5 good reasons for living in Germany

I have been living in Germany for a few years and these would be the things I like:
1. Straight forward people. What you see is generally what you get. People don't tell me what they think I want to hear.
2. In the city where I live - Hamburg, the inter-national culture. I work with cross-cultural couples as a marriage & pre-marriage counsellor and have great fun with cross-cultural couples here
3. The pace of life is slow. Sunday is a day off - WOW that is something
4. University and college education is virtually free. That is probably why a lot of people still come to this place
5. The police are quite nice - not scary at all
Things I don't like, would include the food (except German bread), nasty old women - including shop assistants, the idea that unless you are an engineer, you don't have a 'real' job.

It is highly ignortant to clasify an entire Country of people based on your experience with a few...Its actually quite frustrating. Im currently living in Hamburg, Germany and coming from Canada, I have been met with nothing but open hearts and minds. Very friendly experiences no matter where I go, and the cultural experience is amazing. It is the same as when people refer to all muslims as terrorists each time there is a terrorist attack, simply not the case..truth is, EVERY COUNTRY has their share of rude people, even where I am from. Its a matter of being open minded and really understanding the people,everyone is different

Definitely health care.

For me it was initially an investigation of the attempt to live together in harmony ... what seemed to be a focus on the social aspect of life rather than financial success.

Once I got here I found there were huge problems with this, but still feel it worth pursuing somehow.  Meantime I fell in love with the landscape and in particular the forests.

Being here strengthened my love of the language, its logic, its associations with English and its warm fuzziness ... knudeln, kuscheln, schmuzeln ...

Speaking with Germans has allowed me to appreciate their warm, integral sense of humour and their generosity of spirit as well as their straight forwardness (as noted by Spurgeon)- yes, EditK, I too love the feel that you are in a civilised society ... of course one cannot generalise, but I am speaking of what I have found.

I love being so close to the shops I need at any given time and the ease of hopping on a bus to get where you need to go - also love knowing that Sunday will always be a day of rest.

When you need a lawyer, you know the cost will be limited to 10% of the value of the problem to be sorted.  When you buy something in a shop, you know you have a two week window to return it should you decide for any reason that you do not want the thing.

Even the stuff I did not like - so much smoke on the streets, so little vegan and wheat-free food in cafes, locked in contracts for so many activities - has taught me how to deal with such issues.

Whatever I read here reminds me of something else, so I had better quit and submit