What I Missed About Germany When I Was In The UK.
My Newsletter: benjaminantoine.substack.com
Traveling is one of the best ways to gain a new perspective on life. In this video I share some of the insights I gained during my time away from Germany back in the UK.
What to watch next:
• How I See Britain Afte...
• Reverse Culture Shocks...
• The KEY To Lifelong IN...
About me:
I am a Brit who lives in Germany. After completing University in the UK I moved to China where I taught English for two years. I’ve learned a thing or two about cultural integration, language learning and everything else that goes with upping sticks and moving to a foreign country. I make videos about cultural, language and life and tend to pose a lot of questions. Join me on my exploration of life abroad.
#uk #germany #culturaldifferences
You make a great contribution to German-British understanding. When I watch your videos, I always notice how small the differences and how big the similarities between us are. At least for me, comparisons like yours have made me a lot more aware of what's happening politically and socially in the UK, because something like a neighborly, maybe even family feeling has actually arisen. Almost like checking on a cousin to see if he's okay. Thanks for that.
Awww that is very sweet. Thanks a lot 😀
It´s sad that it´s like an estranged relative because many Brits don´t reciprocate the sentiment says this German, living in the UK. But keep it up, we need all the love we can get :)
@@susannebreul7665 My impression (at least from the outside) is that this is predominantly a competitive spirit that is fueled again and again in the British media, because unfortunately the image of the former wartime enemy is still stuck in their heads (Maybe just out of calculation, because there is more money to be made from stories that make people angry than from harmonious stories). However, if you look at the personal level, where Brits and Germans actually get to know each other, mutual sympathy predominates, at least according to my impression and experience.
I wholeheartedly concur.
Above all, it shows how advantageous and enriching it is simply to live in or travel to another country.
I live in Croatia but also had a recent 2 week visit to UK. The thing I missed was people doing their jobs! It seems like lots of people have been sacked so that you now have to do tasks yourself or online rather than interacting with a human employee. I flew to Manchester Airport where you now have to do your own luggage check-in. You scan your boarding pass, print out labels, stick them on your luggage and put your luggage on one conveyor belt for all destinations. This is just an example but lots of tasks are now DIY. The bus station for the airport now has no staff, there are big signs saying "Tickets can only be purchased online". There is wifi there but tough if you don't use computers or don't have a smartphone. Fortunately I was able to buy a ticket from the driver but that is not always possible as their card readers don't always work.
Interesting point. Actually Frankfurt airport is also in the process of installing those self check in stations. I used them when I fly over and I've got to say I kind of like it. But I see what you mean. You kind of have to be computer savvy these days...especially in the UK there are various things you actually cannot do if you don's have a smart phone.
Yeah, and smaller German train stations are not staffed at all these days. Together with no ticket barriers that makes them more vulnerable to vandalism, actually. But otherwise agree - lots of stuff outsourced to the customer in the UK, but as you say, Ben, also increasingly so in Germany.
The USA is also plagued with people not doing their jobs and depersonalization. It's very off-putting.
As an Aspie with social anxiety, I would've been happy in your place. Different people, different perspectives.
@@britingermany Frankfurt has them for 5-8 years or longer. Those self check-in options. I used to work at a hotel at the airport and had to assist some guests with that.
So true. I used to live in London for one year 1994-95 and even UP MARKET flats were EXTREMELY poorly built and equipped as compared to Germany even THEN! The British standard is PATHETIC to say the least. I stayed in a B&B in Scotland for a couple of nights and the guy had imported just EVERYTHING in the bathroom, kitchen, house technique from Germany. And that was the only place I found where things actually WORKED. And the Scot confirmed that.
Nonsense.
throughout my years in the UK I got the impression to always aim for housing build before the Great War. then you would be on the safe side.
As a German who studied in the UK, I can totally agree. Both countries have their advantages and disadvantages. I love them both for what they are and every now and then I try to include some British culture in my own life (have to best of both worlds).
Very cool👍🏻. That’s one of the great advantages of experiencing other cultures. You can integrate the parts you like and leave the ones you don’t
I‘m from Berlin and studied at UCL as an affiliate for a year. I love London as well as the british countryside with it‘s elisabethan pittoresk towns. But the best part about Britain definitely are the ales, full english and fish&chips…😇😅
When Martin Bucer emigrated to Cambridge ca. 1549 one of the first things he did was have a German heating system installed in his house there.
Good morning culture enthusiasts. These are three things which I think are taken more seriously and done to a higher standard in Germany than in the UK. I'm sure there's more. What have you noticed? Have a great Sunday and enjoy the sun!
Well, we moved to the UK from Hamburg, Germany and we are still dealing with culture shock after 5 years, especially over buildings because that´s my profession and my English hubby because of "Fremdschämen" for his fellow Brits. Locally I have been co-opted as a counsillor recently, trying to understand how things work and I plan on writing a book about houses (actually, starting the coming week). I feel for the buildings and the people with poor health. There has to be a better way! Thanks for the "quiet enjoyment" experience withy our videos. Love them.
I was generally surprised, when you made me realize, that I'm truly german xD. I easily get sick through "Zug" or even AC. I hated the paper thin windows on a class trip to the UK in a small hostel. But I always have to have my windows open at night, especially in the summer.
When I was there last, some 20+-years ago, public transport (trains especially) and then: water pipes, electricity, heating, windows... Pretty much everything construction-related. It all seemed to me to back then to have peaked significantly earlier and now (late 1980ies, early 1990ies) the country was clinging to the remnants. Somewhat like Germany today, but - more extended.
What was confusing to me at first were the train services. There is just the Deutsche Bahn Ag in Germany. But if you went in the early 2000nds, there were many different companies which ran trains, and each had different standards. And not every company drove to every place. You had to check with which company you had to go. This made it a little difficult. I loved virgin train service, though. Very beautiful and very clean.
There are some private services around here but you can book and ride all of them with the same ticket. Not so in the UK. You have to book with virgin train service if you have to take a virgin train service train. This is a bit difficult. That said, I went to many places by train.
UK citizen here. Lived in Germany for a year as a student. UK has gone to the dogs, infrastructure-wise. We don't maintain roads, we fill in pot holes when enough people complain about them. The culture is to do the absolute minimum possible to maintain civic spaces and infrastructure - due to culture of austerity but it was prevalent even before that disastrous policy. Compare to France where I holiday a lot, they have new infrasture everywhere. The place is very clean (Paris excepted), they take a great pride in town squares, telephones, parks, civic amenities. Few places look old and tired and dirty like in the UK. There's no appetite for upgrading things to look good or to advance the place - cycle lanes, integrated affordable public transport, green spaces. There's a lot of talk about it on telly with the ubiquitous 'mental 'elf' soundbite which tells everyone that talking about stuff is the same as doing it. Instead of making it a good place to live in, public services are being squeezed into automating everything and pushing people out of face to face interaction, making us even more miserable than i am. 🙂 There are saving graces, pleasant countryside, some nice pubs, local clubs - cricket, bowls etc is a good feature of british society lacking elsewhere. But it annoys me, when you go abroad and as Jim Bowen used to say, you see "what you could have won" and yet content ourselves with deceiving ourselves that we're the Best in the World at everything (with no evidence).
Despite all....as a northwest German I love beeing in England, as I drove home in may it brought me to tears.... realy..... when I would reach my retirement I would like to stay in England for some months during a year..... To be honest I feel very much comfortable in England.... much more then in Germany.. ❤🏴🌹
Well I do hope you will be able to do this. So glad you feel at home there 😀
Interesting comment. If it's not too personal, what about life in Northwestern Germany causes you to feel less comfortable there than in England? For my part, I have strong feelings of nostalgia for my time in Germany and deep affection for it and its people. Well, not everyone, but that's true in all cases. Anyway, who loves everyone? I digress. In many ways, I found life in Germany more agreeable than in America to the degree that I attempted, without success, to extend my stay substantially. I had a previous engagement with law school, and I was "ordered" to repatriate myself and train to become productive. However, in the end, one of the most important things I took back to America was a deeper understanding of and affection for it.
@@peterplotts1238 What I liked about my time in the Uk was that people were more polite. And they took problems with less aggression and more with a good sense of humor. They make more fun of the problems and do not lament about them all the time.
@@yvonnehorde1097 Rudeness and complaining are two of the worst behaviors. We could use a lot less of both here. That is good to know, by the way.
