The Harsh Truth of Living in GERMANY!
Living in Germany, like most things is just not black and white. Things have changed, including my own experiences and opinions. In this Video I give you my honest and real account of what it is like to live in Germany in 2023
About me:
I am a self confessed Brit who ended up living in Germany of all places. 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 Germany, cultural differences and tend to pose a lot of questions. Join me on my exploration of life abroad.
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
02:05 - Part 1
05:41 - Part 2
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#livingingermany #lifeingermany #germanculture
Like you, I too am grateful for being able to live here as a Brit. I love the forests, the language, the culture which embraces diversity and innovation yet still retains its traditions, the bread sorts, the health care, etc etc. Your video was very well put together and you really captured the essence of this country..the good bits and the not so good bits. Bravo!😊
Thanks a lot I thought it was important to not just wax lyrical about all the great things (although there are many)
@@britingermany In so many ways, you are a lucky man being able to live in Germany. Good for you! Enjoy it! 👍
@@xelakram I will do my best 😀
@@britingermany I'm sure you will. 🙂 Schwer sollte es nicht sein! Es fällt einem leicht, ein schönes Land genießen zu können.
I was born in Germany, but lived many years in the States. I chose to return to Germany despite a successful career in Boston. When asked why I returned, I explained that the USA feels like a country run by rebellious and immature children, while Germany felt like a country run by calcified and inflexible retirees. Germany appears, especially to foreigners, as extremely well organized. It's clean, quiet, and orderly. This can be an amazing benefit... but also a drawback. There was little patience here for anyone marching to the beat of their own drum. You were expected, at least publicly, to get in line and fit in. This is changing. Germany, like much of the world, has been affected by globalization. That has benefits... but also drawbacks. As Germany becomes 'less German', it's also less organized, clean, and quiet. Berlin, for instance, is not a 'German' city. It's a European city, for the most part, and an increasingly international one. You'll find Germans are strongly divided on Berlin. Some love it, some hate it, and that has a lot to do with what I'm describing. The issue that worries me the most was one you addressed in your video. The main reason I returned to Germany was social... as in our social conscience. Despite the typical US American's belief that socialism and capitalism are opposites, the opposite of socialism is greed. The USA is a culture based on Greed, an uncaring oligarchy designed to benefit only the few. Becoming wealthy justifies any and all means used to achieve that goal, to the point that obvious criminals can be elected into the country's highest office. Your observation "German society is one that cares. It's a country that really goes to great lengths to look after everyone and make sure that no one is left behind" is the core of the issue. This was based on a sense of community... and unity... which is currently being tested by Germany's growth, and the subsequent changes we're experiencing. Are the changes good? Yes and no. Was Germany better thirty years ago? Yes and no. Will we come out of this better or worse? I love my country fiercely, so choose to bet on 'better' :) Love the videos. As a German with an Irish-American father, I'm amused by the similarities and differences in views of a Brit with a Swiss mother. Cheers, from Berlin.
Hi Mallory thanks for sharing. You must also have some really interesting insights after having lived in the US for so long. I was in Berlin a few weeks ago. I heard many language on the streets…German was not one of them. It definitely has a very different feel to it. Like you say. You probably live it or hate it. I live visiting…I’m not sure I would want to live there though
@@britingermany Although born in Heidelberg, my family comes from Darmstadt and the Odenwald, so I know Frankfurt well. I can understand why you prefer Süd Hessen. It's a charming and beautiful area. I'm not sure I would have moved to today's Berlin... but post-reunification Berlin (1990-2005) was a different animal. It could not be denied. Now it's home, and I'll stick it out with my 'schön hässlich' city. What we're missing on the charm and beauty of southern Germany, we make up for by being WAY cooler ;)
@@britingermany You didn't hear German on the streets of Berlin?
Collecting bottles is not a new behaviour. Most people put their bottles next to the bins as shown. People don't have to look through the whole bin then. Homelessness is a problem in major cities. The winter has been mild so far. Let's hope their won't be many casualties.
I don’t because trash belongs in a trash can, otherwise it’s just littering
@Mark but bottles have a deposit on them in Germany. It's like throwing money away. Also they need to be brought back for recycling.
@@mark9294 Jaja, wir haben verstanden, wat du sagen wolltest, du bist ein zwanghaft regelbewusster Wichtigtuer mit Empathiemangel. Aber bedenke folgendes: Stets integere Menschen werden oft gemieden, so wie zu klare Ströme von Fischen.
That's true. But a lot of people who buy a drink when they are out and about don't want to take the bottles home. They don't care about the money and would rather leave it for people who need the money more.
"Pfandflaschen" are not considered to be trash by people in Germany with a certain environmental conciousness and in a bustling city you can be pretty certain that someone will be picking up those bottles. In fact certain glass bottles are reused (beer bottles, small soda bottles) and, because of the high energy needed to produce new glass bottles (both from new or recycled glass), this is the environmentally more sound approach.
Thank you for the honest view on Germany and especially the beautiful views of my beloved FfM. As a German with Croatian roots I often hear from expats how great and wonderful it is, but I rarely hear that: - more and more people struggle - 40 h/week might be true on paper, but you can forget about this when you work at a law firm, marketing, catering or something similar especially without a Betriebsrat - since the year 2000 everything changed drastically with regard to wages, inflation etc. - the "Einkommensschere" is evidently increasing and the middle class is disappearing All this has an inpact on the social structures in Germany like healthcare (we now have to pay for things which have been covert previously), poverty increases and the the number of children affected by it, xenophobia is on the rise as people have less money. However, there are still a lot of good things in Germany and I am greatful that they are still been recognized and acknowledged.
