Fifteen rules that carry a fine, a deadline or — in one case — a criminal record. Not culture shock.
Living here — Almost everything that goes wrong during a tour arrives the same way: a German letter with a deadline nobody reads. We tell you what it says and what it needs.
A letter arrived and you cannot read it — Four kinds of official notice look alike and mean completely different things. The expensive mistake is not reacting wrongly — it is not reacting at all.
Traffic fines — Work out what you owe, whether a ban is in play, and what happens to your USAREUR license.
Letters to your landlord and utilities — Four German letters you cannot write yourself, each with a deadline that counts. A defect not reported in writing gives you no rights at all.
Your contract is not in Germany — Guided entry in the language your invoice is actually written in. You have an Italian invoice and an English form.
Is this bill costing you more than it should? — Drop in the PDF from your provider and we read what it is actually charging you. A German bill is not written to be read.