Am I talking a little fast in this video? YES 😆😅 but RU-vid has the wonderful "slow down" option. If you click the settings wheel you can "slow" my talking tempo tremendously!
In the USA, in the UK or in France the people have been used to black people in their society for a long time, for them (luckily) it is normal. I guess in Germany it will take another generation until the people here completely get used to it (of course, we also had Africans here in the 70s and 80s, but not so many). When a black Frenchman has a typical French name (for example Cedric Marchant) or a black Brit/American (for example Jason Smith) you think nothing. But when when a black German says in perfect German: "Hi, my name is Günther Hoffmann", you still think: Hm, how strange... There is still the picture in the most heads of somebody with an exotic name who does not speak German. 🤔
What do we call a person speaking many languages - that would be a polyglott What do we call a person speaking three languages - that would be a trilingual What do we call a person speaking two languages - that would be a bilingual What do we call a person speaking only one language - that would be an American
We like station wagons because: - they dont have such a stupid name here - we dont want our stuff get wet when it rains or fly away on the highway like it would happen on pickup trucks - car manufacturers outside the US can build station wagons that dont look and drive like hay sheds
IN discussions with Americans about our "extremely high" taxes, I quote the percentage of what taxes, health insurance (I have to telle them what it covers first) and mandatory retirement scheme cost me all together. and then I ask them what a comparable coverage plus taxes would cost them in the US, with an Income of about 50% above average (like mine). The answer is silence - always. Cos it turns out we pay the same or even a little bit less. And then I start telling them about public transportation, paid vacation, subsidies for families..., all paid from taxpayers´ money, while the US have *nada* to compare.
I used to always compare Germany vs America like this and then started realizing that it is almost ALL THE SAME... You are getting your money taken away by the government no matter where you live... some places do it by taxes while others do it by high premiums for certain services -_-
Ich habe nach mehreren größeren Operationen ausgerechnet, was ich in meinem Leben für Krankenversicherungen bezahlt habe und was die diversen Operationen bzw. Lohnfortzahlung gekostet haben. Habe den Breakeven erreicht. Plane aber trotzdem noch länger zu leben (•‿•)
@@Freiya2011 I would rather have payed into the insurance and never needed it. That was my plan. Did not work out though. Better luck to you once you reach that age
@@wora1111 My comment was not meant as criticism. I feel sad for people who lack halth. Being healthy is a gift that cannot be acknowledged enough. But then we pay insurance, why not profit from it!😉 Insurances built enough impressive offices by now!
On sportscars: I remember when I was younger (about 20) and some of my friends were marvelling at a small but expensive sports car that was parked in front of the supermarket where we were getting some party supplies (It was a Porsche, don't ask me which model) ... and one of my friends said: "Meh, why would I ever want such a car, the rear trunk is so small that you can't even fit one crate of (bottled) beer in there." There you have it, the number one reason why most Germans prefer high class station wagons over sports cars ;-). As a rule of thumb, Germans won't get sports cars unless they are wealthy enough and have enough space to own more than one car. Sports cars are fun for joy-riding, but you gotta have a universally useful car first. On the race issue: Yeah, we also have some of those guys here, who claim that a black person can't possibly be German ... we call those idiots neonazis.
Es gibt zur Zeit keinen Porsche auf dem Markt mit dem man nicht mindestens 2 Kästen Bier transportieren kann. Wenn ein Sportwagen noch Alltagstauglich ist dann doch wohl ein Porsche Grüße
@@robertblaschke4851 Es ist um die 20 Jahre her und ich bin nicht mal zu 100% sicher, ob es wirklich ein Porsche war, wollte nicht spezifisch was gegen die Marke sagen. War halt ein kleiner Sportflitzer mit einem kurzen, abgerundeten, sehr niedrigen Heck.
Yo my man😂..... the trunk on pretty much every Porsche is in the front anyway😂 I wouldn't try fitting crates of beer under my hood either....nonetheless, it's absolutely true, sportscars are pretty much useless on a day-to-day basis. I'm very glad, I never did think they were. Fun?- Sure Cool?- kinda Nice when single?- barely Usable with family/friends/a life??- hell no! (Gerade noch gesehen, dass "rear trunk" geschrieben steht...da es einige Modelle mit beidem gibt hier die große Frage: War Ihnen bewusst, dass das Gepäck da eher vorn Platz findet oder sind Sie tatsächlich davon ausgegangen, dass man es hinten zum Motor reinprügeln muss? Das wäre dann das, so glaube ich, beschränkteste Ladekonzept aller Zeiten😂)
100% agreeing with you on the refugee point. I'm a German who's been living abroad for about 10 years now, so increasingly I'm getting my news about Germany from non-German news sources (of course I still read the German-German news still too, but most of my every day life just happens in English). Over the last years if I was only to trust English language news about Germany, I would have to think that Germany must be at constant civil war with the bad bad refugees at this point, burning barrels in the streets and all. Luckily I do still read the German news, I do still regularly talk to family and friends back home and I do visit home twice a year and know it's just as blissfully boring and safe as it has always been lol. You really have these riled up far-right Americans online who've never stepped foot out of their country - often not even out of their state - and think they can tell me - a German - how Germany has gone to the dogs, while I'm literally sitting on my mom's balcony eating Kuchen and admiring her flowers enjoying the utter calm and quiet. It just goes to show that often the way international news are reported isn't meant at all to truthfully provide information, but to make home politics and this is how such stories will be spun and presented. And the final system crash for such far-right losers comes when I tell them that no matter how proud they may be of their "German heritage", to me my Turkish-German class mates who went to Kindergarten and school with me, who speak my native tongue German fluently, who've been living and breathing everyday German life since birth and who contribute to actual German society are a 1000 times more German to me than any American whose only connection to Germany is some ancestor 4, 5 generations back but who don't know jack shit about modern day German life or culture, forget about the language.
Funny thing is, they are proud of the heritage and on the other hand, at the same time, are downtalking actual germany whenever they can ... typical us-american psychopaths ...
You got it right. It is funny to hear how Germany is terrible from people that never traveled out of their state. People who grew up in America do not carry over their culture through their blood. What makes a person truly German or any nationality for that matter is where they spent their school years growing up. If anyone grew up in a certain country - their views and their culture are shaped by that country. I've met Americans that grew up in Europe, there is almost nothing American about them. They are cultured, educated, speak many languages, traveled the world, been to amazing museums, know so many types of music, foods and drinks.
It is scary how much media in other countries can show a much different picture of another country than what the situation is actually like. Especially far-right fear-mongering against refugees and immigrants. If people would actually get to know refugees and immigrants, they would realize that most of them are just normal decent people who want to live a safe, stable life for them and their family. Of course there are good and people in every group and ethnicity, but bad people never represent an entire group, and by only showing bad examples it creates a very wrong image. And the best source to know what the situation in a country is like is usually to ask people who actually lived in that country.