Yes indeed. I cannot comment about the 2000's but it doesn't seem like people are struggling. However the situation (in my opinion) is still vastly better than in many other European countries
A lot depends on what you make of it. 1.) No Betriebsrat? Then form one. You can legally do this if the company has 5 or more employees. You cannot be fired while this is being constituted and cannot be fired if elected. The Betriebsrat is not involved in pay negotiations, but in many other things like overtime regulations, working conditions, etc. and can prevent many excesses. The unions will help with the basics, even though it is not a union thing. Was in the Betriebsrat myself for a few years, and always found it a good idea. 2.) What does the health insurance no longer pay for? I have been insured for around 50 years now and have only found more and more included, like have the dentist clean ones teeth and vaccinations for foreign countries paid for most recently. In some cases they are even paying for more than they should, like "quack homeopathic medicines". Admittedly the widening "Einkommensschere" (income gap) is a problem, but luckily we have not reached the destructive levels of some other countries.
40h a week in the Handwerk....my record is 87h.... in the 1980s... i earn double what i have earned some years ago, i have a car, ex-wife, daughter and motorbike... spending my vacations in France or Switzerland... visited USA, Canada and New Zealand...never been to Mallorca or Ibiza or Rügen, not even Sylt!
@@martinpahl5652 Glasses used to be covered completly. As well as many dental procedures. Considering the Betriebsrat. Thats the theory. In practice many companies go above and beyond to stop them from forming or diminishing their influence. Know off one company that fired anyone who would try and rather took a beating court, than letting them continuing to work for him. Just like everywhere else psychological warfare is also a big issue. "We dont need one, because we are family", "If they dont have a reason to fire you, theyll will just make one up", etc. Hiring foreign staff or foreign subcointractors, that is unfamiliar with the law is also a great help, let alone the huge hurdle off different languages. Constantly shuffling staff around and not letting them to get to know each other is also a valued tactic. The rabbit hole is deep.
@@kommo1 Glasses used to be covered, but when I had my first glasses you only had a choice of 5 really awful free frames (known as a "Kassengestell"), any other frames were really expensive. Now you can get really nice frames free from some opticians, but have to pay for the glasses - the most expensive part being the coating you select. Dental treatment is covered, but not crowns, implants or similar. Sometimes you have to pay extra, for example for plastic or ceramic fillings. This is where you have to be careful, as some dentists will try to persuade you to have an unnecessarily expensive solution. As for the Betriebsrat, yes, there are the employers who are paranoid about them and try to prevent them. I once did some work for a company that split up the company into a multitude of 4-man companies that sometimes shared the same office or desk, just to prevent them forming one. A friend was sent home on full pay, just to prevent his influence. He quit when he got too bored at home... This is really stupid and paranoid: the Betriebsrat is not there for pay negotiations and is mainly there too make sure the employees are treated fairly and according to the law. And only if there is a Betriebsrat can the employer have an agreement with the whole workforce about work procedures, overtime or holiday regulations etc. without having to confirm it with each individual employee. In general my experience was that the Betriebsrat was also interested in having a happy, efficient and productive workforce and so securing everyone's jobs and pay. They were just able to see things and react from a different perspective. Admittedly, there are firms where this did not work and there were massive problems. But then, the Betriebsrat is re-elected regularly and can be replaced if they mess up.
Loving the production value of your videos! It's funny how different German culture is from even other western cultures. I never imagined the culture would be so vastly different from my own. But I suppose you could argue that all cultures are vastly different from each other, including most western cultures. I think in a city like Frankfurt, you see the stark effects of increasing cost of living more readily, in comparison to other German cities. Same with Hamburg or Munich. But I remember the last time I went to my home country of Canada, I was really shocked by the visibly high levels of homelessness. It hasn't yet gotten to that point here, and hopefully governments at all levels will apply mitigation strategies in time to prevent that.
Yeah tell me about it. I think the big C caused things like homelessness and prostitution to be a lot more visible when things were closed down and even to this day things have not returned to how they were before
You can't generalize that there is a big difference between the European countries, especially when you take the regions that are close to the borders. Bavarians are closer to Austrians than to people from Northrhine Westfalia, where i live, and we are more closer with the people from the Netherlands and Belgium. There area where i live (Lower Rhine Area) even shares the same dialect (German: South Lower Frankonian/NL&BE: Limburgisch) with the people from Limburg (NL & BE).
Wonderful video, well made with some very interesting good points. Honestly the start was one of the best things i have heard on social media for a while, Germany is like any other country, very diverse and not one part is like the other. Thanks for sharing
Thank Robert, I appreciate it 😀
I love your videos and how you make them, the calm way you talk and present your thoughts. This time (was not quite looking at the screen, only listening), I kinda jumped to the tab to see whether I could skip the add :D Great intro, you should sell it as image film for Germany or some regional marketing (or consider doing such things as a side business).
Thanks ou very much Ingo that is lovely to hear. I'm trying to improve but I don't think I'm quite there just yet 😉
The bottle collectors are a fascinating subculture. Its not just homeless people who struggle to survive, but also people who make a decent living just from collecting bottles. Every week I see people bringing in shoping carts with hundreds off bottles at a time, leaving with a respectable amount off cash. Rivaling collectors can also become extremly territorial, causing conflict whenever they infringe on each other turf.
Bottle wars!!! 🤣🤣
Came here via Rewboss. Hello! I also live in Frankfurt. I came back in 09 for "a couple of years work experience", and haven't left. There's a multitude of reasons for that, but the quality of life available here vs that of in the UK is a major factor.
Hello and welcome fellow Frankfurter 😉. I agree. At least in my experience salaries are higher here and the cost of living is a lot cheaper so it’s like a double wammy of goodness.
Very honest and balanced. Thank you very much, sir. Enjoy your staying there ..
Thank you Stefania. Have a lovely evening
I'm also extraordinarily grateful and honoured to be living here in Germany (as a US citizen). I've lived in 6 countries now, and this one has become my favourite. I have so much respect and admiration for Germany that I've decided to try and earn permanent residence, and hopefully in the distant future, German citizenship (God willing). The US is utterly enslaved to its delusion of exceptionalism, but I have come to the conclusion that if any nation has earned the right to call itself exceptional, it is Deutschland.
I wish you the best of luck. It seems that Germany is set on making it somewhat easier to get citizenship, especially if you have skills that they want.
