An American English Teacher Living and Working in Germany

(This is a living document and changes were being made weekly through the end of 2002. - I am only editing it now for major changes as I become aware of them.

Over the past year and a half my experiences throughout Germany have been wide and diverse; with many moments of great pleasure combined with periods of terrible frustration. As an American, and not an EC member, it is a bit more problematic to live and work in Germany and throughout Europe, but even more so if you try to deal with on a daily basis the overwhelming rules and regulations that confront you in Germany now.

Many years ago I lived in Germany from 1976 to 1980. From that experience, (although long ago), I developed a deep love for the country, people and German culture which has all seemed to have changed in so many different ways....or is it just me?

It is the changes that I have spent much time trying to figure out. Is it me just being older? Has the experience faded with time? Are the people really different or is it me? As the cold war ended and the reunification of the east and west occurred, did this somehow change the culture..... or maybe it is all of the above?
Actually, I have begun to think that the reunification of east and west has probably been the greatest change to what is now. Over 10 years have passed and even as I write this, official unemployment is pegged at 9.8%, with seasonally adjusted unemployment announced at 4.01 million people(05 September 2002-see article at side panel of this page). (March 2003 Update: 11.3 % with GDP deficit having risen above the 3.0 cap to 3.8%) In truth however, it is probably far higher as Germans work far fewer hours than Americans and those unemployed with no jobs who are being "trained" for a new career/job don't show up as the unemployed...and this is a very large number and a key component of why you might be working in Germany.

I arrived in Germany once again on Sunday, October 14th, 2001, a bit over a month after the terrible tragedy of 9/11, taking the train to Halle from Frankfurt after my long 13 hour flight from Bangkok.

After only a short time in Halle, I was asked if I would work and live in Dessau. As I knew nothing about the place and in an effort to be a team player, I agreed. Other Internet development work took me back and forth by train to the city of Halle up until Christmas. During this period, I traveled extensively in the east, going to other cities such as Leipzig, Dresden and Berlin.

This was a very interesting experience. It opened my eyes to both the beauty and the ugliness that existed side by side. Don't let anyone tell you there is no longer any pollution in Germany (as some have tried to do as that is what they have been told) as at times in Dessau during the winter mornings it was so bad that tears would roll down my face from the sulfur in the air. I was sick as a dog the first week I was in the city and am convinced it was because of either air or water pollution, or both. Even as I write this (August 2002), with the massive floods inundating large areas of central Europe, this morning's news is discussing the floods sweeping into the city of Bitterfeld (very close to Dessau), which is being referred to as one of the "most chemically polluted cities in Europe, if not the world". Even 12 years after the fall of the wall, the east still has a long way in recovering its beauty, heart and soul.

Note: March 2003 Update:
World's Worst Water Comes from...Belgium...and Germany? 06-Mar-2003
Belgium has the world’s worst water, according to UNESCO. It's dirtier than the water in India, Jordan and nine African countries. The next worst European country is Germany, in 57th place. The best water comes from Finland, Canada and New Zealand. The U.S. is 12th on the list for the cleanest water.

The water quality index rates countries according to the cleanliness of their rivers and underground water, the amount of treatment that they give to sewage and the way they enforce anti-pollution laws. The U.K. is now number 4 for clean water, but the Thames was once filled with sewage. It's now so clean that salmon swim in it. Belgian's environment ministry says things will improve when a sewage treatment plant is completed in Brussels in 2005.

I was left with the impression that there are many angry people in the east. They are frustrated at the economic conditions that exist there today with its extremely high unemployment and the feeling that there is no way out. The youth are angry. The old people are angry. The officials seem to be angry. Tough to find a smile or a kind word. There is a definite Russian feel to some places even today with it being easy to find numerous Russian newspapers but very difficult to find one in English. People speak far more Russian than English as a second language.

The government (the central government now based in Berlin) however does seem to be taking efforts to make things better. There are classes to retrain and educate those that need the training but I sense an underlying sense that this training is perceived as a joke by the majority (at least in the east) and that the programs are a way to get money from the government; a form of scam.

If you are teacher coming here to teach English after being recruited over the Internet, you need to be a bit cautious and ask a few questions as many if not most schools specialize in German government English training programs that are sponsored by the "Arbeitsamt", or unemployment office. You will soon find out that this is a key part of German worker thinking and in many cases is usually the biggest and the best located building in a town, especially in the east.

Note: March 2003 Update: Germany's unemployment has shot up to 11.3% and is climbing fast.

Classes can be quite large with a couple dozen students not being an exceptionally large number. Students in some places (young adults) can be quite unruly and discipline a problem with cell phones frequently going off during classes with loud and disrupting conversations being normal during class. Students simply getting up and walking out or doing whatever they want is also considered acceptable. Part of the reason for this chaos is that the school gets paid for the student if and when they are in class, so the motivation is to keep them in the class (whatever it takes to do so). The student knows they have the upper hand and if they don't want to be there, they will most definitely let you know!

You can immediately tell when you leave the east and enter into the west, either by train or car, as the graffiti decreases and eventually ends. The change is dramatic and is obvious to even the most casual observer as graffiti is on any surface where one can reach with a spray can. In a way it is almost funny to think about the amount of time, energy and cost it must take to paint so many surfaces. Spray paint isn't cheap either!

BERLIN

Berlin is a city that is alive but in a way that is different from other western cities. It is "cold" and "brooding". There is an extreme hardness to the city. It isn't dangerous, just hard. The reasons for this are endless but at the end of the day it is a city worth visiting, living in or soaking up its unique "life's experiences". If you can get a job here, don't pass this experience up!
(My photos of Berlin.)

