whats it like?

[ingster]

Decided to make this topic out of curiosity....
But we all know that a good majority of us lives in diffrent countrys and places
around the world and such, and some are even might be wondering whats its like in another country........
so I was wondering what country your in?
what is your country like?
What kind of things dose yout country have?
And anything else you might wanna share.....

[Malte279]

This is an interesting topic. I have asked some of you about the "howabouts" of your living places.
Germany has quite a couple of pros and cons and some factors which may be counted on both, the pro and the con side.
One thing that may strike especially visitors from the US as "different" that there is a completely different perception of national identity over here. Due to the horrible crimes committed by Germans between 1933 and 1945 any form of "patriotism" is regarded with huge skepticism. Statements about being "proud to be German" have been almost completely engrossed by such people who would stand for the crimes committed. They are a tiny but sadly notable minority
An example for the difference in dealing with national identity was very visible in 2006. In that year there was the soccer world championship in Germany (soccer is the sport which gets most attention over here) and for all I know our country was perceived as a good host. During the world championship many people displayed German flags on their houses / cars etc. There was great uneasiness about this "surge of nationalism".
While such exaggerated reactions are a bit sad the readiness to really deal with the ugliest parts of our history is is generally a positive thing rarely to be found in this extend in any other countries.
Politically Germany is a parliamentary republic with the "Bundestag" being similar (but far from being a one to one equivalent) to the US House of Representatives and the "Bundesrat" being remotely similar to the US Senate. The "Bundeskanzler(in)" is the politician who is usually perceived as the head of government even though the "Bundespr‰sident(in)" is nominally the highest ranking official. The functions of the "Bundespr‰sident(in)" have been mainly representative for a long time though there is a tendency for that office to become more active.
Similar to the US the political system in Germany is parted into "Bundesebene" (Federal level) and "L‰nderebene" (state level) with the "Bundesl‰nder" being the equivalent to the US states. There are currently five parties of significance on Federal level. The two largest are the CDU (conservative - middle right), SPD (social democrats - middle left), the Gr¸ne (green party), the FDP (liberal party representing especially the interests of employers and economists), and the Linke (far left wing of the SPD).
Of these parties the Linke came into existence rather recently when the left wing of the SPD split of from the party and united with the PDS (a party descended from the governing party in the former GDR)...
(I have to continue later on as I got to run to be in my next lecture in time).

[Coyote_A]

In Russia, there is a big problems with laws. To pay a visit to a local governmental organization that's like a torture. Staff there always works bad, and there is no guarantee, that you'll get what you need. Usually, you'll have to visit the same places many times, just to be noticed. -_-
I can't sau about other regions of country, except for our capital through, but that is how it is here. And we have lots other problems: eternal traffic congestion on the road, dirty streets, trivial criminals... Lots of them. <_<
Morals are almost dead here too, most of the people are just jerks. And after all of that, many of them keep saying that the are proud of their country and laugh upon other nations... I sometimes simple hate my countrymen. :angry:

[landbeforetimelover]

My country eh?  Well, I can't tell you too much about the country in general because I don't know a lot myself except for what's in my state, however my country has a very wide variety of plant life and the climate conditions are extremely different even only a hundred miles away.  100 miles to the east, it's doesn't get a lot of humidity, but it gets much hotter.  It's a much more pleasant heat than the heat here, which just makes you sweat buckets even in the 60's (that's F by the way, not C).  Where I live, rain is constant.  During the summer, we get probably 2 days where you can see the sun (I'm not even joking).  All the other days it just rains.  I'm not sure why this is.  I had to learn about it in 6th grade earth science, but I forgot it already.  Anyway, according to my mother, the state where we live generally has a lot of nasty people compared to the other states she's been to and lived in.  I must say that I agree.  Everyone here seems to be a narcissist.  Where I live, it's not very pleasant.  I wouldn't be sad to move to another state or perhaps even another country if it suited me.  I'm sure most of you here have had to learn about the U.S. governmental system so I won't bore you with information that you already know (and no, Malte.  I'm not saying your little bit about Germany's government was boring or anything.  I haven't actually learned anything about Germany yet.  I just figured that most people have more knowledge with the U.S. government system than the German government because everyone seems to know English here.)  Anyway, here we take freedom very seriously.  If our government system were to change, our current system would have to get pretty bad before that would happen.  The main language we speak over here is obviously English, but the Mexican influence on our culture has really become noticeable these last few years.  Everything seems to be written in English and Spanish nowadays.  I guess we've sorta been the oddballs of all the countries.  I know that a lot of countries have split languages like this, but it's taken this long for something like this to happen here so it's still very new.  Needless to say, there's friction between the two cultures and there are some on both sides that loathe the other race.  For what reason, I have no idea.  Probably just people not wanting change.  Anyway, that's all I can think of for now.  I'll continue this later.

