Do you like living in Germany?

[Anna66 2,346]

I like living in Germany, the only thing that gets me down is the cold dark winters. I would love to live somewhere with a warmer climate. On saying that though, Christmas is not the same unless it is cold.

 

What I really love is the christmas market. Also the peacefulness on Sundays. Although it is annoying not being able to pop down to the shops for something you may have forgotten to buy. It is nice having a quite day of rest.

The medical system here is also very good. I also love the food very much.

[nina_glyndwr 4,701]

On 02/12/2019, 19:33:14, CinthiaM said:

 Also they can be terribly direct, which is not nice when they don't like your German (a German once told me "your German (when I speak) irritates me"). 

 

I've only recently found out that 'irritieren' has two meanings in Germany. One is 'to irritate', but the one I was familiar with was 'to confuse'. So maybe they find your German confusing rather than irritating.

 

Even after all these years, when I speak German and I am tired, I can barely express myself at all. They (the Germans I'm talking to) patiently wait to see if I can get my message across. They're probably very confused by my utterances.

[RedMidge 5,626]

As few of the OH's family speak English, I know that my German is better than their grasp of English !

So , I am often happy to confuse or irritate!

[anne k 3,525]

Yes, "Dein Deutsch irritiert mich" is more like "Your German puzzles me". It could mean, for example, that you are American but your accent sounds more like that of a Dutch person, to them. Or e.g. you have a surprisingly large vocab considering that your grammar is only average. If they were irritated they'd say "Dein Deutsch nervt!"

[Imanuxuf 70]

I've been living here for more than 6 years now and I feel at home. 
learning the language was key to integrate properly, so I can understand the frustration of not being able to communicate and therefore feeling alienated. 
weather can be sucky, yes, but like many things in life, I just learned to accept it. And when the sun actually is out, it is such an amazing feeling of awe! and I lived most of my life in sunny portugal.

I like how reliable things are here. Sure, there might be a lot of paperwork involved, but if you do things by the book, they will get done. There's something soothing about that.

I also like the no BS attitude, for me it just makes things easier to understand.

but mostly, I feel I can have dreams here. They seem achievable. I feel I can try stuff out. Sure, I need to work for it, but I feel all this work will pay out.
 

[pmd 490]

On 22/12/2019, 13:26:36, nina_glyndwr said:

 

I've only recently found out that 'irritieren' has two meanings in Germany. One is 'to irritate', but the one I was familiar with was 'to confuse'. So maybe they find your German confusing rather than irritating.

 

Even after all these years, when I speak German and I am tired, I can barely express myself at all. They (the Germans I'm talking to) patiently wait to see if I can get my message across. They're probably very confused by my utterances.

 

Wow, 'irritieren', that's a classic example of a  'false friend', thanks for highlighting it!

[starkebogen 122]

Getting back to the question posed in the title of this topic:  Yes, I love living in Germany.  There might be parts of Germany that I wouldn't like living in, so really I am saying that I love living in the Moselle.  For sure, there are inconveniences, annoyances and frustrations, but that's true of everywhere.

 

It always strikes me as strange when I hear the observation (or complaint) that "it's not like that where I come from".  That seems to indicate that the speaker is not suited to living outside their homeland.

[lisa13 12,209]

21 hours ago, Imanuxuf said:

if you do things by the book, they will get done. There's something soothing about that.

 

 

yes I agree and find the "ordnung" very soothing even in casual situations as you pretty much know what to expect.

 

I was trying to explain this to my bosses and they seemed totally unaware of this.  Like, they were teasing me for evening using the word "ordnung" at all - yeah they both think they're hip, young, independent thinking dudes...but they're not.  Not really 

 

[dave415. 10]

...and waiting for someone to finish their sentence before responding is my kinda „Ordnung“.  

 

I love Bayern. My one visit to Berlin was fun, but I prefer the country over the Hauptstadt.

[BethAnnBitt 984]

I love the public transportation.  It is so liberating to be able to live without being automobile dependent.  It is so much healthier for everyone.

[LukeSkywalker 5,574]

12 minutes ago, BethAnnBitt said:

I love the public transportation.  It is so liberating to be able to live without being automobile dependent.  It is so much healthier for everyone.

You should try to take the U-Bahn at 08:30 in Munich on weekdays. It's so cramped, you can hardly breathe while standing for 20 minutes: not healthy :).

[lisa13 12,209]

20 minutes ago, LukeSkywalker said:

You should try to take the U-Bahn at 08:30 in Munich on weekdays. It's so cramped, you can hardly breathe while standing for 20 minutes: not healthy :).

 

ohhhh...I know how to cure you of this misery:  visit NYC and spend a week riding the subway.  After that you'll feel like Munich UBahn is paradise at any hour

 

[fraufruit 32,789]

2 hours ago, LukeSkywalker said:

You should try to take the U-Bahn at 08:30 in Munich on weekdays. It's so cramped, you can hardly breathe while standing for 20 minutes: not healthy :).

 

No problem for the likes of me and Beth Ann who don't work. I use the 9 Uhr Karte but never before 10:00

[robinson100 12,015]

I basically like living here, but some things are still difficult to cope with after all these years.

 

This year I celebrated 25 years in my (main) job here.

When I started with the company, it was absolutely forbidden to use the "Du" form to any of your bosses.

Now, we are very much encouraged to do so, and it will become official company policy from June 2020.

 

Apparently, we are all part of a modern company, where everybody is equal (but some are more equal than others!)

 

Just as a side-line, my regional manager is one of those who will shake hands with you for what seems like hours, so you can imagine him shaking away and telling me that I can call him "Nick", and me saying you know my name anyway, and everybody calls me "Robby", and in the end me literally pulling my hand away and running off to do something more important!!!

[john g. 30,700]

From June 2020, Rob! 

😃

Bloody Vorschriften!!

 

[robinson100 12,015]

3 minutes ago, john g. said:

From June 2020, Rob! 

😃

Bloody Vorschriften!!

 

 

I love Germany!!!

[LukeSkywalker 5,574]

I always find it odd when supermarket colleagues use Herr and Frau among themselves, even if they know each other for years.

[john g. 30,700]

Rob- about 25 years ago, my da Bronx buddy Tom ( RIP ) and I ran a 3 day seminar for Airbus engineers at a hotel at the North Sea.

 

We had a role play and the head of the department was there and he was unpopular. He didn’t like it that we insisted on first names! But he had to abide by the rules!

😀

 

The role play involved each member of the group playing out an animal and he had to be a snake writhing on the floor!

 

( a few drinks were involved! )

😜

As the group departed that Saturday afternoon, he confided in me: “ how can I be per Du on Monday?”

Simple- don’t be so hung up. Lighten up!

😜

 

 

[BethAnnBitt 984]

2 hours ago, fraufruit said:

 

No problem for the likes of me and Beth Ann who don't work. I use the 9 Uhr Karte but never before 10:00

Here in Konstanz there's no U-Bahn. We have buses and trains and ferries and boats. Especially during tourist season things can get more crowded, but I am still so impressed with how well it all works.  I felt the same way when I lived in Berlin in the late 80s.  And like Fraufruit says I can plan on using workarounds as necessary to avoid peak traffic times.  I also walk and bike more as part of daily life. I love it, and so does my body.  I also think that aging in place with good reliable public transportation is haelthy in that it can help seniors be less isolated. This is impressive here IMO.

[BethAnnBitt 984]

Tonight we went to our Thermalbad.  It was wonderful. That's another thing I love about Germany.  When my friend came to visit for 2 weeks she went 4x!  She was hooked.