I spent over 5 days in the various museums alone, followed by endless walks along the streets, parks and riding the trams. I tried to go everywhere that was anywhere. Without a doubt the most rewarding experience for me that Berlin could offer was the Pergamon Museum on Museum Island.
(My photos from the museum.)

The Pergamon is probably one of the most interesting and exciting museums that I have ever been to in the world (and this a pretty impressive list that includes the national museums in Washington, D.C., Athens, London, Crete, Cairo, etc.). It was built between 1910 and 1930 based on the plans of Alfred Messel but finished after Messel's death by Ludwig Hoffmann.

The museum has become world famous for its remarkable collections and ancient architectural remains such as the Pergamon Altar, the Market Gate of Miletus, the Ishtar Gate, the Processional Way from Babylon and the facade from the Mshatta Palace. I took hundreds of photos while inside the Pergamon and hope you enjoy some of those here. It is open Tuesdays to Sundays, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. but is is closed on Mondays. One web site is http://www.smb.spk-berlin.de and it is in English.
For shopping and entertainment, Berlin's "Ku-Damm" (Kurfurstendamm) area around what use to be the old West Berlin train station and the Berlin Zoo, is probably one of the nicer and more upscale areas in Europe. The train station across from Berlin's Zoo (the world's largest in total number of species) however is old and always extremely crowded and noisy. As I was traveling often to Berlin from Dessau south of Berlin, it was very accessible to me due to the train stations location.

WIESBADEN

Photo of the stunning Markkirche (1853-1862) church and statue in the Markplatz

I had spent 2 years in Wiesbaden in the mid-70s and always remembered how beautiful it was but it wasn't until I returned in the late summer of 2002, with much older eyes, that I really recognized its spectacular beauty and harmony.

Wiesbaden is a city that almost "sings" to you. It is a city of balconies; each filled with their own uniqueness and color, almost alive with their form. The balconies are everywhere and it seems that each one is trying to tell some type of story. I started to take pictures and all I can say is thank goodness I now use a digital camera! Berlin has incredible architecture, Wiesbaden has its baths and balconies.

This past time I arrived from Kassel via train and came into the main train station. I was shocked to see the run downed condition of the station compared to the beauty of so many other stations throughout Germany. Don't let the station's condition scare you however as only a few steps outside of the station you will be blessed to find a most amazing and beautiful city. I don't know the story about the station but there has to be one....

As you walk out of the front of the station, the street that is directly in front of you is "Bahnhoff Strasse". It parallels a very large park and leads to the the church shown above. You will also be able to find a couple of Internet cafes down side streets, one being the Cybercafe on Adelheidstrasse. Another is further down towards the cultural and shopping center of town at the corner of Webergasse and Hirschgraben which is one block up from the ancient Roman wall. Their web site is http://www.planet-internetcafe.de

Wiesbaden has been around a couple thousand years and was once a key camp of the empire's hold over their German frontier. Many ruins, plaques and statues have been found in the area, copies of which can be found in a small park near the above Internet cafe.

The people here seem to be alive! They are smiling, laughing, flirting, talking and just seem to be having fun. If you like wandering about small streets with beautiful cafes, shops and restaurants, try the area around the Hotel Goldener Brunnen on Goldgasse. It is an area that is one block off the main walking zone with its larger, commercial shops. You will also find an amazing place called the Buddha Bar. What a dramatic change from the anger and ugliness of the cities in the east and the parochial locals in Franconia (what an understatement!).
Garden apartments are being built in areas that were once occupied by the US Air Force. This includes both downtown Wiesbaden and Schierstein on the Rhein River. The large US military presence that was once here, other than one small compound at the old Amelia Earhart hotel, are all gone, including the famous USAF hospital that was once here (it is now being turned into a large compound for the state police).

DRESDEN

I visited Dresden and really enjoyed the city and its museums, especially, the Zwinger, but as I write this August 2002, a massive flood has hit it as well as many other historical cities throughout central Europe. The destruction is in the tens of billions of Euro. I think no one knows the extent of the damage or losses.
My photos from Dresden and the Museums

LEIPZIG

Leipzig is a beautiful older city in eastern Germany. I was told it has the largest train station in Germany and from my own experience, if they are counting the number of tracks under the roof, this seems true enough. 

Shopping can be done while waiting for trains in the beautiful, multi-leveled shopping mall and just outside the main entrance across the tram tracks in the old town. I found the shopping around these streets to be reasonably priced if you bargained hunted. I even discovered a museum about Egypt.....

HALLE

I found some interesting student cafes, decent music and food but I did get my camera stolen from the inside of my jacket on my last trip there before Christmas 2002. I would have more photos of the town and people but unfortuantely they were in the stolen camera. Shit happens...

Anyway. People are a bit more friendly and open here than in other places such as Dessau. Here however, like so many other places throughout the eastern part of Germany, the unemployment is very high but it doesn't seem to show as bad. I suspect this is because of the large university that is part of the city's culture. It also had/has a large chemical industry but it has been downsized tremendously over the past decade, but inspite of "offical" statements, the water pollution is still quite bad and I would be very careful with anything other than bottled water. See the above UNESCO report.

Apartments are both obtainable and affordable here, although some areas look like combat zones. In my last and final trip there I was stunned as I left the train station for a street car. I had been here many times here before as I had been involved with a web project in late 2001 here. Now however, it has gotten even worse with the areas immediately outside the main entrance looking as if there has been a battle. Buildings are burnt out, trash piled up meters deep in front of abandoned buildings and both regular police and bahn "red berets" (security) everywhere. Quite a change from other stations and areas in other cities in Germany.
There is one thing that I constantly hear and notice; this is comments from Germans who don't notice the changes. I guess if you live there everyday, the change is subtle. Maybe some don't want to see as there is a significant problem with "denial" here. If however, you travel in and out of places and countries over periods of many years, the change slaps you in the face.

