AIBU to wonder what life in Germany is like?

[prepared101]

lighthearted and somewhat stereotypical

I'm on holiday at in popular European summer holiday destination. The resort is made up of mostly German and English tourists.

The Germans are almost universally in excellent shape- not thin but lean and 'strong' looking. Their hair is in good condition- mostly natural looking. Their skin is great and their tans are superb.

So. as I sit on my sun lounger with dodgy tan (if you can call it that) lines, a bit of extra podge on my belly and hair that breaks at the sight of chlorine I ask... how do I live like a German?!

I was there last Sunday and the museums and restaurant were open.
Museums were pretty cheap too, 4e for a family of 4 in the one we visited

That's literally incredible. A 3 weeks wellness holiday to recuperate? That's beyond what we could dream of. To think if Brexit hadn't happened I could've gone and worked there and got that 3 week stay one day!!!

I understood what you were saying just the comment wasn’t really anything to do with what the OP was asking.

It really depends. DH's German grandfather got a house as part of his employment, he still lives in it today. He helped both his children buy houses. However, DH's cousins don't own though one of them told me he would like to (as he is worried about whether his pension would support renting in old age) though he is happy renting too. He gets a lovely apartment and the rent hardly goes up. Equally, we also know people who have rented all their lives and are happy too.

I would say that people are not as obsessed about property as they are here. If circumstances allow them, they would buy eventually (and they tend to buy only 1 house and stay there until death) but its a bonus rather than an essential. I feel like DH's mother still has that mentality even though she has lived in UK for years so she couldnt understand my drive to buy our flat asap.

We were frequent visitors to Munich.

Definitely a lot of not slim people. Beer kellers popular, our friends could get beer delivered in the same way we get milk. First time there I thought there were a lot of coffins but it seems it was so the drunks could be taken somewhere out of the way to sleep it off.

Public transport was good and cheap.

I think that is so true. I think, across Europe as a whole (certainly the Netherlands that I have most experience of outside the UK), city / town centre living is the norm and it is easier to walk and cycle to amenities that are closer without having to rely on a car.

I've just moved to a city centre apartment and my car hasn't moved for 10 days. I walk / cycle / take public transport MUCH more than when I lived in suburbia before.

Netherlands has a higher home ownership rate than uk- 69% vs 63%.

Spain has 76% home ownership rate too. What I think is different is that people in the UK want to buy houses rather than apartments and so have to move to suburbia where land is cheaper.

@onthefencesitter I didn't reference home ownership, just the greater propensity to live in the centre of cities / towns.

Sorry quoted wrong post!

I have to say that whilst there are some overweight Germans, they seem fewer in number.

Maybe having competent governments and things such as adequate public transport helps. I wonder if the use of saunas also helps.

No problem since we agree anyway @onthefencesitter 😀

It always strikes me when I'm in a lovely historic city in Italy or Spain for example, how many people still live in the city centre. Yet in historic towns across the UK there seems to be very little of it or it's so expensive that average families can't afford it.

DH grew up in zone 3 London and his mum never had a car even though she had 4 kids. It is technically the suburbs but you can reach central london in 20 mins via the tube. DH and I bought an apartment also in zone 3 london and we also don't have a car. DH cycles to work, we use public transport, we all have wheeley trolleys for the supermarket. DH refuses to live anything further out than zone 3 and he rejects all houses in our budget range; he says he would rather a more central apartment or a larger apartment where we live. This sentiment is quite unusual in the UK, I think it may be because he is quite European in mindset!

Another factor that I think could be a contributor- in Germany, vier zimmer wohnung (3 bedroom and living room) is quite standard. I am looking for a similar apartment in London as my next home and it is much less common than 2 bed apartments! Most families would want 3 bedrooms, i think, even if you have 1 child, the third bedroom is useful as a study or playroom or for pets. And if you have 2 children, you would really want 2 bedrooms esp if mixed gender. in london, a lot of families live in 2 bedroom apartments, no wonder they are dying to move into suburbia.

I’ve met some lovely German people both in Germany & whilst traveling around. However, I always think they look quite stern, which doesn’t go particularly well with his Speedos or her going topless.

