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[nightrose83]

Hi all,

Had a scenario/some questions about Germany that I'd like some details on.

Comments

[lied_ohne_worte]

An issue that no one has mentioned, as far as I can see, is religion. In Germany, it's a very private thing, and some things that are happening in the US (like introducing literal content from the Bible into school science classes) seem weird even to Germans like myself who belong to a church. Here, a politician who had a literal understanding of the Bible and wanted to legislate people's private lives using the parts that deal with rules of living made for people in a desert 2000 years ago would pretty much remove themselves from any chance of being elected, even if they were in the party that sports a "C" for Christian in its name.

Also, Christianity here is a lot less fractured - one third of the population belongs to the Catholic church, another third to the German protestant church (neither of which are literalists), and groups like the ones that seem to get so much attention in the US would fall into a very small segment of rest churches, and be considered absolute fringe movements that most of us other Christians find strange.

My guest family on the student exchange, when they learned that my father was a Protestant reverend, were really worried because they didn't attend church, and offered to go with me (I think they thought I would get in trouble with my parents if I didn't go every Sunday). I'm not sure if they believed me that it wouldn't be a big deal at all, that my father wouldn't necessarily go either when he had a holiday, and that I had never had any kind of religious observance forced upon me. I think to them "Reverend" pretty much meant "conservative", which is funny because my father was usually unpopular with segments of his congregations as a leftist tree-hugger.

[lied_ohne_worte]

Another small thing that surprised me: TV advertisements for lawyers (I think for the ones you call "ambulance chasers"). In Germany, damage sums for suing somebody are much lower than in the US, some say too low, so you will hear few threats of "I'll sue you!", and there doesn't seem that big a rush to find out whom you could sue if something unpleasant happens.

[chesneycat]

My husband was cycling on a marked cycle path when a car driver drove across it without looking. One fractured spine later, we got to learn all about the German legal and compensatory systems. Luckily, he can still walk (and breathe!), but I imagine most American's would be shocked ata the compensation levels. It doesn't seem disproportionately low to my English POV - you're covered for expenses, loss of earnings/ability to work for either you or your employer, and there's a level of compensation for personal injury and inconvenience. For six months in a back brace and all that that entails, plus some minor ongoing discomfort, the tariff is well within four figures. Our lawyer showed us the book she had which set it all out - all very organised, really, even if it did take the best part of two years before everything was done with (though mostly that was to cover the medical follow-ups).

Echoing EVERYONE else: bread. I hated American bread even before I ever tasted German bread. It's sweet and dry and airless, if it tastes of anything at all. German bread is where carbs go to heaven.