DESSAU

If you have a choice to go elsewhere, take it. Life is short and Dessau is a town that has a lot of angry people and I feel the pollution can make you very sick (...air for sure and maybe the water?). There are some good people/teachers/students that pass through it however and it only takes one to make life a wonderful experience but for me, I am finished with this German town.
It is also another odd town (people??!!) in that during the night and winter months the very tall smoke stack from the town's central power plant is brightly lighted. The beams of the search lights are focused on the top of the chimney and one can see clearly the exhaust gases rising from the power plant.

I of course found this to be very odd and questioned people about it. It took some digging however as the locals considered it "normal" and hadn't thought about it. As it turns out, the major of Dessau was for years employed as the manager of the power plant and the lights show the people that the plant (your mayor!!) is providing energy and heat for you! Wow, what a concept!

As already mentioned above, the air and water pollution are still significant issues inspite of the official contentions there are no problems. I suspect that they turn the filters off at night to save the huge cost of these devices and this is the reason that the air is so bad first thing in the morning.

All one has to do however is spend a week here and drink the water and breath the air; you don't need a scientist to tell you the obvious.

Although there are smiling faces here, these were some very unhappy people. One came in every day and cried, another pretty much drunk. I did however try to make them laugh...sometimes that is all you really can do. Every single one however had good hearts, they just seemed so defeated.

KASSEL - www.kasselcity.de

When traveling to this city in the center of Germany by train, you might find the stations a bit confusing (as I did) as there are two main train stations. One is the older station in the center of town and the other (Kassel-Wilhelmshohe), a bit further out which serves the ICE (Inter-City Express) trains. It only takes 2 and a half hours to get here from Nurnburg via ICE.

The ICE station however is very convenient as most of the city's trams seem to terminate there. It is actually very modern with food courts, service centers and ramps that allow you to roll your bags to the train the platforms instead of lugging them up and down steps as is so common in way too many stations.

Unemployment is high with students living here telling me it is over 15% of its 200,000 population. VW has a large distribution facility here and there is also a large arms industry here (tank production) as well as call centers.

March 2003 Update: VW has announced car sales were off substantially (4.9%) in North America last year and on March the 11th, there was a 12% drop in their stock, hitting a new 7 year low. The only good thing about VW's future seems to be the China market where they control 40%. This light might continue to shine as the Chinese with a 7% GDP growth are buying cars like crazy, but the competition is moving in fast!!

North America is 20% of VW's business and if you ask me my opinion, given the raw feelings and emotions that running so high between the nations and people, I really can't see Americans buying anything German, whether it is a BMW, Mercedes, Opel or VW. Americans are very patriotic and boycotts are inevitable, especially if the war turns sour and many young Americans die and are returned home in body bags. (I really don't see sales in Europe increasing either...)

Statistics show that 1 in every 10 German jobs are tied to the automobile industry. I find this such an amazing statistic and part of the true hyprocricy that exists here. Germans pretend to be so "green" yet one of their remaining major industries and jobs producer, autombobile manufacturing, continues to create machines that are designed to guzzle gas and output CO2 emissions. I think if Germans are so concerned about the environment they should get rid of their cars and take public transportation...but maybe not, for it seems they don't mind paying $4 a gallon for gas!

I truly enjoyed my experience here in this city having spent a month here. The people are open and engaging. Very different from my experience in places further south in Franconia and Bavaria. I guess having a foreign population making up 30% of the population makes people a bit more open to outsiders.

Olga and Alex at Serco in Kassel, Germany-a young, married couple from Russia with Ph.D.s who managed to do exceedingly well in spite of their very limited English and practically no German. I was fortunate in the class to have had a dedicated and very professional student, Enrico, that spoke Russia well and when we divided into teams, he tutored the native Russian speakers through each lesson (English to Russian!). It was actually an amazing educational experience, both for them and me and I loved every minute of my time with this group!!!!!

During the summer of 2002, the Documenta 11 (an international art festival) was being presented throughout the city and much had been done to make the city a more international city, including announcements in English at the ICE train station. The centrally located tourist office where everyone I talked to spoke excellent English was also quite pleasant and the blueberry pancakes at the American styled "Stairs" was also nice on a quiet Sunday morning.

There is however a darker side to the city and it doesn't take much effort to find it. I was somewhat amazed at the obvious transvestites around the city, both on the streets and working in some of the pubs. Numerous sex kinos and a street where numerous hookers stand along the street not far from the old train station. Watching the drunks trying to make their way onto the trams, falling over drunk while setting waiting for a bus/tram or trying to cross the streets was sometimes sad. Every city has a soft underbelly, Kassel's is just a bit more open than most.

NURNBURG

What can I say about one of the most beautiful and awe inspiring cities on the planet? Although I have hundreds of photos, they really can't show the beauty of the city, its walls, churches, sculptures and buildings. If you come to Germany for a only a short week, this has to be on the list of places to go.

If you are coming here to teach however, better make sure you have a place to live provided or else you will be living far outside the city. From Erlangen and the headquarters of the largest company in Germany (Siemens), it is only about 15 minutes away either by train or car. There is a special pass between the cities that cost 3.05 Euro one-way. March 2003 Update: The fare has increased to 3.40 Euro.