We still need to fix a lot of things. Never stop but be carful to get all the aspect because one change can bring a lot of problems if you havent thought enough ;)
Indeed these kind of things are never easy
Thank you for trying to create such a differentiated picture of Germany. Many Americans describe Germany in their videos as if it were a fairytale land with beautiful landscapes, dreamy historic towns and residents moving from one bakery to the next in a pretzel frenzy and Oktoberfest mood. If, like me, you have lived in this country for almost 68 years and leave this country less often as you get older, you can almost go insane when you see what politics in Germany is up against. A look from the outside then helps to see that neither in the UK nor in the USA or in our other European neighbors is everything the way one experiences it from a tourist. I admire you for your British composure and wish you many more happy years in your adopted home of Frankfurt. Have a good weekend.
Thank you so much Ralph. The same to you 😀
Same when Americans come here to Ireland .They put on the rose tinted glasses .
Thanks a Lot for your Video.
You are most welcome
For those asking what „essentially free“ means (universities), I paid 300 Euros this Semester. About 200something are for a student ticket, about 20 are Sozialbeitrag whatever that is and the rest goes to the student parliament to pay for stuff like the student radio, Instruments for student orchestras etc.
Thanks you 👍🏻
I love your videos, but l have to really comment on how professional they became. This is great work! Of course, as a "Frankfurter" myself, I love those images and get a bit home sick every time I see them....
Thanks so much. Did you start your channel? 😉
Prices in uk have certainly spiked since October in uk too…To the extent that prices on the shelves were outdated…as an example jams in lidl have doubled since last year….
I guess it is the case all over. I just remember being able to say, across the board that the UK is more expensive than Germany in almost everything. Now however it's not so black and white anymore.
Interesting good value Wonderful video
Many thanks Randy
interesting view on the side effect on the on the deposit for bottles... on the other hand: after introduction of deposit (like 15y ago) number of broken glass bottles on the streets went dramatically down, so the box-stops to fix the tire puncture on my bike ;)
Well that’s a nice positive side effect 😉
Bin looters always have been there. In Hamburg, for example, they even advertised to put your bottle next to the bin or on top so that they are easy acessable. In most major cities this became the norm. In busy party areas like the Schanzenviertel in Hamburg you even have bottle holders on lantern poles.
It is the same in FFM. They have the bottle holders here too
@@britingermany Good to know! It makes "cornern" so much easier. (which is buying beer at a kiosk and then drink it while standing at a street corner watching people or walking from kiosk to kiosk while drinking and watching people)
The prices in UK super markets have also risen to astronomical levels within weeks.
Thanks Rick. I assumed that OCTOBER was probably not up date anymore but it was still shocking for me to see that certain things were more expensive in Germany
For me, a big watershed year was 2006: the year Germans hosted the soccer world cup. They showed that the Germans could loosen up and party with the best of them, but still do it in a well organized manner. But since then I have begun to notice that things are less, stodgy, formal and dead serious as they were just a decade previously, and that this trend is continuing.
Thank you Paul 👍🏻
But you also remember that Cologne, of all places, ran out of beer after hosting a game by the Irish?
unlike the guys who sung 10 German bombers in German cities... they can stay where they are now, on plague island!
Germans know hiw to have fun❤❤
Flaschensammler gibt es schon sehr lange, auch schon bevor die 25 cent erhoben wurden, allerdings hat es wirklich zugenommen.
Was war der sinn vor dem flaschenpfand eigentlich?
@@britingermany Wiederverwendung, Ressourcen schonen, Energieersparnis und Vermeidung von Umweltverschmutzung. Die Schweden haben schon 1885 als erste das Pfand eingeführt.
Thank you for this of course-most interesting it is too. Of course as we know, Germany used to be East and West areas, although not now then, which is as well too. I have not ever been there; however, I do have a cousin who went to live in Munich some years ago with his wife as far as I know. I know they liked it there but had to do certain customs as you say here too. They later returned to Britain and had a son but sadly later on she died with a cancer related illness (forgive me for being off topic in a way). But I do remember my now alas late Dad talking to my cousin's Dad-his brother and my Uncle who alas has also since died-about it too. Well done to you of course anyway.
Thanks Bruce and I'm sorry for your loss.
@@britingermany And thank you for your reply of course which is very nice of you too. Thank you also for saying about the losses in my family which of course are a shame too.
Regarding work-time, it depends on whether you are in a union or not. 40 hours is normal, but some professions only work 35 hours. I don't do any overtime because I just don't need to. Cost of living... basic foodstuff is and has been cheaper in the UK as far as I have observed when I lived in the UK. However renting or buying a house is so much cheaper here in Germany. Used cars are dirt cheap in the UK compared to Central/Western Europe. I never understood it. Yes it's a closed market (LHD and all) but that doesn't explain why used cars are that much cheaper in the UK (and I really mean THAT much cheaper). The bottle-collecting thing isn't new, it's been going on for a few decades. I personally haven't seen public rubbish bins emptied onto the ground in order to find bottles. But that's just me, so not representative. Debt in German is "Schulden" which is based on the word "Schuld" which means guilt/fault. So the word alone implies some kind of guilt for borrowing money. Hence many people are very careful when considering taking out a loan. Another very good video, very balanced and I really like your well-spoken commentary. I wish I could remain that calm all the time.
Thank you …arsenic…by the way I have to ask what kind of a user name is that?!🤣🤣 feels almost wrong to call that.
@@britingermany I have been using this username since the early 1990s. It has no special meaning and I do apologize if anyone feels offended by the toxic nature of my username. Really, no special meaning, Arsenic is just a chemical element that I thought would sound cool.
In reality I like to hink that I'm a nice guy, regardless of the username. Feel free to talk to me, I'm not the archetypical German, I'm a German who has spent most of his life working in international environments. I have lived in the NL for 4 years, in the UK for over 10 years and now realize that Germans can be very, very toxic. Not all of them, of course.
