Who here lives in Germany? Who has lived in Germany? What is your overall opinion of Germany?

Question

I hope to live in Germany one day, and would love to know your experiences or opinions. A good German quote (w/ translation) will get you points...

Answer 1

I lived in Hanau, very nice place, the people are friendly and the shopping is Wonderful. There is always something to do and some sort of festival happening, bring your renaissance ourfit and have a ball, I only wish I could have stayed longer, what a beautiful place though, oh and the very best coffee ever it can wake the dead.

Answer 2

Not me. But, I LOVE getting 2 points for answering DUMB questions.

Answer 3

My dad was in the army and we lived in Wiesbaden Germany for two years and I loved it, it is so beautiful and I want to go back so bad, I'd live there forever if I could, it's so peaceful and everyone is so friendly and there food is so delicous....

Ah wiedersane...BYE.....there W's are actually V's so pronounce the w as a v

Answer 4

I only lived there for a year after I was born. I was born in Heidleburg.

Answer 5

Overall its a great place. As an American I found the directness a little hard to get used to. Us Americans are too bubbly - and sugar coat everything. (but they are obviously fun and loving too). I found east Germany to be very different from the west. If you want to learn german - try to head to an eastern area since they known less English and will be more likely to speak German with you. If you are into the art scene try Berlin - its HOT right now.

I lived there for a year. Email me if you have any questions!

Phrase: Deine Eier hangt Raus - Your balls are hanging out.

Answer 6

where do I start? lol..

Ok, I´ve traveled pretty much all over the world and I always love coming back to Germany. Living here has - as everything and every place in life - advantages and disadvantages :-D but I´ve lived here the majority of my life so it can´t be all that bad

Germans are a stubborn and very direct kind of people, americans often interpret it as rude, but after a while you learn how to appreciate the directness because you know it´s not for show but how they feel. If someone tells you "call me anytime" it means exactly that! Not that superficial bla bla you often find stateside. We love our traditions that reach bach hundreds of years in some cases, in others hundreds of days.. lol..

Older generations often tend to do things in a certain way because they´ve always been done that way and therefore there is no need to change them.. but I don´t think that´s a german-specific trait :-D

The one thing that I hear from a lot of people is that the peace of mind over here is great. You can walk down the street pretty much anywhere at any given time wearing whatever you like including your jewelry without being mugged or even shot for your blingbling.

In most places there is a great sense of community and you can get involved if you like but you don´t have to. It may actually be a bit hard to be integrated at first but so far we´ve been accepted and integrated anywhere whithin a very short period of time although we are definitely not your standard german family.

If you like parties, fairs and local festivities you´ll love the summer months where any excuse is a great excuse to have a party! I live in a major wine region and there is something going on every weekend - the new wine from last fall´s harvest will be introduced, the summer will be celebrated, some local hero will be celebrated etc... we always joke around that it´s a german thing to say "isn´t today wednesday (or friday or whatever day) - that absolutely calls for a party!" lol..

One thing that takes some getting used to are the high taxes. 16 % VAT, very high taxes on your income.. BUT there are many great things in return such as a great medical care system, a great welfare system that will leave nobody homeless unless they prefer to be, it´s really safe over here and the economy is in alright shape as well.

I have lost count at how many times I´ve been up and down Rhine river on a castle cruise how many castle I´ve visited but I will never get tired of it. I love travelling all over the world but if we only have a weekend or a couple of days to get away we stay in Germany and have great vacations as well. Every city has something great to look at, old roman stuff as in Mainz (2000 years old!), celtic stuff, caveman times stuff (neandertal is actually in Germany :-D), medieval castles, crazy g*y kings castles (Neuschwanstein, Linderhof etc.), skiing, beaches, hiking, museums, concerts.. the whole lot.

You´re in the middle of many countries that have plenty of things to see and do like France, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark - you name it!

If I had to list all the reasons we live here and not somewhere else I would probably go on forever so I guess I better stop here.  

As for the german quote, maybe this one fits.. smile

"Besser eine kluge Antwort langsam, als eine dumme schnell."

(better a smart answer slowly than a stupid one fast)

or a very german thing:

"Besser eine Stunde zu früh als eine Minute zu spät."

(better an hour early than a minute too late)

Answer 7

I lived there off and on, made everlasting friends, but realized that the lack off space in Germany made me want to return to Midwestern USA. I never thought I would think of 'home' as near a cornfield, but after living in Germany, I appreciated home more. I still go there and visit my friends, appreciate the freedoms of Europe, marvel at the small differences in regions of Germany, but always come back home to the US and smile.

Es gibt nichts Gutes, ausser: man tut es! E. Kästner

"Nothing is good unless you can act upon it."

Answer 8

I have an uncle,aunt and cousin who live in Germany. They love it there, the people are friendly,there is loads to do there from shopping,exploring,great food, clubs and bars. And they have like 10 different festivals a year! Like "Der Oktober Fest". It's a fun and amazing country, I plan to live and go to university there when i'm 18.