ERLANGEN

Erlangen is a city that is headquarters to one of the largest companies in Germany; Siemens. It is a company town as they seem to own most everything, including the largest buildings, apartments and houses for their employees. Everything is clean, perfect and well run. It just had its "1,000 year old celebration" this summer as well.

It is also a university town and the city has a large university hospital. These three things combine to bring in a huge number of people from the outside of "Franconia". These "outsiders" and those born here seem to have an underlying friction. Nothing really overt but when you talk to other Germans or Europeans about getting things done here with local officials, the stories start. I have been told time and time again, if you aren't from Franconia, there will be problems and if you are with Siemens, even more so. All quite interesting. People who work for Siemens here are often referred to as "special" by those that don't. I have some thoughts on what this means, none very nice....

I remember one early Sunday morning going to one of the countless "fests" that occur throughout the summer in Germany, this one being in one of the more "trendier" parts of town, an area near the train station which includes bars with names such as Tios, 50/50, Sausalito's and Bogarts.

On this particular Sunday morning there was your typical Bavarian band that was soon followed by a rather abrasive comedian/singer telling jokes. East German jokes. Nasty ones that I had already heard, but in private. There was hysterical laughter from the people standing and sitting in the street. I guess I could understand some of the reasons for the raw humor but on a beautiful Sunday morning, it just seemed out of place. Outsiders, even ones who are German, are not thought fondly of.

Germany is not a nationalist country. After the loss of two world wars, that idea has been beaten out of them. You rarely see "German" flags are far more likely to see flags from the regions you are in. They are however, very regional in their thinking. Questions like, "where are you from?" gets answers like "Franconian" and even though Franconian is not an actual state (it is in Bavaria), people would NEVER tell you they are Bavarian!

Phrases such as "Gruss Gott", "Servus" and "Ade" remind you that you are in an area unique to the rest of Germany and German language. I thought I was in Bavaria but am constantly reminded that I am in "Franconia". Even the food is unique as are some forms of popular beer (wheat beer which is rather sweet) Sort of like saying you are Southern (American) and from Georgia but reminding people you are from north Georgia (with its own unique dialect and food).

Anyway, Erlangen is a pretty town and not what I would consider "hard time" in either working or living but it has a long way to go before I could call it exciting. If you come here with a mate, like to stay home and watch TV and movies, don't like meeting people; you have found your nirvana!

Erlangen is however extremely difficult to find a place to live and this can take months. I searched for months in Erlangen and Nurnburg and it was a real effort to find a place, any place. Be careful if coming to this area and having no place arranged to stay at. A cheap pension here with a shower and toilet down the hall can cost 1,000 Euro a month! Many times there are NO rooms at all. Anywhere. (If you got a position with Siemens, don't expect their "housing office" to help you either-as I was told they would. They just laughed at me when I called and told me to call them back in 6 months!)

There are several services in town to help "find" a place to live however, one which seems to be sanctioned by Siemens. They have a web site at http://www.wohnref.de . Expect to pay a fee and expect a very long wait before you find a place. I eventually found a place with the help of friends from work.

Maybe cities like Bangkok, Hong Kong and Berlin have spoiled me but if you like quiet, easy and serene, this is the place for you. If you like cheap, stay away. Drinks at some popular night spots are 8 Euro each!

I have spent however many wonderful and relaxing hours on the endless bike paths through fields, along the Europa Canal and along the many rivers and streams. I even found my favorite tree on the Regnitz River that I wanted to build a tree house in...but the "rules" would never allow that!! (Try and find a youngster fishing or swimming during the summer months on the beautiful streams and rivers or during the winter, ice skating on the many beautiful ponds. You won't, as there are so many laws that preclude these activities.) When I made an observation about this while walking many kilometers through the woods on a beautiful winter day, with the air crisp, the skies clear, I was wondering where the children were. I asked my German friends why weren't there any children out on the ponds ice skating, and as serious as I asked the question, the answer was, "... you can't ice-skate on the ponds as you will upset the carp and it is against the law to upset them." I kid you not!!! (Upset the fish....tilt....????!!!!)

TEACHING CONTRACTS

Like everywhere else in the world, they are worthless as the paper they are written on. Companies will do exactly what they want when they want for the reasons they want. You will be the last to find out if a change has been made as they don't want you to bolt to another job. August and September are "tricky" months here as that is when the Germans take their 3-4 week holidays in regions like Bavaria. This is also when you will have no work but everywhere else in the world is hiring (Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, etc.). October is when things kick back in for the "English Teaching Business".  Same thing happens in mid-December through mid-
January.

Some companies specialize in twisting the facts, such as stating "you don't pay taxes for 2 years" which actually means it takes that long for the government to catch up with you. You will see those ads on the Internet. Buyer beware! (But what do you care if you are leaving before than anyway?) They also like to tell you what you want to hear before you arrive on that international flight from the US or Thailand. In Thailand, we call it "sweet mouth".

They also forget to tell you about the numerous holidays that Germans take and fail to mention that you will have no work (and no pay) during these extended periods. In Bavaria, this extended holiday period is in August. Of course there is a long (1 month) holiday from mid-December until mid-January. Even if you get a contract with monthly "guarantees", don't expect it to be honored. I also advise you to request the contract in English as the German wording (as I found out) can be very, very tricky and when you think you have a guarantee, in actuality you do not. I really hate to say this, but don't trust anyone on these type of matters as you, the foreign English teacher, as a contractor with no labor union or labor law protection, are a commodity. (That is putting it in a very nice way...)