@@Arsenic71 hehe fair enough
actually there are many companies offer even 35h work weeks as fulltime
This is news to me. Thought that was a thing of the past.
Have you ever come across the channel "Lauren in Germany" (she moved to Germany from Wales a few years ago) ??? I think she might be a great fit for a collaboration or at least a video together once in a while looking at experiences in Germany from a British ("expat") perspective ...
🤣You should look through our channels...we already did a collaboration in October. It was a lot of fun and I had a great time with her😀
@@britingermany Ok, that prooves I "judged" you both in the right way ... Sorry, my memory failed on the fact that you already made something together.
@@MHG1023 haha no problem...great minds think alike right 😉
Update: moved to Berlin 7 months ago. Hope you’re well, man, I always enjoy your take on life here.
Wow! Cool. Hope you settled in well
@@britingermany still getting used to it but yes. Settled. It’s challenging at first but rewarding
@@WaelAKamel sehr schön 😀
You are right every single homeless person is a shame to a society. Finland apparently ended homelessness maybe they have some solutions that work in Germany too even though we are vastly different societies.
Yes it is a very complex issue..one that just money cannot fix imho
They never smile...very cold nation, no life...But it's good to live here regarding the law and order...very high ❤
I was so impressed in Germany by the standard of health care, particularly in comparison with that in England. To this day a friend in Vienna will tell me what health care she too is receiving and here in England I'm incredibly envious - as I'm sure you know, our NHS is in a terrible state and I know so many people of all ages who are having to wait years for operations. I think Germany is marvellous in this respect.
Yes Germany is generally quite good in this respect. However it’s not free which I think some English people forget.
The difference might not be stark, but remember that Vienna is in Austria, a different country to Germany. 😉
your NHS is in trouble because the last 13 years the Tories try to get rid of it, selling it to the Americans is their final goal and they getting closer to it by every day... after BoJO the clown made sure that foreigners feel uncomfy in the UK and left... there is nobody in the UK government who thinks you need health care for tax money...
@@Arltratlo Unfortunately I agree with every word you say. I know so many people currently waiting for operations whilst in pain that it is absolutely appalling. I don't think it's to do with foreigners feeling uncomfortable in the UK but more that the pay is so appalling nurses and doctors of all nationalities, including those born here, are striking, as are members of the ambulance service, because they can't afford to live on such pitifully poor pay. We have a Cabinet none of whom need NHS care because they can afford to pay for whatever health care they need. It is a terrifying situation.
My hubby is German and while I was in Germany visiting long time ago and was just dating him then, I got sick and went to Hamburg clinic and to my surprise, my German doctor can’t speak english. This turned me off and I decided we will be staying and living and retiring in my country, USA.
You live in Frankfurt but show the Heidelberg University. How come the food is cheaper in UK? They have a higher inflation rate for groceries in march ist was 17,5 %.
Am I only allowed to show images of the city I live in??! 🤔. Yes it’s tricky to cover prices and the cost of living. When I made the video prices seemed cheaper in the U.K. but by the time I had posted it things had changed and now of course the situation is already quite different.
@@britingermany No, of course you can show every city you want. I'm from Heidelberg. It seems you like my hometown.
You earn more in Germany, I took a huge cut when I worked in the UK for a few years doing the same job. I’m glad I’m back in Germany.
I think I would have to agree. You pay slightly less tax but the salaries are significantly less...unless you are working in finance in London then its a different story.
@@britingermany But costs in London are astronomical. I say one other thing the amount one pays in Nat Ins is laughable. It is another reason the Health Service is poor. You pay a lot more for your health insurance here, with the standard considerably higher in most(not all) areas.
I'm very confused about the 50 hour work week thing. I'm a railcar engineer and I work around 38 hours a week. And my wife also has a full-time job and she works 35 hours a week. Where and how do you find yourself in this 50 hour situation besides hospitals, upper management and teaching jobs? I might be very sheltered and lucky. 😅
I’m wondering how old you? 38/35 hour contracts seem to be a thing of the past…35 hours a week is part time in my book. But congratulations. If you’ve got that then hang on it 👍🏻
Es gibt eine Menge Berufe, in denen Du mehr als 40 Std. arbeiten "musst". Nicht offiziell natürlich. Aber wenn Du den Job nicht verlieren willst, musst Du mitspielen. Das entsteht, wenn Du Überstunden machen musst. Offiziell heisst es dann, dass Du sie Dir auszahlen lassen ober abfeiern kannst. Aber beides wird nicht passieren. Da finden die Chefs dann genügend Ausreden. Natürlich könnte man dagegen gerichtlich angehen. Aber sie würden wenn Du gewinnst mit Sicherheit irgend eine Hintertüre finden, durch die sie Dich irgendwann feuern würden. Und psychologisch betrachtet: Wer arbeitet schon gern in einem Unternehmen, welches er sich zum Feind gemacht hat? Es sind häufig die sowieso schon schlecht bezahlten Berufe wie Kassenkraft im Supermarkt, Friseur*in, Tierarzthelfer*in, Taxifahrer*in und so weiter. Da hälste schon deshalb die Füße still, weil mehr Arbeit mehr Lohn bedeutet, Du könntest auf die 40 Stunden bestehen, aber könntest dann die Miete nicht mehr bezahlen. Und so weiter. Also hast Du einfach Glück gehabt bisher nicht mit solchen Jobs konfrontiert gewesen zu sein.
@@britingermany However, 50 hours is not common where I am. 40 hours per week is rather normal. At least I don't know anyone who has to work more than 40 hours. Voluntary overtime is something else. My husband has a lot of them, but he doesn't get paid for them, he can take vacation for them. By the way, I come from Hamburg.
It's interesting and probably good that you leave politics out of your videos. Because to many Germans the country is going down. So to concentrate on the positive keeps one in a better mood.
Always look on the bright side of life 😉. But still I do acknowledge that not everything is rosey and it's important to include the good the bad and the ugly
…but University education for a first degree is also free in the UK too ……if the part of the UK you are talking about is Scotland. You describe yourself as a „Brit“ and talk about the UK, but your personal experience seems to be limited to being an Englishman from England.
