USA news on Youtube Oct 28 2017

Wait a second, periods are a natural body process that happen all over the world.

You're telling me that there are actually differences in periods between Germany and the U.S.?

Yep, there are!

Hey everyone! I'm Dana and you're watching Wanted Adventure Living Abroad.

So yes, how periods physically occur in the body is, the same all around the world, including

in Germany and the U.S.

But even so, there are actually a lot of period differences that I've noticed in the two countries.

For one, the language surrounding them is different.

In English, as I've already mentioned several times in this video, they're often called

one's period.

And that's not like the little dot at the end of a sentence, but rather period as in

I guess a period of time.

In German they can also be called Periode -- Die Periode -- but another common way of

referring to periods in German is to simply call it the days, Tage.

As in "ich habe meine Tage."

So literally in English: "I have my days."

I cannot for the life of me remember now in exactly which scenario Mr. German Man first

used this phrasing with me.

Maybe we were getting ready to go on vacation or something, I really don't remember, but he

asked me about my days, and I was totally confused because in English I don't call

my period "my days."

So I was like: what do you mean with my days?

Like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, my birthday?

What are my days?

But now I actually really, really like that phrasing and find myself using it all the

time in English.

In English another common slang term for the period is "your time of the month," or also "your flow."

As in "I've got my flow."

Or also "Aunt Flow." As in "Aunt Flow is coming to town."

I don't really know any German slang terms besides die Tage, so if you know any other

ones or any other English ones I would love to hear them, please let me know down in the

comments, thank you.

But language is not the only difference.

As I mentioned way back in one of my first few videos, which was about toiletries in

Germany and the U.S., there are a few pretty big differences in the feminine hygiene sections

in stores and the products offered.

First of all, the size of the section.

As with a lot of sections in grocery stores or other stores in the U.S., the section with

the tampons, pads and other feminine products is so much bigger than in Germany.

Which, and of course this makes sense, also means that there is a larger selection of

products in the U.S. than in Germany.

In Germany from what I've seen in the different stores there are usually a few different kinds

of pads and tampons and maybe, maybe one brand of menstrual cup.

Of the four stores selling feminine products around my home in Germany, only one of them

sells menstrual cups and they only have one brand.

Whereas in the U.S., at least as far as pads and tampons go, there are so many different kinds.

Sometimes it's actually kind of overwhelming to stand there in the U.S. and you just stare

up and down this huge wall of all different kinds of options.

Just for a little perspective, I went to the website of a "typical American store"

where I used to buy my tampons and also the website of a "typical German store" where

I often shop now, and I searched for tampons.

The American store returned around 90 results on their website, while the German shop had

about 20 on their website.

But Germany is home to one kind of tampon that I have never seen in the U.S.

And that is probiotic tampons, so tampons that are coated in probiotics.

And the U.S. is home to one specific tampon that I've never seen in Germany, and I gotta

say, I'm okay with that, because they are scented tampons.

That's right, scented tampons. No, no thank you.

Putting a little perfume on my neck is enough.

I don't need to put perfume anywhere else, thank you very much. Just the neck.

But I would say the biggest difference in tampons between Germany and the U.S. is that

in the U.S. tampons with applicators seem to be the most common.

There are usually a few boxes of tampons without applicators available in the U.S. too, but

the majority come with applicators in the U.S., whereas in Germany it's actually the

other way around.

The large majority of tampons in Germany don't use an applicator, and finding applicator

tampons in Germany in my experience is hit or miss.

Some stores have them and some stores don't, so while they are available here in Germany,

you might have to go to a couple different stores to find them.

And as far as menstrual cups in the U.S. go, I believe that nowadays many of the places

that carry tampons and pads also carry one or two brands of menstrual cups, but I'm

definitely not totally sure on that, so I'd love to hear down in the comments below from

people in the U.S.: are menstrual cups pretty readily available in stores now?

Another big difference in the two countries is how periods are handled in public restrooms.

Oh, the rolls and rolls of toilet paper that we go through in the U.S., wrapping and wrapping

and wrapping our tampons up in before disposing of them.

Germany has a much better solution, something that I don't think I have ever seen in the U.S…

In Germany there is usually a little container of paper or I think also sometimes plastic

baggies in each toilet stall for you slip your feminine product into before throwing

it out, so no need to waste all that toilet paper. I love it! Such a good idea. So smart.

And lastly, in the U.S. it seems like from the articles I've read recently and some

of the YouTube videos that have come my way recently, that talking about periods

seems to be becoming a sort of more "normal" and just kind of more comfortable thing to do.