I’m in Germany at the moment touring round in our camper for the summer holidays. The public facilities here are so much better- a lot of towns have their own municipal pools which are clean and cheap to use (2 euro each the last one we went to which had diving boards, a kids pool and a ‘proper’ swimming area). Most towns also seem to have their own football pitches and tennis courts (also free to use). There are cycle lanes everywhere and easily accessible walking and bike trails in the forests with free parking.
The playgrounds we’ve seen are exciting and well maintained- the one we were at yesterday in Kehl has an brilliant river/fountain/water play area and the kids were in it all day.
At home you take your life in your hands going anywhere on your bike, nature (beaches and forests) cost a bomb to park at, public transport is woeful (I live in Cornwall) and our local pool is dirty, cold and £7 each to swim.
Our government are pissing on our backs and telling us it’s raining.

That's a great point about how much more accessible facilities are.

In Berlin I paid 3.50 to use the local pool, here in London it's 10 quid, lots of people can't afford that at all.

If you tried to lower the prices for pools and transport here people would be complaining about subsidising services.

If you've had severe stress or an operation or a serious illness you can apply for a three-week 'cure' in a residential clinic in a seaside/mountain/lakeside area - your contribution is 10 euro/day, which can be covered for you if you can't afford it.

Yes, I remember a German friend mentioning this. She seemed quite disgusted by the fact that my FIL, a few days after having major heart surgery, was just sent home. I’m Germany you would apparently spend 2 weeks or so in a ‘Reha-Kinik’. Like rehab, but not for drugs and alcohol abuse - rehabilitation from as you say an operation or illness.

I love Germany- vastly underrated place. We have been a lot with work stuff.

On the looking good front- I've yet to see many German women rocking the pantomime Dame look of huge thick eyebrows or constant false eyelashes and clothes tend to be 'sensible' and good quality rather than out and out fashionable.

As others have said ready meals aren't a big thing, nor is getting your shopping all from one place - the supermarkets are actually not great and people will go to fishmongers, butchers, markets stalls etc , greengrocers.

Definitely more outdoorsy and lots of woods/lakes/saunas etc- they have good summers too- particularly from Düsseldorf and going south- Bavaria can be very hot in summer and cold and skiing in winter- hence the tans.

A big thing though I think is the stress factor- a lot of Germans rent big family flats (nice ones) and pay what we would call social rents for very many years regardless of income - if they buy ,they often buy holiday homes instead in places like Majorca, Turkey.

If you are ill it's common to be sent to these rather nice post convalescent centres with pools, lakes, gyms etc

A lot of this applies to Denmark too - we noticed it when we lived there. A lot of the men too kept their good looks till far older than men seem too here- all that walking, cycling and swimming probably!!

Going to a convalescent type place would have made a huge difference to me after my mastectomy - instead of being sent home the day after with a leaflet of exercises, and expected to just get on with it!

Don't know where you are but I was staying in a hotel that was mostly German tourists and they looked remarkably like the British tourists - slightly overweight with a beer belly!

Like most other Europeans, they don't gorge on cheap, processed food and walk once in a while.

After trips in Spain, France, Portugal, Italy and Switzerland, the first thing that strikes you is that you see next to no obesity. The next is what the Brits look like back in the passport queue back home.

Just back from a long weekend in Munich. Such a lovely city and one of the most liveable I've ever been to. Would be amazing to be a student there

In France you also find the 'cures' which you get on the equivalent of French NHS (but it's all private anyway).

My parents holiday home is in a well known 'therme' town and we sometimes get talking to people who are sent there for 3 weeks for the 'cure thermale'. It can be used for a variety of illnesses/recovery.

Pools in a lot of France (not all) are cheaper than here (range from 2 to 8 euros depending on facilities), I mean I wouldn't say they're necessarily better or cleaner than UK ones! But our local pool is huge, with wave machines, an outside beach area, and also sauna/jacuzzi etc.

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cure_thermale#:~:text=Une%20cure%20thermale%20est%20un%20traitement%20m%C3%A9dical%20prescrit,thermales%20et%20par%20leurs%20produits%20d%C3%A9riv%C3%A9s%20%28gaz%2C%20boues%E2%80%A6%29.

In a link it says swimming caps are always required in France - that's rubbish! We never see people wearing them!