@@peterplotts1238 that's the point beside the wonderful landscape and old buildings and castles... it's the english people.... polite... Sense of humor.... patiences.... and we are both Anglo-Saxons... the same tribe
Thanks for this. Very interesting. I'm a Brit living in Germany too. The UK looks very scruffy when I go back (but then so does everywhere compared to Germany). UK buildings are only well maintained at the ground floor level where the immediate profits are to be had. Look up and you see rotting roofs, guttering, walls (I don't mean London skyscrapers, of course). The potholes in the roads are getting serious now and the town centres look a shadow of their former selves with charity shops, betting shops and little else. Despite this, I still miss home and there are plenty of positives.
Hi Nik. Whereabouts in Germany are you living? Yeah some of the towns are a bit ghostly but it does vary. I was quite impressed by Weymouth as I hadn't been there before, and I was very disappointed with Bournemouth that was just full of shisha, kebab and phone repair shops. I do enjoy going back..I find the news is often at odds with my own personal experience...
I'm in Bonn. Yes despite the crazy headlines, day to day life in the UK still plods on.
@@uknikmartin very nice. Greetings from FFM😀
Yes there a plenty of positive things.... for me as a German I love the english mentality very much.... Humor.... politness... calmness and patience how much I miss this in Germany.... and I am from Westphalia so I am native Saxon.... and feel very much connected with our Anglo-Saxon cousins in England❤🏴
Wow. I don't think the UK looks scruffy! My brother lives in LA & he would agree with you. I lived in Athens now that is scruffy.
That is so interesting how different I see things. I'm German but usually spend about 5 months of the year in London (would probably have moved if there was no Brexit). I just love the countryside roads in the UK :-) once even a pheasant was crossing infront of my car. And I love the hedges - its so fairytale.
Ecologically, hedges are a good thing to have (well, it might depend on the hedge, though). You’re perfectly right about what’s important in life. Thanks for your thoughts!
Totally agree and I do like them...just not when in the car
Roads in Britain (and in Ireland for that matter) are often narrower than anywhere on the continent that I know. And it is very British to have those enclosing hedges. Fairly recently I did drive a bit in Ireland. And for me, by the third trip, it was simply an attitude problem: of course, I'm used to German roads (and I'm not even talking about the Autobahn) but my thinking was "the accident statistics are not terrybly worse in Ireland than in Germany. If the Irish can manage these roads, why wouldn't I!" This, along with adapting the "partnership" among drivers that I feel is a feature of Irish mentality, made for very relaxed driving even on narrow roads and even if on those narrow roads I encountered big trucks. I know a German building engineer who emigrated to Ireland in the 1990s. He even shipped the bricks over from Germany to build his house... 😅
I had one of the most awesome holidays on the emerald island long ago and will never forget the beauty of the landscape and the lovely people there. Felt like coming home to me. ♥
Thank you for your beautiful impressions of England. The landscape is lovely and well-off people used to build stunning houses. Sometimes, I believe, we Germans feel sentimental for a way of life less focused. You cannot always think straight forward and " efficiently ", when you have to slow down due to small and winding roads with hedges. Maybe we even miss a " living " old house with cracking floors and whispering drafts as I can remember from my childhood. There must be a reason why so many novellists with spooky stories come from the UK. Btw, did you read Goethe's description of his childhood in the old townhouse in Frankfurt? Enjoy this lovely Sunday. 😻🌞
Very true Ilse. I think there is a certain nostalgia about English country cottages, or the Scottish highlands or Welsh dry stone walls. There's definitely something to it.
I will look up Goethe's account of his childhood home. Thanks for the tip, Ilse, and may you find a moment or two in which to indulge your sentimental affection for winding pathways in a week that is productive and pleasant.
@@britingermanyI'd rather live in such a cottage where nature and landscapes are marvelous, than in an urban area with only concrete around you, no true beauty.
I love the small roads and especially the hedges, because they are home for many birds and other animals, and you don't get distracted by anything else, but focus on driving instead. This is much more relaxed driving to me. ❤
Yes I do like the hedges as well, just not so much when driving
@@imogenhobson7278 It is, in my opinion, extremely pitiful that "modern, educated" man hardly knows why earlier generations, who still knew about the interrelatedness of nature, took the trouble to plant these extensive hedges.
I agree that travelling from A to B within the UK can be a challenge. When I lived in London, going for a surf in Wales or Cornwall was a massive mission. If you don’t leave home early enough, you get stuck in London traffic for ages already, then on the A303 past Stonehenge, then etc etc - just a bit overcrowded. Of course taking the train is no option. My in-laws live in Norwich. For them to get to their daughters flat in southwest London it takes FOUR hours door to door by car, also mostly due to traffic in and around London. This should be a two hour journey normally. Hopefully HS2 and similar projects will improve connectivity between the UK’s larger cities materially in the next decade. Won’t help me for surfing, but will make the UK more accessible overall. Love it that in Germany travelling is _relatively_ easy - also to neighbouring countries - and that gives me a feeling of freedom at times!
Totally. if you live in the south then you really need to think about which side of London because driving around it is a nightmare.
I do agree of how you describe Germany. I’m from Scotland but have lived for some years in Germany. Heading home for a month and will be living in an Airbnb in Stonehaven.
Oh cool, I wish you great weather. I'm sure you'll love it
Wilma I live just up the road from Stoney!
I found driving on those narrow and curvy roads in the UK very stressful, at least at the speed that's allowed. And most had no shoulder to evade oncoming traffic.
Interesting then thar the UK is one of the safest places to drive in the developed world. Why is that do you think!
I know exactly what you mean
@@ianstafford8716 people get used to it I guess but as a tourist with a rental car…
Thanks for your comparison. I made the same observations on my recent trip. The "narrow roads" you showed are actually still the wider type. We drove on many that were just a bit wider than a car so that you always had to back up to the next place that was wide enough for two cars to pass when a car came the other way. At first, my daughter wanted to listen to an audiobook that she had not downloaded yet but we soon realised that it is not much fun listening to it when it stops playing all the time due to missing internet perception. We stayed in several towns and were always wondering why the houses still have only single glazed windows, that is quite rare in Germany by now as are the cobwebbed phone cables you showed at the beginning of your video. In the houses we saw, the stairways were also much steeper than those in Germany to use less space but the rooms were still smaller than average German rooms, a bedroom may have one a bit of space next to one side of the bed but the other side is right on the wall so that only one can leave the bed "the normal way" and the other has to crawl somehow. I also noticed many empty stores in every town we saw and many of the open "stores" were actually charity stores that take donations and then sell them at a low price for various good causes, be it cancer research, the British heart foundation, supporting people who are less well off, supporting people in other countries, ... There also seem to be foodbanks now in every city, something I did not notice on previous trips to the UK. But there are also stll many "corner shops" that you do not see any more in Germany, "Tante Emma Läden" have become a thing of the past and many would still prefer to have them since they cannot easily get to the nearest supermarket that replaced it decades ago.
I know. It's a shame but I didn't get any footage of the narrower lanes...we drove down some really narrow lanes were the weeds were almost touching the car on both sides 🤣. The "empty shops" thing was quite town/city specific for me. The worst example I saw of this was Portsmouth...that was really rough. Also Hove at a "high street" which was basically full of empty shops spaces. Did you say in the north or travels around a bit?
@@britingermany No, we travelled through the south and the west including Wales, not up north unless you'd call Birmingham north.
@@PEdulis ahh ok. No Birmingham is still the midlands 😉
We take our charity shops very seriously in the UK. Its baked into us not to be wasteful and pass things on to others who can benefit from it, but also because we are concious of being wasteful of resources. Usually we offer things on to family and friends, and on to charity shops when no one in our immediate circle needs or would like it. I noticed when I was in Germany I was offered some childrens clothes from my husbands colleagues wife, as her son was a little older and had outgrown the clothes. She rang me up and just said her son had grown out of some clothes and she would pop them round for him, when would be a good time to drop them off. In the UK we tend to just pass it on, but she turned up to my house, took everything out of bags and she had price tagged everything. None of it was my cup of tea and I could have bought new things at not much more, but being English it was all too embarrassing and I ended up buying them. I passed most on to the local charity shop when I got back as it was all in good condition, but mustard yellow and orange were not really my sons colours! Cultural difference lesson learned! 😂
@@shelleyphilcox4743 How odd that she actually wanted to sell them to you! I have never encountered this here in my circle of friends. She did get use out of them, so it is a sunk cost anyway. Why not just give them to you as is? I do miss that there are hardly any charity shops in Vienna. There are a few centers run by the church such as Caritas which will take donations. But hardly as many as one sees in towns in the UK.
Thanks for sharing your view in this nuanced way; I really enjoyed watching and listening it. And I can wholeheartedly agree with your observation that going offline (or at least greatly reducing or self-denying the access to ubiquitous internet) for some time really can help to get in a more relaxed state of mind. For me those are the most relaxing holidays and allow just what you describe: be more present in the reality around oneself. It's something I also have to remind myself often... it's easy to forget that for the fear of missing out.