I've even heard about parents in the U.S. throwing their daughters period parties, apparently

called moon parties.

I don't know how common this actually is, but I certainly hope that just in general

the topic of periods is becoming a more open and normal thing to talk about, and I would

love for that to be the case around the world, because it is, after all, just a normal part of life.

Whether you're someone who has a period or not, periods are a vital part of the immensely

complex and really impressive cycle of life on this planet.

As someone who has, myself, had some horrible periods, I can attest to the fact that the

period, itself, is not always so beautiful, but the whole process of how the body has

evolved to work in this way is extremely beautiful and impressive.

I mean, this whole process is millions of years of evolution in the making, and so I

just don't think that it's something we should be embarrassed to talk about

or have to whisper about. It's just a part of life.

A very impressive part of life in my opinion.

So my question for you is: How are periods where you live, what have been your experiences

around the world?

And do you feel comfortable talking openly about periods?

Please let me know in the comments below.

Thanks so much for watching.

I really hope that you enjoyed this video.

If you enjoy these videos, please don't forget to subscribe and hit that like button.

And also a really big thank you so much to our patrons on Patreon, who help make these

videos possible. Thank you so much for your support.

If you would like to check out our Patreon page, you can find a link to that down in

the description box below.

Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!

And...

But language...

But language is not...

But I think that my favorite English schlang term...schlang?

For more infomation >> PERIODS: Germany vs. USA - Duration: 9:12.

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Restaurant Tipping in America Is...Bad?! - Duration: 11:35.

A tip is supposed to be a little extra bit of money, often given to reward good service,

but nowadays in some industries in the U.S., such as restaurants in particular, tipping

has stopped being a little something extra and instead it has become the customer actually

paying most if not all of the employee's earnings.

So is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Hey everyone, Dana here!

And I think tipping is good. And bad. Hmmm, okay wait, let me start over.

When I lived in the U.S. I did work as a server for a little while.

And let me just start by saying that I'm very sorry to anyone out there who had to

have me as their server, I was not cut out for that job and it wasn't one that I enjoyed at all.

But I did like the idea -- in fact I loved the idea that what I earned each day or evening

was based on my performance, and perhaps a little bit of luck as to who I got as customers.

I would go into each shift feeling like the sky was the limit for how much money I could make.

If I could just smile and really hustle and get to as many tables as possible without

spilling or dropping anything, who knows how much I could earn.

Maybe there would be someone really generous who would come in that evening and they would

leave me a huge tip that I was probably not so deserving of because I had probably forgotten

their drink or messed up their salad -- like I said, not a good server -- but sometimes

people were just super generous.

Sometimes customers just out of their kind hearts left me a very nice tip.

But sometimes they didn't.

I was left just thirteen cents one time, and, oh boy, was that a sad moment.

I had worked and worked and worked, so hard.

I was really trying my best.

And then I got just thirteen cents because the customer decided that I didn't deserve

to earn anything more than that.

The customer made that decision, that I didn't deserve to earn my wage for the work that

I had done.

Which when you think about it, is actually a pretty strange thing.

That doesn't happen at the movie theater.

The customers at movie theaters don't get to decide how much the person who sold them

the ticket should make that evening based on how much they smiled or how many mistakes

they did or didn't make.

Or what kind of a mood the customer is in that day.

No, that is between the employee and the employer to work out.

Not the customer.

But well, I mean, whatever, this is just how it's done at restaurants everywhere around

the world, right?

Wrong.

And I had no idea before leaving the U.S. for the first time, but no.

It is not the case everywhere in the world that the customers at restaurants are expected

to pay most or even any of the server's wage at all.

Here in Germany it is customary for a little tip to be left, usually I would say around

ten percent, but here this is a tip in the actual sense of the word, a little something

extra on top of what the server is earning.

But, for example, in Sweden from my experience, that's not the case.

We went to Sweden a few years ago and tried to leave a tip at the restaurant, but they

expressly said no, they would not take the tip.

They said that they had just been doing their job.

They wouldn't take it.

Even though out server had actually gone, as far as I'm concerned, above and beyond

her job that day.

The restaurant that we had gone to had just recently gotten a new menu and hadn't yet

had the chance to translate it into English, so it was only in Swedish.

So our server stood there and read through the whole menu to us, translating it into

English for us.

And still she would not accept a tip.

She said no, it's just, that's part of my job.

