I began my day visiting the bank. No one uses checks in Germany so you have to pay all of your bills on-line. For security reasons, they issue what are called "Tan" numbers. It took us a while to figure it out (all of the directions are in German), but with the help of the person at the bank, we now know what to do. You receive a list of 100 numbers on a form that is mailed to your home. When you go on-line to do your banking, it gives you a number, you have to look at the sheet and find the number that is next to the number that the computer has given you and enter it. For example, the computer may give you the number 35 so you go to the number 35 and next to it is a longer number say 12675. You enter the 12675 and then you can complete your transaction. All of the numbers are randomly generated. When you use up your Tan numbers, the bank sends you a new sheet. I do not do much on-line banking in the U.S. but this seems to be a much more secure system.
After taking care of our finances, S decided it was time to spend some money. C, S and I took the train to Frankfurt (this time paying the correct amount) to do a little shopping. Well, maybe more than a little, S is incapable of doing a little shopping. Last time we went into Frankfurt, we missed most of the shops. We did not make this mistake again. It was a rather successful trip. S purchased several outfits and a pair of boots making it difficult for her to choose which outfit to wear on the first day of school. Oh, by the way, we went to an bookstore that sold English books -- I bought an English/German Dictionary. No more fried eggs for me.
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| Sarah's Boots |
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