I'm Australian/Dutch. I think that German is the most sensual language I have ever heard. Much more than French. It is not nasal or guttural. It is clear, precise, and beautiful.
A few years ago I saw Michael Schumacher interviewed on TV when he was F1 champion and he was asked what car he drove as his day-to-day transport. His answer was a Fiat Croma combi. That's definitely not a sports car of any sort.
Except Michi was such a dominant part of their marketing he literally had VIP status on driving their cars. And ferrari is a company that BANS ppl from owning their cars if they modify them. Imagine you are allowed such freedom within that nutjob of a company. He could drive many ferraris for free. He didnt even need to buy them.
Yes, when you have a German passport, you are German. Period. No matter the skin colour or where your parents or ancestors came from at some point of history. It still boggles my mind when people say, somebody isn't German because they look Asian or African or whatever. And when you were brought up in Germany, you don't even know anything else, so what are you supposed to be?
Best if this comment comes from refugees that fleed europe some years ago, who calls themself Americans and are sometimes proud that they came with a ship called Mayflower. ;-)
For example, in the German national team at the 2010 Fifa World Cup, almost half of the players (11 of 23) either had immigrated to Germany or had at least one parent who hadn't been born in Germany (e. g. Mesut Özil whose parents are from Turkey). Of course all of them are German citizens. Well, and that was already 12 years ago.
I don't fully agree. Of course nationality is not based on skin colour or where your parents from. At least it shouldn't. But it also is not equivalent with owning a passport. It's about culture. You are german if you live german culture. If I own a German passport but live in Australia for example and speak English all the time and eat australian food and consume australian media I'm not German in any way. So to speak you can be German without owning a German passport and you can own a German passport without being German at all.
Funny thing about the car topic is, that in Germany it's pretty much the opposite way. Sedans (Autos mit Stufenheck) are considered as grandpa cars by many.
@@dirkspatz3692 Thanks for the translation - I was confused by “limousine.” So what do Germans call the long, stretch-limousines that celebrities ride in while drinking champagne?
The last black person I talked with here in Germany was a young man who had a flawless and thick Bavarian accent. He was a rather nice guy. I'm sure he grew up here and seeing that he worked at the Amtsgericht I'm also sure that he was German. C'mon people, being German has nothing to do with heritage anymore.
I use the bus to get to my THerapie and met 2 black kids speaking more swabian dialect than me living my whole live in swabia XD. Wish i didnt had a german teacher in grundschule that tried to erase our swabian dialect and was rather successfull with it :(
@@realglutenfree I had coworkers from Turkey, Sri Lanka, Greece, Serbia, Poland, Cameroon and India, and they all grew up here and spoke fluent German.
I once saw a documentation (totally different topic) about a car wash :-D in Germany and there was this couple of Turkish origins. They were there every Saturday and they were cleaning and taking care of their car and even talking about car and home and like they like to keep it in order and that they cannot understand how their relatives in Turkey live and not take care of those things. I thought to myself: Damn they are so German, I cannot imagine anybody matching the clichee more than they did in everything they were saying. In a way that was a good feeling, although so much German culture always feels a bit weird.
Once I drove by a "turkish" Kleingartenkolonie in German. It looked like the most german Kleingartenkolonie you could find in Germany. We - both German - were shocked.
Yeah...beeing german or be a German...you will See it everywhere if you want to. In every Situation...if its just your grandma who keeps every cent(pfennig) and walks to rewe wit 2 Plastic bottles for Pfand...or the turkish baker...who is 30early at work...its his own bakery😄!!! Or my in mother Born in Thailand but is now german for 40 years...she stands on the right side on escalator (rolltreppe) so people can pass/overtake her on the left side. Germany are many old german kingdoms and many cultures but if you watch people for a few minutes you will See a lot german things/behavior
Just a couple points to consider, right out the gate. First, the UN recognizes the existence of 194 countries in the world. Second, in journalism, there's this unwritten rule: if it bleeds, it leads. In other words, if there's a place where things are constantly going disastrously wrong, it's probably a place you're going to constantly _hear_ about. So if there's a place you probably _haven't_ heard about, it's probably because things tend _not_ to go disastrously wrong, there. Now consider, has the average American heard of Germany? Like are we aware that this country exists? Yes. But have most of us _met_ someone born in this country? Probably not. Germany prides itself on taking care of its citizens and residents. Before I started taking a good close _look_ at the country, I had met _three_ people I knew were born in Germany, and one had immigrated a generation _earlier._ So why are immigrants from Germany so _rare_ in the US? Because circumstances in Germany, nowadays, are _better_ than in the US. The places you tend not to hear about are the places that tend _not_ to send us people born there. If there's a place you tend not to hear about, that's generally a good sign.
The whole thing with Kombi's (Stationwagons) in Germany is because Pick-up Trucks are not really a thing here ... so you need space to transport all the boxes from IKEA in something ... hence the Kombi ... 😜 or at least my take on it ... great vid 👍
What I don't get is that Americans don't distinguish between taxes and social security insurance. The latter, although mandatory for most (but not for all), is *_not_* a tax. When you compare the income of an US-American and a German (or other European), you need to compare net-income, the income after income tax pension scheme savings or insurance health care insurance and/or savings unemployment savings or insurance education savings or funds (there is nothing like that in Germany at all) payments for education or medical treatment debt rent or mortgage utilities When one actually takes all that into account, most people are astonished that Germans not only have a higher net income than most US-Americans in the same job, but additionally also much better public service regarding health care and education, while working less hours per week and days per year.
I don't know if it's true regarding "higher net income". My understanding is that people in the USA tend to earn a little higher than the average German. The average American salary is 56-60k $ while in Germany you are sitting at 45-50k € which even with currency conversion you are looking at a 3000$ - 10,000$ difference. I think the main difference is what happens with those extra 3-10k in the USA- it is eaten up by specific bills (that you listed) that are just not as high or common in Germany.... at the end of the day- it's generally the same because an American can point out that they pay $3-4 a gallon for gas while Germans pay upwards of $7-8 (double) and this is what I was talking about when pointing out expenses/costs... You can always find something more expensive or less expensive in every place....