I love Deutschland so much, I'm a fluent German speaker.

Heir are some deutsch quotes: “You can't blame gravity for falling in love.” "Sie Kann nicht Schuld Schwerkraft fur einsturzen Liebe"

Answer 9

Warmongering dogs

I've never met one though...

Answer 10

hmm..

Answer 11

I am currently studying abroad in Bonn, Germany and I love it.  The city of Bonn is beautiful (when it is not raining, which of late seems daily).  It was once the capital of West Germany before east and west came back together.  I have seen a lot of Germany and I think the German people are very friendly and honest.  To most Americans the honesty of a German can be quite shocking but it has how their culture is.  But one things is for certain, if you ask a German his/her opinion about something expect a truthful answer.  Also, I live in an area with many Turkish people so I get to see different aspects of German life.  I think if I only had to interact with Germans all day, I wouldn't get the full picture of what it really is to live in Germany.  But I would not trade where I live, unless of course it was on the Rhine and I had an awesome view. :) Overall, I think Germany is a wonderful place and I wish I could stay longer than I am able to!  I will hopefully be moving back once I finish all my studies in America!  As for a quote I think this is one of the best from J.W. von Goethe (the most famous writer in Germany, as to Shakespeare in England):

Alles, was uns begegnet, läßt Spuren zurück. Alles trägt unmerklich zu unserer Bildung bei.

Everything we encounter leaves traces behind. Everything contributes imperceptibly to our education.

Hope this helps!

Answer 12

i did German language in school

i love it!

it sehr gut! (pronounced zair goot)(sehr gut = very good)

sorry, i've never been!

Answer 13

I lived in Kaiserslautern for 3 years. Like everywhere, you have good and bad people. But, most of the people I met in Germany were very cordial and so friendly.  And it is a beautiful country, with the hills, and mountains, and beautiful castles everywhere.

Answer 14

I live in Germany right now, and will be here for about another year and a half.  I LOVE it!  Or should I say...Ich liebe Deutschland.  Es ist sehr schon!  (I don't know how to make the "o" an umlaut, sorry!)

But seriously, this place is gorgeous!  I have never seen a land that's so green, and I'm from the Pacific Northwest.  There is so much to see.  I love Trier, Idar-Oberstein...

Haven't done as much travelling as I'd like, but what I've seen is amazing.  There is such history here.  I'm hoping this summer to check out Worms, Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Munich.  I live in the Rheinland-Pfalz, and I'd like to see other parts of this beautiful country.

The people are nice, but their culture is a bit different.  Like if you want to go shopping, don't count on being able to do any shopping between 11 am and 1 pm.  That's when most German business owners take their mittagessen (lunch), which is the main meal of the day.  Abendessen (dinner) is usually just cold cuts and bread.  Same with fruhstuck (breakfast) (both "u's" are umlauts).  Also, when you go shopping, take your own bags, and be prepared to bag your own merchandise.

When you dine out, remember that the server won't bring your check until you ask them to.  "Entschuldigen sie Bitte, bringen sie mir die rechnung!"  Or just "Bringen sie mir die rechnung, Bitte!"  The second one is what I usually say.  (excuse me please, bring me the check!, or, bring me the check please!)  Also, servers don't expect huge tips; in fact, they may feel insulted if you try to give them one.  They get paid more than American waitresses.  Usually just rounding up to the next Euro will do.

Right after my husband and I got here, we had culture shock SO bad.  I think the only thing we were fully prepared for was the language being different (which wasn't as bad as we thought it would be), the autobahn (which is fun but scary!), and the voltage being different.

I have a funny story about the voltage though.  Right after we got here, I was laying on the bed in our hotel room studying German, and my husband was attempting to plug in the XBox for the first time.  There was only 220V in the room, so my husband got an adapter for the plug.  He figured that's all he would need...I would have told him had he asked me, but he didn't.  He just plugged it in and it went POP!  Yeah, he needed a transformer, too, lol.  The next day, we went all over town looking for an electronics place that could fix it.  Took waiting outside a business for 45 minutes in the snow(we didn't realize it was lunchtime), and three tries before we found a guy that spoke English well enough to understand what we needed, AND who would be able to fix it.

It wasn't too funny at the time, but now it sure is.  Especially since this just feels...right.  The people are SO nice, I have yet to have a problem with any Germans (other than a couple of the taxi drivers here in town), and there is a LOT to see.  Considering the fact that, as I said, I haven't done much travelling, especially outside the Rheinland-Pfalz, and I have yet to get bored with this area.

I love it here.  I tell some of the Germans that I'm acquainted with that I don't ever want to leave.  This is an amazing, peaceful country.  The only people that don't love it are the ignorant who think it's all a bunch of n***s.  They couldn't be further from the truth.

Answer 15

I lived in Ansbach for 3 years. Germany was a great place, had a lot of fun.