Oh dear have a touched a nerve?😉 I do apologise if I forgot to mention that. I grew up on the welsh border and so technically spent almost as much time in Wales as I did in England
Yeah, I was surprised to hear that there is no tuition fee in Edinburgh, Scotland, when I talked to a. student I met on the train. I still remember...
Yes. If there is light, there always will be shadows.
It's a balancing act
Tuition is free in Scotland
It is only getting thougher this decade. High energy prices and subsequent deindustrialization mixed with a rapidly shrinking workforce and consumerbase - we face many challenges. I don't see a masterplan yet, as to how we can handle this...
We do. Maybe a master plan is not the answer this time 😉
@@britingermany oh cheese, not what I meant😂
On the one hand you say the Government is caring and looks after everyone and on the other hand you mention the people forced to scavenge for returnable bottles .I think such people are mainly pensioners if they rely on the state pension only .I saw a DW documentary about the poverty of pensioners focusing on Hamburg .That was about 6 years ago .I do not know if things have changed since then .
A very good and clear video on life in Germany. 👍
Thanks a lot. I might have to d an update at some point 😉
@@britingermany That wouldn't surprise me at all. These days, life is changing everywhere at a rapid pace. 🥲
@@xelakram tell me about it. Give it 3 to 6 months and everything is different 🤣😱
@@britingermany Just wait until AI gets a grip! What lies ahead of us is not only unknown, but has the potential of turning life as we have known it on its head. We are living through troubling and unsettling times, though many appear to be blissfully unaware of AI's potential to destroy life as we have come to know it.
To be honest, I save my bottles for the months where I might have trouble to go shopping. It is like a little "safetybank".
The only problem is they take up a lot of space. Especially if you by them in crates
So you're the one blocking the "Pfandautomaten" for half an hour?! 🤬🙈🤣
@@marcomobson Exactly 🖖😄
@@britingermany You are right. Luckily I have enough space.
My mother reported me that this has been a habit in the fifties yet.
Have you considered how much living in the UK has changed in the past 5 years?
I have. I appreciate that the cost of living has gone up everywhere. The main reason for me making this video is that I made a few last year specifically about the benefits of living in Germany and I mentioned work life balance and cost of living. So I just wanted to update that and set the record straight...in my view at least
The perceived lower grocery prices in the UK might have been due to the notable devaluation of the pound after the policy anouncements by the prime lettuce in charge at a certain time? Or some other exchange rate shenanigans in the meantime. As far as I know inflation has been pretty similar or even worse in GB.
I guess you mean to do with Brexit any more alas too than with the Coronavirus and so on of course?
Well, I've been living (main residence) for more than 35 years in Deutschland and, sowith, I've said it all. Originally I was born in Spain...
As an Italian expat, first in Berlin (6y), now in Stuttgart (3y), I don't think that Germany is so diverse tbh... Food menus are always the same with seafood being non existent, downtown areas they all look alike, repetitive TV shows, persistent focus on tradition rather than challenging the status quo....uff... time to move elsewhere, but where??? Like your videos btw, keep up the good work!
Germans like fresh food. If you want a big variety of seafood you should go to the north where there is actually sea.
Thank you Alberto. That does surprise me, especially if you've lived in Berlin that place has everything...ever thought about moving back to Italy? The food the culture and the weather alone are pretty amazing
Sounds like you want to tell that the increased number of people is due to Pfand? Or is it just the mess that comes from that search which you seem to emphase on? In that case you may look at other places than Frankfurt, where such a mess is not prevalent.
No the point I was trying to make is that the search for bottles is an unseen consequence of the Pfand system. It’s just one quite obvious example of how many people are struggling in the larger cities.
@@britingermany Sounds like a real bad choice for an example, doesn't it? Also, next time you're in England, talk a walk along a road or one of the incredible beautiful canals and notice all the bottles and cans beautifying the wayside. The incentive of a Pfand might become visible.
Well, maybe you did not notice while you lived there, but for a foreigner, there are huge differences in the UK. Scotland differs a lot from Wales and Cornwall from London. The UK is extremely diverse when you look closer. Manchester is a whole lot different compared to Birmingham. But for that one year I stayed in the UK, the regional differences were what I enjoyed the most. Thank you for your view on Germany, though. If you do get into the problem to be in need of help of the social system, you will find out the flaws of the German system, though. There is a lot of bureaucracy and not much wish to help. And the office workers do their job very thoroughly what makes them unbelievably slow. The whole country lags behind when it comes to digitalization: Education, office work and all the red tape you have to do for taxes and the state. Estland is said to be much better in those aspects. There is still a lot to do for Germany in that field. And as a German, I think maybe I am very critical about my own country- Germans tend to be. What do you think of German bureaucracy?
Perfection is an illusion. Nowhere is everything perfect. It just depends on how strong the problem areas are compared to the other countries. That's how grading works, you compare them and get the grade depending on how strong or weak the others are.
I did consider moving to Germany at one stage and I did view a few houses for sale. In the end I rejected the idea as I decided Germany was too much like England. I had moved from England to north east Scotland in 1997 to get away from the rat race. Germany is another densely populated country so I ended up choosing Hungary. That was in 2010. At that time I could not afford to move back to England but there were still houses for around 50,000 Euros in parts of Germany.
Wow 50,000 Euros one can only dream of that these days.
@@britingermany Well, like in the UK, it depends on where you look. Sure in the outer Hebrides you can find a nice house for 50 grand, but that is also possible in former Eastern Germany (in some areas). In fact you can buy much cheaper houses but of course those require lots and lots of work.
Moin,wo gibt es denn Häuser für 50k,die nicht Ruinen sind,ein bisschen Garten mit dabei natürlich? :)
@@matthiasewert3587 Naja ich sagte ja, es gibt auch billigere aber die bedürfen halt viel Arbeit, darum werden die auch oft verkauft als "für Handwerker". Aber nichtsdestoweniger gibt es auch billige bezugsfertige Häuser (klar, natürlich immer mit Abstrichen), aber im Osten, so Richtung Bitterfeld (nur ein Beispiel) gibt es da doch einiges was das Geld definitiv wert ist.
