What in/about Germany do Brits really like?

Hello everybody. I have just learned about this board in the "Deutsche in London" forum. I moved to London about 10 months ago, so please excuse any mistakes I make. I am still learning!! However, me and a friend want to write an article about what Brits really like regarding Germany (other than cars and beer that is.. ). Would you, as the experts, give us some ideas? That would be lovely! Regards from London, Gloria

Hi Gloria,

firstly welcome to the board, answering your question is a little tricky as most of
the love/hate things about Germany tend to concentrate on the things which
drive brits mad here, having said that it's not all negative.
check out these previous threads to get an idea...

things we love...

things we hate...

...interesting to note that the "pet hates" thread has 167 entries, where as the "things we love" only gets 55 replies

you could always use the search function!

I trust we will be intitled to royalties for any quotes that are used (not that I think any of my ramblings will be good enough )

we like 'deutsche in london' keeps them away from here

Simply looking through some of the postings here on Britboard will provide plenty of material.

But you should also bear in mind that most of the people on Britboard are Brits (and other expats) who are actually living here in Germany. Their views about what they like about Germany may well be different to some extent at least to the views of people back in Britain who have not spent any time living in Germany.

OK...here goes another thread about likes and dislikes...
I'm trying to think of some new things, so here goes...

1.
I like the parts of the Autobahn network which have no speed limit. Driving in Germany is like fornicating with a nympho compared to the UK which is like m********ing with a dirty mag. In other words, driving in the UK leaves me frustrated these days.

2.
I like the 30 days holiday per year. In the UK I used to get 23.

3.
I like Christmas in Germany. Christmas means snow and not rain and fog like the UK.

4.
I like going out to eat & drink in Germany. I don't feel like I'm going to get stabbed, glassed, ...

5.
I like (most) German bread. Though the white bread you usually get in the UK is soft and squashy it is good for toast. It's also good for feeding the ducks.

@Adi: when driving in the UK, try steering faster :doh:

Gloria Mein Schatz, i shall answer with pleasure...
Things i like here...
1. The Beer
2. The Women
3. Environmental concern
4. The lack of civil crime and violence
5. High standard and quality of living ( including public transport, health systems etc)
6. The European menatlity, by that I mean more emphasis on traditional values.
7. The general honesty and lack of dishonest superficial bullshit. i.e the German people in general.
8. German television...ok thats a joke..some good documentaries though
9. Great Italian restuarants
10. Summer
11. winter (more snow, plus Weihnachsmärkte)
12. The Wine regions
13. The Alps and Bavaria
14. Swingers club and relaxed approach towards Sex
15. Sauna culture
16. loads of festivals and events, more of an active outdoor social life.
There is a lot more, but finally the thing I most like about Germany is that it is not England.

You make it sound so wonderful! Ein Schlaraffenland...

Reminds me. When I first came to Germany I saw an advertising poster that mentioned the word "Schlaraffenland". I thought it was a place somewhere that you could visit for day trips eg like Disneyworld or Alton Towers or something!

But what pray is this "Swingers Club" of which you speak. Where is it, and how does one become a member?

[QUOTE]But what pray is this "Swingers Club" of which you speak. Where is it, and how does one become a member?

well, it's just like the britboard - a place where you can meet other "like-minded" people who share the same cultural origins, in an atmosphere which you find comfortable and convivial.

again, like the britboard, one doesn't need to be a member to participate in activities, "temporary" memberships are often arranged at the time of visit. sadly, unlike the britboard, there is a bit of a gender-bias: i believe that men often have to pay a cover charge, while women may participate in activities for free.

hope this clears things up...

monkel xxx

I think that along with everything else Joolz has said sums it up for me as well!

If I ever had to go back to the UK I would surely cry. My life here is simply too nice to want to give it all up!

Maybe it is the circle I am in but I find it a lot easier to meet people with the same interests as me here. Or maybe my interests have changed in the five years I have been here I am not sure!

Here it is definitely more important to enjoy life and that is what we all should do!

I agree totally. I was thinking about taking my 3 yr old back to GB for a "British Christmas" this year but then I remembered that in the UK (or at least where I come from), Christmas involves

1. spending too much money on stupid presents that no one needs
2. lots of Christmas spirit and good will that suddenly disappears just after New Years Eve (a bit like Carnival here, actually)
3. all the men going to the pub on Xmas day lunchtime and getting bladdered
4. the women and kids eating Xmas lunch at 12
5. the men coming home and eating the Xmas lunch at 2 or 3 pm
6. lots of sitting around doing nothing.

Sure, there's a lot of that stuff here too, but if I'm looking for a little less superficiality, I'm more likely to find it here.

Rant over!

I like the sense of community that there is here. We live in a moderately sized town but there seems to be 'something for everyone', sports for kids, church groups, womens groups etc.

I like the sense of security, I am originally from London and whenever I go back I am uneasy, Having had a car stolen in London last year and seeing the gangs of 'yobbos' hanging out on strret corners does nothing to alleviate that feeling. Here I have no qualms about walking around late at night even downtown in Stuttgart, I know some of the drug/problematic areas and would not go there but that it more of a common sense thing.

I like the fact that Germany is not 'over built' that there are plenty of green spaces.