@@HayleyAlexis I think, that the vast majority - if not more - of the seemingly higher net-income of Americans are used up for savings for future health issues, pensions, education for the kids,paying of debts for medical treatment and the own education, and unpaid days off work because of the one or other reason. All things we don't have to deal with here. Also, the cost for housing (rent, utility costs, and property taxes) are usually much higher in the USA than in Germany, if I recall that correctly. I never lived in the USA, but between holiday and business trips I've spent around 8 months of my life there. What I remember is, that my bill after grocery shopping usually was significantly higher than here in Germany, especially for fruits and produce. Also eating out in a restaurant or an evening in a bar was significantly more expensive after tips and taxes. Daily life in the USA did cost more than in Germany. There were some exceptions, gas being the most obvious of them (but because of high gas consumption of the cars and much more mileage in cars by Americans compared to Europeans this equals out somewhat, I'd say). But that was a long time ago, maybe that has changed by now. I'm sure, that a minimum wage worker and other people living on the lower end of the income scale have a much easier and better life in Germany than their counterparts in the USA. The higher up the income leader we look, the smaller the gap will become, and at the top 10% it very possibly can be that US-Americans have a higher net income than their German counterparts. But I'd bet, that this is not true for the vast majority of Americans.
@@HayleyAlexis When comparing incomes you should not compare average incomes. In the USA this distorted by the very rich, like Bezos, Musk, Gates, etc. Use the median, i.e. half the population earn more, the other half earn less. The median income in the USA is around 34000$ per year, which is really not great.
@@Dahrenhorst I would have to disagree though with your experiences... Granted they are yours so there is no "arguing" if it true or not but my experiences are different. Since 2021 onward I would say eating out for me has been significantly higher in Germany than the USA (regardless with tip or not). Like I said- there are always things that we can find "more" expensive... Believe it or not my teeth procedure that I need to get done would cost $1000 less in the USA compared to Germany (with/without my insurance)... I already stated gas as a big chunk- the average yearly cost for 13,500 miles in an f150 truck inthe USA is 1800$ in Germany it is closer to $4000 for the same distance and car... That is a big difference. Granted the driving distances are "shorter" in Germany because of the size but I know people that drive 25,000km a year and pay a hefty price at the gas station. I do have to agree that groceries are more expensive in the USA but it also depends how you shop I suppose... I personally think that if you go to a farmers market in the USA you will end up having a cheaper purchase than in Germany BUT they are much more inconvenient for Americans so many people just don't shop that way.
@@martinpahl5652 Then we could not include Germany's millionaires/billionaires in the average German income. Germany is ranked 3-5th when it comes to billionaires in the world which according to your logic has a huge impact on average income... The USA averages around 700 while Germany averages 150 and if we were to adjust that based on population size we are looking at around 630 billionaires which isn't that far away from the USA's number... which means that Germany's average income would also be significantly lower.
Hopefully, one day the US-Americans will realize and understand, that a lot of the actions, the US-goverments did over the last decades all over the world caused so many refugees. The costs of veggies in the USA for example, always baffles me.
Another Putin- and Saddamfriend. Did you at least comment something against Saddam, when he killed 1 million ppls during his 30y dictatorship? No, because you are communist and you like dictatorship
@@proislam1447, who supprted Saddam with money and weapons during the 80's while he was in war with Iran his enemies? And I'm so sorry that I'm not dumb enough to explain the difference between communism and a dictatorship to you, go, get some education!
You forgot health insurance!!! For EVERYBODY! German here! Stationwagon owner! 😂 They are great for shopping, I sleep in it when on little weekend-trips, it transports kids plus friends plus instruments plus luggage plus 2 big boxes of beer!😂 But I'm selling my diesel now - for a much smaller car. Anybody interested?
I would, but I think I will wait for some decent full electric stationwagons until I'll buy a new one. I do not know what takes the car industry so long to fill that "niche".
I have the feeling i'm collecting them for the company ;-) Have 2 Astra Caravans at the moment, plus my C180T AND am looking for a good and cheap Dieselkombi with TÜV and grüne Plakette constantly...
I could talk about this for hours! Although I’m German, I live pretty much in an expat bubble half of the time because my partner is American and so are most of his friends/contacts here. And despite most of them live here for years already, none speak the language or know anything about Germans or our culture, cause they only surround themselves with other expats. But that doesn’t keep them from having an opinion on everything and they knowing Germany way better than any German ever could. I’ve had stupid arguments over whether haribo is German or not (it is) with an American because he insisted that Germans don’t even eat liquorice (all 3 of his German friends apparently don’t like it, so no German can like it), therefore Haribo must be Danish where they like liquorice. Or whether only rich people live on the countryside and own a horse or also relatively poor farmers families. It’s so often that they have no open mind about things being different in different places. And rather refer to something they read on bored panda than listening to an actual native who spend all her life in Germany. Rant is over! You look super pretty with those earrings and the slight sparkle on your eyelids. I know it’s not a make up channel but I’d love to know what kind of product you used. It’s so subtle but pretty!
The palette is from Colourpop and is the Sailor Moon palette! I think they ship to Germany but it cost a little extra for shipping!! It is my new favorite color: mare serenitatis link: colourpop.com/products/pretty-guardian-sailor-moon-eyeshadow-palette
that "Haribo" argument really seems stupid and unnecessary. In the age of mobile internet, and almost every major company being described in - for example - wikipedia.org, this controversy should be ended for good within a few seconds.
@@linibellini yeah, I think giving up is probably the right reaction at that point. He insists on a wrong assumption, based on very stupid reasoning on multiple levels (first: the idea that his 3 friends represent the whole German population, second: the idea of deriving Haribo's original location from the popularity of licorice, which is even not contained in Haribo's most important product. While Haribo also sell licorice, their most famous product is something different, as probably almost everybody in Germany knows who knows the brand Haribo) - and then even isn't interested in facts. ... next time he may perhaps claim that Adidas can't be German because his German friends never wear sweatpants when he meets them - that would be a similar kind of logic.
Hayley. You made my day! Whenever I will be in a bad mood from now on, I will think of you saying "Kombinationskraftwagen". Thank you so much! By the way: In Germany we think of a sedan as a granpa-car. The most important word that you have used in this stream was "Efficiency" because that is what we Germans loce. Therefore: for Germans SUVs are slow idiot-cars that consume to much gas, to much space, do not deliver extra space inside and have no other benefit than feeling that you drive in a tank - which we do not need in Germany, because our streets are save and the other drivers are having very good driving skills. But of course: just joking and kidding... ;-) And German Tax rates are about 170% of your income - at least!
"SUV is like driving a tank" 🤣🤣🤣🤣👍🏻 Correct. I even prefer the German pronoucation (suff) instead of the English (eS jU Wi). Jetzt weiss ich warum: Fahrer berauscht vom Panzer fahren 😉
Here in Portugal the station wagon "culture" is also still very solid. They're probably the 3rd most sold vehicle after the small SUVs and the city cars. 🙂
The thing with the Kombi is, that as a German you think ahead, "Maybe I have children in 5 years, so they should fit in" or that you should be able to comfortably take your friends with you, because you will own that car for years to come, so why should you have something thats fast but thats it.
