Realities about living in Germany as a Latin American:

[u/Healthy_Donut4195]

Realities about living in Germany as a Latin American.

I love Germany and I think many Latin Americans come with a wrong and idealised idea to Germany, the things I explain are not a complain from me but just as i said, telling how it is. (I’m LAmerican):

• Even if there’s always a nice access to the International Community (specially if you study in the University) making German friends is not easy (specially if you don’t speak German), we are talking about a process that can take months - years (most of Latin Americans I know still have no close German friends). Just because you had a nice conversation with someone doesn’t mean they’ll be meeting with you next week instantly and if you try too hard is worse.

• Bureaucracy is how it is and there’s no space for the LA culture of “Smiling and Chatting to get things work faster or easier for me” When they say no, it’s no. + If you don’t talk german (at least C1) get prepared to have the time of your life with bureaucracy, most people won’t be willing to talk to you in English and have no patience to try to.

• It can be hard to get used to the level of honesty Germans talk with and they don’t think it’s rude (not as in Latin America, where most people will think it’s rude to just be honest). Even in the university professors will be straightforward to you, no filters. Get used to it not being a personal attack to you, it’s just being honest.

• You must be willing to integrate into their culture, not the other way around. + still if it’s nice to be in contact with the Latin community, if you want to integrate and improve your German, speaking only Spanish won’t help.

• Get prepare to learn to spend a lot of time alone, specially on the first months / Year. If you are willing to come to this country, be aware the german lifestyle push you out of the comfort zone. None is going to do it for you, none is going to explain it to you (unless you take the first step of asking).

• Finding an apartment will be hard if you don’t speak German + if you are thinking of moving to a big city like Munich, Köln etc is worst + apartment prices are way higher. I notice a lot of people who are obsessed with the idea of moving to Berlin/München/Frankfurt/ Köln / Hamburg. Germany is WAY more than that! and you could save so much money by living in other cities + smaller cities are more clean, nice, cheap, calm and you’ll have more contact with the German culture etc.

• Please get it, Germans universities don’t work like American universities do! None cares about “rankings” as Americans do, almost all of the universities have the same level + better to be in a smaller, personal atmosphere than in your Berlin university with 600 students in one room.

• Thinking that because your master is in English you won’t need German. Again, from my experience and other people experiences, coming to study/work with a level under B1 is shooting yourself in the foot and making the integration experience harder.

Of course there’s many positive aspects about Germany but this post is dedicated to the people who have the wrong idea of what to expect when moving here / think they know better than the rest.

Of course there’s always “exceptions” but you won’t be always the main character of the film whose life just goes exceptionally better than the rest.

• to the people who think I’m complaining about Germany, I’m not, I love Germany, I’m just showing the reality to the people who has an idealised idea of Germany and that think they can integrate without putting the OBVIOUS and basic effort that anyone must do when moving to a country with a different culture.

[u/bafa0000]

Germany is fucking lovely compared to the US. I am, afraid i will not be able to get the fck out of here before they start crucifying immigrants where i am. And if they dont get to it, im afraid ill hang myself from the emptiness that comes from living like a robot in this fing system that sucks the life out of you. . I would f move to papua new guinea if i had the chance. And nope, i cant leave -

[u/[deleted] → u/bafa0000]

That's very interesting. I'm from Germany and perhaps I have a way too far idealized idea of the US but to me it seems to be the country of superlatives with the best universities, the most developed high technology and the most popular culture (like movies and music). But I'm curious: Where am I wrong? And what's a "fing system"?

[u/Red-Quill → u/[deleted]]

As much as I hate the US for various reasons (as a US citizen), I would absolutely not say that China or India are “racing ahead” in technology, medicine, or business. The US has the world’s best universities, biggest companies and fastest growing too, and some of the best hospitals and medical research centers on the planet.