I like the fact that when you go to the post office here you do not have to suffer a tv set in front of the centralised queue playing post office promotional ads unlike in England. Also they dont have a sickeningly polite recorded voice saying "counter number 2 please, number 7 please, number 4 please.." and so on, ad infinitum. How do the staff in UK POs stand it all day, I wonder?1

I dunno but in the post offices in Wales they have to announce it in Welsh as well - twice as much pain!

why is that? In case one of the 3 remaining people alive who actually speak Welsh (also assuming they don't understand English) are in wanting to buy some stamps?

SPOT ON !!


I can empathise with this one too. Although technically not from london, I lived pretty near and spent an awful lot of time in London. And i'm blown away by the difference in attitude over here. In London if i stopped and asked a stranger for help or directions then:
a) i would be lucky if they even broke stride on their march to the tube!
if they did stop it would probably be to tell me they were 'in too much of a hurry'
c) or they would be just too paranoid that i was about to mug them

And that's from an englishmen...i can't imagine how hostile foreigners find london city!!

Quick example: The other day in a paper shop i bought a top up card for the phone but then couldn't work out how to input the thing. Random german comes up to me clearly seeing my stress, not only translated the card for me but insisted on dialling the thing himself and inputting the thing for me before then calling the service line to double check that he'd done it right for me. He then offered me a cigarette (which i politely decline). Now in london, if i was naive enough to hand my mobile to a passing stranger - it would be on an east end market stall quick than you could say 'DOH!'.

Basically, Everyone here seems to have so much more time for themselves and for eachother. And as one of the world's most chilled out people - i can't abide bustle and franticism!!

I never thought i'd hear myslef say this, but England sucks!

Amen

On the subject of how stressed people are in London on the tube and what not. There was a website called tubehell www.tubehell.com or such like a couple of years ago. Dont know if its still alive, but it also had a forum where people could let off steam about travelling on the tube and recount all the crazy things that happened. Was absolutely hilarious.

I find Christmas in the UK a horror experience. The whole mania starts earlier and earlier every year. On the last few days everyone then goes berserk shopping madly. Then at midday on the 24th everything shuts down - and I mean practically everything. I think the only exceptions must be the tv & radio, plus water, sewage, phone and electricity supply.

Streets and whole towns become deserted as if a neutron bomb had been dropped that killed the people yet left the buildings standing. .You cant go anywhere because there is no public transport - for 2 full days or more. And in any case there is nowhere open. So you are confined to quarters. And what fun they are. Relatives that you cant stand and normally avoid. After 3 days of being cooped up with them, you are like a frenzied caged animal at the end of its tether, ready to bite and snap at the slightest provocation!

Happy Christmas!

If you are in London for Christmas do your shopping late in the afternoon on 24th at Bluewater. The place is empty and the sales will have started. An absolute pleasure.

Rick, are you implying that things are open here? I think there are many more things open/things to do in UK during the period than here. Pubs, golf courses, football matches etc.

yep best place to ge shopping. Absolutely love BlueWater so does the misses
mind you where i grew up just outside London the people were very friendly


I thought this was here in Germany too, xmas starts earlier.

QUOTE Rick, are you implying that things are open here? I think there are many more things open/things to do in UK during the period than here. Pubs, golf courses, football matches etc.

It seemed to me there is more on here in Germany - cinemas, restaurants, even public transport runs, ok a restricted service but thats more than the UK manages. Didnt know pubs etc were open in UK, maybe thats a recent thing.

I always thought pubs were only open at lunchtime on Christmas day.

Well this is the case in Muddy Townville anyway as there has been many a Christmas night where my brother and I have tried to escape the madness and disappear to the pub

I have spent Christmas in England probably 10 times in the last twelve years and have shopped on Christmas Eve afternoon( in fact some shops have stayed open Christmas Day and Boxing Day) gone to restaurants and pubs Christmas Eve night and gone to pubs on Christmas Day. My family all sit down to Christmas Dinner at the same time. Quite a few Friends in England have now started to go to restaurants on Christmas Day, so they must be open as well as pubs.

Ref. Swinger clubs


...well almost, the only feature of the britboard you are unlikely to find in a "swinger club" are some pseudo-intelectuals trying to ram their radical conscience down your throat !

...they might try and ram something else down your throat though

only with your permission though - another difference to the Britboard!

Where's the big difference to German christmas? I think after all it depends on who you're celebrating christmas with. I had my first English christmas last year and I loved it. I loved the getting up very early (my fiance's sister tends to turn into a 3 year old at christmas time) and getting the stockings, and then the full English breakfast together with all family (as in The bloke's parents, grandma, sister and her bloke, my bloke and me plus three dogs) and then trying out all the pressies (his dad got one of these remote control planes and kept crashing it into trees), it was all very nice and I really loved it. On the other hand I look forward going home to Germany for christmas this year and celebrating it with my family.

It's never to do with the country you're in, just with the people you're with.

you lot seem to know an awfull lot about 'swingers clubs' tell me more

Right bully! I was just thinking that as well!!

Well Bully see for yourself here at the one just up the road from us ...not that I've ever been in there you understand :$

...single bints get in for free ...talk about inequality

yeah i know that one drive past it very often
it belongs to the owner of the steak house next door that is now closed down... obviously more money in 'frisch fleisch' than in steak

Oo er Missus!!

It was really nice to hear all these positive comments...I much prefer Germany over the UK for various reasons but it's hard to express that when you're living in the UK and most people simply wouldn't understand why. I'll be looking to relocate to Germany early next year.

Cheers