Car guy here, and even though I'm from a country where estates were never popular, I'm a huge estate fan (we don't call them station wagons) and I've long lusted after the E39 BMW 535i Touring, S211 Mercedes E 55 Touring and the C6 Audi RS 6 Avant. The estate body style is just so versatile imo and if you get a fast version, there's very few things these cars can't do.
Years back I always liked the Station Wagon version better than the Sedan because you can fit more and they are easier to park (you can see exactly were they end). Nowadays I like em more because I'm just so used to them, that I actually prefer the shape from a design perspective - and they are still more practical and easier to load.
Hi Hayley, thank you for bringing up these points. I'm a bavarian having lived in the US for 45 years. Hate to say it, but these topics, among many others have come up often. Great show - cheers!
To be fair it's not just americans. Before i moved to Austria from the UK I also had a lot of misconceptions. Its worth living in another country for a year just to gain some real wisdom.
Yeah the cliche for "perfect" life in Finland is a red house with picket fence, two kids, a dog and a Volvo station wagon. Kombis, especially Volvo, VW and Skoda are everywhere.
I loved your "kitty cat claws" 😁 I can totally relate to the tax part. Even though my husband earns a lot more in the US than he did before in Germany, it is still more or less the "same" after you deduct costs for school, insurance and so on...It always makes sense to look at the full picture. PS: We loved our station wagon 😂😂😂 But you are right, haven't seen a lot (if not none) in the US🤔. PPS: Love your new hair color. Pretty as always 😊
You make me feel old. When I was an exchange student in the USA my guest family had a station wagon with seats in the third row for the children. I loved it. And yes, I own a Kombi ...
LOL "older" not old :) They are very different words with different meanings!! I distinctly remember station wagons with 3rd row seats but it is a memory that slowly is fizzing out of my head.
About the tax comparison, my question here would be: What does it matter anyway? Why compare mere tax rates and percentages of what you have to give away rather than actual living comfort? I don't have the impression that people in the US can generally afford more stuff than people in Germany. The idea that getting more of your income taken away to be a problem in an of itself, regardless of the actual life that you can live, is a huge conceptual mistake. If it would mean that I could reliably get more stuff (provided by the state) if I was taxed 90% of my income, then I would gladly accept that. I'd still be more wealthy than I'm now.
Good morning lovely Hayley, another wonderful video of you. Unfortunately, there are people full of ignorance and ignorance coupled with alternative facts everywhere, because at some point they heard something somewhere. They themselves have no idea, because they have not had any experience themselves, but believe that they can shine with their false knowledge through hearsay. If you refute that person and prove them possibly wrong, they often come up with the humorous message and make themselves even more ridiculous with that cheap excuse. Better that than admitting that they were just wrong and didn't know any better. This basically leads to unnecessary discussions and is really exhausting in the long run. By the way. The last car in life, or after that, is usually a station wagon, the main person who is being transported with it just doesn't notice it anymore. 😁
Some people really do not get it when it comes to taxes. When you pay more taxes you get more in return. I am Dutch and when you look at our infrastructure, healthcare, etc. you will see that we excel at everything compared to the US. In the US you can get bankrupt when ill, here you cannot! I love my country and I am proud to pay taxes for I know what we get in return.
13:24 We can move anything with a Kombi mit Dachgepäckträger. ANYTHING. It might not be save and it is probably a damm kitchen part but we will move it. A kombi with a Kasten beer and 4 germans is an unopposable force without an unmovable objekt (as long as it is in a student appartement, damages will occour to your furniture the house and the crew).
I love that you talk about things most you tubers (unless they’re in a specific niche) won’t talk about for risk of being too controversial. Love it and love your views ❤️
I am so glad that you brought up the race thing. As a German especially I am always horryfied by the way Americans pretend like there really are different races of humans. And they way the talk about white people and black people and "black culture" and "white culture" as if these really were two distinct groups of being who are incompatable and fundamentally opposed to one another in a struggle for dominance and power is disgusting. And then this obsession with their heritage! Talking about having German blood and so on. The last time someone tried linking blood to nationality a certain Holocaust happened. It got to a point where I just hypothesized that all Americans are racist. Not bigotted, but racist in the sense of still believing in races and making distinctions between them and being obsessed with racial heritage and so on. And I felt bad about making such a generalization but I am glad you also had such experiences with which you could at least somewhat support my experiences, which were horrifying. And the immigrant stuff is also disgusting. It is horrifying to hear the average American talk like a German neo Nazi. Old Nazi propaganda already seems to be very popular in the US but when neo nazi rhetoric is regarded as common sense it becomes a nightmare to witness. I vividly remember after the France won the 2018 worldcup with a lot of black players Trevor Noah, a black man, made a joke on late night Tv that could have come from Le Pen senior. And the American audience loved it! French people in the comments were understandibly horrified and were in turn ridiculed and harrassed by the Americans commenters who couldn't see the problem with Nazi rhetoric. The French ambassador himself made a statement. Noah then proceeded to mock and ridicule his letter on his next show to a cheering audience of Americans. I could not watch him anymore after that
I understand where you're coming from and I agree with almost everything you wrote. However, in racial theory, race is not so much about the actual color of your skin, but more a descriptor of which group of people faces systemic discrimination based on their ethnicity. Who is considered "white" or "POC" can be different in different regions: In Germany, Italians, Croatians, Romanians may be considered POC, whereas in the US they are considered white. Pale-skinned Mexicans in Germany I'm sure would be white, in the US, they're POC. What some Americans make of this, I agree, is odd and sometimes very extreme.
@@jessali_ race is an outdated and moronic concept in both biology and sociology. You have subspecies and ethnicities. Human beings cannot be differentiated by colour. Your own statements about it being different in Germany and the US proves that. If you wanna talk qbout discrimination by ethnicity, you talk about different ethnicities. There is no reason to throw in wrong, outdated and heavily stigmatised concepts of different races in there. And no, Italians are not POC in Germany
@@jessali_ The concept of thinking of Italians etc. as „POC“ is completely strange to most Germans. They are simply southern Europeans. Yes, a little bit different to northerners, but just normal people. Not a question of „race“.
@@jessali_ That, to me, just shows that "racial theory" is a load of crap - assuming you portray it correctly here. Because at least what you say about Germany is just ignorant nonsense. Except for the extreme right, "race" is simply not a topic in Germany. Yes, Germany has its bigots, but there doesn't seem any generalized, more-or-less uniform concept of who to be bigoted about, like in the US.
@@KaiHenningsen Look up systemic racism and perhaps even hegemony if you want to dive deeper. And how can you call it ignorant when I literally studied this for my degree. There is tons of academic research to back this up.