[Coyote_A]

Anyway, here we take freedom very seriously.  If our government system were to change, our current system would have to get pretty bad before that would happen.

Freedom... Something we don't have here. / <_<

[Malte279]

...(picking up where I stopped this morning) This new left party is seen with great suspicion by many but due to a great dissatisfaction with the work of government in general it appears that (unlike some other parties) this one might be established for what results is left to be seen.
As for liberty we enjoy a great deal of liberty over here
Unfortunately some radicals exploit those liberties by mixing with crowds of peaceful demonstrators and then turn violent thereby ruining the reputation of some political demonstrations which ought to be regarded more positive
Of lately a number of laws have been passed which are heatedly debated as they are perceived as interference with our civil liberties and the beginning of a surveillance state. Those laws are mainly about the investigation of citizens computers and the saving of internet data by the "Bundesnachrichtendienst" (Federal Intelligence Service, our CIA / FBI so to speak).
One of the positive aspects of Germany is that we have so far had a very well working health care and insurance system. As a diabetic I have benefited a lot from this system. Unfortunately the situation is getting ever more difficult and I'm afraid the system will not last. The main reason for this is that our society is "aging". I think it is almost a hundred years ago that for the last time a generation of Germans gave birth to a number of children equal to the number of that generation. People are growing older and ever less children are born. Apart from the consequences for health care and insurance system this development also undermines the pension scheme in Germany. In the foreseeable future there will be about as many working people as there will be people in retirement. It will be impossible for the younger generation to maintain the existing standard of living for old people and unfortunately that standard is in many cases deplorable already
Unemployment and lack of apprenticeship training positions are two other great problems of Germany. Not yet as bad as in some other countries (a fact Germans tend to overlook) it still is worse than in many others (a fact Germans are prone to take notice of). There are about 7.8% of the working age people unemployed in Germany and the dispersion of unemployed people is not even. Especially in the parts of Germany which used to belong to the GDR the unemployment rate is high (almot 15% in some Bundesl‰nder and with towns of much higher percentages of unemployed people). At the same times wages are not keeping up with the rate of inflation. Many prices are soaring and some people tend to blame the Euro for this development.
Another major problem of our situation is our educational system which really sucks. Many things which ought to be considered basic knowledge are not taught at schools. Unfortunately many of our teachers are absolutely overstrained because of the sad tendency of many parents not to give any rules to their kids expecting teachers to not just teach but really educate the kids (something which I think is the responsibility of the parents).
Crime rate could be much worse in Germany, but there are some regions where it should be much better. I have in a different thread mentioned the problems caused by Germany's shortsighted immigration policy and the resulting subcultures within the German society. Unfortunately these subcultures, xenophobia and the negative economic development make up for many of the crimes.
Speaking of economic development. This ought to be something positive actually. Germany's economy is just awesome. To this day Germany is export nation number 1 in the world (though we are about to be passed by China). Unfortunately the resulting wealth does not arrive by the people but remains in the hand of a rather narrow "elite" of managers (who are in general a red cloth for most people over here).
A very positive thing about Germany is our well developed system of public transportation (something I would really miss in many other places where I might live). At least in the densely settled areas you can relatively quickly get to any place you want to go to even if you don't own a car (I will not repeat myself about gas prizes in Germany <_<). Unfortunately the middle to long range public transportation tends to be late and rather costly. Sometimes would be cheaper to go to a town within Germany by plane than by train! :angry:
One thing I noticed when comparing the situation over here with the experiences I made during my students exchange is that Germany is much less of a meritocratic society than the US. On the positive side this may limit the spirit of competition on the negative side it gives very little motivation to people to do as good as they can. I think it would be quite healthy for our society if there were a little more incentives to do well on whatever you are doing. Awards such as those issued at American Highschools would probably be regarded as "militaristic" over here.
Today most Germans really, really loathe the concept of war and violence, which I regard as a positive thing. Our army, the "Bundeswehr" is still an army consisting partly of conscriptions. The military draft is a relic from the times of the Cold War when a much larger army was maintained than is the case today. These days the end of the draft is considered as less than a third of the people are even mustered (because there is no need for so many soldiers anymore) and much less of those who are mustered are actually drafted. Nobody is forced to do service in the military though. People can do civilian service (e.g. working in hospitals or nursing homes) instead.
Our weather is usually temperate, but changes are very obvious in recent years. Snow (which used to fall for weeks and months when I was a kid) has become a very, very rare occurrence. The summers grow hotter and we have longer periods of either drought (nearly no rain at all for two months last year) or extreme rainfall (floods in large parts of Germany just a few days ago). Tornados which used to be practically unheard of are getting more frequent, though so far they are not comparable to the American twisters.