Germans work far fewer hours than Americans with only 1,500 hours a year (35 hours a week average) being quite common; half of what many Americans work. Taking English lessons is of course always considered "work" and in some departments where I am working, I have been told that managers require staff to take holiday time if they wish to attend English classes. Now that really motivates a professional engineer to learn English for his job!

Beware of being told about that wonderfully furnished apartment you have waiting for you as well. Furnished in the US and furnished in Germany mean two totally different things. I honestly don't know how you can use the same word with the same meaning.

Also be aware of how the apartment is being rented to you, "cold" or "warm", meaning with or without heat. Electric will always be extra and is EXTREMELY expensive here. People set in offices and classrooms  without the lights on using the light from their computers to read books to save electricity. I kid you not.
Apartments in Germany are rented without even the basic things such as light fixtures. Don't be shocked when you walk in to that new, unseen apartment of yours and find bare wires hanging from the ceiling or coming out of the wall. Of course the "furnished" part comes in with the fact there is a small table, a chair, a couch with doubles as a bed and a lamp standing in the corner (with no light bulb). Don't expect a shower rod or curtain either. That is furnished isn't it? That's what I was told in Dessau.

Did I mention that stoves and refrigerators aren't normally provided either? Oh, but I did say furnished didn't I?

TEACHING/WORK VISAS (for Americans)

Actually, not that difficult to get one (Canadians seem to have a difficult time for reasons I have yet to understand) but there are a few twists and turns that you need to be made aware of, the first one being it is only good for the city that you are teaching in. If it is issued in Halle, it is only good for Halle and not a small village 20 kilometers away. You would think that it might at least be good for the "state" it is issued in but it is not!

Yes, that's right. If you find work in some small town and than decide for whatever reason that you want to move and try another city (or your employer opens a new office and wants you to teach there), the visa becomes invalid and you must reapply at the new town's city hall (Rathaus), this is all on top of having to re-register with the new town's officials (usually the police).

You will need new letters of employment from your old/new employer. You will need to re-prove you have health insurance. You will also have to undergo a new police check (from both local and Berlin). All this takes time. Another 4 to 6 weeks is normal. Anything that was done before has to all be done again. You will of course pay a new fee for your new visa.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Germany insists that those coming here to teach have health insurance and it is required to have this before you can apply for your teaching visa from the respective city hall. This is referred to as "S8" and is insurance for language students, affiliate students and scholars from abroad. I guess we become "scholars" here.

One organization which handles this is "Buro of Dr. Walter" http://www.reiseversicherung.com which can be reached at 0180 3 91 94 91. They charged in 2001 for individuals up to 29 years old 30 Euro per month and for those up to 69 years old, 51 Euro per month. Whatever you do, don't let a payment slip or arrive late as your insurance is automatically cancelled, even if it arrives a date late and you continue to pay....as I found out.

BEING AN AMERICAN

Note: March 2003 Update: As an American, I suggest you stay as far away as you can as there is a quickly building anti-American feeling here concerning the US, Iraq, Bush and the UN. I am also predicting that the US will shut down most of its remaining bases here and move their forces farther east to more "friendly" countries such as the Czech Republic or Poland. As Rumsfeld said, "Germany is part of the old Europe".

Don't come here with some idea you are better or different or smarter or America is right....unless you want to get kicked back to where you came from.
Germans and many other Europeans are NOT happy with the way that things are right now, right or wrong. They see the current Bush administration's policies as extremely dangerous and short sighted. Honestly, they think we are incredibly stupid...

Issues such as global warming and nuclear energy (waste) are major concerns here and they think America is thumbing their nose at Europe on these issues. Employment is another major issues here but terrorism is not high on their list. Attacking Iraq is not going to make a lot of friends here and lets face it, just showing up as an American, even before you have opened your mouth, makes you a target for their MANY opinions about America and its policies.

My suggestion is you cool your jets. Take a deep breath. Watch and listen. Go with the flow. They don't like Bush; you don't like Bush. They don't like nuclear power; you don't like nuclear power. What's that old globetrotter expression?
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do............"

PHONE SERVICE

Woaaaaa!!!!! That gets everyone talking as everyone has their own version of a horror story to tell about "Telecom". Even my own stories are so bizarre they make no sense in even trying to tell the stories unless you can grasp how a company can have service to an apartment on a Friday and when you try to reconnect service to the same apartment the next week and for nearly 2 months after that, all you hear is you can't get service to that address and there has never been service there (I have a letter actually stating this...).

I like the one where my ISDN and DSL circuits went dead and when I went to Telecom to find out why ("Is my bill paid?" I asked. "Yes it is" was the answer. ), no one, including the woman whose name was on the order to disconnect it, could tell me why or how it was disconnected. Of course this little oversight takes 5 days to correct.

I also love the one concerning my account password for my T-Online account. I had ordered the service over the Internet thinking it would be faster. What a mistake that was. Three weeks later ( I waited patiently as I have been told to do so many times..) a letter comes telling me that my password had been mailed but returned. Of course I got the letter at the address that the password had supposedly been mailed to telling me the password had been returned. Figure the logic of that one out....

I had learned by this time however that the Postal system seems to be able to deliver mail to an address one day and not the next. This seems to be the case in Halle, Dessau and Erlangen. Mail for both myself and others (including businesses in these cities) had been returned. Being a person who likes to solve problems, I went to Telecom to get my password. Simple enough, right? Wrong. (The German Post buying all of DHL for global package delivery should make Federal Express very happy indeed!)