Funfact: In SUVs you have less space than an Kombi of the same size. From the outside they look really huge, but in reality they are just slightly higher versions of the Limousine with a big body kit. An A6 Kombi has so much more space than a Q5 while being neither as high nor as wide as the Q5.
Guten Tag Hayley, ich finde es sehr sympathisch und wichtig wie Du einige Fehlkonzeptionen über Deutschland richtigstellst. So ähnlich mache ich das auch umgekehrt zu den USA, auch wenn ich da nur wenige Monate war :-)
the language - you can actually show data there. 1) "harsh" is more consonants. "soft" is more vowels. "harsh" languages are arabic or serbian, very consonant heavy, few vowels. "soft" languages are hindi and chinese - few consonants, lots of vowels "medium" languages are in between like: french, german, english... 2) German is the closest language relative that english has on the planet. Up until 1000 AD (roughly) english was considered a dialect of german (saxon) which is a miracle to no one given that both angles and saxons that settled in britain were...german tribes. 3) you can make any language sound angry. Compare to an angry scotsman if you want "brutal" english
We toured 10 American states in the last 2 months and I was on a station wagon hunt. I couldn't find any! Then, finally, I saw one, in Mississippi or Arkansas, I forget which.
Kombis are "silly"? Say the people who drive around in pickup trucks in the cities? We have a joke thats like "whats the result when a work commitee designs a improved horse? - A giraffe." And thats exactly what a pickup truck is among cars. :)
The refugee thing feels very true, at least based on Trump's rhetoric in the early days of his presidency, when he was always saying stuff like "look at what's happening in [insert country], it's horrible what 'they' are doing there" and people in that country were like "yeah, tell me what's happening in my country, because I don't know what you are talking about". He did that not only with Germany, but also with places like Sweden, France, Belgium, Britain, etc. And that was so infuriating, because it was obviously extremely racist against refugees, but also blatantly untrue, since all of these countries have a fraction of the crime or murder rate, which the USA has. So, really, from a european perspective, it makes you think "yeah, but tell me, what's going on in the USA, horrible what's happening there, right?"
Die Tatsache, dass jeder Hans und Franz eine Knarre zuhause rumliegen hat, würde mich deutlich mehr beunruhigen, als alles, was hier mit Flüchtlingen je passiert ist.
@@Kloetenhenne Dem stimme ich 100%-ig zu! Klar sind hier auch mal Dinge passiert, wie die Überfälle auf Frauen in der Silvesternacht in Köln, das kann man leider nicht leugnen, allerdings sind das eher die Ausnahmen, und stehen in keinem Vergleich zu den Umständen in Amerika.
Jeah, all Germans in the comment section are pc. Hilarious. I listen to people and I only knew ONE who thinks that's everything is fine in our country, esp. with our refugee problems. He is a Krimonaloberkommisar a. D. A "Schreibtischheld".
I lived next to a refugee camp until 2019 and walked right by it every day on my way to school. Nothing bad ever happened. The only interaction I ever had was some guy complimenting my hair
@@spaceowl5957 My grandma lived next to a refugee camp, until it was closed down, because it was no longer needed. In her neighbourhood, it's all old people whose children have long ago moved out. She said, with all the children playing, things had become a bit more like they used to be, really brought her neighbourhood to live, while the shelter was open.
Kombis are just the best. I played in a Band and a Kombi is just the best thing to transport alot of stuff. A drum set, 3 amplifiers, microphones guitars etc. PLUS 5 people, no problem. I love Kombis and my next car is going to be a BMW Kombi :)
Thanks for this! I was born in Germany, lived in California for 10 years, consider myself bilingual, am back now in Berlin, and agree with you 100%! ❤️
Ich liebe Deine ruhige und entspannte Art! Und da es mein erstes Video auf diesem Kanal war, weiß ich nicht, wie lange Du schon hier warst oder bist, aber Dein Deutsch ist richtig gut! Liebe Grüße von einem kleinen Berliner Buchkanal 🙂
Try this in an American car… I load up my entire 5 person bowling team with 20+ bowling balls in my Kombi and drive 200km to a tournament. We plan for 90 minutes so we have plenty of time to have a relaxing coffee.
The German government, the federal states and the cities and municipalities do not simply pocket the taxes and keep the money. In Germany many things are tax based for the population. The money is largely reinvested in the German people, for example in education. Studying at universities and colleges costs far less than in the US. Social assistance for people who are unable to work and unemployment benefit 2 are also tax-financed. Child benefit is also tax-financed. Social services are usually the largest item in the federal budget.
You put the tax thing very well, at the end of the day, it's not more to pay than every else. If people talk about high tax rates, also Germans, they most often include contributions for pension, for healthcare, for unemployment insurance, all these things and just call it high, and yes, it might sum up to 50% for the average man, but you are getting something for it.
It's for any kind of transport. A fridge, furniture. whatever. I have no idea how Americans get their IKEA shopping home. Well , they have no kitchen to buy and no closets. .. maybe they only buy plates ;-)
About the tax in Germany: you seem to say that it is "high" or "hefty". But maybe in the end nobody pays the highest tax rate, this is not how tax progression works. Low incomes pay very low taxes if any. But even taxable incomes in the top 2% of the total income distribution pay around 32% taxes. But the "income after tax" is not what we have in the pocket, as we also pay compulsory social insurance, health insurance, pension funds, etc. This sums up to maybe around 50% or so, depending. But after all, we get something for that. Our Autobahnen :-), social stability, social care, schools, name it. Therefore, most people grumble about taxes, but in the end, agree. In the US some people call that "socialism" (normally they don't even know what that is and ridiculously compare Bernie Sanders to Castro), but for us, it is the foundation of human society, for a long history.
lol, in Germany it's the Kombi, in the US it's the Pickup trucks - I always ask myself why people need a Pickup truck if they are no wood workers etc or need to transport big stuff 😂😂 btw we have a Ford Mondeo Kombi Dienstwagen with which we can tow our Wohnwagen 😊and have lots of space for luggage too
Isn't that why we all have them,so we can transport more stuff? I live on the countryside in a house,there is always something,like branches and leaves that need to be taken away,and other stuff for the garden and the garage,we have multiple vehicles and machines...this is why..
We live very remotely in the US and my husband drives a pick up for multiple reasons! Number 1 is because he loves driving a pick up! Secondly because he has to haul our trash to the waste distribution center. Number 3 because he constantly works on projects around the house and hauls wood and stones and such all the time!never needed one in Florida and did not buy one until we moved out west😂👍
Why even asking? Nobody asks why someone would want a Lamborghini or Porsche. If someone wants a Ram they want a Ram, no matter if they have practical or taste reasons.
@@gaurigatha a trailer on a hook should be sufficient for that but I get that it’s easier to throw everything on a 4X4. I’ve lived in WV and everyone had one.