Thanks a lot for watching. I really appreciate it 😀
I found the rooms in British homes so small that you can't really do anything except sleeping/sitting in them. Forget cat swinging.
Cat swinging!! 🤣
This sounds like a modern house. I have an old one and the rooms are too big. 😅
There’s the legend again. Good morning, and thanks for your video.
Haha thanks a lot. You are very welcome
Deine Videos sind toll, so beruhigend.😊 Your videos are awesome. So calm and chilling.🤗
Thanks a lot, that#s the vibe I'm going for 😉
So isses! ☺
You nailed it! I left the UK to work across the EU way back in 1995. I've been back in the UK since late 2019. Now we can add our NHS to the list. Needing treatment it has become scary. Keep your videos coming. They are great.
Thanks a lot. Hope the move back wasn’t too stressful
Lovely video as always! Interesting differences. I have never been to the UK, so your last videos have definitely been interesting for my understanding.
Very glad to hear it. Maybe you will visit some time 😀
As a Canadian in Germany, the building standards are excellent here. The primary thing I would miss building-wise if I moved back to Canada (not planning to) would be the windows. They are brilliantly designed and engineered here.
Yes I can agree on that. The British window latch system....the long stick thing with holes in it...sorry I forgot what it's called...always annoyed me.
Yes, me too. I love the windows here in Germany. If I were to move back to the UK (not planning to either) I would definitely miss the windows & cycling.
Canadian here, also not planning to move back and I agree about the windows. Houses are also built to last much longer. The roofs don't need to be redone every 15 years and so on.
@@maudeboggins9834 maybe you could bring some home! just kiddin!
But remember, this is what makes building so expensive, what makes a house not achievable for everybody. I've seen houses (cottages) in Quebec, they would be considered garden shacks in Germany.
The quality of the production is top notch. Your narrative is very soothing. I was just on a bike ride 10 klm from home when my mom from Canada phoned. I stoped found a bench and called her back. We had a 20 minutes video chat. I was in the middle of nowhere. I live 150 klm from Munich, and the connection was flawless. There is some patches where it's not so good but in general lte connections are strong almost everywhere. Very nice places in the UK. I really have to visit one day.
Thanks a lot. I too find the coverage very good in Germany. There's only one or two places in Taunus where I've noticed not having any signal
The landscape with the many hills, small country roads , streams and small shops and cafes looks very nice and relaxing.
Thank you. Happy Sunday afternoon
I wish you a nice sunny Sunday too.🌞@@britingermany
I love the English hedges! They might be a safety problem for road traffic, but the profit for biodiversity must be worth it. In Germany drivers complain even about small stripes of grass and flowers not being mowed for the sake of bees and other insects on the side of the road. Individual traffic beats nature. 😢
Definitely, I had the same thought. Hedges really do play such a crucial role for wildlife and biodiversity.
Many of them are actually protected because of the role they play in bio diversity. It just makes for a interesting driving experience 😉
You can find some hedges in the Münsterland/Westphalia. This makes sense to protects the soil in the fields against wind corrosion. People could feel the difference in East Germany, when during the communist era the fields were combined to large plains. With the longer heat periods in summer the soil dries out and all of a sudden a kind of sand storm arises. Not every practicality is efficient in the long term. 😻
Same here, I love the hedges and the narrow roads, esp. in Cornwall and Devon - even when driving with my German car there (and the visibility is really bad with a left-hand drive). It makes driving a challenge when you don't know what's around the corner. 😉.
@@ilsekuper3045 Great to hear that some German regions recognise the value of hedges.
Those hedges, in particular the tunnel ones are quite lovely.
They can be indeed 😀
Didn't know about the reception - new fact to me. Nice vid - there is only one HOME - I spent half of my live somewhere else, but coming home creates always this feeling in my heart - no other place could. ♥
Thank you. Yes it’s hard to describe but the feeling of home is definitely tied to certain emotions
@@britingermany There is only 1 HOME (for the most of us) - and the feeling is --> kzhead.info/sun/Y7etgrNljHueZH0/bejne.html ♪♪♫♪♪ ♥
I love those hedges. And probably because of constant wind, which I presume in a country that is surrounded by ocean, you need these hedges to protect the soil.
I think the main reason some of them are legally protected is because of the role they play in biodiversity and for the wildlife. But you're right especially in coastal areas they can help to prevent soil erosion
@@britingermany farmers ripped out hundreds of miles of hedges and eventually the government put financial incentives in place to plant and maintain them. Our ecology is the most depleted and damaged in all of Europe. We desperately need the hedges!
What I noticed while driving in the UK is that the roads follow the topology much more. Makes driving more interesting, but you have to pay attention. In Germany, if the curve radius isn't the perfect parabola that is required by law they will be much more inclined to put up an embankment.
Hey Benikon, thank you for your Sunday morning thoughts. It is becoming something I am looking forward to. I just got back from the mornings round with the dog, popping into our neighbour's for a lovely chat and cuppa coffee, to check on them (both in their early eighties) and the dogs get their treats. And then on the veranda, birds chirping, the warm sunshine and watching your video equals total bliss. Oh I forgot to mention the hum of the thousands of bees being busy collecting the Pollen from the nearby Robinien which are in full blossom right now. (Yes, we live right on the edge of the woods/forest). As I have mentioned before, I lived for so many years in the UK, first in London,the down in Brighton, and these UK videos bring back so many memories. I fell in love with the English country side, the rolling hills in the South, the South Downs and over towards the West Country. In particular in summertime England is gorgeous. Back then my late Partner and I travelled around a lot, also to Wales and the Gower Peninsular, and a lot to Bournemouth and Poole. On the topics of your thoughts, I did not know that mobile availability is so bad. Mind you, her on the edge of the woods reception is also really bad, you barely can make and receive phone calls as the house is located in some sort of a ditch, and the area in general. Going for hikes with the dogs reception is at best rather patchy. But I don't mind. At home WiFi is fine and everything can wait until then. I recently de-activated my Facebook profile and Twitter and I let Twitter die down after 30 days. No benefit in using these platforms form me anymore. All the negativity has become so dominant, and everybody is getting upset about things that don't really matter. Checking the news once a day (or listen to them while driving in your car on the radio is sufficient for me now). What has really grown on me,man I am seriously find of, is KZhead. There are so many really good content creators (like yourself) and numerous fields I am interested in which has even replaced my consumption of watching television. Amazing. So I really appreciate your weekly thoughts. Thank you. Building standard in the UK: Andrew Lloyd Webber had his English Landhaus built by the German manufacturer Baufritz. They have an amazing repertoire and philosophy of modern living. Our house in Brighton was a newly build 'two up, two down' with a private courtyard near The Lanes and it had a modern standard with German build Velux roof Windows. But due to the Brighton micro climate, it never really felt cold there anyways, compared to the German weather and winters. In Brighton you can have lunch sitting outside in February on a sunny day in one of the bars/restaurants along the seafront, which I loved when living there. And yes, life is so short. I think more and more people are disconnecting themselves from the always present online world. At least reducing the online time and concentrating on real life. The internet is too important for every day life, but taking time off feels so good. I wish you a lovely Sunday. Enjoy and make the most of it, while surrendering to the moment (Eckhart Tolle) 😊
That sounds like Bliss. hasn't the weather been amazing the last few weeks? Living in Brighton with German Velux Windows sounds like the perfect mix. We stayed in Brunswick town in one of the old apartments there. It had these massive old bay sash windows which you could push up and step out onto the balcony (and see the sea). If I had the money I would have put in an offer right away 😉. Enjoy the sunshine and the bees 😀
@@britingermany Aaah, ja. Our first flat was on Lansdowne Place just around the corner from Brunswick Square Gardens, also with the huge sash bay windows. I loved it on a summers day having them wide open, after the whole day on the beach, with friends having a glas of vino in your hand and Montserrat Caballe singing ,Chi il bel sogno di Doretta' while looking down the street and watching a sailing boat passing by. That is so much Brighton, well Hove actually, for me. And yes, winters are gloomy in England. But have you ever been somewhere on the Mediterranean coast in winter time on a grey and rainy Day? At least in Brighton you have a lot of bright days during the winter months, and hardly ever frost. I remember on the local radio Southern FM (which sadly is no more, I listened to it all the time back then) the host ask people to call in when they had snow one early morning (as there hadn't been any for years) 😀 BTW, I am a fan of the BBC Radio 4 weather report and conditions around the British Isles and the tune 'Sailing Away'. There is a great video here on KZhead. I don't know if you know about it, as you're probably too young.
