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Resource posted:Any advice for places to find information on getting a job in Germany? I have German citizenship, but I've been living in the states for most of my life. I have some family over there, but I could use some resources specific to moving there to work. Do you speak German? Do you have a agree? What kind of job are you looking for? Shbobdb posted:The parallels between Bavarians and Texans are pretty apt. They both talk funny, wear awkward forms of dress without a hint of irony, they express a longing and glorification of when their former status as independent states (though, to be fair, plenty of areas in Germany have this), their culture is one of the major lenses through which the entire country's culture is viewed (internationally speaking) and they suck. It's really a lot more complex than that. Bavaria is more like Texas would be if Boston was in Texas and there were no other major cities in the state. Something like that. (I have lived in Munich and Boston but I have never been to Texas.)
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Sep 28, 2011 06:45
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At this point, I can't really say I find the Paratenpartei much more trustworthy than Die Linke though. If there's anything to this, I won't give them my vote anytime soon, as a female computer scientist I can't really take anymore of this "well, we're post-gender so if you don't see any women here that's because they'd rather be in the kitchen baking a nice cake" bullshit.
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Sep 28, 2011 15:05
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Orange Devil posted:I've found living in Germany to be rather horrible to be honest. I've been repeatedly shocked at how poo poo this country is with respect to for example consumer rights and public services. The only advice I could give anyone is to stay away from Germany. For reference, I'm Dutch and I've lived in Frankfurt am Main for the better part of three years now. I was with you until you said you were Dutch. I enjoyed living in the Netherlands for the most part, but I found life there to so drat inconvenient compared to life in Germany.
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Sep 29, 2011 19:31
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Orange Devil posted:That's very interesting because I experience the exact opposite. It's amazing to me for example that you have to go to four different supermarket chains to get all your shopping, or that you have to go before certain times because otherwise stuff is sold out. I've seen supermarkets here where a quarter of the shelves were standing empty. And fruit is rotting in the shelves all the time. On top of that, they apparently also lack a good system for tracking what products get bought how often in each store, because regularly a product is suddenly gone and we have to inquire and get a the response that "they are checking demand for that product based on how many people inquire". I've studied business in the Netherlands, including the JIT system of Albert Heijn (major upscale supermarket chain in NL), and that kind of inefficiency is just unthinkable there, or any other supermarket. Except maybe for any German budget chains (Aldi, Lidl, etc) whose profit margin is entirely based on understaffing their stores and overworking said staff. There were lots of small things, I'm trying to think of some examples. Overall, life just felt like a constant struggle sometimes. Housing was a major thing and ultimately one of the reasons why I moved back to Germany. I mean, I get that the country is small and everything, but the rental market is just hosed up. It's somehow completely overregulated on the one hand and pure anarchy at the same time. It's just incredible how hard it is to find a place and even if you do, it's most likely some super lovely place that someone sublets to you illegally (meaning that you might be kicked out at any time without notice) and that costs an insane amount. While apartment hunting in Amsterdam, I looked at an apartment that didn't have a bathroom and another one where the owners told me I could only live the during the week. Both were also super expensive and sadly those places were some of the more attractive options. Basically the best way to handle the apartment problem turned out to be to rent a hugely overpriced place and to sue the owners for asking for too much rent once you'd moved in. I always felt one step away from being homeless during my time in Amsterdam. By comparison, the rental market in Munich, which is the toughest in Germany, seemed like paradise. I also never figured out how to get rid of my trash before going on vacation without being fined for putting the trash on the streets a day or two early. Dutch bureaucracy was another thing I found hard to handle. My impression is that there is an insane amount of rules and regulations that, being practical people, the Dutch know can't all be followed. So it seems that everyone just picks a subset of rules that seem reasonable and works off that. At least that's the only way I can make sense of it. Being German after all, I found that very hard to deal with. I spent many nights frantically programming and writing essays before I realized that a Dutch deadline and a German deadline are two very different things and that I'm the only person who ever hands in stuff on time. I really can't relate to what you're saying about the supermarkets. Do you shop at discount supermarkets exclusively? I rarely had to go to more than one supermarket when I lived in Germany. Empty shelves and rotting fruit are definitely a problem, but I saw a lot of that in NL, too. There's even a blog dedicated to documenting empty shelves at Albert Heijn. Overall, Albert Heijn is absolutely superior to German supermarkets though, I miss my Appie a lot. I also found it really annoying that pretty much all stores except for supermarkets and maybe HEMA close at 6 pm (or maybe even 5? can't remember). There's more but this is much too long already. Despite all the bitching I really like your country, I just don't find it very easy to live in.