I was told that the password has to be mailed to you. There is no other way to get it. Even though I talked to three different people in the Telecom office and over the phone, asking them to fax it to me, email it to me or mail it to the local Telecom office, there was zero flexibility in the system that solved the inability to mail the password and for me to receive it. I was obviously the person the password was intended for as I had the letter and the letter had my name on it and my passport had the same name.....and so what was the final outcome? I never received the password and I never was able to use the online service "provided" by German Telecom.....and they wonder why they are loosing billions and their CEO got fired.

Note: March 10, 2003 Update: German Telecom this week announced the largest corporate loss in European history posting a $27,100,000,000 US dollar (24.6 billion Euro) loss for last year.

I must be fair however and also state that the people at Telecom are always friendly and do try to help. They even admit there is a problem, are frustrated with it but seem to have no ability to solve a problem....any problem. I just can't seem to understand this disconnect between intelligent and caring workers and a system that gives them no ability to solve a problem....it seems to mirror Germany as a whole.
Most here get a handy (mobile phone) and D2 service seems to be the best value; especially if the people you call or get called from have D2 service as well. Of course the competitor from German Telecom (D1) is much more expensive. You can get a "phone kit" where you get a phone, number and minutes and you simply "recharge" the phone when you run out of minutes by buying a card practically anywhere...of course this service is NOT run by German Telecom so it actually works!

There are also alternative phone/Internet services available now, two of the better known being Arcor and NefKom. The story about "service" seems to be consistent with these companies as well with many waiting 6 weeks or more for service, especially for Internet related services such as DSL.

FLEXIBILITY

There is none. Period. There is no compromise either.

While I am on the topic of flexibility, that seems to be an underlying issue to what is both good and bad about the culture. As long as things work, it is wonderful but God forbid when things break. There doesn't seem to be any way around the problem. No one is willing to accept responsibility for what went wrong and no one is willing to make the decision necessary to fix it. Worse than this, there is even what I call "total denial" as it seems in many cases, the problem never happened or there isn't one. Seems simple enough I guess; you can't have a problem if you are unwilling to admit there is one. Simpler even still is you can't fix what isn't broken. It is an interesting phenomena.

March 2003 Update: One small example is that class enrollment forms that indicate the wrong classroom number for my teaching at Siemens were mentioned to Siemens SQT training exactly one year ago. This information I have tried to correct more than once over the past year. As of today, March 12, 2003, even this simple thing has not been corrected. The reasoning for the inability to change the classroom number is as ridiculous as this paragraph.

TRUST

One of my students told me a story about the American company Walmart who came to Germany and opened stores and tried to introduce the idea of "service" into their business model here.

It was a very radical idea and was doomed for failure. What was it? Having someone
bag your items/groceries as you paid and checked out.

Radical you ask? Yes, for here as people bag their own items out of fear that someone will steal a can of peas or a potato from you as they bag your groceries. You must also provide your own bag to carry the items home or pay extra for one.

Although I can't find any real theft and it seems to be one of the most honest societies there is, (although it was a German girl who stole my new $1,000 Digital camera in Thailand at an Internet cafe) there does seem to be an underlying paranoia that I can't explain. People are terrified of people from the "outside", and this includes everyone not from their village. Beyond that "village security", the world is an unknown and scary place.

It is the same with shopping carts. Expect to have to pay for the privilege to use a cart and return it to the shopping cart rack. It requires you to pay a Euro to use the cart which you get back when it is returned but if you don't have any change, you can forget about using a shopping cart. I don't know but if I had a business that required people to buy a lot of items, I would want to make it easier for them to buy as many items as possible; not harder. Seems very alien to my sense of "retail business". Personally, I can remember buying far less items than I intended to because I simply didn't have the required coin on me to use the cart.....
March 2002 Update: Seems things are changing as I have now been "short-changed" three times in the last two months after buying groceries (a couple Euro each time). You could say it is an issue with changing from the DM to the Euro and it was an honest mistake, but when that happened here in 2002, this was never a problem nor did it ever happen before. It however is happening now. I am now carefully counting my change each and everytime I purchase something. Sad but true.

FOOD

Without a doubt German food is cheap compared to "foreign food". Foreign is defined as Chinese, Thai, American, etc. If you are use to living in the US, you most probably expect Chinese to be the cheapest, here it is one of the most expensive, as is Thai. Beer is cheaper than coke. You better like beer or you might have a tough time here.

Italian however is an exception and is not considered "foreign". Germans seem to live on Spaghetti and Pizza, with both being exceptionally cheap by US standards. Spaghetti is often indicated as the preferred food (over many more expensive foods) when one asks, "What is your favorite food?".

CLOTHING

The first thing you notice is how ridiculously expensive things are; shoes, glasses and clothes in particular. Bicycles at bike shops are priced out of reach of mere mortal teachers like myself and I must resort to buying used bikes from individuals or flea markets. I have paid less for most of my trucks in the US and Thailand than what people here pay for a bicycle. Don't even think about paying for a pair of glasses here. Take a trip to Thailand or Turkey, go to the best optician, buy the best glasses, buy new shoes, some jeans and than fly back to Germany, it's much cheaper!

There does seem to be several things that Germans focus on more than just about anything else. One of these is their hair. In the east, German women seem to love the color burgundy. It is hysterical to watch three women walk down the street, one obviously the grandmother, one the mother and one the daughter, all with bright burgundy hair!

I met a guy from England in Nurenburg on a business trip and said he hadn't been back to the east in 10 years but the first thing he asked me was , "Do they still have burgundy hair there?" Seems nothing has changed but the wall being down.
In the west, there is a heavy focus on breast. It is hard not to notice (to put it mildly) as it is always there for you to look at. The lower the cut and the more it is pushed up, the more in style it appears to be. Young or old, it makes no difference. If you got 'em, flaunt them!

