7 Things I do NOT LIKE from LIVING in Germany

After a few years in Germany, these are some details that I don’t like very much about life in Germany

I have lived in Germany for 5 years, 3 of them in Mannheim and another 2 in Erfurt. Germany is very large and diverse. Hamburg has nothing to do with Erfurt, Köln with Munich or Lübeck with Freiburg.

Here I am going to enumerate those things that I did not find very pleasant from German day to day. It doesn’t mean that this happens in ALL of Germany or that it happens with ALL Germans, but at least generally I think they do represent the German way of life.

Let’s start…

1. Internet censorship

A lot of music videos on Youtube you won’t be able to listen to them. Thanks to GEMA, something like an association of authors, who are responsible for closing all kinds of content. Forget about downloading movies, series, games, music, cracked software, etc. Torrent and 2p2 are totally prohibited.

Result: If you download a film you can get a letter with a fine of about 1,000 €, no joke. I know first-hand people who’ve gotten the letter to your house.

2. German is spoken in Germany!

If you want to work, the German language is an important requirement in most cases. Except large multinationals in cities or unskilled jobs. Even if you learn German, there is a stretch from studying it to really speaking and understanding it. Not to mention their multiple dialects and accents.

This does not happen so much in other neighbouring countries such as the Netherlands or Denmark, for example.

3. Summers are short and winters are long. In general, there is little sunshine.

Daylight hours are scarce during the winter. It gets dark at 4 p.m. in winter, and life is over, except on special occasions such as the Christmas market or special events.

4. Forget about eating fish, or at least fresh fish

The Germans do not include it in their diet, so it is difficult (and very expensive) to find it in the supermarket, excluding fresh salmon, trout and little else. You can find hake and other frozen bars. And of course, no seafood!

5. Ghost Sundays

EVERYTHING is closed, the streets are dead. People stay at home with family, to read, cook or take care of plants. If you’re lucky enough to have a good sunny day, you can find people in the park.

6. A mop?

What’s that? What’s that? There are no houses and very difficult to find in shops. The easiest thing is to send it by post. How do the Germans scrub with a rag and a bucket, on their knees and wringing it out with their hand.

7. Speak softly on trams, trains, subways or buses when you’re speaking Spanish or another foreign language if you don’t want to be noticed. We tend to raise our voices and when a few of us get together, we speak quite loudly, in comparison, of course.

It’s not all bad! See also the 8 Things I like about Germany

Have you lived in or visited Germany? What caught your attention? I forget many things …. comment below your experiences!

Take a look at My Top 15 Places to Visit in Germany

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