I've also heard that there's no tipping in restaurants in Japan too.

I don't know first hand, but that's what I've heard.

Okay, fine, but still this is how it's always been done in the U.S., so just leave it be.

Nope! Wrong again.

And first of all here, even if something had always been done a certain way somewhere,

why in the world would that be a good reason to keep doing it?

Just because something has "always been done a certain way," if we realize that now it's

not actually a good way of doing things, or maybe it was a good way of doing things at

one point, but now it's not anymore, then it should be changed, regardless of how long

it's been done that way. Right?

But anyway, no, it hasn't always been done like this in the U.S.

According to several articles that I read, which I will link to down below, America actually

got their tipping practices from Europe in the latter half of the 1800s.

And actually, at first, when tipping was first introduced from Europe into the USA,

a lot of people in the U.S. did not like it.

Being able to buy better service was actually considered anti-democratic at first in the U.S.

But, obviously, over time that changed.

Whereas in Europe some of the countries from whom the U.S. had actually first gotten the

idea of tipping, had, by the middle of the 1950s started scaling back their tipping,

either with mandatory service charges on the bill or mandatory wage minimums for the employees.

Which brings us to where we are today.

So is tipping like this in the USA bad?

Well, as someone who has worked as a server in the U.S., and as someone who has experienced

basically mandatory tipping in the USA, a little tipping in Germany, and from my experience

no tipping in Sweden, I have to say that I personally prefer the whole no tipping thing.

As a server in the U.S., yes, it was kind of exciting to think that the harder I worked

the more money I could make.

But for one, that made it all the more devastating when I didn't get a good tip, or any tip

at all, especially if I had done everything "right" and to the best of my abilities.

Just because the person eating forgot or didn't feel like tipping or whatever, just because

of that I didn't get paid for my work?

Come on, like I said, that doesn't happen in other jobs.

Sometimes at restaurants in the U.S. people don't like the food they ordered and then

because of that they don't tip the server.

Going back to the movie theater example, it's like, you can't go out and see a movie and then

if you don't like it, well sorry the person who sold you the ticket doesn't get paid that night.

But also, because of the tipping system in the U.S., when I was a server everything,

and I mean everything about my evening, became solely focused on making as much money as possible.

Because like I said I knew the sky was the limit.

So I focused so razor sharply on that bottom line that it really felt like any other measurement

of success, like enjoying the evening or making a fun connection with other people just disappeared.

Later when I worked as a hostess in a restaurant, where my earnings were the same no matter

what, I got paid per hour by the restaurant, I felt like I was finally able to enjoy my

job and enjoy the evening.

And for a while, yeah, I did think, like, well but the tipping system in the U.S. incentivizes

better service at restaurants, doesn't it.

But then I realized that actually makes no sense.

If I didn't give good customer service at the restaurant that I worked at as a server, yeah

I guess I wouldn't have gotten good tips, but I also probably would have been fired

for not doing my job because giving good customer service is a part of the job of being a server

in the U.S. Customer service is important in America, and I get good customer service

in the U.S. in places where there's no tipping at all, like at the grocery store.

Or when I worked as a hostess at the restaurant, I wasn't getting any tips, but I still gave

great customer service because that was a part of the job.

And actually I felt like I was able to give better customer service as a hostess because

I didn't have to worry about those tips.

And lastly, as a customer going out to eat, I personally would much rather just have a

set service fee that I need to pay, automatically added to my bill or, you know, just have the

server's payment included in the price of what I'm buying, just like at other places,

like at the movie theater or the bowling alley.

The cost of paying the employees is just added into the price that I have to pay when I go

do that activity.

This system seems to work just fine at other places. Why not at restaurants?

But that's just me.

So my question for you is: Do you think that tipping like this is good or bad?

Would you prefer to live in a world without tipping?

Please let me know in the comments below.

Thank you so much for watching.

I really hope that you enjoyed this video.

If you enjoy these videos, please don't forget to subscribe and hit that like button.

And also a really, really, really, really, really, really big thank you so much to our patrons

on Patreon who help make these videos possible.

Thank you so much for your support.

If you would like to check out our Patreon page, you can find a link to that down in

the description box below.

Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!

Which brings us to where we are today.

I'm hungry!

Then it should be changed, regardless of how long it's been done that way. Right?

Like we can learn from the past and change the way of doing something.

Yes?

That's the wonderful thing about humans. I think?

Until next time...I'm waving way too soon! Auf Wiedersehen! Okay, I'm done!