[Mumbling]

Holland/The Netherlands... A bit more than 16 million people on 41.528 km? (18,41% water)(Love Wikipedia:P). Ruled by a queen(Beatrix), soon by a king(Willem-Alexander). Though this queen only does things like open new places and reads the 'troonrede'(Speech from the Throne) on 'prinsjesdag'(day of the princelings). Next to our queen we have a government. Democratic, but not like in the USA. You have a lot of political parties, in USA just 2. Once in 4 years there is an election, you can vote for who you want. There are about 15 parties. The 3 biggest parties, which are chosen most of all should form a coalition. The 3 parties can chose who the prime minister will be. At this moment Balkenende is our prime minister.
The main problems are jobless people, most of them are immigrants. O yes, and there are a lot of trafic problems. And people of my age are so ruined. But I guess that's not only in here. What I mean with ruined is this: lot of drunk people, even some drink so much at one time that they get alcohol delirium.. Many smoke before the age of 13, or start around that age. Girls will do everything to show their best side and boys are 'cool' by drinking much and smoking. I know it's the age.. But still, I don't like this. People of my age most of the time are racists as well, sadly enough. Probably that is because of some of the Dutch rappers and hardcore dj's, who all make foreigners look bad. And as we are a multicultural society, it's even worse.
Amsterdam is our capital city, you can find anything there =D.
Country famous for alowing drugs.. Bad thing, somehow. But if drugs help you to stimulate your pain I think it's ok. What “s sad is a few weeks ago some polish people were on exchange at our school. The first thing they wanted to do is go to a coffee shop.. We really have a reputation heh..
Can't say much more about holland though.

Overall I do not like it that much. I'd like to live somewhere with a beautiful nature.

[Kor]

I live in the us, which most may have heard of  .  It has a state, though not the one I live in, that is legal to gamble and prostitution is legal also in that state.  The laws are, I'd guess, not as restrictive as some countries.     This state I'm in does have a sea world and a few sorta well known landmarks like the Alamo, among others.  Among the laws are ones where you could get drafted to fight for your country, but you can't get a drink till later, though I don't drink anything but water.  Some types of music were invented here, likely those who know music better then me are better at listing the ones then I can.  Lots of scientific discoveries and inventions were done here.  One of the countries to never have a monarch (though some presidents here have acted like they are kings, at times with congress going along, but that is another topic).

[Amaranthine]

in USA just 2.

Actually the US has more than two political parties. We have many minor political parties, such as the libertarian party, independent, green, peace and freedom, and so forth. But the main ones are the Democratic and Republican parties

The main problems are jobless people,

The unemployment level in the US is evalting as we speak...it's sad...and scary...

