Anyone lived in / or from Germany

[Vaucluse]

The Dutch are better in every way, why should they have an inferiority complex? They're smarter

Stats or links?

, taller

Yes, they are -due to massive hormones in their food - yuck!

, have better looking women

Sure, if you like 6'4 200lb flatfeet

, a hugely superior sense of humour

True, you are showing it with this line!

, better footballers

Yes, hence the cabinetload of trophies . . . how many World Championships? European Championships?

, more interesting cities

Huh? Like what compared to what? Amsterdam to Munich? Rotterdam to Berlin?

, a better airport than their neighbours are able to provide in a much bigger environment

How many international airports in Holland? How many in Germany? Schiphol is pretty good, but how you can say it is better than Frankfurt . . . Kaaskop~!

, better rail system

Really? How so? Deutsche Bahn is brilliant, as is the Dutch version . . . both very good. I guess I could use your specious arguments about size etc . . . but that would be childish.

, better banks

Huh?

, rank much higher in the global economic freedom index, have a higher GDP per capita, etc., etc., etc.,

Now you're really taking the piss . . . the old statistics argument . . . Kaakop!

Why didn't you mention the wonderful trekking and rock climbing opportunities in the Dutch mountain ranges - that would have made up for the lack of a <sarcasm> tag in this forum!

Ah, I was going to mention something similar . . . irrespective of whether it is a big or a small country, the Dutch countryside consists of nothing but flat . . . and it smells from all the manure used. It is boring as shit to drive in . . . the only thing nice in this respect are some of the inner city areas with their old buildings . . . very pretty.

Beaches? Zandvoort? Give me a break = miserable places. Let's face it, Holland isn't much to look at, nor eat nor have good beer . . . worst of all was the weather, though SG mentions that it was quite good this year.

Grolsch from the tap is ok, aside form that give me any Belgian or German beer, whether it is Koelsch, Bit or any of the hundreds of others.

Food? German food can be excellent with many, many varieties according to the region . . . though I must say that my favourite cuisine is Belgian . . . mmmmmmmmm and yummmmmmmm

[aster]

"Stats or links?"

No need, they have that twingle in their eyes.

"Yes, they are -due to massive hormones in their food - yuck!"

Not actually due to that...

"Sure, if you like 6'4 200lb flatfeet"

Nah, just hotter chicks than plumpy German Helgas...

"True, you are showing it with this line!"

Germans are devoid of humour, so my comment about the Dutch having a "better sense of humour" could have been substituted with any other nationality...

Come on, you have to see the humour in someone arguing about Germans having a superior sense of... humour.

"Yes, hence the cabinetload of trophies . . . how many World Championships? European Championships? "

How many German players playing in a real league except for... Ballack?

"Huh? Like what compared to what? Amsterdam to Munich? Rotterdam to Berlin?"

Amsterdam - maybe Oktoberfest would be an exception though. You recommend it?

"How many international airports in Holland? How many in Germany? Schiphol is pretty good, but how you can say it is better than Frankfurt . . . Kaaskop~!"

FRA is a tragic, third-rate, lousy excuse for an airport. You won't find a worse hub in the entire EU... Now Munich is an entirely different story, and they're about to open up LH's only decent lounge with a Bavarian beer hall.

All in all: Dutch have 1 true international airport, Germany has 1 as well: MUC. Guess it's a draw then.

"Now you're really taking the piss . . . the old statistics argument . . . Kaakop! "

Ah, so I'm sure Johannesburg is a perfectly safe city, forget the statistics, right?

"Give me a break = miserable places. Let's face it, Holland isn't much to look at, nor eat nor have good beer . . . worst of all was the weather"

Not the ideal place to live in in the long run, but then the same could be said about numerous other countries in Europe. Wherever you have family obviously changes things though...

"Grolsch from the tap is ok, aside form that give me any Belgian or German beer, whether it is Koelsch, Bit or any of the hundreds of others."

I like beers from lots of places and there's no way I would rate German beers as better overall. There might be more of them, especially available locally, but tons of countries product good beer. Even Egypt has a great one that stays in my mind from my holidays there. The only place I would buy a German beer is in Germany. Never elsewhere.

"Food? German food can be excellent with many, many varieties according to the region . . . though I must say that my favourite cuisine is Belgian . . . mmmmmmmmm and yummmmmmmm"

German food? Now that sounds like an oxymoron. Weisswurst and what else exactly is edible? Belgian cuisine? Jeez, is this a new culinary concept? Beer and chocolate?

Just pulling your leg, mate. I'm sure the food is fine, had steak tatar for the first time there and loved it.

[Vaucluse]

Having said all of the above I'd not choose to live in either again, but if pressed I'd prefer Germany for many of the reasons stated above.

Belgian food??? Are you insane? Simply wonderful, a nice melange between French and German . . . simply mouthwatering.

Ah, German football . . . the Bundesliga is a top league, no real reason to play elsewhere, as opposed to the Eredivisie which is a stagnant league and players need to get out to experience good football . . . how many Kaaskopjes play in Germany . .

In terms of the golden beverage . . . Koelsch tops them all, it has to be fresh and is a lovely amber liquid . . . and you don't get a headache from them due to the Reinheitsgebot.

The best place to live in Europe . . . it would have to be Italy, I'd say . . . despite that place probably losing out in all points, bar the food, in our little joust. I know Superglide agrees with me here, and he's a Ober-Kaaskop!

[x9200]

What I have never truly understood is why Dutch have such limited choice of goods in their shops. Especially for any sorts of electronics but not limited to it. It was enough to cross the border and the difference was simply striking.
Food-wise, yes Italy looks nice, and maybe France too if you can manage to live there and not use their airlines/airports and get use to more then slightly arrogant attitude.

