Yes, I am from Germany. The odd thing is that it is a lot easier to point out what is in need of improvement of this country compared to what I really like about it, in spite of the fact that I am mostly happy here. Maybe the positive things are not of the kind that I would ascribe to nationality in particular.
There are plenty of good people here with a huge majority here being very open minded, tolerant and progressive, though these don't usually make the news headlines the way the much fewer but much louder representatives of a lot that is running wrong here (aka nazis).
Germany does have a great variation of landscapes and very distinct local cultures and dialects. I myself am from a very urbanized region that used to be a main industrial center and may rank among the most densely settled regions in Europe and yet about 50% or so of the region are green spaces.
...
Come to think of it, there is one thing I really missed during my students exchange to the US even though while being here I would pay little attention to it. In Germany there is a variety of different kinds of bread including some very dark bread. Most of the bread kinds we got are very savory compared to the kinds of bread one will find in some other countries (no offense to any other country intended
) where the tendency often seems to be to make it white and somewhat suggary. I got to admit one of the first things I felt I had to do after returning from my students exchange was to get a slice of "Schwarzbrot" (translates as "black bread") and eat it with a slice of cheese
In general there seems to be a greater appreciation for savory (as in not excessively suggared) food here than in some other regions of the world (though, make no mistake, our instant meals are as disgustingly hyperglycaemic as in every other part of the world where I could test it so far
).
I think a generally positive thing about Germany is that in recent decades Germany has gone a long way when it comes to dealing with the horrible crimes committed by Germans in the 1930s and 1940s and shifting away from that lame "nobody knew anything about it" kind of excuse which Germans had long pretended to the world. I think it does take some degree of maturity of a national mentality when a people learns to accept that its history has some very dark sides and to examine these sides to help preventing anything like that from ever repeating. Unfortunately to a seizable number of Germans this dealing with the horrible crimes of the past may lead to a somewhat defensive attitute and (this is indeed something I find very sad) a twisted perception of the way Germany is seen in the world that leaves little room to appreciate the great gift that the nations of the world have given Germany by readmitting it into the circle of "civilized nations" after the crimes committed.
A more positive result of all this is that the huge majority of people over here are very pacifist. War is not as readily accepted as an option over here as it may be in certain situations in some other countries (though there is a degree of hypocrisy there seeing that Germany is one of the worst weapon dealers of the world with many dreadful regimes being among the main customers).
Last but not least there is the constitutional right of lifelong access to education for everyone. I could start a long rant now about about everything that runs wrong with eduction in Germany (and that's a lot!), but this general right ensures the possibility for many people to participate in learning activities for all their lifes and for others to teach what they know well (anyone who knows me from chats will know that this is where my history classes come in
). If only this teaching could be done as a regular job rather than on comissionary basis I would be perfectly happy.
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