@@unschuldshascherl _Nobody asks why someone would want a Lamborghini or Porsche._ Well, I would, if I would be asking about such things, it certainly is a question that crosses my mind.
Best value car in America right now is surprisingly a used German-made station wagon 2020 Buick Regal TourX. Amazing value, drives like a Mercedes, dirt cheap to service, reliable cast aluminum LTG 250hp turbo engine, its trunk can fit a refrigerator. Amazing amazing car for the money, I know a guy who bought one accidentally for his small business, ended up buying 2 more for his family. It is sad GM no longer sells it after 2020 and it is sad they sold Opel to PSA/Stellantis.
As a swede ofcourse I have a kombi 😄 And a german one at that! 😉 Almost all of the people I mostly hang around has some kind of kombi or a van, why? We have dogs. And in Sweden in particular there are rules and regulations on how you transport a dog in your car. It has to be safe for you and your dog. They need x amount of space depending on the size and number of dogs you have, and they need to be secure and never be loose in the car. Even the swedish police K9 units had to upgrade their cars to meet the requirements. The most popular, safest and easiest way is to put a cage or a gate in the back of your kombi. It is also convenient when parking somewhere that you can lock your car, but leave the back door open so the dog can get air. So maybe some asks, why do you need to transport your dog so much in your car? Well, most of my friends and a fair amount of all dog owners in Sweden will bring their dog along for trips to the beach, for walks in the woods, for dog shows, competitions, training sessions, hunting, working dogs travel with their owner, and we also have rules and regulations on how long you can leave your dog alone, so often, you bring them to work or a doggy day care. I believe that this is one (of several reasons) that Sweden has a lot of kombis. (And when you live out in the countryside you need a big Volvo to fit all your IKEA-shopping 😜 and don’t get stuck in the snow 😄) The Volvo V70 was the most sold car in Sweden for 20 years!!! Safe, realiable, comfortable and spacious.
The thing about taxes and the other things you have to pay, whether over here in germany, or the US, and you got that right in short terms in this video: I had to have a fence re-build here and the ~40 Meter or 135 ft, made of 1cm / 0.5 Inch blackend steel, did cost me ~2800 Euro. My mother, who is living in the US for about 40 yrs now, had to have hers fixed too a few month ago and guess what? They paid about 4.000 $ for 100 ft and the eldest of my younger brother had to visit them afterwards to fix the bad wielding .... So, the guys have maybe made almost 50 percent more, but when I look what they are paying for the mostly needed things, like food and stuff, they're also paying about 50 percent more AND they got higher taxes to pay, without health insurance, withouth pension rates. Oh, before I forget, you were talling about cars now and then: In germany, you do not have to have your licence plates renewed ever year, or every two years, depending on the state you reside. Once you have registered your car and paid for the "operating licence", your plates are yours, forever or to say so, as long as you are operating that vehicle ! We have to pay "KfZ-Steuer", but this is mainly used to build and maintain roads - nothing similar over there either and you have to get a real licence to drive a car, not just pass signs and laws test, without proof to be able to operate a car at all, like in most us-states.
Hi Hayley! Zunächst mal: wenn Du wüsstest wie außergewöhnlich gut Deine "Haarpracht" zu Dir passt hättest Du die Haare sicher schon länger so kurz getragen, oder..? Zum Video: zur Zeit fahre ich den 3. Kombi in Folge, den ersten hatte ich 1997 eher zufällig als Jahreswagen gekauft und dann ca. 16 Jahre gefahren (Corolla Kombi). Aber wenn man erstmal auf den Geschmck gekommen ist will man nichts anderes mehr als Kombis fahren, die sind einfach nur praktisch.
I drive a Skoda Citigo here in germany. I owned some bigger/faster cars in my lifetime but i have to say that's the one i enjoy most. Sure, you don't get the most out of the Autobahn but that is not what i spend most of my time on. I always get a parking spot. I can get past cars waiting to turn left on slightly narrow streets. In the City i'm absolutely faster than a SUV could ever go. I have AC, seat heating... more things than i'd call for in a small package that doesn't need that much of fuel.
I'm "German" with chinese origin and to me Germany is the best country in the world (at least western Germany like BaWü or NRW, Rheinland Pfalz, Berlin etc... Just love it and my future children should grow up here. Second place I love Italy most.
Fundamentally the idea of Germany has for millennia been a union of different tribes coming together united by a similar language and goals. It irks me so much when I hear German used as something measurable by a blood test etc.. That is absolute horse sh°te. The most migraine inducing thing ever is xenophobes and racists using the name "Moritz" as an example of a traditional German name. Which it is, don't get me wrong. Moritz is the 900+ year old German language version of the Latin name for the patron saint of the Holy Roman Emperors, Mauritius (English: Saint Maurice). "Being German" is nurture and inclusive.
The station wagon thing is so funny. I totally get it, why people consider them grandpa cars, but with kids you have essentially three options: SUV, Van or station wagon. SUVs are pretty cool, but expensive. They are huge (not very practical in old towns) and they are heavy on fuel consumption. Vans are not that expansive, but still very big. Great, if you are transporting bikes or heavy goods all the time. Station wagons are the least fancy, but hardly bigger than a normal standard car, easy to handle and still enough space if you go to IKEA to buy furniture or for your luggage when you're going on a two weeks holiday, so in the end, I understand the choice.
Harley I love listening to your RU-vid videos and I totally agree with you said. Me from South African married to a German and lived in Germany for 20 years. I do get want you are saying have a good weeken. 🤟🏽🙂
Hallo Hayley mir gefallen deine Videos. Ich war vor Jahren sprachlos als ich nach meiner Rasse gefragt wurde. Mir war in 58 Jahren noch nie bewusst gewesen das ich eine "eurasierin" sein soll. Danke für deine Beiträge.
Another misconception that a lot of Americans have about german cars is that BMW, Audi and Mercedes manufacture only luxury sports cars. The cars that are exported to the US are the sports and luxury models from those companies, because the American market wouldn't allow for cheaper family cars to be sold without losing money on high shipping costs and low selling prices. But the BMWs and Audis that are on european streets aren't the same luxury models as in America. In Europe those brands are just associated with an efficient, spacy family car that may be a little fancy. That's it. While those Brands are considered "luxury cars only" in America, in Europe they are just the same as your 1990 chevy that decorates every third house in the street. For example: the reason why some taxi companies around Munich have a fleet of BMWs is easy: The factory is right around the corner and the taxi companies can get their cars at a reduced price because BMW treats the "loss of income" for those cars as an investment in advertising. And our cars look fancy and don't look beat up and aren't taped together like the standard American car, because the car would be illegal to drive on public roads. Simple as that.