@@wakeupcall2665 you paint a very idyllic picture indeed. Must have been an amazing time there 😀
Houses here in DK are pressure tested when built. Houses shall hold the pressure for a certain amount of time, before they are accepted. When the law came into effect (many years ago), I thought it would give problems with the climate inside. But no, it works. Houses a dry and nice.
Just came across your channel and can really relate to it as a Brit in Germany. I agree about phone dependency and how it can impact on being fully present.
Great. Glad to have you 😀...there are quite a few of us here
On phone signal, I heard it was because masts were restricted to 25m in height in the UK, whereas 50m in most countries. The upside is the 50m masts are quite noticeable and often unsightly
really? I hadn't heard of that would make sense
Danke für dieses Video
Sehr gerne Christina. Danke für deine Unterstützung
Hi Benikon, again a very interest 1:23 ing clip; thanks for making this Sunday a bit brighter! I could never get used yo driving on the left, but the English landscape you captured with your camera is breathtakingly bucolic! Concerning windows I do see your point. What puzzled me more in British houses were the steep and narrow staircases. The English treasure that I miss here at home more than anything else: steak and kidney pie!😋😋😋 Have a pleasant rest of this Sunday!🌈🌞🍓
Hello Torsten. Thanks so much...yes the narrow staircases with carpet on them 😉...it doesn't make it quieter but it's definitely not the easiest thing to clean. Sunny greetings to Berlin🌞
Thank you so much for your quick reply, Benikon! You are mistaken - Berlin is not my location, but my (real!) last name, a nerve-wracking curse since my early childhood. I live in Schwarzenbek. An English staircase which I won't ever forget is the one in Charles Dickens' house in London. I asked myself how Mrs Dickens had managed to go upstairs and downstairs; wasn't that impossible in the hoopskirts which eomen used to wear then? Apart from this point - I am extremely fond of your KZhead clips!❤ Foreigners' views of my he country's culture are always interesting and often inspiring, and there are several people, primarily Americans, who create KZhead videos in this field; and your contributions are my very favourite ones because they are very substantial and conspicuously classy! Please go on this way!🤩👍
@@torstenberlin4088 Oh sorry about that my mistake. Then greetings each Schwarzenbek and thank you for your comments
You're very welcome, of course!😊👍 What for heaven's sake do you mean by "each Schwarzenbek". There is only one. Or was it just a typing mishap? Please, Benikon, may I ask you a personal question? Don't worry, nothing political, religious or sexual.🤔
Love the view of Chesil Beach on your way down to Portland and Weymouth. Unbeatable scenery with the weather as it has been…
Yes that was pretty spectacular driving into Weymouth!
Thank you very much for sharing the amazing pictures and your comparison. I love pictures of landscapes and more I see from European landscape I love this continent more and more.
Thank you for your kind comments
Great video! I see you visited Winchester. Some lovely video shots from there.👍 Winchester was my home town until I left for Germany in 1976. I have been following your youtube channel for a while now and agree with a lot of your views on Germany and life in general. I also considered retiring to England but not any more. (The 'B' word)🙁 Also, it would certainly require a German architect, some Polish contractors and a lot of imported windows to sort out any house I would live in. 😁
Yes I was really impressed with Winchester, especially the cathedral and the diver who saved it!…has it reached that stage already?…don’t mention B…🤣
Snap! I also came to live in Germany in 1976 (from Leicester rather than Winchester).😊 I love Germany and with my recent retirement and my Deutschland Karte train&bus ticket, I am exploring even more of it. I think I would miss the trees and forests most...😉
I'm a Brit in Germany and I haven't been to the UK since 2019. That's the last time I saw my family members (thinking about your very last statement). I go here everywhere on the train and have got totally used to it. I don't want to hire cars. I regularly buy "Modern Railways" for information and I cannot understand the catastrophic state of the strike-ridden and for a modern industrial state hugely underinvested railway in Britain, which causes for me unacceptable reliability problems. Large parts of Northern England have no electrification! Incredible. So your concluding advice is quite right but I'm unable to take it. Also I'm yearning for a Melton pork pie. BTW things aren't all rosy with the Deutsche Bahn either, and we are also heading for strikes, but when it works, it works quite well. We're halfway between the UK and Switzerland/Japan in service and threequarters of the way to CH/Japan in infrastructure.
That is a long time to be away. I know everyone’s experience is different but I think for me it was a case of absence makes the heart grow fonder .
@@britingermany I see that "mit Verlaub" as romantic nonsense. Which is ironic, since Romanticism flourished most egregiously in Britain and Germany equally. On the great downslide of history, Germany is at the moment somewhat behind Britain. But even that is probably illusory, because after the crash, Britain will still somehow muddle on regardless in headless chicken fashion (= highwaymen, common theft), whereas Germany will immediately collapse into utter chaos and a politicised Bürgerwehr. Mere absence from one or the other is no moderator of this.
well, the German railway is hugely underinvested too. this has been going on since the 1990s when the government had this mad idea to prepare the railway for privatisation, meaning the desire to make a profit and then going public. thankfully, this last step never happened but the damage was done. the government still has to change the official goal for the railway. at least, the current government introduced some changes (cheap country-wide tickets) but the minister in charge is from a very hostile party and won't commit to change direction
It's a bit of a myth that the UK railways are under-invested. However, the services are badly integrated and too expensive (unless you book in advance), and ticketing is way too complicated for more complex journeys. National travelcards are way too pricey. Nevertheless, slowly but surely, the railways are improving. Since 2019 you have the Elizabeth Line, upcoming East-West line, new stations and line openings, several upgrades, and quite a few successful electrification projects. The Valleys and Manchester-Sheffield will have their upgrades completed soon. Not to mention the improvements at Gatwick airport, the Luton airport shuttle, and the continued expansion of Birmingham trams, and the ongoing HS2. I think trams in Leeds, Bristol and Liverpool would make a big difference. But you really need to sort the ticketing out.
FYI, the rail franchise which has all but wiped out reliable train travel across my part of Yorkshire was for years Northern, owned by Arriva, a business subsidiary of ... Deutsche Bahn.
Btw. Germany is an important transit country for goods and passenger traffic in Europe, Great Britain is known to be an island. Of course you need other infrastructures, road connections and railway lines.
This is a good point I missed in my post. You need infrastructure right to your borders because there is cross-border transit. The UK has no need for this, therefore won't spend on infrastructure to the middle of nowhere by the sea because there is no other cities beyond it of other countries. A very good point indeed that I missed.
@@richardwills-woodward5340 Nine direct border countries make it necessary for Germany to have a good road infrastructure 😊
So let's say, like Rolls Royce informed about the horsepowers of the new modell: "sufficient". ;)
Thank you for such an interesting video which made so many good points. First re cell phone/Internet connection, I live right in the centre of London in a multi storey block of flats, but though I have no problem my next door neighbour had to move because she simply could not get a connection and needed it for work. Next, the state of windows and general repair in flats is absolutely appalling here. My windows are double glazed and the seal is blown, so in certain conditions the windows are misted up completely. Plus I have a balcony, the window on to it opens outwards, as does the door, and the wooden frame is warped and cracked - this is general. Even in cold weather I Iike to open all windows in the morning to let fresh air in, and when it's warm they're open all day, but this means the amount of dust that flies in is a constant issue. We have a dramatic lack of housing, and good repair of existing Housing is rare, and this is a truly terrible problem. As are the potholes in the roads, and the lack of cleanliness in London streets. On what is actually the plus side, those hedges you don't like had to be reintroduced. Years ago farmers did away with them so there would be huge unbroken areas of fields. Great for some crops, but the bee population was lost along with the natural pollination they provided for other produce. There is such a drive to increase the bee population that there are beehives and green walls on the tops of buildings even in Central London. Thank you again for the video.
Thanks a lot Alida. That reminds me when I was there in November I remember quite a few of the windows being misted up or literally just dripping with condensation...That is so rare to see in Germany. and I do actually like the hedges just not when they are poking out into the road 🤣
I love that we share the same attitude towards traveling by train. By far my favourite mode of transport too.
Totally, can’t beat it 😀
We had planned our visit to several places in Germany just as they were having strikes. It made us hesitate and wonder if we should do it by car. Glad it worked out, despite a few hitches/ missed train connections due to delays...and the need to have seat reservations. All in all it was a pleasure not to have to worry about parking spots and the like.