[adione]

con...
no durian
no roti prata
no hainan chicken rice
less public holidays

less PH?

http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country ... rmany.html

and I think u get at least 24 days of annual leave, or even more:

http://germany.angloinfo.com/countries/ ... /work8.asp


why u people don't google your own?
(no flame, just wondering...)

[Vaucluse]

why u people don't google your own?
(no flame, just wondering...)
[/color]

. . . because Ozchick asked for personal experiences . . . plus that is what these forums are for . . .


(umm, who is 'you people'?)

[adione]

why u people don't google your own?
(no flame, just wondering...)
[/color]

. . . because Ozchick asked for personal experiences . . . plus that is what these forums are for . . .

infact my quoting was abot durain post...
anyway public holidays isnt about experience, right?
that's not something personal

(umm, who is 'you people'?)

generally speaking, who's addicted to the forum just post instead of googlin'
it's strange to me since it's faster to google rather than to posting to forum
- when not about personal stuff -

[ozchick]

why u people don't google your own?
(no flame, just wondering...)
[/color]

. . . because Ozchick asked for personal experiences . . . plus that is what these forums are for . . .

infact my quoting was abot durain post...
anyway public holidays isnt about experience, right?
that's not something personal

(umm, who is 'you people'?)

generally speaking, who's addicted to the forum just post instead of googlin'
it's strange to me since it's faster to google rather than to posting to forum
- when not about personal stuff -

Que? OK Examples of where Google can't help. 'Not personal' and google can't help. It can't tell me where to buy Kabana in Singapore nor why people here walk on the right instead of the left or what happens to overseas mail that is 'returned to sender'. Are these 'personal? Mm...I now find myself trying to define personal /non-personal with regard to success with google etc and it's stressing my tiny brain.........mm..anyway, I've learned a lot from the dudes on here about all sorts of stuff that google could never help me with. And you never know, some of them may have even learned a bit from me!

[adione]

Mm...I now find myself trying to define personal /non-personal with regard to success with google etc and it's stressing my tiny brain.........mm..anyway, I've learned a lot from the dudes on here about all sorts of stuff that google could never help me with. And you never know, some of them may have even learned a bit from me!

I guess it's my poor English....
I just wanted to say: finding out how many public holidays there are in Germany is something you can find out easily using google.
That's it!

All the rest, you know better than me why we're posting in a forum on the Internet...

I wrote that: no flame!

[Vaucluse]

And you never know, some of them may have even learned a bit from me!

Oh dear, Ozchick . . . you should have quit while you were ahead!


When is the departure date for Germany?

[$Pripps]

Despite the efforts of my crappy passport to deal me a poor hand re work in Europe, I'm close to a win I think. Bonn in Germany. Would have preferred more Mediterranean climate...but beggars can't be choosers.
So Bonn.
I've done what homework I can. One in 7 there is an expat. The population 400,000 . Their claim to fame is Beethoven's statue and it's a sleepy hollow compared with nearby Dusseldorf and Cologne. Snow not an issue although this last winter it was . Think I can cope with all that. Have never seen a white Christmas- it may happen yet!

The contacts I do have say that the salary etc is fine, although it's quite a step-down from Sg or what I could be earning in say, the U.A.E.
But grateful for your opinions or experience any of you may have. The NET annual salary is Euro 32,000 ($60,860 sg dollars) after all taxes and health insurance is paid. It has no accommodation included. My nephew in Dusseldorf reckons it's fine. But he's only 24. Not sure what he'd be living on. Fresh air and sunshine probably. I want to be able to ride my bicycle but have been told that there are awful hills....mm...
Anyone know about the skin-heads? Read something about them being a bit conspicuous there. Any advice on any aspect, positive or negative welcome. Experience, especially recent, is better than google!

I don't have recent experience but here's my 2c (after living there 10 years with a lot of generalizations so take it with a grain of salt):

Skin-heads; not really, sure there are some teenagers that want to send a message but in general I felt very safe there. Of course in each city there are neighborhoods that you should avoid wandering around during night. In East Germany (former GDR) although the reunifaction now is 20 years ago there is a slight different attitude to foreigners than in the west.

Formal; Germans are quite a formal people which I saw as something negative in the beginning however a while you get used to it and even welcome it. It also acts as a certain defense when you meet somebody to keep a certain distance. Germans are also quite fond of their titles so mentioning them when you address a German is sometimes a good thing (depends a bit on the context though).

Humor (in media); they have various types of humor there, some more slapstick oriented and some very subtle which you don't get if you haven't grown up there. I never did get the subtle one even when explained to me.

Mistakes; There are two schools, either you admit all your mistakes very openly or you find somebody else to take the blame. But it is important to realize that if you early on admit your mistake you can get better off than getting found out.

I found it was quite easy to get friends, people are often curious about foreigners and like to practice their English.

[Vaucluse]

Nice post

[ozchick]

And you never know, some of them may have even learned a bit from me!

Oh dear, Ozchick . . . you should have quit while you were ahead!


When is the departure date for Germany?

Don't be so predictable!

[raden888]

The best place to live in Europe . . . it would have to be Italy, You mad? Sicily is nice especially say around Taormina, Milano is alright too.Rome is laughable..It is almost like KL with same driving temperament.


Ich lieber Deutschland.

[aster]

Only places I would consider are Southern England and Spain. I do have an affinity towards Malta though, really enjoyed my time there and considered moving there for a split second a while ago.

Other than that maybe Austria has a few interesting places?