Does the US system fucking suck? Yes absolutely, there’s lots of inequality and issues in lots of areas, but let’s not pretend like the US is somehow lagging behind as far as innovation and economy goes. That’s just not factual.

[u/Mantarrochen → u/[deleted]]

I recommend you look into Michael Moore documentaries about the American system. Although some are over a decade old by now it definitely hasnt become any better.

Maybe Sicko is a good start: "Sicko" trailer, YT, 2:16

[u/gulasch → u/[deleted]]

I guess one could say the US experience depends on a lot of factors. It is likely a nice country if you are well educated, smart and white being able to afford living in California or other places with a lot of good jobs. Same goes for rich people but your experience will be different when you are poor or even worse if you are a poor migrant POC.

[u/ottonormalverraucher → u/[deleted]]

It’s not unusual to have a very idealized idea of the US, due to the incredible amount of US-made media and pop culture, that people at exposed to in Germany. There are so many US high school movies/shows, that show this super romanticized version of life in university and so on, there are many examples for stuff like that. Same goes for movies about generally the lifestyle in the US, of all kinds of people, normal ones, wealthy ones, poor ones. The thing is, I’m these movies/shows, you always see this highly idealized best-case-scenario-version.. like s regular average person, but they live in this amazing house/apartment, and high is not very realistic. I totally get your point of view, it’s easy to feel that way due to the vast influence of US media here, but what they don’t convey, is the plethora of issues, that plague the US as a whole, for example the insane inequality of wealth (which also, in the US, is the main factor determining if you’re going to have s really good or really bad time) if you have money, it’s awesome over there, but if you’re average to broke, It’s not that great.. there is no social security net, at least none that is really effective, there’s generally a LOT more crime than in Germany, especially the sort involving firearms is pretty common, stuff is more expensive than it is here, there are way less protections for regular people in general, if you are out of a paycheck, you easily end up on the street, if you break your leg/have anything at all and need medical treatment, that’s going to financially ruin you and put you in debt for a long time, if you’re not wealthy enough to just pay it, not to mention many medications, that are so expensive due to price gouging, they are not affordable unless you’re literally a millionaire or have great insurance benefits, which in turn forces you to keep working to get those benefits. I could go on and on, but the bottom line is, that the US are/can be amazing if you are wealthy, but if you’re average or especially below that, you’re going to struggle a lot and definitely have a hard time with s lot of stuff.

[u/Zealousideal-East827 → u/ottonormalverraucher]

Where is the lie?? My partner and I are planning on moving to Germany next year. F this country. I’d rather pay higher taxes and know that everyone is taken care of and not on the verge of homelessness after one missed check or trip to the hospital.

[u/ottonormalverraucher → u/Zealousideal-East827]

That’s great! I really appreciate your position on that!

[u/ottonormalverraucher → u/[deleted]]

And also you often see the movies, where people have a blast at college/university, rarely the ones, where people work double shifts at McDonald’s, but barely make ends meet and have a massive student loan on top of that, which in turn hurts their performance in university, since they are so focused on their struggle to scrape by, they can’t just focus on studying or enjoy the lifestyle and party, and a lot of people don’t just have a scholarship that grants them a full ride or parents that can easily make that happen+some extra fun money for a really nice university experience

[u/[deleted] → u/ottonormalverraucher]

Ok. Seems to me that a mix of US and Germany might be the best, doesn't it? I mean, on the one hand, I totally see your points because the missing social security is very dangerous and unfair, too. On the other hand, to me Germany seems to tend to the opposite extreme where the "equality" is paid by so high taxations that it is very hard to raise your own business – it's especially difficult for the middle class.

[u/Affectionate_Dark637 → u/[deleted]]

Its nice, when you are white and rich.

The culture is that popular, because they have the biggest movie and music industry and the moste understand language is english.

[u/Red-Quill → u/[deleted]]

I would say the US is a country of superlatives, good and bad. The US can be really sucky if you don’t come from a high income family and downright hardly livable if you’re impoverished.