What I miss about the UK is the courtesy from complete strangers & on the roads. Connecting with people directly i think is more important than WI-fi
Agreed 😀
Griaß Di! This is what you can experience in villages all over Germany. Where I live tourists expose themselves right away when you meet them on the streets and they are looking straight away, avoiding eye contact and do not greet everybody 😉
1990 - I made only one two-week trip in England. Mostly traveled by train, some bus, but no car. Cambridge, Scarborough, York, Edinburgh, Carlisle, Nottingham, Oxford, then back to Frankfurt, Germany. It was in March, some days were chilly, but less tourists. The huge bridge across the Humber was impressive, quite an engineering marvel. I liked evenings in the pubs, the York Minster, and the amazing Gothic architecture of Cambridge and Oxford. At Oxford I discovered Dylan's Bookstore, the best I've seen. I could have easily filled a suitcase with books. With an interest in the non-tourist locations, I would like to have visited Sheffield and Leeds, but time was too short.
Wow but it sounds like you really packed a lot into those two weeks 👍🏻
I've been in the UK maybe 4 times in my life, in the early 90s and after 2015. I love the architecture and many aspects of the culture but I missed good playgrounds. In Germany there are beautiful and adventurous playgrounds everywhere (some are dull, but a lot of the new ones are fantastic for children). The playgrounds I saw in the UK were miserable I have to say.
Good point. Good playgrounds are a big help for quality of life for families.
Interesting. Being as I don't have kids I hadn't thought about that. Something that we do have which doesn't seem to exist in germany and Leisure centres. This is a place where you have sports facilities (like tennis courts), maybe a swimming pool, gym, running track etc etc all in one place but that's more for the older kids and adults
@@britingermany Are they free of charge? When I went to the UK, which of course was very long ago (around 2005), they were not. Playgrounds, if they are not indoors, are.
@@yvonnehorde1097Many of these leisure centres are not up to date. You need to buy a membership which cost you £50 or more and still pay for some extra activities. Often they trick you for direct debit and then it is a nightmare to quit.
@@mil3k mate thats just a lie, youre not going to to the government run leisure centres youre going to the virigin or jd sports gyms.
phone reception is essential for navigation. That's even an issue sometimes when hiking in the Taunus.
Indeed. Although you might expect it in the Taunus mountains. I wouldn’t expect it in a town or city but there you go 🤷🏼♂️
As to the mobile connection problems: It happened to me twice that my phone just refused to connect to the foreign network when on holidays. At first that seemed somewhat scary, but: I just searched train times in the station, hotels in the streets, asked real people for directions - it is still possible, and it was much more fun.
This is such an English response, " the thing that's supposed to work doesn't work, let's do this fun thing instead ! " 😄
@@ebbyc1817 There's no word for 'workaround' in German, so the concept's elusive ...
welcome back from your trip enjoy the lovely spring summer time we finually got :)
Thank you. Isn't it amazing?! 😉
@@britingermany yes it is even there seems to be always people which are just not happy lol i just grabbed the weekly free comercials ( a local sunday paper where the comercial advertising is 6 times the thickness of the paper) and they have as top story... summers here... will we all fry out again this year lol
One thing that always puzzled me in uk houses are windows that you open from inside to outside and for this reason you need a man with a ladder to clean them from outside😮
Stimmt! Actually haven't thought about that but yes it's true they usually open outwards
That's also the case with old houses over here in the north, but those windows can be opened completely, as typical for German windows. Why was it done like that? When storms/strong wind are ongoing, the storm will "press" the "wing frame of the window" tight towards the "fixed window frame", best way for "airthight windows" 😊
I have seen so many of these comparisons. UK vs. Germany, US vs. France, US vs Canada, US vs. UK, US vs Germany, US vs. Portugal. It's maddening. The grass is always greener on the other side. Shows that we humans are never happy no matter what.
I enjoyed your subtle post.
Thanks Guido
You know what I do? I have my cellphone on only when I need it. And nobody knows the number. People can call me on my landline phone, and if I want to be reached on my cellphone, there's some magic named "call forwarding". So network coverage is not an issue to me. I admire the British small roads and I use such roads in Germany whenever possible. Yes, there's the occasional truck sometimes, usually food delivery, and in autumn, there are harvesters and other agricultural vehicles. Who cares? "Langsam kommt man auch voran." Victorian architecture is absolutely fantastic! There was nothing like the "form follows function" dogma, but rather, I think, "it has a function, but why shouldn't it look nice?" Thank you for the wonderful images and your philosophical thoughts at the end. Yes, indeed, life can be short. I know that, but I sometimes need a reminder.
Sounds like you’ve got all your bases covered 😉. I actually don’t have a landline I gained that?! 🤣
I really enjoyed not having internet connection on long haul flights, it was nice to see people actually talk with each other
Good point👍🏻
This video was lovely. I’m British Australian and there are things I would definitely miss about Australia if moved back to the uk
Without a doubt!
Am British and travelled overland to Australia and numerous other places. Travel is great for subjective opinion and have bored my English friends with my moaning about England over the last 45yrs but most of what I said was true. Transport,Food,Nationalism and many other things.Its best to keep it to yourself though.
Well as long as you can have a civil conversation about it I think it’s a healthy thing to do
That London, of all places, has poor cell reception is surprising. I'm not surprised that Germany has excellent connectivity. I can only speak for part of this continent-sized country. Still, I live in a mid-sized city near a major university in the second most populous state, a prosperous U.S. state, and our connectivity leaves something to be desired. The construction of German homes is likewise overall excellent. But in climates such as Germany's and Great Britain's well-built, tightly sealed dwelling places are necessary. Of course, the Texas climate is hot. We really only have two seasons here. One is like living inside the Sun's corona, and the other is like living in a refrigerator that only works one out of every three days. Dwelling places here generally are not tightly sealed. Moreover, the quality of the construction could be better, especially compared to German construction. Your last point has been on my mind quite a bit lately. I lost my Mom two months ago. I am anxious to spend more time with the people I care for and not to waste whatever time I have left. As usual, this was a superbly done video, full of insight. Thanks. Sounds like you got the most from your time back home. Also, well done.
Thanks a lot Peter and my heartfelt condolances, that is never an easy time. But I meant what I said it really is not so easy to be present...I think it takes a bit of practice and there's always a bit of resistance at the beginning. Once you get over that then you realise how good it feels 😀
@@britingermany Thank you. Presence is not easy, and I tend to shut myself out. I have some work to do. Thanks for the good example and insight.
Germany/france/italy definitely have a much denser motorway network than the uk.
Paperwork and non digitalised services in Germany are something to miss as well. Seems like they are stuck in the 70s
Yeah they are moving slowly that's for sure
@@britingermany I am afraid this will not change this fast. Germany is aging. Soon, we will have a majority of people over 50. Okay, the younger part of this generation is a little more digitalized but still not really used to it....
As always, this was extremely perceptive and, as another Brit living in Germany, I found much to agree with. The UK definitely feels quite shabby and increasingly run down compared to Germany, but certain differences such as hedges represent fundamental differences in thinking. Hedges play a crucial in supporting biodiversity, while the German inclination is to remorselessly strim any suspiciously unkempt verge in the name of orderliness. My other query is whether you and Prince Harry have ever been seen in the same place? Or were you perhaps swapped at birth? Or, alternatively, might you even be the spare Spare? The truth will out...
haha. yes that's why I had to leave. The country was too small for the both os us but now that he#s finally buggered off to the US I could return 😉
Your secret's safe here.
The lack of hedges in Germany seems to something that gets addressed more and more recently, even within big cities . Which is a good thing. If only the design ideas of English gardens would finally been taken up here, that would be brilliant.
We do have hedges here, but there are limits to their height. As always, Germany has orders for that. Here, it is the "Bauordnung", the order how things are allowed to be built. This order demands hedges to be kept low in order not to hinder the traffic.
@@yvonnehorde1097 True. However … even within big cities like Munich, nowadays, the green between, say bike tracks and the road …the green is kept wild, and there are places for bees and birds. At least thats what they do in Munich. Almost all greens next/between roads/lanes are wild these days. Many flowers. No cutting.
I am quite impressed that hedges in Britain seem to be set back from the road by a foot or so! Here in Ireland they are usually not, which makes bends and junctions totally blind. But apart from that, I love them. They make a big difference to the scenery and to wildlife. Some areas of Germany have them too; I think mainly the North.
Yeah I didn’t get any footage of the narrow lanes unfortunately these were main roads
@@britingermany Achso. It reminds me of driving from Dover to Pembroke once; to avoid the boring motorway, we took the 'main road' along the south coast. It was nicer indeed - but it took patience 🙂.
Nice video. I enjoy listening to your insight. Since I am new to your channel I probably missed your video where you mentioned your name (if you even pitched it). Any " " best wishes on future videos. Btw, I share your sentiment about traveling on trains. If you ever want an Italian train adventure through the stunning Italian countryside lmk. I am always looking for someone to "ride the rails" with.
