They do things differently here

Sunrise by school

That's a dumb title for a blog post because, duh! I've been writing for the last year about things that are new and different, things that I'm learning, things I have had to get used to. But sometimes it still surprises me how different the process is to accomplish everyday tasks here vs. in the US. I wonder which things a person who is an expat living in the US would find confusing and overly complicated compared to the way it is done back home??

The gals in my running group this morning

Today after my Friday morning run, (gratuitous photos - it was a beautiful morning!) I went to the doctor to get refills on a prescription. Whereas at home I would call Walmart and use their automated system to order a refill, and then go at my convenience to pick up the medicine all packaged up and waiting for me in a nice orange bottle with a childproof white cap with my name and dosage on the label, here the process is different. I learned this last year so I'm an old pro now. I went to the doctor during "talking hours" and asked at the reception for a new prescription (each time I go I get a 3 month supply). They print a piece of paper with my info and the medication info and then take it in to the doctor who either signs it or says she wants to see me first. Today she just signed it so I was on my way quickly. Then I take the paper to the small pharmacy by my house. They don't keep much medicine on the premises and have to place an order for most prescriptions. But wherever they order from is somewhere very local, because it arrives the same day. So I hand over the paper at the pharmacy and they tell me to come back this afternoon after 4 to pick up the medication. When I pick it up it will be in the box that it presumably comes from the factory in, no personalization or dosage instructions or anything. The pharmacist just hands it to you and you hope you remember how the doctor instructed you to take it! Now that I know how this process works, it was easy to do. But it still strikes me as being so different from what I'm used to.

Since that errand went so quickly, I decided to tackle a second errand that I have been putting off for a couple of months. This errand I have never done in Germany and I knew there would be a learning curve. This new errand was...an oil change. I mentioned in November that my car has been alerting me for a while that it needs an oil change and inspection. When I asked around, I was told to go to the dealer for service on the car. I was hoping to be able to make an appointment online so I wouldn't have to communicate with anyone in person, but no such luck. While procrastinating over the last few weeks, I noticed that an auto shop I have never paid attention to before is located on a corner not far from our house and they advertise oil changes and inspections. So today I decided that since I didn't need to be anywhere for a few hours I would drop by and see if maybe I could accomplish this.

This errand started out inauspiciously, since the shop is on a corner and I didn't know which street the entrance was on. I realized during a red light that I was in the left left-turn lane and I needed to be in the right. When the light turned I started slowly to let the first car beside me go by and then sped up to change to the righthand left turn lane and make my right turn immediately into the shop. This caused me to cross in front of a bus who, while far enough behind me to make this driving manoeuvre not totally unsafe, nevertheless was close enough for its driver to think that I shouldn't have done it and to voice his displeasure with a loud and protracted honk. Oops.

Shaking it off, I found the entrance and waited my turn for a serviceman to free up. When one did, our conversation went something like this (all in German):
Auto man: Good day.
Me: Good day. I need an oil change.
Auto man: Do you have an appointment?
Me: No, do I need one?
Auto man: Yes.
Me: Okay, then I'd like to make one for next week.
Auto man: Your papers please?
Me: Huh?
Auto man: I need the papers for your car.
Me: What papers?
Auto man: {indecipherable German}
Me: Hmmm. I don't know what that is. Let me go look in the car.

I went to the car and opened the glove compartment. I didn't see much but I grabbed the car's manual and the insurance papers and went back inside. The man looked through the manual and didn't find what he was looking for. He rejected the insurance papers.

Auto man: I need the {long German word that is probably the multi-syllabic name of some bureaucratic document}.

He pulls out his wallet and shows me a well-worn green folded paper that looks like nothing I have ever seen before. So apparently I can't get my oil changed without the official German documentation!

Me: When would I get this document? Who gave this document to me?
Auto man: You get it when you buy the car. Is this your car?
Me: Yes, this is my car.
Auto man: Let's go to your car.

We both walked out to the car. He looked behind the driver's and passenger's visors and then inside the glove compartment. He pulled out a small black wallet-y thing that had a folded paper in it with Dan's name on it. I had seen this when I had looked earlier but had dismissed it because it had Dan's name on it so I thought it was his driver's license.

Auto man: (laughing) This is the paper.
Me: I have never seen that paper before.
Auto man: It's a good thing the police never stopped you. You have to show this to the police if they stop you.
Me: Maybe they could have looked in my glovebox and found it. (I actually didn't say anything this complicated. What I actually said is "Maybe they find it." But this longer English sentence is what I actually meant.

We then went back inside and now that he was in possession of the necessary paperwork, he proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes or so typing things on the screen interspersed with periods of thinking.

Auto man: Do you want an oil change or an inspection which includes the oil change?
Me: My car says I need to do both. How much does it cost?
Auto man: I'm working on figuring that out.

Finally he showed me what he had come up with on the screen and I went into sticker shock. This was no $30 Jiffy Lube Signature Service. Two hundred thirty-seven euros! The replacement oil was 103 Euros! Plus 15 euros for the filter, plus the labor, plus the other charges for the inspection. Dan reminded me later that gas here is about 4 times more expensive than in the US, so it makes sense that oil, a different petroleum product, would be about 4 times as much. But wow!!

The man began to explain each line item to me and at this point he pretty much completely lost me because my German is nowhere near where it needs to be to understand a lengthy treatise on auto inspection and repair.  I did understand that about 45 euros of the total amount was for changing the air filter and cabin air filter. My Dad taught me that Jiffy Lube always tries to charge you an exorbitant amount for changing those for you but you can go buy the part at an auto supply shop and fix it yourself for half the cost. I also know that often the guys at Jiffy Lube will honestly tell you that they checked the filters and they were fine and didn't need replacing. So I tried to ask this guy if they always charge the money and replace the filters or if they only do it if they need replacing. I think he told me that the manual recommends replacement every two years. I tried to tell him that I bought the car only a year ago and it was the German equivalent of "certified pre-owned", so I thought the dealership had the car fully serviced before I bought it. Our conversation was deteriorating at this point because he was no longer making any attempt to dumb down his German or speak slowly for me, plus the technician next to him was also speaking in German to the person sitting with him at his desk, and all the German was combining in my ears and I couldn't make out what my guy was saying vs. what the guy next to him was saying. So my guess as to what my guy answered is that the dealership should have marked in the service record section of the book if they had done any service, and since it wasn't recorded there then it hadn't been done. But it's possible that that may not bear any resemblance whatsoever to what he actually said. He talked some more and I just gave up and said "Okay" because really - what choice did I have? I could have walked out and gone to the dealership and gone through this process again to see if maybe I could find the service package cheaper somewhere else. But is it really worth it? In the end I'm at their mercy and have to trust that they aren't going to cheat me too badly and that they will do what is needed for the car. He told me they will call me if they find anything wrong and need to authorize additional expenses, and I'm already dreading receiving and trying to decipher that phone call...

I made an appointment to drop the car off Monday night and have the service done next Tuesday. Hopefully all will go well and I can check this task off my list for another year!