They also love to show just a little of their panties above their pant's line. In other words, there is no doubt what a woman is wearing under that shirt and those tight fitting designer jeans!

The men are as much into hair as the women. They like it short and radical. Body piercing seems to be as frequent on men as women. Ears of course, but nose, eyebrows, belly buttons and tongue are all quite common (and probably some places I haven't got a chance to see).

Shoes are expensive and the Germans love their shoes. It seems to be some form of national pastime in their love for shopping and wearing different styles of shoes. A woman with 40 pairs of shoes doesn't seem to be unusual.
Hair, breasts and shoes....that pretty much sums it up.

BANKING

Banking is a bit different here as everything is accomplished via deductions from your bank account. Checks exist but are rarely used by the common man. All your rent, utilities, phone, cellular, etc. is automatically debited from your account. You better hope that wire transfer from your English school employer is never late and that contract that states you will be paid by the 15th gets honored. It has been my experience that the money shows up on the morning of the 15th.......a few days after the money was taken for the rent and electric.

It also amazes me, like no other job on the planet, that teachers are expected to work their first 45 days without any pay and accept this as "normal". Although I do accept it as "normal" , I wonder what carpenter, plumber, electrician or secretary would show up for a new job and say "Sure, no problem. Don't pay me for 45 days." I think many of our students would think their teachers were really quite stupid and naive if they really knew what we put up with. I know my German students would....

March 2003 Update: The German banks are in serious problems and inspite of their own EC rules that preclude the government bailing out banks, this "rule" is being re-considered as is the rule concerning the maximum deficit allowed. The German inspired law states that no EU member can have a deficit greater than 3.0% of GDP, Germany's has now hit 3.8% of GDP.

TRAVEL and TRANSPORTATION

The first thing you need to do if you spend any time in Germany and want to travel by train is to buy a BahnCard. This card, with your photo on it, gets you a 50% discount on every ticket you buy for a year. It is an amazing deal and a single round trip between Berlin to Munich will practically pay for the card.

March 2003 Update: Don't buy a bahn card now as the rules changed January 01, 2003. They now only allow a 25% discount and there are far more restrictions and conditions on the card's use. Yes, one of the thing's that actually worked and was simple is now complex and difficult. Service and reliability has also noticably decreased.

There also seems to be a rule that allows you a free ride if you are continuing your journey from a train trip onto the local public transportation. This rule seems to allow you a free ride on the tram/bus to your destination although I am not sure this is 100% the rule in all places.

The Regional Express trains are usually pretty reliable and you won't have any problem finding a seat but it can be difficult to next to impossible on many of the ICE trains. I highly recommend you spend a few Euro more and reserve a seat if you don't want to end up setting on the floor between compartments for 5 hours.

Buses and trams of course require a ticket but I have never once in all my years of travel in Germany saw a ticket inspector. The whole system seems to function on fear out of being caught by the non-existent inspector and fined the now 60 Euro fine. I of course always buy a ticket and always follow the law...........of course.
Taxis are always expensive in Europe wherever you go. Kassel seems to be less than most, Erlangen is outrageous. If you grab a cab to go any distance, plan on at least 10 Euro. If you can, take a bus or tram!

Flying in and out of Frankfurt and Berlin is a breeze. You can also get some incredibly good deals from these airports as well. I often found roundtrip specials to Bangkok priced at less than 600 Euro from Berlin and 400 Euro to Hong Kong. There are also super discount airlines running out of Berlin to London. Immigration is non-existent and passports are seldom looked at if you are a US citizen.

THE INTERNET

Good luck is all I can say. A place like Berlin will have a place with over 300 computers open 24 hours a day but "smaller" places like Erlangen and Nurenburg are near impossible to find access during normal business hours and you can forget about it in the evenings or on Sundays. You might get lucky at a library as in Dessau or find a Quelle electronics store with a few older PCs connected to the Internet (Erlangen) at 2 Euro an hour.

I have some very passionate feelings about the need for the Internet for both business and education. I think I am accurate in saying that most Germans still view it as something to be feared and unnecessary. You ask 20 year old university students what their email address is and you get answers like, "why would I need email?" or ask 45 year old engineers how long they have been using email and you get answers , "3 years"; these things disturb me as the supposeded "elite" haven't grasped the necessity of the Interent for growth, education, prosperity and communications. I assure you that the Koreans, Thai and Chinese have!!

DOING BUSINESS and the ECONOMY

Germany is a "company town". It is not entrepreneurial. Working for yourself is even looked down upon as having a job with a big business and a desk that you go to for the next 30 years is considered what is appropriate and correct. It is secure and that is what is important (never mind the fact that all over Germany companies are going out of business or downsizing large percentages of their workforce. e.g. Siemens, Borsig, Holtzman, Dornier,etc.) Only people who aren't "qualified" to work for a big company have their own business.....but this will change. Being an entrepreneur here is the opposite of what it is in America, with America being something you aspire to have and here something only desperate people do....like the Turks.

I see so many parallels with America 20 years ago. It is shifting (and must shift) from an industrial base with heavy manufacturing to a service/information economy. How this will happen, I have no idea but it must happen if there is any hope to employ the ever increasing unemployed. (Honestly, I don't think it will happen and Germany, as a global industrial power is finished.-I do agree with Rumsfeld on this one point; Germany is the "old Europe", I just don't think he relalizes how "old" it really is.)