Hello Indigo...if that is your name 😉. You can call me Benikon or just Ben
@@britingermany Hello Ben! Indigo is indeed my nickname. I look forward to future videos. and interactions.
You might of course have taken a long distance bus maybe, as we did (several years ago) from London to Lands End. The reason was simple, i'm a bit afraid of driving in the UK myself, especially on narrow roads. But it was a great thing to take busses there, also better to meet people. We took a break in Bath, and were amazed by the beauty of the architecture there. And if anything, the architecture in the places we visited and the cosiness of the places was really impressive. (In contrast to some videos in YT showing ugly places in Cornwall.) In a later visit we went to the Lake District and to York, both also really nice. In rural areas however, it seemed more difficult to get in touch with locals. But thats a bit like in Germany as well. 😅
Thanks for your interesting video. If you are really that much into using trains, I would recommend Switzerland for an amazing experience. This exotic country has extremely punctual and clean trains.
Thanks a lot. I did live Switzerland it’s just a bit hard on the old wallet!
sehr interessant. ab dienstag in ferien, bin gespannt was von dir neues kommt
Danke Patrick. geht es irgendwohin oder nur zu Hause entspannen?
@@britingermany ab in die Berge. Bern/CH
@@Patrick-on2ty ah wie Toll! Super👍🏻
@@britingermany merci, zum Glück auch Familie dort. Da wird man wenigstens nicht arm🙄 14Tage genießen
very beautiful nature
It is indeed😀
if you miss hedges and narrow streets too much I recommend a short trip to the old homeland of the Anglos such nicely maintained dense hedges like the ones recorded you won't find here, but pretty much every single tiny field has his row of bushes shrubs & trees and at least on the side roads your vision is often heavily impaired ..... the narrow roads lacking truck traffic tho, but plenty of tractors one might encounter there....
🤣any sheep around?
@@britingermany the hegdelands only host a limited number of them tbh but they are dominant in the marshes 👍 last week I spent a whole day with the friendly dike-sheeps of Uelvesbüll ....burnt my legs to lobster red while walking in the mud flats there (better apply enough Schlick to exposed body parts if you haven't any sun screen at hand !)
I don't know hedges along the roads in Germany, nor many hedges in the landscape. But it is very common in Germany to have hedges around a house. Old roads also have many alley trees. New and widened roads probably destroyed that.
would like to see a more detailed comparison of construction.
*Wunderful UK natur!* > Some is like in Germany but there are areas that is unique to both sides. And those are more then exciting to look at or simple to enjoy them. > Similar approach in the UK and Germany,..to live *surounded* by natur!! I mean, where ever you go in Germany,.,..you seem to be surrounded by Trees. 1/3 of Germany is simpl Forest who would guessed that!? Similar approach on the UK side with their *Heches!* What is a German *Allee-Street* may be a UK Hech-Street,... while you can see between trees but not between heches ;) Nvm... main take for me is the Natur. Wonderful and imo best craftmanship we can enjoy all together
🌲🌳🌲🌿♥
@@NeaFrea May Frau Holle/Frigg(a) bless you, on every step you make
@@aw3s0me12 Thank you so much for your highly appreciated words. We are brothers and sisters in spirit. Closely related. One family. May the veils of lies fall and reveal the beauty of truth. Be protected and blessed by holy mother Nature.
@@NeaFrea More than welcomed! As soon i did read your Name,...i knew *who* you are,... we know *who* we are,... Elderbush~Holl(e)under-Busch in German ;) This *Rune-Binding* to this day is the reason we still *bind* words in our language. Creating huge words,...BUT back traceable to *why* & *how smo come up with it* ;) Love you brother/sister
Thanks for the video . Houses in Britan are sub standard, but I love to stay in pubs or B&B with carpet in the bathroom, pipes on the wall and no right angle or level foor whatsoever. What they lack in sofistication, is made up in style. 😁 I usualy visit England in summer, so I do not feel the disatvantages.
It’s definitely quirky 😉
Gidday. I really enjoy your work, great stuff. I think the affects of WWII bombing has a lot to do with the infrastructure of some European countries compared to the UK. The railway networks of many European countries were basically destroyed, especially Germany and France and they had to start from scratch after the war. The results of this can be seen today. Italy is a really interesting case in this regard. Certain areas such as the east coast from Ancona northwards and Emilia Romagna were also badly hit. This explains in part infrastructural differences still to this day.
Just think what European cities would look like if there had been no war
As a foreigner in the UK I have always found the hedges and stone walls in the country side very quaint and quintessentially English. But then I live in a big city and only have to deal with them when I'm on holidays and have all the time in the world, otherwise they might stress me out as well. Something that I really miss is Strassenkeherer. In Germany you see the orange street cleaning machines are a given, in M'chester I have not seen one in 20 years. And it looks like this. There is a lot of rubbish on the streets and in hedges, the gollies are pepetually blocked an overflow when there is a heavy rain and towns generally look a little more dirty and run down unless you are in a touristy place like Bath or Stratford upon Avon. But I do agree on the pleasing architecture, the lovely shilouettes, colours and materials. I love stained glass windows, chimneys, fire places, didos and picture rails.
Hedges play an important role in environmental protection as nesting places for birds.
As kulturfreund6631 says, the hedges are extremely important for the environment -- preventing erosion and creating a microclimate for diverse flora and fauna. This is particularly true for the hedge banks common in northern Germany. (Where they are often called "Knick".) They consist of an earth bank with a hedge on it. Unfortunately, most of them have been destroyed for road safety reasons or because a farmer decided they are in the way for modern farming. Nowadays they are strongly protected, but the damage has already been done. I think in this case neither of the two countries has found the optimal approach.
Your network coverage really does depend on your operator. EE is great, 3 is moderate and Vodafone can be patchy from myy experience. Depending on which network the cheaper operators piggyback off, the coverage can be a problem or not. For the housing, a modern new build with latest regulations might suit the bill as they have proper insulation and ventilation. That said, I never stayed anywhere that was not double glazed!
I did try cycling through the different providers and have to say I didn't notice any difference in reception quality. Yes I do think new builds are coming closer to German standards but still not quite there yet
I'm on EE and it is absolutely rubbish where I live (in a city of 350000 people in the Midlands). Also, new build houses are no longer signed off by council inspectors - the builders sign them off themselves, ie they mark their own homework - so their quality is often absolutely dreadful. The major housebuilders all donate money to whichever party is in power and are allowed to get away with murder, hence why new build estates are full of the same terribly designed houses with tiny rooms, thin walls and terrible energy efficiency, and no thought whatsoever is put into local transport or other services either. The UK is surely the only country in the world where it's better to buy older houses because newer ones are so bad!
@@iamjoestafford Disagree entirely. Have lived in New Zealand for 7 years and Sweden for 8 years. New Zealand was much worse than the UK for housing as most is uninsulated and single pane glass. Sweden did have better infrastructure, but housing was largely small, expensive and not ideal unless you like 1950s concrete apartments. The new builds are not so bad - hollow walls with appropriate insulation are better than solid walls for insulation (hence the air gap). Some builders like Persimmon are terrible, but not all new builds are bad. Certainly I live in one by Hopkins Homes that is by far superior to any older house and very energy efficient - moreso than my old concrete apartment block in Sweden by far. You cannot just write "terrible energy efficiency" without showing it - new builds have to adhere to certain requirements, and I can firmly tell you after moving from an older, smaller house to a newly built one my energy bills shrank by 2/3 for heating. You also neglected to mention the 10 year NHBC warranty for new builds as well, which does ensure some base level of build quality overall. Sorry, but this just sounds like another comment idolising Europe. They do a lot right over in various countries and I do envy the urban planning and infrastructure of some countries, but it is not as terrible here as you make it out to be.
@@svartmetall48 I think you might be basing your view on your own positive experience with a UK new build - the poor quality of them overall is well known, with a survey a few years ago finding over half of new-build homes in England had major faults with things including construction, fittings and utilities. My Mum lived in one which had internal walls that literally moved when you leaned on them. I spend a lot of time in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium etc - they are light years ahead of us with the standard of their housebuilding.
@@iamjoestafford Yes, you are not the only one who travels abroad, however, having lived outside the UK for most of my life, I don't have the same criticisms you do. It's not some panacea elsewhere. I hated, for example, being unable to control my own temperature in the apartment in Sweden, or have any ventilation during winter ever as our temperature was decided by the district heating supply, and despite this being touted as a good solution, it was far from it. A "good solid construction" with nothing but solid internal walls and very solid floors gave a building with an D energy rating and very cold external walls during winter due to no air gap, not to mention extensive sound travel through solid structures so it sounded like we were living below concrete elephants tapdancing. After moving back, I can safely say my living standards rose despite on paper things being "better" in Sweden in terms of housing. Would definitely take their public transport networks though.
