On the Plane again

I hate flights during summer months. Planes are awfully crowded. Everybody is in the mood for vacation and almost every flight is delayed. My current flight is even worse: the entertainment system is not working, service is very poor, my power outlet is failing every other minute. My laptop crashed two times in the last hour.

Kelly, watch the stars!

Listen to this song by AIR, when your plane takes of. Awesome.

How to pay in a restaurant (by credit card)

You will be presented the bill in an envelope. From here, follow the below steps:

(1) Have a look at the bill, if you agree, put your credit card in the envelope. Make sure one end of the card is showing.

(2) The waiter will now take the envelope and return it in a minute with three receipts.

(3) One is the receipt for the credit card usage. Fill in the tip in the others and sum it up.

(4) Take your credit card, on of the two identical bills and the print-out.

(5) Leave the envelope on the table and exit the restaurant.

The Cultural Gap (II)

We don’t make mistakes in Germany. Sometimes we suffer from this attitude. Maybe it’s also one of the reasons why Americans think we are stubborn. In the US you can fail, as long as you at least don’t fail 51%. I agree, nobody wants to fail 49% of the time and less failure is always better. But one of the results of a different view on failing and succeeding is a more relaxed approach to tasks.

The Cultural Gap (I)

Tipping, service. There are more differences in German and American culture than one would expect at first. To know these little differences gives credit to your appearance as someone who understands and can adapt. I find those are important if interacting with local person be it customers or partners.

Tipping is almost mandatory in the US. The amount of tip, you give, values the service you received. Usual tipping range is from 10% - 20% of the bill. Average service will usually be expressed by giving 10%. Extraordinary Service can be honored by giving up to 20%, or even more. From the fact that a waitress or waiter earns a big amount of their salary through tipping stems another difference: a better service. Usually, a waitress or waiter will introduce her or himself by name and introduce any other colleague taking over his shift. You will never run out of free iced water. As they earn per customer and usually have a fixed number of tables to serve, they make sure you are not sitting there forever without consuming. Meaning, you will be presented the bill the instance you are obviously finished. I prefer this to waiting for the bill forever, as in Germany sometimes.

Strange Things happen at Johnny Rocket's

On my mission to get adapted to the American culture I found it a good idea to at least once go to Johnny Rocket's. Luckily, I picked the right day. Someone at Johnny Rocket, M Street, in Washington had a little birthday dinner with friends. Suddenly, the light is switched of, Some eighties song starts playing and the light starts flickering. On of the waiters starts dancing to the music and more waiters and guests are joining. In the end there were ten people dancing, pointing to the sky, spinning around themselves. Does anyone know if this is just something they do every thirty minutes during the evening times at Johnny Rocket's?

No such thing as individual restaurants?

Sometimes even those restaurants leaving the strongest impression of being old-fashioned and individual restaurants are part of a franchising concept. I was somewhat surprised, to see Pizza Uno - of which I thought was a real Chicagoan restaurant serving deep dish pizza - is just another flavor of franchising. Nevertheless, they make the greatest deep dish pizza; some come with meatballs baked in.