Your Phone In Europe

Can I call my parents?

Yes. But if you want to call home often (every day or every other day), make sure you have the correct calling plan for internation minutes and data. Just remember that Germany is 9 hours ahead. Calling a lot from the home phone of your hosts is often frowned upon. German phones are much more expensive and people keep the calls short, don’t call often and don’t use the phone to chit-chat. It is better if you have your own phone plan and can use your own minutes. Even better, send emails.

How can my parents call me while I'm in Germany?

Maybe. Remember, when calling Germany, the rates aren't cheap and most Germans don't usually consider it good form to "chat" on the phone. The old days of high priced long distance have caused Germans to be more reluctant to chat on the phone or call each other every day. Try not to talk too much if you can.

What about time zones?

Yes, you also need to account for the nine hour difference in time. The Germans are "in the future" - nine hours ahead of us in time. We eat lunch when they're getting ready for bed. We go to bed and they're already starting the next day. It can be confusing so just try to imagine where you'll be in nine hours - If your answer is at work, school or sleeping, then you should probably wait to call.

The final trick is to figure out their phone number system. It works like this... You have 011 for the international call, then 49 for Germany. After that, the town code will look something like 7821. Finally you have the house number (which can be any length), like 3783. So, to call this (pretend) number you would have to dial 011-49-7821-3783 and wait for a beep (not a ring sound).

When a German answers the phone they might say, "Hallo" or they might just say the name of the family, "Meier." So don't be caught off-guard if they start by saying their name, "Beckmann" for example.