When I was in the U.S. has an exchange student there was another German exchange student in my maths class. And I remember our teacher telling a student "Ask Folke or ... to tell you 'I love you' in German if you want to feel like someone's spitting in your face". But except for that I only remember questions about the Autobahn and our water. Once I did a presentation about Germany and I also mentioned at what age we are allowed to drink. The question about water came up right after that presentation and another student was like 'With that drinking age why do you ask about water?' And I also spend two weeks in a host family in the U.K. and I remember my host sister trying to fool a friend by teaching her that "Dummkopf" is German for hello. I think her friend actually believed it.
Interesting that you mentioned cars because I'm a Car Enthusiast and the Person Considered as the Inventor of the Modern Automobile is German; Karl Friedrich Benz (1844 in Mulberg to 1929 in Ladenberg). He began designing and engineering cars in 1886 and his cars were the Very First Series Manufactured Internal Combustion Engine Cars. His company later became what is known today as Mercedes-Benz; in 1926.
If you want a decent station wagon, get a Mercedes E class W124 series station wagon (so called "T model" (T stands for "transporter"). The most efficient (regular fuel) is the E220 T. Find one of the earliest of the "MOPF2" (Modellpflege 2nd iteration) ones made in 1993. Mercedes changed to water based paint in fall 1993 which is when the cars started to get rust issues later.
Thanks 👍, that's exactly the kind of car we drive. A 200, with 136 PS and manual transmission. There is nothing better. Only unfortunately, well preserved models are increasingly difficult to get and increasingly expensive. Regardless of the current situation
@@b.k.3313 Right, the 220 only had a bit more sufficient 150 horsepowers. The M111 engine is undestructible when well maintained. The one in mine was still going strong after 511000 km (I had bought it with 233000 km).
The UK has the station wagon thing too, they are cheaper to run than an equivalent SUV but can shift almost the same stuff, in the UK however we refer to them as Estate cars.
for information in germany you have your "brutto" payment and the "Netto" payment and the netto payment is basicly the brutto payment with insurances and taxes removed you have a few types of insurances and a payment tax and if you for example are single and you have no kids and one job you have tax class one and you can expect to have 75% of your brutto as your netto roughly and also there is a free amount per year you can earn without having to pay taxes so if you for example only work for 4 months and you havent topped the free amount you can get the paid payment taxes back
4:18 "economic refugee crisis"?!? There was no "economic crisis" in that time. The years 2015 to 2019 were some of the best years for the German economy in the last 30 years. Increasing GDP, some of the lowest unemployment figures of the last 30 years, almost no deficit in the government's budget, strong exports...( one of the most frequent complains of the US government about Germany was that "the Germans export too much to the US")
A Kombi can be very sporty depending on the motor. My father had one with a V6 engine and a lowered body. Topped out around 240 km/h despite its weight and had an impressive acceleration. And you didn't see this from the outside because it looked completely normal and boring. Which often left people with visually tuned up cars but no power behind it in the dust looking very surprised
Station wagons also have the advantage for young owners that you can sleep comfortably in them. Short breaks or parties are no problem. You don't need a hotel.
I was in the USA for some time in 2000 and got in close contact with an American, a Prebiterian pastor by profession. I found it terribly difficult to talk to him at first because he only talked about sports cars - BMW, Mercedes, Porsche - whose names I didn't even know, didn't have and didn't want: he didn't understand! Only when the shaking of the head was accepted could we talk about "essential" things in life!
When it came to choosing the next company car, I could have chosen a station wagon like most of my colleagues, but then decided against it because I find the lines of a limousine much more elegant. In addition, I was constantly hit with a hatchback by my extended circle of acquaintances to transport some bulky things that scratched everything.
The thing about taxes is that it’s so based on a variety of different values, upbringing, trust etc. A guy who came from Boston talked about the add up of prices and taxes and he found it cheaper in Denmark through taxes and the stereotype that because something is administered by the public it’s in a worse condition or not on level as in countries where it’s private sector. The healthcare system in Denmark or Germany or elsewhere is bad and more expensive in the eyes of Americans because they equate it to some Red Scare fear of communism without knowing anything about the countries they offend. My hubby and I share a 2001 Toyota Yaris with our neighbor. We call her Daisy after the Queen and she is cheap on gas and gets us comfortably from point a to point b. Switching her out it going to be extremely expensive in CO2 even when it’s electric as we are all basically expected to.
I constantly hear this in the US as well... that "the healthcare system is sh*t in countries like Germany, Sweden, Canada, etc etc" and "they all come to America to have surgeries because the wait time is so horrible".... The funny thing is that this information is publicly available by the US government (they have stats and studies). The most people that come to the US for surgeries are usually people from Canada/Mexico (and throw in Jamaica) and other countries relatively close to the USA... The number of Germans (Europeans for that matter) coming to the USA is so LOW when looking at how many surgeries are preformed yearly in america. Now there are many people that LEAVE the US to get more affordable surgery options in foreign countries... and if I am not mistaken that number outweighs the people coming in.
@@HayleyAlexis It is well documented that among the developed nations, the US health system is the most expensive *and* has the worst health outcomes, with things like infant mortality approaching third world numbers.
Hubby and I just had this "station wagon" convo. Smh...he's German and loOooves it. I'm American and I tell him "that's so 80's."😆 riding in the back without a seat belt on....goodtimes. 😄😆
"Are you going shopping in the same shops as the refugees?" - yes, of course, and the risk of getting harmed there is much lower than in most shops (or high schools or ...) in the USA. The homicide rate in the US (especially many states in which most people view Fox and vote GOP ... probably the same who are most afraid of refugees) is multiple times higher than in Germany or neighbouring European countries. Many large cities in the USA could probably almost be considered "war zones" compared to the frequency of violent crimes in many western European countries like Germany. But hey, Germany is the dangerous place now apparently ... (at least *on FoxNews* )
Kombis are the best cars in the world. I don't know why Americans don't like a nice Audi A6 Avant, a Mercedes E-Class or a BMW 530i Touring or even the 3 series, C-Class and A4 Kombis
Regarding taxes: when you earn 10k €/year, you pay no taxes, with 50k €/year you pay 25% and when you earn 500k €/year you pay 40% taxes. It doesn’t get much higher. Under Roosevelt, maximum taxes in the USA were 90%.
