What do Germans living in America....?

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athene noctua

I spent 2 years in the US (early 90s), and I found it appalling.

As a pagan I found it very hard not to scream at all the would-be missionaries in the neighbourhood and some even at work, and not to let my contempt show when the same people that proclaimed themselves fervently as "Christians" were all in favour of not giving single mothers social welfare payments, letting sick people die because they had no money, and the homeless freeze by the wayside. (My friend actually wanted me to stop speaking to a neighbour because she could not stand the way I was pulling his legs without him ever noticing.)

The US are fine for people with money, but compared to Europe I found the general attitude uncultured and barbaric, most people's general education quite scanty, most of the media incredibly biased towards the right, and was glad to leave, although i had enjoyed the professional side of my stay, and even found a circle of like-minded friends.

Mind you, I left Germany because i didn't like it there any more, either.
In the meantime I found a home in Ireland, maybe not one of the most "civilized", but certainly one of the most cultured places in Europe.

Altstadtweib

I am since 15 years in the US now because of my husband. I love it because he & my kids are here and I think we could live anywhere in the world. The country itself is ok.

I miss the real "freedom of speech", you can never ever say what you really feel without that people are taking it to heart.

I miss the true friendships. I have lots of "friends" here in the US, but nothing as deep as it was back in Germany.

I miss the real FUN / Gemuetlichkeit of Germans.
At parties people usually stay for a certain amount of time, but they never want to overstay their welcome and leave.

I miss certain foods which I can not get here in the US.

But I also love so many things about America. The convenient shopping 24/7, the school system in which my kids are, the great $$$ for work, the huge house we have, and and and......

Wouldn't it be great it one could combine the best of Germany & the best of the US ????

Simone P

well, it took some getting use to. but it's always like that when u go and live in a diffrent country ,a different culture. i love germany, and i love the US. i found my second home in texas. i love it there. we r military and we move around alot. and right now we r back in germany for 3 more years.what is not easy to understand for us germans is the poor healthcare system in the USand the ridicules minimum wage. the one thing i hate about the US is the speedlimit...i get carried away sometimes...lolol

Kaiman

I have been born and raised in Germany, met my wife in the states while I was stationed here with the German Navy.

Now I live in the San Antonio, Texas area and became a citizen less then a year ago.

The U.S. still has better opportunities for those who apply themselves a bit. I've got my degree from a University here, something I would have never though about doing in Germany.

Howdy and Moin Moin from San Antonio, Texas

Ravin

I must say, Athene Noctua's answer in regards to the U.S. is appalling itself, and clearly biased. Granted, they're entitled to their opinion; but much (if not most) of what they said is incorrect. The U.S. has plenty of self-professed pagans who are quite happy to be living there; perhaps Athene might've made the mistake of trying to live in the Bible Belt or something. I can imagine that evangelical proselytizing must've been a huge source of irritation; but in the U.S. we do a lot for the poor and the sick--to make it out to seem like Americans are heartless and cruel is simply untrue.

I also found the comments about the U.S. being "uncultured, barbaric, and uneducated" to be slanted and offensive, too. You can find LOTS of so-called uncultured/barbaric/uneducated people in Europe, too, just as in the U.S.: it all depends on where you look, and what you expect to find. People who don't like Americans have no trouble pointing out all the examples they want of uncouth, uncultured Americans, and completely overlook the educated, decent, and considerate folks in the process. As for the media being slanted towards the right--uhh, no. It isn't. Very much the opposite, much like its European counterparts; but unlike European media, American media is inexplicably obsessed with itself and with pop culture, rather than with actually important things. Comparitively little of what's actually going on in the outside world seems to worm its way into the lineup of what American media harp about every night on the news; but with a couple exceptions, it's very much a left-slanting industry.

Athene didn't even explain why they left Germany or why they didn't like it there, either. Having lived in both Germany and in the U.S., and being quite fond of both, I wonder whether this person found both countries so disagreeable because perhaps they gave folks in both places a reason to react negatively towards them... people do that more often than you'd think, when they want to legitimize a reason or an excuse to blame others for their own problems or shortcomings.

liebekatz2

My husband is German, and while he enjoys visiting the US, I don't think he would want to live there permanently.

fliege52000

My husband is American and I have German citizen. I was living for a long time in Texas and traveled different places in US now we are back in Germany again (Army) and I like both US and Germany. I don't see any differents, except the language, but I don't have any problems with that because I speak both. I feel at home in US and Germany.

black&white

yahooo, im in america.

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