I have just been offered a nice way of posting a new entry without revealing too much personal feelings. I really do appreciate that.Therefore : thanks FD.
The question was: what is it like living in Germany?
I do belive, generally speaking, the germans are very open minded. And there has never been an administration as diverse as the current one.
We have a woman as political leader,"Angela Merkel",YESSSSS!
Our foreign minister ("Guido Westerwelle") is homosexual and brings his male partner to social events,
our secretary for youth, families and senior citizens ("Kristina Schröder") is born 1977, my point is she is really young.
The secretary for finances ("Wolfgang Schäuble") is handicapped. He sits in a wheelchair after having been attacked some years ago by a mad man.
The secretary of defence ("Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg") is a nobleman; or actually he comes from such a family.
I could go on like this for days.
What else...It is definitely a social state or welfare state here.
Going to university is for free. No fees.Which is fantastic.
If you are a student and your parents are poor, you can get very interesting student loans to finance your private life, while focusing at the university. If you are facing a legal problem and can`t afford one of my battlesome colleagues, you get a "voucher" from the court and you can get a free consultation with a lawyer of your own choice. The lawyer just sends his bill to the court. Even though he can not ask for more than a special amount of money.
And if you are really in trouble, with no money and job, the state does indeed pay your rent and supports you with a monthly amount of 350 € for you to spend on your own disposal.
Compulsory health insurance? Sure. We got it. I did not meet one single person lately who could comprehend the problems many americans are seeing as far as the US health reform goes. I am not going into detail here, just mentioning it.
Alcohol? There are parts in Germany, especially in bavaria, where beer is not seen as alcoholic beverage but as a stapple food :-) Legally, young people are allowed to drink beer at the age of 16. And they all do...All other- more alcoholic- drinks you are free to consume at the age of 18.
Crime? Not really an issue. Living here is not dangerous. Of course, sometimes bad things happen, but generally speaking it is a very safe place to be.
Prostitution: Legally permitted, but not in all areas of the cities.
I like living in Deutschland. I would not say it is the greatest country on earth but that is probably due to the fact that over here, we are all still very reluctant to say "I love my country". The events of 70 years ago make it still difficult to identify themselves with the country. It changed quite a bit after the soccer world cup 2006. Since that time it is for instance ok to have a national flag on your car or on your house. Before the world cup, that was an almost impossible thing to do without making people think you are one crazy, horrible right, right, right wing devotee.
sounds very nice, but is it really so?
ReplyDeleteI am not going to start a "there is so much that can be improved in Germany" debate here. Of course there are many reformworthy aspects in the country. But I am neither a sociologist nor a politician or a financial expert.
ReplyDeleteThanks for telling what life is in Germany. It's amazing how your country rose from the ashes to provide so much for its citizens, including things we don't have in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind more question:
Do you have to pass exams to get into college or can anyone go who has the grades?
Is law school free?
How competitive is it to get into law school?
Do you practice corporate law or do you try cases?
I assume you have a VAT tax. Any other taxes?
Do you have a government pension plan like social security here?
Do people tend to live in connected houses? Are single family homes common?
What does a middle class home cost?
Do you have to wait long to see a doctor or get an operation?
If you're tried of this, you can skip them but, hey, it's a blog without having to get into your feelings.
Although I hope you will tell us about your feelings in the future.
FD
FD, it is gonna take ages to answer properly. But I gonna give my best :-)
ReplyDeleteI'd prefer you tell us more about the state of spouse-spanking in Germany. :-)
ReplyDeleteTom, for me it is more about spouse-finding these days...
ReplyDeleteDo you have to pass exams to get into college or can anyone go who has the grades?
ReplyDeleteGrades are the important factor. No exams. However I think if you wanna go to medical school there is a prior test.
Is law school free? Yes.I did not pay one cent for it.They should have probably paid me,for sticking with such a ...In some parts of germany you might probably have to pay about 1000 € a year.
How competitive is it to get into law school?
In my case: No competition at all. I just wanted to go in a special city to my favorite university and actually just did inscribe myself.Wanted to go there, went there.Granted, it might not always work that smoothly but in the case of my little sister and the university of Heidelberg it was exactly the same.And she entered university only very few years ago.
Do you practice corporate law or do you try cases?
I do try cases.Again and again there`s something new and thrilling. And I am always wearing one of these:
http://www.roben-shop.de/anwaltsrobe-elite-konfektion-p-3.php
I assume you have a VAT tax. Any other taxes?
Never ask a german about taxes. We are crazy for taxes, from a legal point of view only.For passing the bar exam, I had to study tax law. I passedd. And I am still not able to do my own annual tax declaration without almost getting a nervous breakdown, because it is just so complicated. And on a sidenote: if you are a member of the roman catholic or the protestant/lutheran church, your annual church fee is collected as a tax too.