[Malte279]

^ With the electoral college system (winner takes all the votes from a state even if it was won by a tiny margin) it is particularly difficult in the US though for new parties to establish themselves. Over here a party needs 5% of the popular votes to be represented in a political council. There are many political parties which don't reach those 5% (mercifully those 5% were never reached by Nazi parties in a federal election).

[Mumbling]

O okay.. sorry my mistake. :^.^:

[F-14 Ace]

I live in a pretty boring state.  Alabama has little in the way of tourist attractions or natural wonders.  We have a couple historic places such as the White House of the Confederacy which was used during the Civil War.  It is a tiny building no larger than my house located across the street from the Archives Building in downtown Montgomery.  We also have Fort Jackson/Fort Toulouse State Park which has some history to it.  Neither fort ever saw battle.  We also have Birmingham, Alabama's largest city, and Mobile, which is a major Gulf sea port.  Speaking of Mobile, there is some cool stuff there like the U.S.S. Alabama, a WWII battleship that fought the Japanese in the Pacific.  She never took a single hit or lost any crew to enemy fire, although the ship has two bullet holes in the railing at the stern from where someone aimed the anti aircraft guns too low.  The highest point in Alabama is Mt. Cheaha which isn't really much of a mountain.

[kjeldo]

mumbling forgot something and i'll say that for her,\

the stereotypicals of holland are that ecerybody walks on 'klompen'(let say wooden shoes) that amsterdam is standing on pillars,
and the tourist atraccions are mostly the windmills of kinderdijk the dom the van gogh museum and some other things

[Mumbling]

hahaha yeaa sorry kjeld.. I don't really like this country so I don't really get deep into it. ^^ We also have De Efteling.. A big theme park!! =D

[Malte279]

the stereotypicals of holland are that ecerybody walks on 'klompen'(let say wooden shoes) that amsterdam is standing on pillars,
and the tourist atraccions are mostly the windmills of kinderdijk the dom the van gogh museum and some other things

Not like the stereotype of the leather trousers wearing, bear drinking German was any more realistic or flattering
(Not to mention the uglier stereotypes caused by the crimes committed by Germans )

[Kor]

Stereotypes exist of many countries & groups, and they can be found insulting to many folks.   Though certain ones some may find funny.

[arrogantrex]

Well, as I'm sure we're all aware of, I'm also one of the USA. I used to live in Florida, which had beautiful weather year-round, though my particular area was prone to droughts and whatnot. My town didn't have much to do in it when I left it. Bowling Alley. Wal-Mart and the lake...and that was really it. You had to drive about an hour in any direction either to get to the beach or to go somewhere interesting in general. I loved when it got cold there though...

For the past ten weeks I lived in Missouri, and I have to say that the weather there was more bi-polar than anything I've ever seen. I mean, one time after our company came out for chow the sky was baby blue and the moment we left the chow hall to go back to the barracks it was HAILING outside. I had never seen anything so crazy in all my life. And the MOMENT we got back into the barracks the sky was blue again.  

Now I live in Texas and it's been triple-digit temperatures here since I got here last month. It's dry and dusty all the time and the wind is almost constantly blowing around here. The mornings are nice though and good weather for exercise.    I'm enjoying it here alot more than I was in Missouri, mostly because the weather is somewhat constant and not deciding on what to do everyday like a child trying to choose between buying Skittles or M&M's.

The dialect has changed everywhere I've gone as well. Euphemisms change with each border I cross, and I find myself adapting newer and different phrases with each place I go to. Like...a phrase for being unable to go any further, especially when it involves like physical training and things like that, people would say things like, "Oh man, that run broke me off." Stuff like that. Also the use of the words to refer to something that will be unpleasant such as, "Not the one you want." Alot of it is just Army jargon too, like things that are new, or different, or are just kinda of dumb because they're new or different; this especially applies to equipment or clothes that have neat little features on them and stuff like that. We refer to stuff like that as "High-speed."    It's actually funny, especially when you hear a Drill Sergeant use it.

