A question for German people...?

Question

My grandparents were German, but I was born in America, which means I'm an ordinary, uninteresting American.

What's Germany like? How would you explain life in Germany to someone like me? What's good about it? What parts need improvement?

I'm hoping German citizens will answer, as they have a native's viewpoint.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I am also an American but resided in Germany from June 1997 to June 2000 when my husband was stationed with the US Army.
The language barrier can be hard for Americans to cope with when they arrive in the country if they aren't familiar with basic words before arriving there. A lot of the younger generations of Germans learn English in school, but prefer to speak and be spoken to in their native tongue. I've noticed if you try to speak German and you mess up that they are usually very friendly to correct you in pronunciation accent and what not or if they knew you meant one word and it wasn't correct and I've had people say that and was grateful so I wouldn't be embarrassed the next time.
We lived about 4 hours SE of Frankfurt so we lived in a fairly flat part of Germany, but did do some traveling and the country is quite beautiful especially when you start getting closer to the mountains (it's breathtaking) and has many things to see and do. We went to museums and castles and loved all the culture that was around us.
I had a German friend whose husband was a American soldier and she really told me a lot about the country that you don't hear in school. I find that some people still stereotype German's which I think is horribly unfair thinking that they hate all Americans but I have never seen or heard hostile comments from any of them to that regard.
I found that their drivers ed program was a lot better than our own that they don't allow teenagers to drive until they are 18 and they have to go through this class for several weeks I believe before they even get to the exam part. The roads are very well maintained and I never saw a pot hole anywhere. The Autobahn was a lot of fun and isn't as dangerous as people make it to be as long as you are driving safe then you will be fine. Another thing about driving is that the semi trucks are soft sided with tarps so when you pass them you don't get the sucked in feeling or that you are being blown off the road that you do with hard sided semis here.
Then there is the mandatory recycling program that seems harsh to someone that doesn't recycle but they are very organized about it and teach/show you the proper way to recycle and becomes a good thing, even though people still wouldn't do it, but they have people that sort the trash and if they find some rubbish with your name and address on it they can seriously come after you and either give you a fine or make you do community service. That happened a lot to military members that refused to recycle and it became a normal part of life for us and it felt weird not doing it once we got back to the States.
If we could ever go back there just to visit I would like to travel more throughout Germany and the surrounding countries cause I feel that we weren't able to take in all that Germany has to offer because my husband was deployed a lot and also the issue of funds too.
I think Germany was a beautiful place and feel blessed to been able to experience what was all around us (the people/culture, etc.)