I am working on a web page explaining my experiences in Europe and what it actually takes to live here. My friend read what I wrote, and wanted to express some of her thoughts about German, and European feelings about America and Americans. if you want to find the web page that im working on you can follow this link...
http://www.christopherrehm.de/...
I think after reading what she wrote, it would do a lot of Americans a lot of good to read this and think about it. I have left it in the exact English she wrote it in, as I think it has more power that way. Ill be happy to make comments, and so will she for a couple of hours before we have to crash.
From a German to the Americas:
Why Germans and German employers do not like to have Americans in their country.
There are several prejudices we guys have against Americans. One of the first is, that most Americans are completely stupid and uneducated. That is partly true. In Europe we have a higher standards of school education than people in America have. So, someone who has a college degree has mainly as much education as a German student after 10 years of school. Here you have to be in school for at least 12 years. After 12 years you have either you’re A-levels or 9-10 years of school and a 3-year job training. Or a degree that’s mixed between A-Levels and job training what gets you a partly access to universities. Honestly, someone who studied mathematics in America is as educated as a German who simply did his A-Levels in mathematics. We guys learn in school the most important things in history of the last 2000 years, including history of other countries (although we can proudly look back on over 2000 years of history) and we learn geography. A lot Germans know more different states America and their location than the average American do. Germany is a country that’s based on Einigkeit, Recht und Freiheit (unity, rights and freedom), it’s based on working together as a big team, on punctuality, loyalty and honest. Most of these things Americans seem to lack completely. I have met a lot of Americans by travelling and by internet and I have to say, it’s mainly true. Although we’re like the masters of quarreling, we still see it as a right, normality and a need that we pay every month for our social systems, what include health insurances and unemployment benefits. Things changed within the last 20 years, especially after the GDR became again a part of Germany, but we’re very proud of still having one of the best social systems in the world. We like to share that with others, as long as they don’t come to our country to misuse it. We have enough people that try to immigrate here every year from every country in the world because they think life here is a rainbow-colored candy world paid by the government. You still have to work here, my ancestors worked like hell 60 years ago to bring this country back to the top 20 list, still we suffer of 10% unemployment rate, we don’t need to feed the 20% unemployed from America. Immigrants that come to our country, speak or learn our language and want to pull with us on the same string, those are welcome. Politics are another big part of "why we don’t like Americans so much". Especially war politics. Some might remember (some others never heard of, but will for sure) that Germany started and lost the second world war and that America did a big job in fighting back the Nazis (something I still honor the Americans for-). Germany became a very peaceful country again and we try our best to stay out of wars and within the time we became some kind of arbitrator between two parties that are close to starting a war. Nevertheless, the nation, that freed our country, that brought back democracy, that told us fairy tales about peace and freedom, this very country is fighting nowadays wars like it is an Olympic discipline! Here we have a saying: "War is God’s way to teach Americans geography". And America is trying to get anyone helping them in their wars (I can still remember that France was called cowardly to refuse to war Afghanistan), what makes the Europeans pretty pissed off in general. The only reason why European troops are in Afghanistan and Iraq is not because we like to fight the war for America, but to protect the civilians from the terrorists and sometimes even from the Americans. Our people are there, to help to rebuild the countries. If you guys are interested, German police officers are training the police in Afghanistan! We have another saying, that Germany is only here to clean up the mess America bombs to the world. We are against the war (mainly because it’s still questioned and from my opinion a complete nonsense) and we made rallies against it, we pleaded for peace, but we have been unheard. Now we are called cowardly and we get told, that we have to learn how to fight again. On the other hand, America was one of the loudest to judge the bombing of two trucks last year as a bad choice. What is Germany, what is Europe supposed to think of you guys? You tell us something and 5 minutes later you say the very opposite and deny to said it vice/versa before!
We Germans know the Americans for speeding on our Autobahns and crash into the very next tree because they think, autobahn means no speed limit at all, we know them for being slow and retarded, for being fundamentalist Christians, for being war lovers and gun owners, for thinking ending a discussion with killing someone is the best for doing so. We know you for thinking the whole world is circling around you, for thinking, the world ends at your yard fence. For thinking that poor people are just stupid and lazy. We know you for brewing strange beer and not being able to stand normal German beer, once you’re here, we know you for being the big assholes on Oktoberfest, we know you for thinking Germany is the capital of Sweden and for thinking, that Oktoberfest and Lederhosen is something like the every day standard here. You guys did your best to make us think, you’re even worse than the Britians or the French, what is very hard to top.
If you honestly want to live and work here, if you want us honestly to respect you, your flag, your country, your nation and your so called freedom and peace, than you guys should really step back, sit together and rethink and change a lot of your attitudes!
UPDATE 300 some comments later.
you know what really strikes me about this is that as usuall 90% of americans dont get it. this wasnt about what YOU people think of yourselves, its about how the rest of the world sees you. it doesnt matter if you are a so called progressive, rethuglicant or what ever. the reason i posted it is that after 4.5 years of living and working in europe, speaking passable german, french spanish and dutch, i have come to the conclusion that until americans ( as a group, a country etc) are able to see themselves as others see them, which right now is about impossible, there is no real hope for change there. you people are ranting about how bigoted this diary is, and 90% wont even stop for a minute and realize that this reflects what 80% of europeans REALLY think about america as a country IF you can get them to tell you what they really think...
meanwhile 45 k people STILL die every year from lack of any health insurance, millions are homeless on the streets of the country, you are fighting two insane wars you cannot win, and for all intents and purposes america is totally broke ( there was an article to day about moodys getting ready to lower the credit rating of the US since its unlikely that america will ever dig its way out of the current finanical crisis and pay off its debts) so great. go ahead, flame me and martina away, say what you will. but in the end america as a nation is still a big rude bully in the world that doesnt even do the basics of a civilized society to take care of its weakest, poorest people, and doesnt have the foggiest notion of how the rest of the world sees it. whatever. i dont live there any more. your problems are yours now. bitch whine moan and complain all you want. but we have hundreds of help wanted signs all over hannover germany. you people???? your still rearraiging deck chairs on the titanic after you hit the iceburg. whatever floats your boat... until it sinks...
good night and good luck... you people are going to need it...