@@Arsenic71 Ok danke.
No matter what I'll always love my country ❤️🇩🇪 unless.... well y'know...
Well what…? Unless the shit hits the fan?
Yes there's a list of things. I don't mean Deutschlands past coming back Fyi
Yeah, unicorns are in short supply here lately (maybe they are all roaming the meadows of Brexitonshire now) but since we had been plunged into a major war last year, things are still way better than last time that happened.
Just give it some time.
💚💜💚
I totally disagree with everything you say. Visiting the UK again 2 months ago it was so reassuring to be greeted with a friendly smile at every place we shopped or ate & also didn't need to carry lots of cash with me, everywhere accepted card or I could pay with my phone. Whereas in "backward" Germany there are still many restaurants/shops that only accept cash, & yesterday when I went to the Bakers, I had to wait 5 minutes before being served because the sales person was on the phone & didn't even apologise!!! Also as a single person your take home pay after tax, unemployment & pension payments & 7% healthcare is gonna be around 49%. What's the point of working if 51% of your salary is taken? As the number one & wealthiest economy in Europe living in Germany should be a paradise, but it's not is it?
I’m not sure we disagree on anything here. There are still restaurants that only accept cash but it’s changed a lot in the last 10 years. Regarding tax it is a lot but even with that fact you earn significantly more in Germany than the UK
@@britingermany I could give you lots of examples. Me & my German wife were back in Essex 2 months ago & we found a Lidl in Shoeburryness & I've never seen a Lidl that big in Germany before. And it was open for 6 hours on Sunday!! Shopping in Germany on Saturday or before a long bank holiday weekend is chaos!! Also she was sort of most impressed by the bar/restaurant staff in England referring to her as "Me Love", you couldn't do that in Germany could you? SIE is the rule. Can't be too familiar in Gute Alte Doitsland.
You are completely right. I am German and I moved to Russia. Well - in Russia you can pay with card even in a small shop in the village in deepest countryside. In the oldest wooden shed you can find fiberglass internet for grandma's TV. We live in a medium sized city on the ural mountains with 700.000 citizens. The life is much more enjoyable. Everywhere small shops, open until late evening, cinemas, theatres, alot of new housing and private condos, exceptional beautiful women. No muslim migrants, low crime. The existing crime is kindergarden compared to the crime in west german cities. Nearly nobody has to rent an appartement for private living. "Rauhfasertapete" is not known here. Of course we habe some old soviet charme as well. But clean, safe and secure. My income tax is inbetween 6% and 13%. As company owner I have a higher life standard than in Germany. When I was 18, I never thought that I leave Germany to Russia.
Working hours on average is between 36-41h not 50h.
That might be what is written in the contract and what people log in the system, but in my experience (from myself and friends in Office jobs in Banking, Media and Retail) it is definitely more than 40 hours a week.
I have coworkers that work 4 days a week (7+ years in the company), 8h/day. I work around 40h or a little bit less. The office is mostly empty on Friday afternoons. This is in an industry, manufacturing and engineering firm. So yeah it depends, financial and medicine sectors are usually on the higher side of hours worked. I must add that Germans focus on working those 8 hours, and when they are done they are done. No chitchatting or long coffee breaks.
I never worked less than 45-50 hours a week since I hit the job market, but I guess it depends on your profession and/or the company.
Living while studying is not free, so even while getting SOME support from the gvt. and virtually no tuition. I finished my degree with 20k debt back in the 2000s. Sure it's payed back easily but kids of wealthy parents aside.. studying will result in you collecting debt. Or prolonging the degree via working part time .. if the degree is challenging at all.
Sure that's why people often choose a University that is close to home so that they can still live with their parents. and yes it's not easy that's why there are so many stereotypes about poor students...I find it funny that there is even something called Studentenfutter
@@britingermany yes, students tend to be at the lower if not lowest end of the economic spectrum .. unless they live beyond their means (collecting debt in the anticipation of a good paying job later on) i lived in a 13m² room in one of the most affordable student-cities in germany and still collected 20k debt. i can't imagine how hard this sh1t is in the US without wealthy parents .. ending up with 100 200 k debt and lately .. a lot but no job guarantee .. sprincle in the insane bs fields colleges started to offer in the last 1-2 decades and viola .. a hyper (cost) inflated way of prepareing kids for the future becomes a debt trap for more and more of them Studentenfutter is about getting healthy fats and sugar to keep your brain running (nuts n raisins) not because it's cheap, because sadly it isn't xD
@@TheyCalledMeT exactly But I like it. Far better than Haribo. Sadly I think that most people who end up going to Uni shouldn't. At least in my experience over 90% of people didn't want to be there. At least not to study or learn anything...it was more about the social life
@@britingermany I think that's largely an issue of modern mentality. A lot of people choose the "höherer Bildungsweg" that would really be better of in a Lehre, thinking or being told that it would lead to a better life when in reality that mostly means we'll have to many academicians (who then can't get jobs in their field) and not enough craftsmen.
@@Llortnerof exactly. I think this is way more of a problem in the U.K. than in Germany… there was a huge campaign in 2000’s to get everyone into to Uni and now there are no plumbers or electricians
The issue of work-life balance in Germany has, in my opinion, always been misunderstood or misrepresented. Same as in any country, if you work in the private sector, if you want to do ahead as fast and as far as possible, you'll put in the hours. The private economy values the amount and quality of work you do. Sure, your employers aren't allowed to demand you read their messages on a Sunday, but who do you think will get the next promotion offer; the one who reports his boss to their boss' boss or the one who puts in 3 hours on a Sunday afternoon? If you want a *real* clear-cut difference between work and private life, go into the public sector -- which runs by its own weird rules and is quite misunderstood, but it does this one thing extremely well. This will, on the other hand, inevitably mean that you'll be paid less than in the private sector (albeit at higher job security and better pension). It's a choice.
