bought 32 in just
one day and gave them all away.

Quote: Wizard

Somebody I met told me she moved to Berlin from Munich because there were too many refugees in Munich.

Peoples opinions on demographics are always suspect. In Madrid I met many people who were terrified of the hordes of immigrants from Latin America and Africa. They are certainly much larger than historical numbers, but still incredibly small by American standards. Spain and Portugal joined (having applied in 1977) joined the EU on 1 January 1986, but immigration into Spain was almost nonexistent until the mid 1990's, and picked up considerably when Spain grew wealthy.

I read a study where almost 95% of people from a majority group overestimated the percentages of a minority group (removing the people who actually knew the statistics). Many people overestimated by huge numbers (300% or 400%) while virtually nobody massively underestimated.

Quote: Pacomartin

Peoples opinions on demographics are always suspect.

I tend to agree. I got the impression from her tone that she wanted nothing to do with any refugees. Her punishment for her perceived racism was the barrage of Elvis trivia questions.

Moving on, here is my obligatory picture of the Brandenburg Gate



The brief story is that the Gate once stood as the entrance to Berlin but today is in the middle of it. One one side is the enormous Tiergarten Park and the other a bustling German street. You will see hoards of tourists taking pictures. The Gate is one the few structures to survive World War II, although it was badly damaged. Later it served as a symbol of a divided Germany after the Berlin Wall and today represents a unified country. Its image can be found on the 0.50 Euro coin.

I was reading about a small German town
of 1200, that overnight has 2000 migrants
to deal with. The people in the town are
distraught, their way of life is turned
upside down overnight. Young girls
are being leered at and called 'Christian
whores' because the don't cover their
heads in public. None of this can end
well.

Is a VAT added automatically to all bills, or is tipping not a cultural expectation? Is it the same in all sectors (restaurants, valets, bell hops, cabs)? or are folks expected to tip some services, and not others?

Did you score any Eastern Bloc license plates?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Is a VAT added automatically to all bills, or is tipping not a cultural expectation? Is it the same in all sectors (restaurants, valets, bell hops, cabs)? or are folks expected to tip some services, and not others?

Yes, the VAT is automatically included in prices of everything. In other words, what you see is what you pay. However, the prices of just about everything is more than what you would pay here. An exception is cab rides, which seemed to be about 60% of what you would pay in the US. The cost of public transport, especially long-distance trains, is much less than what you would pay here.

From what I gathered, tipping in restaurants, bars, and cab drivers is to just round up rather than asking for small change in return. If you have the exact change it is fine to just pay that. Once I had the exact change for a cab ride but threw in some extra coins and the cab driver looked at me as if I couldn't add and gave the extra ones back. You do not seem to have to tip bellmen or the coat closet gals. At least I didn't and did not get a sarcastic "danke shoon" when I didn't.

One exception is that I was told that casino dealers worked nearly for free and relied on tips. I am not sure if that was just a shake down or really true. What I did observe is that after getting a blackjack the dealer made sure to include a 1 Euro chip in your winnings and it seemed customary to give it back as a tip. For example, if you bet 100 Euros, you would get paid a 100, 25, 5, 5, 5, 5, 1,1,1,1,1 Euro chips.

Quote:

Did you score any Eastern Bloc license plates?

No, the only legitimate license plates I saw for sale was a souvenir shop by the Berlin Wall with ordinary German license plates, which are easily obtainable here. I already had a former East German license plate, which are pretty difficult to obtain.

so what happened with that euro... regular drop box or separate dropbox? If there is no tip box, I don't see any use in tipping.

Quote: Fleastiff

so what happened with that euro... regular drop box or separate dropbox? If there is no tip box, I don't see any use in tipping.

I don't think it is normal to bet for the dealer in Germany. You just put it on the felt after the blackjack and it is understood it is a tip.