Refill, please

You know you're an American living in Germany when you go to an American restaurant on base and get excited for the 99cent Coke with endless refills, so much so, that you get 16+ refills. And use one pack of ketchup per french fry. (Today, on base, I swear I had at least 15 Cokes while eating lunch - endless refills are amazing!)

German ketchup is curry ketchup. It's good, but different. They usually eat their pommes (french fries - which are WAY better in Germany than in America) with mayo, not ketchup. But if you do get ketchup, it's curry flavored, tasting more like bbq sauce. I've found myself craving American ketchup.

And as for the soda, well, the Germans make their money on beverages. Water is expensive. Soda is expensive. But beer and wine are dirt cheap. When you order a Coke, or Cola light, at a German restaurant, it is likely to cost you 3-4euro. It comes in a small, 6oz glass, with lemon, room temperature, no ice, and worst of all, NO REFILLS! As for the water, it is also from a bottle, and costing 3-4euro. It will be sprudel (or fizzy) if you do not ask for it otherwise (we now bring our own water to restaurants and wait to drink soda until we are on base!)