Yeah good point. If you want to get ahead and climb the career ladder you're going to have to do things which your colleagues are not willing to do...
I do know some people who work in the public sector, and they keep telling me about overtime. Nurses, kindergarden teachers, other teachers, even office workers. The idea was that of a lean government. So, they did not replace office workers, and that is the reason why everything as far as red tape is concerned is extremely slow in Germany. Plus, the digitalization level is extremely low.
My Family migrated to Canada when I was 18 and did my Military Service, and I myself have lived for years in the US of A and Argentina. The main difference between a 40hour work week in germany, and in other countries, in my experience, is, that Germans work *dilligently* and without much pause or diversion for the entirety of the hours they are in the company. Meanwhile in Italy and Argentina, it's more or less normal to slack off a bit "during work hours" - in the US of A, it is more or less accepted that "lunch" is a kind of fluid length where people go to get their hair cut and do their grocery shopping, which I have not ever experienced someone in Germany do "during break". Germans are somewhat more deeply on the Autism and Obsessiveness Spectrum ; and this is what imho creates most of the difference. With a German Work Ethic, you will be at best a "teachers pet" and at worst someone making others look bad when you work abroad. Meanwhile, people coming to Germany in my experience often run into a mild bewilderment by their co-workers, when they kinda just take a 5 minute break to chit chat. Now, I was mainly in Engineering / Electrical Engineering / Construction, building Elevators specifically, but this is *very much* the cultural differences I experienced when leaving Germany. Germans feel like "overachievers" in some ways, and I am not entirely convinced germans should be *PROUD* of that - in many ways, us Krauts got a thick stick up our arse.
Hey thanks for sharing. I would agree with most of that 😉
@@britingermany My god Man! You make it your mission to reply to every comment, don't you? KUDOS! :-D
@@thomads3890 hah I try to😉
I worked in Germany for much of my career. I worked hard at the language. I tried hard to observe the du and Sie rules. Most of my colleagues wanted to speak English to me. We have no equivalent of the second person pronoun rules. Once someone hard spoken to me in English where I used forenames I found it hard to go back to the more formal German conventions. I'm sure it made me look stupid and the subject of unwanted gossip.
😂well at least they had something to talk about then 😉
Bottle collection... I think it is absolutely shameful that one of the richest countries in the world has let the situation deteriorate to the point where people have to rummage through trash. There are essentially three groups of people you will mainly see doing this: - desperate lowest-possible-income workers - people trapped in the social support system (i.e. people on "Hartz IV", possibly sanctioned by the bureaucracy for some stupid stuff and now having to scrape by with even further reduced income) and most prominently: - retired elderly people, mostly women; poverty rate in retirees is abysmal, and it is a shame that people who worked their whole lives have to spend their retirement in constant poverty All of this is the result of a development that is rooted in Schröder's reforms. Those undoubtedly were necessary and without them Germany today would not be on the economic footing it stands on, but they were botched up good, with many unintended side effects. We would be well-advised to revisit those reforms and weed out the social support industry that has grown around it, plus the Zeitarbeit menace, which in its current form is neither what it was intended to be, but a modern form of slavery (at exactly minimum wage, of course). There is so much wasted potential here, and so many embarassing things we just let happen, so - no, we don't care about _everyone_. Sorry to disappoint you there Ben, but in reality we don't. We care for the unfortunate, but not the unworthy. In this, we have a maybe less stingy version of it, but still apply the same protestantic ethics system as e.g. the Americans.
It is a sight for sore eyes to see these desperate individuals rifling through the rubbish. It's obviously a very complex topic with not easy solutions. I have friends who work with the homeless and there are many many organisations set up to deal with social challenges but it's not as easy as creating another government programme or throwing money at them. help is there but it is not always accepted
As of 2020 Germany still has the lowest working hours of all OECD countries.
Do you miss the British humour? It really is in my mind is unique, and in our DNA. Turn everything into a comedy. And banter. 😂
True humour is one thing which just doesn’t translate. Luckily I have a few British friends here so I get my daily does 😉
I must stress that bin looting is NOT a side effect of our recycling behavior. It is a direct effect of poverty and people not going to redeem their deposit for their bottles merely enables poor people to cash in on this rather meager income. So, recycling culture merely makes the problem visible. If anything, that's a benefit.
Right that's what I meant to say. It is a visible symptom but obviously not the cause.
...for a minute I thought you were considering leaving Germany 😄
haha no no I just wanted to give a more balanced view of my experience the good the bad and the ugly
"Dem lebendigen Geist" ; looks like the university of Heidelberg
Well spotted. I was indeed in Heidelberg
I think universities get more and more unfree, to work there is a catastrophy. Life outside the cities looses hope and sense. But, yes, London is not an alternative indeed. Um mal was Positives zu sagen, ich kann dir echte Frankfurter grüne Soße machen. (Gibts auf der Straße nicht mehr.)
Really? Na da bin ich gespannt wie du das machst. Habe ich mir im Sommer auch gemacht alledings mit viel Knoblauch. Hat fantastisch geschmeckt aber ein Freund von mir war entsetzt. In Grüne Soße gehört doch kein Knoblauch meinte er.
@@britingermany Es gibt viele gute Kräutersoßen, aber die genialste ist die Frankfurter nach Originalrezept. Kerbel, Petersilie, Schnittlauch, Sauerampfer, Kresse, Borretsch, Pimpernelle. Sonst bitte nichts, kein Dill, keine Zwiebel, kein Senf, das ist was für Raucher und Zombies. Mit dem Kochmesser feinwiegen, kein Mixer. Mit Schmand oder saurer Sahne, keine Mayonnaise. Als Beilage harte Eier, Kartoffeln, manchmal Tafelspitz. Wenn im Frühling der Kerbel rauskommt, ist Grüne Soßezeit.