I grew up in a house with wooden window frames where there would always be some draught. When i first moved to a more "modern" flat it only took a year for some serious mould to build up on two walls no matter how much we'd aired out the place. So i really appreciate a little air movement in the house even with the windows shut.
Mild is a nasty thing!
This. And when you think of all the added styrofoam on the walls with renovation: this will lead to a whole generation of largely unhealthy housing, that will be a nightmare to remove. These “renovated” buildings will all catch mold, and removing them will be almost as complicated as the whole “asbestos” removal catastrophe…
Oh dear, we need to meet up in Frankfurt and have a long chat on all that while drinking some coffee. Or tea, for that matter. I live so close by. 😊
I'm definitely a coffee guy 😉
@@britingermany We'll see... 😀
@@britingermany What do you think of German coffee? Even though I liked the British tea much more, I missed the coffee when I was in the UK....
Hallo, I am now three weeks back from a holiday in Britain. First a week in Scarborough with friends, then two weeks in Scotland. Yes the roads are relatively narrow. Yes roads are uneven. But it is really rare, that you are forced to snail behind a lorry, on the motorway there was ONE time, when we were actually standing because of an accident. A very big difference compared to Germany is the politeness. There is always someone, who lets you out of a sideroad or makes it possible for you to overtake. As we used our own car, we were clearly recognizable as foreigners. What I had never seen before: At some places there were warning signs that at service stations either Diesel or Petrol or both were not available.
Sounds like you had a great time 😀
@@britingermany WE DID!!
We have that bush system in Ireland too, so not just a UK thing, and being able to see what cars are ahead in Germany should be standard
I am always fascinated how similar rural England is to the towns and landscapes of Lower Saxony and Schleswig Holstein (i.e. where the Angles and Saxons are from ;)).
True there are some similarities there 😉
I am involved in property and come from a family with 600 years of landed estate to draw from. One has to disagree regards your home issue. The 'airing' is the problem. The fact Germans (as you refer) need to do this would be a pet hate to us. Our houses breath, so the air is fresher, it removes moisture build up (counter-intuitively) and the quality of air is much higher in older buildings than new. In fact, the sealed boxes boil people in London in the summer too, so much so that air-conditioning (air cooling to be more precise) companies are now making a fortune putting in their units (the opposite of what green policies intended). Old Georgian houses are cool in the summer and warm in the winter. You do not want great open holes of course. You certainly [don't want] triple glazing and hermetically sealed boxes. When I walk into new builds today, I can smell the stale air. It makes me want to heave and escape. It is just not fresh. So we will have to agree to disagree here. The hedges are home to abundance of wildlife and are on our Christmas cards, in our psyche about countryside and the country lane. On the Continent, most countries did away with hedges and trees for efficiency reasons (despite British farming being the most efficient in Europe!) and the consequence is not a patchwork quilt we know and love in the UK. It is an open space (in my view, rather characterless) landscape. So horses for courses as they say. I really detest new build and the regulations. They leave nothing for the future. Regards roads, I may agree here [but]... do we want the British landscape covered in motorways? Our motorways are 3 and 4 lanes mostly. Germany's and France's are mostly 2 other than in certain sections. That is a cost difference. Our core cities and the areas between them are all linked with quite a lot of motorways as it happens. Southern England between villages, of course, are not. So going from Brighton to Cornwall will see no such motorways but dual carriageways (that would be denoted motorways in much of the Continent!) but it is slow going and there are a lot of A roads and it will take you forever. After many years, it is my view that we don't want to make infrastructure beyond the rectangular core city connectivity area in the UK better save for internet (that needs improvement). Beyond the core city connectivity rectangle between London, Edinburgh, across to Glasgow, down to Cardiff and Bristol and back to London, and all cities in between, the tranquil nature and agricultural community should be left alone. The faster it is to get to these areas, the more obnoxious (generalising but broadly true with today's standards I am afraid) city people that don't understand rural life move in and commute. Something has to be left sacred and not quickly accessible that it becomes easily commutable. That is just my 2 pence worth. I look at Germany's power infrastructure, train services (shockingly worse than ours despite all the complaining people do) in 2023, their lack of contactless anywhere I go, lack of ability to set companies up in 5 minutes as here, and I have no desire to knock one more than the other to be honest. The UK has many issues, in my view mostly due to the people whose standards have dropped in 25 years to an appalling level. What people are missing, is the quiet infrastructure super-projects that are under construction, from super-sewers to electricity tunnels (larger than Crossrail's project) to railways upgrading and building new regional lines. None of this is visible to the public yet (some of it never will be) but it is happening. It has to pay for itself within reason. I should also point out that historically, having a far larger defence budget negates public spending to the degree of Germany - although I now question to what degree this has been spent wisely looking at DB). Without that defence budget, today would be far worse for continental Europe. The Cold War was very recent and we saw little spend from them or anyone else outside the US. I just wish there was a little more thanks or a little more two-way understanding.
Hi thanks for sharing. Very interesting points. I hadn't thought about the housing issue in that way. What I can say is that I have become more sensitive to the cold and things like drafts since living here but I assumed that had more to do with growing up in the countryside and now living in a city. Maybe the Germany construction has something to do with it as well though. I do think there are issues with keeping things too clean and sealed...there needs to be a balance for sure. Regarding infrastructure do you really think that is an intentional decision? To put nature and tranquility first? of course there are advantages for nature and the people that live more off the beaten track...it's just annoying as a tourist🤪
Well, the first sentence of your comment provides a solid base for understanding and even agreeing to the rest of it. A maybe contentious yet interesting perspective that catches attention. 😊
I did a quick check on some of your points. Our houses breathe: Yes, they are usually badly insulated. The UK has some of the oldest and leakiest housing in Europe. 2. Agricultural efficiency (you mean productivity?): Relative to other European countries, UK agricultural productivity growth moved from the top quarter to the bottom quarter post-Brexit. 3. Set up a company in 5 minutes: It takes three to six working hours (but much faster than in DE) 4. Train punctuality: UK: 86.7% of trains were punctual (early or less than 5/10 minutes after the scheduled arrival time) at their final destination in the latest quarter. Deutsche Bahn: 94.9%. 5. Cold War: Get over it. The CW ended 34 years ago.
@@expatexpat6531 Well nothing like 'a quick check' is there. That absolutely debunks decades of actual experience. 1. Oldest - good. New build is what we call 'carbuncles'. They are not welcome in current form and appear to be designed and built by cretins with little understanding of the human condition. Badly insulated - according to whom? They are insulated to the degree they need to be for most people. The insulation industry and 'greens' will of course disagree, but then they are not living in them and money talks. The rest of us prefer a fresher atmosphere in our historic and period homes from country estates to terraced Victorian masterpieces. You need houses to leak to a degree to remove moisture and pollution. So I see both points as a distinctly positive. Any under-insulted homes should have a degree of insulation of course (not spray foam, that creates damp and prevents mortgage agreements and refinancing. I might also remind you air-conditioning companies are now doing great business to keep these hermetically sealed new build boxes cooler. This more than reverses the intended consequences. In other words, green buildings are less green now because of the remedial action people need to take to keep cool and breathe fresher air. 2. It isn't about the move in a tiny period of time, it is about the over all efficiency over decades - that is the amount of food produced for the labour force engaged. The UK has ALWAYS had the most efficient farming in Europe before and after Brexit. It is why the CAP was such an imposition to British farming. Brexit is irrelevant here. The regulation via the EU rules on our landholdings has made food production much less efficient. The insane regulation now is putting farmers out of business and making your life far more expensive. Further, it has had devastating effects on the environment where subsidies are given to destroy our fields and grow biomass, which not only kills soil and is not environmentally friendly, but pushes food prices up as stated and reduces availability. It destroys wildlife and can never work just on simple business maths. It also costs the tax payer as this does not pay for itself. You have to destroy everything for biomass. So that is all just a fact. We deal with over-regulation every day. We know how to look after our land. City types giving instructions over things they have literally zero knowledge of, but after reading their comic books think they can control the world, is causing huge damage to environment and wealth. The sad part is, green policies are doing far more harm than if they had done absolutely nothing to this point in energy and food. 3) I set up companies all the time. it takes me 5 minutes. I can start trading. This is not true anywhere in Germany. it is actually illegal to do so. There is also physical paperwork to fill in. 4) Nonsense. You have not compiled those figures using accurate sources. If you bothered to look, DB doesn't include certain services to bump figures just like in the UK. It is also the case that it depends on which lines you are looking at. DB has a major issue with mainline trains being late or cancelled. So the figures there are different tot he aggregate of a country. So you are not only biased there, but inaccurate and misleading. Never anywhere did I say the UK is better by the way. 5) CW mattered. The result is why you live so comfortably today. So too with World War 2, 1, Napoleonic wars and more. You live comfortably because of the victories in those wars all that time ago. The 1600's are why you have any freedom at all, and the rest of the world for that matter, all because of the English parliament and institutional structures, some of which go back to the 700's. You think 35 years is a long time? My God. I don't forget people that died so I could be free as you appear to. 'Getting over it' is not something I will ever do. We paid, we sacrificed, we bled, and our hearts bleed for those we miss, and those people who lost sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters that shall NEVER be forgotten. I find your view of our dead and sacrifices abhorrent. A distinct lack of gratitude. Economically this is money that can't be spent on public services in other areas, the consequence of which on a national balance sheet lasts for decades and a lot longer than 35 years. I assume you are very young. You seem very arrogant of history, which is worrying in the extreme but so common in young people in the UK today.
