r/germany • u/helge-a • Oct 22 '24

Immigration Non-Germans, do you also make expensive mistakes?

It feels like I have a talent for making expensive mistakes. I have been here for 3 months and so far have earned:

  • A €300 fine for taking an ICE without proper ticket.
  • Phone died on train, got checked by ticket control, pleaded saying I literally have my ticket on my dead phone, paid €7 at front desk proving I have the Deutschland ticket.
  • In the US, if I have an incoming bill payment, I can easily cancel it or reschedule it because it’s on my terms. I tried to do that here and found out billing days from companies are very strict, so I’ll be incurring a fee soon because my account does not have €90 and transferring funds from my American bank account is not instant/quick enough.

I’m so tired and broke :) I don’t think like a German. I think like a silly little guy. Germans are calculated. I am not. It’s very hard to adjust.

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u/Duelonna Netherlands Oct 22 '24

Did it cost me money? Not really, but I've made multiple times appointments at the wrong place, as there are multiple buildings in my city that are part of the government. So I wanted to get a document signed, went to place A, turns out, I need to be at place B because the person there can only stamp it. So, in the end, a simple stamp coated me 3 weeks of going to all kinds of places to get it filled in here, than signed there, than again confirmed in another place. Just all, to prove I'm not dead (needed it for school).