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Sep 29, 2011 22:25
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az posted:You are aware that you aren't necessarily "forced" into a specific school curiculum, you are recommended one. Some states force you, other just make a recommendation
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Sep 30, 2011 21:05
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I don't think the German system is that bad. Even if you don't go to the right type of school initially, you can always qualify for university later, and this actually happens a lot. What I really like about the German system is that if you have the qualification to attend university, you can study (almost) any subject at any university regardless of what classes you took high school or how much your grades sucked. foobardog posted:The idea that anyone can work their way up from rags to riches is a cornerstone of our cultural idea, and people are leery of overtly blocking opportunities in that way. The pain of racial segregation is also very recent and despite the fact that we've really not integrated our schools, we definitely aren't looking to re-instate anything that looks like it. But the US educational system is incredibly elitist and social mobility is considerably higher in Germany. vvvv Yeah, we agree, I misunderstood your point Previously on GBS fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Oct 1, 2011 |
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Sep 30, 2011 23:58
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dreamin' posted:Why does it work in other countries, like Finland, that routinely end up far far ahead of the german schools in all comparative studies? Seems like its perfectly possible. Having students that do better than German students and educating everyone to Abitur level are still very two different things. Besides, if basically everyone in German was middle class and a native speaker of German, we'd also do a lot better. EDIT: I don't think Gesamtschulen can ever really work as long as there are other options. In my experience, everyone who clearly was good enough for gymnasium went there. Gesamtschule was pretty much only for people who weren't quite sure they'd be able to make it at a regular gymnasium, so the quality of the education was not exactly very high. vvvv Laziness? At least that's my reason. Previously on GBS fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Oct 1, 2011 |
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Oct 1, 2011 22:12
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Shouldn't be difficult at all. But why Paderborn?DrewkroDleman posted:You can ask me what it is like to be a student in Germany compared to the States (At least in the state of North Rhein Westfalia) and I will pretty much answer every question the same: it is infinitely better here. In which ways is it better? And which university did you attend in the US?
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Oct 2, 2011 02:48
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dreamin' posted:So basically we should sort out those non-native speaker, non-middle class students as early as possible to ensure results on average are better, am I right? None of that has anything to do with my statement so I'm not sure why you're telling me all that. The fact that hauptschule sucks does not mean that tracking itself is a bad idea. By the way, I know quite a few people with Masters degrees and PhDs who originally went to realschule, it's far from impossible to get to university even if you didn't attend gymnasium. dreamin' posted:Many people really believe that the way things are run in Germany, naturally has to be superior to the rest of the world. People liking the way things are in their country? How dare they, I'm sure this disgusting trait is unique to those nasty Germans. All this Germany-bashing is very very German.
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Oct 2, 2011 17:08
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Plankalkuel posted:Are you saying, the selection process is working well then? Why is there still such a strong correlation between education of the parents and education of the children? Is stupidity suddenly inheritable? Actually, it is. As are attitudes about education (figuratively speaking).
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Oct 2, 2011 18:20
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StrangeRobot posted:Yeah, but only figuratively speaking not in an actual significant genetical way. No, that's not true, there's actually a pretty significant correlation, although of course no one has exact and definitive numbers (how could they given that there isn't even a reliable way to quantify intelligence in the first place). I don't find this very interesting though, I believe social factors play a much bigger role, and not because of any intentional discrimination, which certainly also exists. StrangeRobot posted:What's so difficult for you to undestand that right now social class directly translates into better learning ability? That this is fundamentally unjust and could be helped with with intelligent school reforms? I never said that this was not the case. However, there is no indication that getting rid to tracking in the way to go and in fact I don't believe that it is. StrangeRobot posted:But you're not one of those people whose solution to all of society's problems is to basically ship them immigrants back to where they came from and put those uppity poors back into the coal mines where they belong, are you? Of course I am, how could anyone disagree with you for any other reason than that they're just plain evil?