Well done. By-the-way: i love my bmw 320i touring: i'm able to flip the back/passenger-back-wall (Rückwand zur Ladefläche) and get 1 or 2 bycicles in-there or my buyings for one-week - all of These Things & some more, as-well-as driving with 160km/h over Autobahn .... simply cool 😎 so: i'm Not worry about this Stationwagon (aka Kombi or Touring) ... thx for your Chanel, love your Videos
I'm German and I think it sounds funny if Americans try to talk German :) And I'm always willing to help them spell it right. I'd be happy if Americans would correct my attempts to the english language, but that seems to be uncommon behavior is not explicitly asked. I apologize for my fellow Germans ignoring that colored people can be Germans too. It's some type of subliminal racism. In Germany we don't like cars with an open truck bed. Maybe it's because we don't want our stuff fly away when we drive 220 km/h (~140 mph) on the Autobahn. So we make fun of American pickup trucks. Keep making fun of our taste as we do with yours. As long as we both can laugh about it, it's ok ;)
The thing about taxes is that you should not just look at what do you have to pay. You also have to look to what you get from it. For example streets, a healthcare system etc. So in the end high taxes does not need to mean less money.
Wonderful that the band Rammstein chose a black "Germania" for their "Deutschland" video! The first homo sapiens living in Germany were black indeed! Germany has always been a wild mixture of cultures and "races".
Regarding the language: German has rather easy spelling, easy pronunciation, medium difficult vocabulary, difficult grammar. That's for English speakers, if your native language has an equally or more complex case/grammatical gender system but is "genetically" further removed the latter two categories may be switched. It's all a bit relative, nuance isn't really people's strenght, but being confidently wrong is in fashion. The refugee topic is a bit like walking up to to an American and asking if they've recently been kidnapped by a Mexican cartel. Not saying that nothing ever happens anywhere, but you can never say that about anything, really. It's just two magnitudes less relevant than certain media figures try to convince people it is. "Look at that tax rate!!!111!!!" is basically always toilet populism. Some sort of "in-out" calculation makes more sense considering that even seemingly small details like fixed drug pricing can have huge effects on the disposable income of certain people, let alone rent, health insurance, higher education or pension. Germans may only use their combi once or twice a year to their full potential (holidays), but Americans only use their trucks once or twice a decade to their full potential (moving furniture). :-P Now, SUVs which can't really go offroad are actually pointless everywhere and anywhere, but people love to literally stand higher than their peers.
Google the difficulty of german,it falls into the easiest languages to learn. There is nothing difficult about german,people who dont have the ability to learn,have a hard time learning languages. You can disagree,but the only folks who I have met who complain about german being difficult are people from 1st world countries.
@@ivanamicimici That's far from true, they are dozens of languages easier and simpler than German. Usually German falls into mid-tier when it comes to difficulty of languages. Our case, grammar and article structure alone makes it a lot harder than lots of other languages. There are migrants who have lived in Germany for years and years and still make some basic mistakes, eve if they're learning, because unless you are a native speaker, some stuff in German makes 0 logical sense and cannot really be guessed or learned. Articles for example. Besides a few exceptions, you need to memorize every single article for every word you learn to nver make any mistakes while speaking. English on the other hand is super easy in comparison.
@@DonDadda45 Both English and German have their difficulties. I agree that the articles in German are very confusing for us foreigners. I mean, take the word computer, who defines if it is male, female or neutral? I think I have most of it right, but every so often, I still have to ask “is it eine or einer?” The problem with the English language, that I find most difficult to explain to people, is the difference in pronunciation. Take the letters “ough”, for example - the pronunciation can be oh, uff, ow, aw or ooh, depending on the word, ie. rough, though, rough, bough, thought, through. Or just simply the letter “o”: Germans tend to say buddy instead of body and I always used to complain about it, jokingly saying “aw, you’re building up your buddy, that’s nice of you to support him” when they said they were going body(buddy)-building. I stopped cracking that joke when I saw a commercial for cheese and onion crisps (chips) and the guy pronounce the “o” as it should be pronounced in body, except in the case of the word onion, the “o” should be pronounced more like “uh” as in buddy. How do you make that clear to a non-native speaker, though, when to pronounce it the one way or the other? Also take life, live (as in live concert) and live (as in the place you live in) - how often do non-native speakers confuse those words? There are even cases where native speakers tend to confuse words, because they sound similar: accept/except, affect/effect, for example. I often find myself having to explain the difference to people who are native speakers like myself.
@@DonDadda45 from over 8000 languages in the world german falls into the easy category. I get you think its really hard,this is because you have never spoken a more difficult language like in example any slavic language,it takes at least 1200 hours of learning a slavic language to reach B1 level. With german it takes less than 600. You can argue,but facts are facts.
That is true and this was shocking to me when I was "looking for homes in Munich" (I was basically searching for homes I could not afford LOL- a girl can dream) and I saw the "property tax" amount and I thought something was wrong with the number...I had to double check. It was almost half of what my mom pays for her house (which was 1/3 the price of the house I was looking at in Munich).
@@HayleyAlexis It obviously depends on the area in the US you are comparing because property taxes vary so much depending on the area. In my experience, as soon as you pick a US upper middle class neighbourhood, US property taxes are easily 5-10 times higher than for a comparable German house. For a single family home, German property tax is usually 500-1000 €/yr whereas it is easily 10k$/yr for an American home. One of the reasons mobile homes are not a big thing in D.....
Station wagons are in the US as good as any other with 55mph limit. In Germany all SUV or similar are snails over 150kph, so they are for retirerers. Station wagons are for people going 250kph while needing more space in the car.
A) Our language is complicated and our grammar horrible, but it is also a competitive edge as it has a precision that is somehow reflected in the products we make. B) A German is a German when he has the passport - period. And one of our competitive edge past WW2 was the successful integration of immigrants/refugees from other countries. This model works and we need to even get better at it. Many, many examples for this fruitful stimulus. C) Taxes and social contributions are high in Germany, but I think what we get in return is worth it. When no one needs to starve or die/suffer because he cannot afford health care this covers a basic human right. If you facilitate basic and even advanced education for free you create a bond. Still way apart to give every child the same chance to thrive though. I feel no need to own a gun in my home to feel protected. Worth a lot. D) Driving a nicely designed station wagon that performs like or better than many sports car in acceleration and driving performance is indeed a big fun at times on the Autobahn. But much more importantly top they are simply practical if you have kids.....and you do need way less fuel than a SUV and you have it much easier to find a parking lot in the cities. Win/win Thanks for sharing. Only when I grew older and seeing/experiencing many other countries I learned to appreciate what we have here. Nice weather all year round is not everything. Without the seasons and the change you learn the value of the differences.
One word on "Kombinationskraftwagen"... You will never ever hear this from anybody. Yes, it is correct. But even me, working for a car manufacturer, this word seems to be used very rarely. It's just "Kombi". ;-)
In Germany we say that sports cars only have men with very small "ding-dongs".😂 Station wagons, on the other hand, are, as you say - functional - practical - good. 💪💪
I'm from germany and it's right... We love "Kombi" hahaha thats so right hahahaha so funny, thx for this. My husband and his best friend... They talking about cars every day... And the 10000% best car is an Kombi hahaha