@@britingermany Ich suche gerade noch ein passendes Entsetzt-Emoji ... Knoblauch in Grie Soß' ... kannste dir nicht ausdenken. 😀
@@britingermany say whaaat? Heresy! 😱 you.... you don't do that, do you?! Parsley, chives, chervil, cress, burnet, sorrel, borage.
@@TigruArdavi and garlic!!! 😉
Germany's wealth and social security is also slowly eroding away as the contradictions of capitalism heighten and profit gets squeezed out of the last avenues.
You better get outta there asap... I did.
The tone of your videos has become more and more german. 😉
Haha I’m not sure if that’s good or bad? I have a few more coming up which might not fit in with that 😉
1:09 the town of Würzburg ^^
Wow! You got that from 1 second 👍🏻
@@britingermany i know my birth town 😂
The Epic Truth about our dark side 😉 And that is actually the deep-seated truth: we love to suffer. And everyone who want to join, have to join...
haha now that's getting deep.😉
alter hat der sein schnitzel in grüne soße getunkt ich raste aus
Haha. Natürlich, was denn sonst?
@@britingermany hast recht, kann man schon machen. Aber ich bin Purist, zu grüner Soße nur Kartoffeln :)
I don't really find it credible that prices in the UK are rising more slowly than in Germany. That simply can't be the case with Brexit. Your calculation was not correct because you live in Germany now and know how bad it is compared to before, but you don't really know how bad it is in the UK because you don't live there. It is not enough to just take some prices as a comparison. I have seen this problem in some of your videos which make the picture of the comparison between Germany and UK not quite as credible. That was the reason why I cancelled my abo.
I don’t remember ever saying that prices are rising more slowly in the U.K. than in Germany?
must be hard for a Brit to live in a country without Tories in power.... nobody tells you what you have to do without telling you why!
ummm yeah it's so hard...that's why I've only managed 12 years so far!
@@britingermany i made it to 6 weeks in the UK...but no worries, i will never go back again!
Germany is built on Hartz4, if we would change this system, Germany s Economy would suffer a lot, as our fundament is built on very cheap labor- like granny's still cleaning halls at 70
Sure there are some people that struggle but I don’t think it’s as bad as you’re making out
Wir haben derzeit eine Inflation wie schon seit Jahren nicht, weil wir die höchsten Energiekosten der Welt haben. Wir schließen Atomkraftwerke, Kohlekraftwerke und kaufen unseren Strom dann für viel Geld aus dem Ausland. Aber solange die Wähler das so wollen, bitte schön. Was die Sozialleistungen angeht, bin ich da auch glücklich darüber, immerhin war ich auch schon einmal arbeitslos. Aber das ich alle meine Verhältnisse offenlegen muss, jeder, der hier ins Land kommt und nie etwas eingezahlt hat, dies nicht tun muss, halte ich nun nicht für sehr gerecht.
Es ist ein sehr komplexes thema, was von der eigenen persönlichen Erfahrung beeinflusst wird. Ich denke, es gibt viele Nuancen. Es ist nie alles gut oder alles schlecht
@@britingermany Natürlich. Es gibt keine Möglichkeit "Gerechtigkeit" zu definieren oder zu erreichen. Dennoch muss man danach streben. Und es ist gut, dass dies versucht wird.
Ich weiß nicht ob es wirklich sinnvoll ist eine kurzfristige Notlage hier als Maßstab anzulegen. Da kommen sich grade langfristige und kurzfristige Planung ins Gehege weil ein machttrunkener Russe seine militärischen Möglichkeiten maßlos überschätzt hat.
@@frankhainke7442 Ich glaube nicht das hier der richtige Ort dafür ist um über Gerechtigkeit zu sprechen, die Diskussion wäre eine sehr lange und zeitaufwändige und ich weiß nicht ob die zu dem gewünschten Ergebnis führt das sie gerne hören möchten. Es gibt Dinge die laufen gut und andere Dinge laufen schlecht, aber wir sollten aufhören immer von einem Extrem ins andere zu verfallen.
@@Llortnerof Das ist mir zu billig jetzt alles, was nicht gut läuft, Putin anzulasten. Für die deutsche Energiepolitik ist er wohl nicht verantwortlich.
I am German and I moved to Russia to make free space for all the arabic migrants and all the young gay parents who like to live in this US-colony with the exceptional low taxes and energy prices and the great govetnment of Scholz, Habeck, Baerbock and Faeser. Be happy there!
Well, let's be honest. The bin looting is not a side effect of recycling. If you wanna make a connection there then it would be a side effect of the deposit system. There could be recycling without deposit. As sad as it is that people have to gather bottles and cans to get the Pfand for them, the deposit system is not the cause of the problem here. The cause of the problem is poverty. And are you sure that they search (only) for bottles? They also might search for food and other things, e.g. I'v seen people search for cigarettes, that are not completely burned down. Often times people put bottles next to the cans. And I can hardly believe that bin looters only exist in other countries. While I believe you, that you have not seen that anywhere else, does not that it does not exist. Ignoring the UK you are probably a tourist anywhere else, and tourist areas are usually kept "clean" of "unpleasant sights". And even if you see non-tourist areas, it is still just anecdotal evidence. Considering that there are quite a lot of people homeless in the US I can't believe that this does not exist there. And I think we don't have to start to look at countries outside of the wealthy "first world". eu.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2012/09/25/searching-trash-bins-they-hunt-for-food/29123458007/
Yes of course livery is the cause…what I was trying to say is that the bin looting and hunting for bottles is a sign of people struggling with poverty (one of many, it just happens to be one thing that I’ve noticed). The cause is a different matter though.
bin-looting is everywhere here in Los Angeles.
@@britingermany this is already sad but wait for the Finanzamt to hear about you collecting to many bottles... they will have a word. not even joking
I am pretty sure that the cause of bin looting, begging for money and homelessness outdoors is a mental illness of these people. Otherwise people could rent a small apartment that will be paid from the state budget, and a decent amount of money for food and clothing (around 400 euro monthly if I remember correctly).
@@yansakovich bottle collectors are usually elderly people that are not making needs end after their goverment pension.