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Oct 2, 2011 19:29
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flavor posted:With you, everything a German or ex-German does is very very very German. Defending Germany? German. Bashing Germany? German. Not hating myself for leaving? German. Wow, my comment must have hit home. Are you the same guy who got his panties in a twist when I said most Germans who emigrate to the US because they think it's a great country are from East Germany?
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Oct 2, 2011 23:55
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It's not really about people whose views do not align with those of the constitution, but about people who are actively hostile to the constitution and want to get rid of it. That's a big difference.
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Oct 3, 2011 00:15
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flavor posted:No, I'm not that person and I never saw you saying that but you must have an odd, almost German fascination with what Germans think of Germany. As a German who has lived in about 15 different cities and who has spent most of her adult life living abroad -- I definitely do. flavor posted:I'd rather discuss things on their merits than based on some arbitrary notion of them being "German" or not. Fair enough, let's move on.
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Oct 3, 2011 00:58
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StrangeRobot posted:There is pretty much indication that the tracking system is horribly ineffective (see: reality) but I guess we could argue about that ad infinitum. Instead why don't you tell us what you think would be effective reforms and how those would establish the fabled equality of opportunity. The solution? At the very least parents should have to consult with external counselors before making the decision. I can imagine that that would help especially with getting the children of less educated parents to gymnasium, but maybe parents just aren't fit to make that decision, even with support. StrangeRobot posted:I dare you to watch that and then continue to seriously claim that defending the three tiered system is anything but classism. Dude, you care way too much about some assholes on TV. The fact that they like the system does not mean that the only reasons to defend it are motivated by classism. I can't help but feel some schadenfreude about the fact that Hamburg's educational systems is one of the worst in the country and all those people's precious little darlings are probably outperformed by most Bavarian hauptschülers. EDIT: Plankalkuel posted:Germany is still under performing in areas like social mobility and there is still a strong correlation between the education of the parents and the education of their children in comparison to other countries. Germany is pretty firmly in the middle in terms of social mobility actually. Not great, but better than many other countries (Italy, Spain, USA, UK). Plankalkuel posted:The justification for the existence of the process is, that everybody gets the best education for his academic capabilities. If that would be the case, Germany should be a paragon of social mobility, or better educational mobility. Plankalkuel posted:How unjust and mean is it, to deny a child a better and more fulfilling career because of it's social background? DrewkroDleman posted:It is also fairly cheap to get health insurance coverage here as a student since you can buy into the "public option" for about 70€ a month. Beyond that, any non-necessary doctors or dentist visit is 10€ (If the dentist does not require any work then you don't even have to pay the 10€) It's really good to hear positive things about the German university system from an American, I currently live in the US and find it shocking how you socially unjust the whole university system here is and how many people seem to think that that is just the way things should be. Previously on GBS fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Oct 3, 2011 |
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Oct 3, 2011 17:14
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Today is our national day, German Unity Day. The fact that I just realized that now says everything about how important it is to most people.
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Oct 3, 2011 19:09
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DerDestroyer posted:I mean isn't Northern Germany supposed to be rich and developed compared to the south? EDIT: DerDestroyer posted:I have heard how BW and Bayern have the best education before though. I'm guessing you're less likely to end up in Hauptschule there? Previously on GBS fucked around with this message at 19:50 on Oct 3, 2011 |
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Oct 3, 2011 19:46
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DerDestroyer posted:Starting to wish I actually applied for that one job in München that matched my qualifications perfectly. Are you in IT? Munich is a love it or hate it kind of place (I do both, often at the same time), although I'm not sure there are any Bavarians in this thread, so most likely everyone here will tell you how much Munich sucks.