Really the only thing I can say is different about where I live is not necessarily the place, but rather the organization I live in. Things are very to-schedule here, but at the same time, because we're in a secondary training environment things tend to be more relaxed than what they were in basic. I mean, I actually have my weekends to myself for the first time in ten weeks and I can walk around without having to have some higher-ranking person follow me around. I don't live in a room with eleven other guys in it anymore. I can change my uniform whenever our duty hours are over...

I've also done alot of things I've never really done before while I was in basic. Like shooting a freakin' grenade launcher. That was fairly awesome.    I know that's gonna get some stereotype-talk thrown at it. Also, this is probably gonna sound really odd, but going through the gas chamber was pretty fun. You blow alot of snot and cough you're brains out and your mouth and eyes burn like you wouldn't believe, but it was one of the best days I had the whole time in Basic. Mostly because when I came out the other side, I realized that I couldn't speak correctly no matter how hard I tried to articulate any kind of coherent speach, and even though my body was telling me that everything was wrong with my breathing, my nose, my mouth, and my eyes, I found it entertaining that I couldn't speak correctly at all. XD

Otherwise, I just wanna say that America isn't the greatest, but it's pretty alright despite some corrupt things and some stereotyped things. S'allright.

( Also about stereotypes, just wanna say I don't support any, though I think alot are funny. ) <--- The parantheses represent the opinion bubble.

[Kor]

The triple digits here bother even the natives here, though to varying degrees, and each has their own way of coping, often using ac, though I don't.  

The gas chamber reminds me of what a friend of mine said.  He said that when he was in basic he surprised his drill Sergeant since in the chamber when he had to take off his gas mask and inhale tear gas he said it didn't bother him much.  Not sure if that is possible, I guess it is.

[arrogantrex]

Alot of people were like that, the whole non-effective thing. But what surprised me was the amount of people who actually threw-up. O.o Usually though, it didn't affect people who smoked alot before joining.

[Noname]

I live in New York City... and I am frequently embarrassed by the foolish politics of the Empire State... our last governor was corrupt... and this one is an adulterer... and so is his wife...

As for the economy of the U.S. it IS larger than the next three combined (in terms of GDP, not PPP, check wikipedia for those terms)... and we still cannot find the money for a good healthcare system. I don't think we have an excuse... our population is growing, not shrinking (like Germany/Deutschland, or Japan), our fertility rate just increased to 2.1, we have more land area and natural resources than most countries can dream about, and  
we have the hardest working (most productive) workforce on earth (see: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20572828/) It is not right that we cannot give at least a bit more to all of our people.

And yes, New York state is the place with the greatest gap between the rich and poor in the U.S.

EDIT: And as for crimes committed by nations... no nation is immune... I am an Italian-American, so if someone wanted to degrade my background, he could say at least the following:

USA:
-Slavery (3/5 of a person, Dred Scott, fugitive slave laws, etc)
-Killing of native Americans (Sherman even coined the phrase "Final Solution")
-Forced sterilization (just check Buck v. Bell)
-Jim Crow
-Pollution
-Imperialism (i.e. the Philippines being taken in a violent conflict after the Spanish-American war)
-Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden, etc...

Italy:
-Imperialism under the Roman Empire (including violent suppression of revolts, such as the Batavian rebellion, or Simon-Bar Kochba's Uprising)
-Crucifixions, including Jesus.
-Slavery under the Romans
-Canossa... sort of.
-The Investiture Controversy (which the Pope won at the cost of other countries) and Nepotism... and arguably, Simony (the Catholic Church IS based in Italy.)  
-Facism
-The Mafia
-The Venetian-instigated sack of Constantinople
-The Italian Empire (which involved gassing Ethiopians)



P.S. And our schools need to be more competitive than they are now, not less... we give out token awards just to make losers feel better... (see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXju2l815rY

And no, I don't agree with most of that song... just the "trophies" part is good.

Finally, do other countries have as strong concept of volunteerism as we do?