It has been my observation over many years and through many cultures that technology is the medium for this transition. Germans are unwilling to embrace the pace of technological change that is occurring, very much like American managers were unwilling to do in the early 80s. Those that did not adapt however were finished by the late 80s and a "new breed" entered the managerial workforce, through either mergers or mass layoffs. Neither of these vechiles will happen in Germany due to the existing laws. I see no way to solve the problem, now or in the future.

What is different here however is even the majority of the youth seems unwilling or unable to embrace these changes as well, either in the east or west. It doesn't seem the leadership wishes to embrace these changes either and from what I can tell, education in basic computer, Internet and programming skills is practically non-existent. In my opinion, they are headed for a very rude awakening. In Germany, however I am not sure the system will allow the necessary changes that will assure survival.

The social net in Germany is huge and everyone knows if there is no work, they will get money from the state for as long as they need it. Don't want to work? Well, there is no real reason for you to do so as the system will make sure you have a place to live, food, health care and enough for your evening beer. This is all a "God given right". I am however afraid they are headed for a very nasty surprise.
The SPD seems to be headed for another victory in September and the main topics at the moment have shifted from unemployment, taxes and energy policies to recovery from the devastating August 2002 floods. The issues with unemployment will remain however and the solutions seem to favor massive tax cuts to the large businesses such as Volkswagen and Siemens, which will supposedly allow them to invest more capital in new plants and hire new employees. The SPD and the current Chancellor has stated this strategy will cut unemployment by half. Time will tell....

March 2003 Update: Of course Shroeder has won again but suffered a massive defeat in the first test of his new government some months later when his party had state elections. Those that said nothing before are upset about the new taxes being implemented to offset the falling economy. That however has been shifted onto the back burner as he has become a "leader" in the new anti-war (anti-American) crusade. In my opinion, the guy is an an opportunist and these actions are going to have extreme reprecussions on Germany's economy and their exports. I also feel it is part of the bigger game that France and Germany are playing for the "leadership" role in what will be the "Pesident of Europe". Achieving that position seems to be linked to an anti-American stance.

They are also calling for changes at the Arbeitsamt Office that will focus these resources on finding people jobs instead of dolling out money. This got a large laugh from my Kassel students when I read this to them in English as they seem to think that is the Arbeitsamt job now (...so why would it change in the future. They got a point...)

There also is a stated objective to cut benefits if an unemployed worker is unwilling to move to another city to take a new job. This also got quite a chuckle from my students as I was told this would never be enforced and was political suicide. (The quickest way to downsize a company is to move it to another town..)
Although there is a huge social net here and Germans work far fewer hours than Americans, I suspect that in reality, the deep frustration and sometimes anger one encounters comes from their own inability to get anything done or the massive constraints and regulations that block almost any action. I constantly hear how unhappy people are and how frustrated they are in their environments, with or without work, which I think contributes to the form of "fatalism" that one constantly encounters.

I wish I could see a solution but I can't. The problem however is extremely obvious. Will it change? Unfortunately no...at least not without "radical reform" and that is something that Germans are unwilling or unable to do, at least in the foreseeable future (....but than, who foresaw the wall coming down and the Soviet Union breaking apart?).

An election update: Monday September 23, 2002-The First Day of Fall/Autumn
Shroeder and the SPD party with a coalition with the Green Party has narrowly won the election this morning. In my opinion, the required deregulation that was imperative to improve conditions and turn the economy around will not happen. Labor and unions were key to his win and they have no stomach or flexibility to change the necessary laws to be more competitive in either Europe or in a global economy. 40,000 small businesses in Germany are projected to go out of business in 2003...
The DAX has been the worst performing market in Europe, now down over 30%. It will get worse. The global economy is flat and I expect it to get even worse with oil prices climbing and as I write this today, oil over $30 a barrel and the US about ready to invade/attack Iraq and oust Hussein.

March 2003 Update: Oil prices now at $40 a barrel and unemployment at 11.3%. What is interesting to note is that the unemployment in Holland, on Germany's northwest border, is 2%. I was just there and things are booming with beautiful new buildings everyhwere from the border until you reach Amsterdam.

Unemployment will increase. I guess if you are an English teacher this is good as there will probably be more Arbeitsamt classes to teach. Just don't expect to find smiling and happy faces when you enter the classroom.

Germany is no longer the engine of Europe's growth; it has stalled.....

CONCLUSION

My dear reader, you have now read a more realistic portrayal of actual life in Germany as a foreigner. Like everywhere on this wonderful planet we call "Earth", life is highly complex with many swirling colors. Nothing is right or wrong, it is just a form of grey. Life here is no different. Take the best, accept the worse, try to ignore the despair in the East, enjoy the beer, make a student happy, watch an idea unfold and life will be wonderful!

March 2003 Update: As an American, stay away. Life is truly short and there are so many other places that need and appreciate your hard work, talents, ideas and motivation! These are all qualities that seem to be unwelcomed traits in Germany as they go against the grain of German culture and society as it is today. Notice I said today! Not what it once was....

Although I had some wonderful moments with some really good people and students, once you leave the classroom, things are "ugly". "Business is business" as I have been reminded and you as a teacher are at the bottom of whatever "pole" (pile!) there is.

I spent most of my last few months in 2003 listening to people dicuss their jobs, the economy, taxes, the war, etc. I felt like I should have had couches in the room instead of chairs. The young engineers are stifled and are angry. Any creativity is crushed with "why should we do it a different way as it has been working perfectly for 20 years the old way". You ask the younger professionals what they want, and the response is a house and their pension (and this is from people in their 20s!!!). You ask," don't you want to be a manager," and without exception, they say "no!". It seems no one wants to take or have any responsibility anymore....

All the best, Mystic