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Oct 3, 2011 20:01
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Düsseldorf is great, as weird as this may sound, if I could choose any place in to live right now, it would probably be Düsseldorf. Despite not seeming like the most international place, Munich is actually the city with the highest percentage of foreigners in Germany.
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Oct 3, 2011 21:34
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Grendels Dad posted:Hungry Gerbil kind of already answered the latter question: One can never have too many titles, especially not academic titles in politics. A Dr. in front of your name is a must-have.
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Nov 25, 2011 17:25
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flavor posted:From what I know about plagiarizing, its acceptance has greatly varied over history and it still varies between different cultures and different intellectual areas to the point where I'd be far from being so sure about someone's character based on just the fact that they've plagiarized something. Similar things could be said about the acceptance of marital rape and anyway, he's neither an immigrant nor a time traveler. But really, I think it's his inability of own up to his mistakes and the fact that the thinks he can fool the public with some lame excuses that ticks off people more than the actual plagiarizing. flavor posted:He also basically shat on everyone else doing a PhD in Germany right now. I got my PhD right around the time the scandal broke loose. All those jokes about my dissertation being plagiarized got old rather quickly. Not that they were anything but loving offensive in the first place.
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Nov 27, 2011 04:20
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Helmut Schmidt 2013!
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Dec 4, 2011 17:25
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Orange Devil posted:Speaking of Bavaria and its perception as "the Texas of Germany" and ofcourse "the birthplace of Nazism" kind of stuff, what exactly happened in Bavaria? The impression is very much that Bavaria is this kind of has-always-been-backwards part of Germany that nonetheless very much influences how Germany is perceived in foreign countries (what with the Oktoberfest and lederhosen and the feathery caps and such) and is also still very Christian. However, on the other hand we have the Bavarian Soviet Republic, which got a whole lot further with the whole communist-revolution shtick that was pretty popular in '18-'19 than most of Germany. Sure, there was the revolt and occupations in the Ruhr area, and Hamburg and Berlin are pretty left, but Bavaria? You certainly wouldn't know it today. It kinda reminds me of places like Oklahoma in the US having been communist strongholds in days past. So yeah, what happened to produce this shift? By the way, the Nazis did not have particularly strong support in the catholic areas of Germany (one of which is of course most of Bavaria), so while Munich was indeed the "Hauptstadt der Bewegung", I'm not so sure about the "the birthplace of Nazism" thing.
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Nov 11, 2012 17:37
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It makes pretty much any state with a big rural population and a smallish number of urban areas similar to any other state with a big rural population and a smallish number of urban areas.
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Nov 11, 2012 22:18
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flavor posted:Germans have always had a very high regard for high-brow culture and arts. This, together with having gotten the message about WWII, a huge welfare state and a lot of economic success are the building blocks of German self-esteem. In a way, if the world were a just place, Germany or at least its principles would rule it. (I'm not saying that, I'm just giving you the spirit here). This feeling is not unique to Germany at all and it's definitely not specifically about Germany or it's principles, it's about the extraordinary level of social inequality in the US. Previously on GBS fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Nov 12, 2012 |
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Nov 12, 2012 21:26
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Landsknecht posted:I have a 24h Kaisers 15min by foot away from where I live, and then a few other stores open daily until 22h (except sundays), so as long as I am not total poo poo at planning and have nothing on a sunday I'm fine (if it comes to that there's a few places nearish open). Also I can go to clubs at any time any day of the week. I live very close to a 24/6 Kaisers, too. Not that I would ever see any reason to go there in the middle of the night. I used to hate the fact that everything is closed on Sundays but having spent some years in countries where Sunday basically feels like a day like any other, I've really come to like German Sundays where you're not supposed to do anything except maybe go for a walk and have some cake. Zwille posted:If you're saying it's exploitation of the workers, you'd have to stop shopping at discounters as well, just for starters.
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Feb 13, 2013 14:02
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So, what would be a nice country to emigrate to?
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Sep 22, 2013 23:46
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