Blimey. Honestly, get over it! "A little more thanks"....OK, if you want a little more thanks, can all the former colonies and the millions of humans killed during the transatlantic slave trade get a "sorry" from the UK then? Plus, just face the facts, the UK is a beautiful country with lots of kind people, but successive governments (mostly Tory) have made really bad decisions and we are seeing the results of this now. Underfunding in infrastructure, education, health and manufacturing. A massive North-South divide and growing inequality. Some of the poorest areas of Western Europe are in the UK.
Watched a few of your videos. You are obviously highly educated and what I would say in a high brow job. Please don't take that as me being critical. Just an observation. Your last few words about life ring so loud to me. Poignant even. I enjoy your style, your content & presentation. Now a fan. Thank you for enhancing my evenings etc. Subscribed.
Thanks very much I hope to see you in the comments on future videos 😉
6:36 It looks rly rly beautiful 😍
It certainly is 😀
It’s very interesting what you say about ‘drafts’. Family who live elsewhere in Europe also complain about this. UK based family will often have windows and even doors open year round.
It’s the island air 😉
great video. I'm Scottish but like signs, no J walking ,strong coffee and play Bach on violin oh and Ive family from Austria and Germany !:)
Very cool! Sounds like you'd get on great here
I agree. I'm so homesick for Germany
A trip does wonders for the soul....even if it is just a short one
l love the English countryside and the greenery in English towns which I have not stopped to admire since Day 1 that I came to work, here, over 10 years ago... Nevertheless, the hedges along the roads (often even highways!?) still make me feel claustrophobic or at least very isolated... therefore, I, too, prefer using trains in UK wherever and whenever I can 😘👌 Also, it was funny to hear some English tourists to laugh about the quality of Greek houses, in Cyprus... while me and my friends were shaking our heads over the quality of the average English housing 🤭We summed it up as a different climate requires different measures 😇😎
Great choice of music. Makes the whole video really therapeutic. Mind to tell us what songs you used at 6:20 and 8:45?
Hi thanks a lot. Took me quite a while to get the right one. I use a paid stock site I think they were called breathtaking cinematic and Cinematic ambience
i told my mom i drive with my motorbike to the UK in 2016 ....and went for 5 weeks to New Zealand, to have a motorbike tour there, helps to have the only key to my garage with me, nobody could see my motorbike at home...lol 2017 i went to Scotland and Northern England.... i will return to Scotland, after they left the UK!
so I guess you will never see Scotland again...that is a shame 😉
@@britingermany no problem, i am visiting the French and Swiss Alpes the last years, closer to my home, no boat trip and the food is much better, also the weather!
@@Arltratlo We'll really miss you I don't think.
Ich lebe in einem der wenigen Funklöcher, den es in meiner Stadt gibt, aber ich bin auch von vielen hohen Bäumen umgeben und die stören den Empfang. Auf meiner Etage 2.OG geht es noch einigermaßen (4G+ mit 2-3 Balken), aber meine Nachbarn müssen raus auf die Terrasse 😂 dennoch bin ich froh Wlan-Call zu haben, denn auch in meiner Wohnung gibt es Stellen mit wenig Empfang.
OK it’s time to be happy. I liked it and I subscribed.. one question brought to mind by your video is when you were showing the scene of the beautiful drive down toward the coast, and I noticed that the striping on the roadway was a dot dash dot dash pattern. Do you happen to know why the dots are there? or anyone here? Is it interesting to you to see how the dots actually disappear and appear again at least in the video as the driver is driving down the road. Anyway, love the stuff keep up the good work and you better be happy now. God bless you and yours Jesus name amen.
I think it just looks like that ok the video. It was a normal dotted line as far as I can remember.
I live in a very rural area both in Germany and when I go back and visit the UK. For years I didn't have any phone reception at my mother's house in the UK even if I went down the bottom of the garden and waved my phone in the air. That improved when I changed provider! The same applied to my home in Germany. When I was young and living in East Anglia, radio reception of BBC programmes was abominable, which is why we all listened to the Pirate stations (Caroline, Radio London, Radio Veronica) Where I live now in Germany we still can't get a decent signal on FM radio and DAB radio only works for a very limited number of stations and only if noone is standing up in the room the radio is in. And I don't live on a remote island - but right in the middle of the land mass! I have heard about the potholes and bad roads in the UK and will check things out and compare when I go back there in a few weeks.
Hi Jacky. Yes the roads are not great, of course it depends a little on where you go. Generally I think the roads are better in Wales than in England. I think they have a different funding structure
I just love to be in UK...I just love the countryside.. my last trip was to Cornwall.. before Scotland.. I hope I will be able to go again sometimes...
So happy to hear that. Cornwall is lovely for exploring
@Brit in Germany I was in Wales too. Years ago...and in London a couple of times.. but now I am a single woman again.. I don't do such wonderful journeys on my own now... maybe I have to learn to do it again.. I visited every open park , garden, or botanical garden, and I love to see the homes of artists and all the wonderful Abbeys, 🏰 castles , beautiful townhouses, pubs, and restaurants... and all the very friendly people.. never called love or darling or sunshine here.. glad you did this wonderful journey
@@else8 When I was living in the UK with 29, I did all such journeys on my own. It even has its advantages: You can explore everything in your speed and you do not have to consider anyone else?s wishes...
@yvonnehorde1097 thanks.. but if you life alone, than it is not so funny to travel alone. I just love to share my thoughts and ideas with another person. And do things on my own. Always did. But now only the things alone are left.
Those were beautiful scenes out of the UK….I‘d live with a lot more drafitness for a tiny cottage out in the woods somewhere
The English countryside really is beautiful
I think that it is up to me to decide should i or should i not be online, lousy operators should not be excused. My fathers brother is still alive beacouse of good mobile coveradge and military helicopter crew that knew what they where doing.
Thank you for sharing this information. However, I wonder if you could share your comments on those aspects you find (much) better in the UK. Personally, I think the overall situation in Germany has worsened in the past few years. Kind regards, A.
The 'bloody hedges' are also beautiful and good for the environment!
Indeed they are
With regards to transport infrastructure, I cycle to work 14 miles each way. There is a total of half a mile of shared cycle/footpath and not an inch of dedicated cycle path. Cycling on the road brings conflict with motorists and cycling on a shared footpath conflict with pedestrians.The UK is decades behind continental Europe.
Helmet off to you! Cyclists in the UK are demonised by parts of the press as woke socialists, yet the UK Tory government has set a target of 50% of all urban journeys to be by leg power (walking or cycling) by 2030. As you can see from today's media reports (cuts to investments in cycling infrastructure) their hearts are not really in it. Cultivating a cycling structure would bring obvious benefits in health, noise + pollution.
I spent much of the last month cycling in Belgium, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland either on world-class dedicated cycling infrastructure or on roads where patient drivers treated me like a fellow human being. It was blissful. I got back to Dover, and within five minutes a white van man was beeping at me and trying to bully me out of the way when I was simply waiting at a junction. Sigh.
@@expatexpat6531 we are the scourge of the Daily Fail.
Pervasive segregated cycle lanes are purely a thing in the Netherlands and perhaps Denmark. Not the whole of continental Europe.
Oh, please keep your vlog….I find I love the sound of your voice, and would love to hear you speak more German, aber nicht so schnell, bitte. You have a way to connect to the audience on so many interesting topics. I hope your friends realize what a gift you are. They are truly blessed to know you.
Thank you so much Lee that is very motivating