in Germany. Been here for about 7 months, and even I am shocked by how different the cultures are at this point. Everything is slower: You have lunch for at least an hour and the waiting staff does not bother you at all. Ordering at fast food restaurants is the opposite of fast, but yet you will see a line 30 minutes long and out the door just to order a fucking big mac. People don't give a shit at all about sexuality or religion, but they throw around racial slurs and bitch about immigrants like it is the Daytona 500.

Germans still use the mail and paper forms to communicate important residential and business information. This means that if you have a question about your paycheck, you have to mail somebody a form that then mails you back a form that you fill out and mail to them, and then they mail you a response back, which usually says that you initially filled out the wrong form. It literally took me 3 months just to add a dependent to my tax deductions.

On the plus side, you don't need a car and can get around fine with a bike, because all roads were designed to have bike lanes. The train is an incredibly cheap, safe and reliable means of transportation to take weekend trips. Much better than having to rely on flying. Health care is an automatic and no hassle or headache like in the States: When you are sick you just go to the doctors office and show them an ID. Also, there are very solid and supportive social programs (such as free language courses).

But yes, Germans have much more of a common phenotype than you see in the States, which should be obvious to me but it takes a while to get use to it. I would say about 9/10 Germans are light skinned with light eyes. The hair color varies although there are many more people with blond and red hair here than in the States. However, when you see a German that is dark skinned or has dark eyes, it may very well be that they have some recent mixed ancestry ( but not always). And yes, it is a little weird for me that there are no Jews here. I have a lot of friends in the States that were Jewish. Have not even heard of a Jewish person since I have been here.

OMG I have not even start on German culture yet. That is completely different from back home.




[Edited on April 9, 2014 at 4:30 PM. Reason : a]

4/9/2014 4:09:37 PM

JEWS

4/9/2014 4:11:16 PM

That is strange considering how accommodating Germany has always been to Jewish people

4/9/2014 4:19:33 PM

Is it true that Germans don't put ice in their drink?

Tell us about Germans and their beer.

4/9/2014 4:23:31 PM

If you can't find any Jews in Germany, try Poland. I hear things have worked out nicely for the Jews there

4/9/2014 4:32:40 PM

Didnt Germany like, I dont know, get rid of most of its Jews in like the 1940s?

4/9/2014 4:33:34 PM

Germans don't typically order drinks or water for casual eating because it is expensive, but when the do you have to ask for ice.

The quality of German beer is incredible and it is dirt cheap by American standards. The average six pack cost about 2 euros, and that is a six pack of tall boys: they don't do normal bottle sizes. I know tha Americans love Belgium style beer, but German beer is definitely some of the highest quality and best in the world. German food quality is also high, but it is much more plain than any other food that I have sampled. A typical dish is just boiled meat, bread, mustard and on a plate.

4/9/2014 4:33:40 PM

dp

[Edited on April 9, 2014 at 4:41 PM. Reason : a]

4/9/2014 4:36:06 PM

In terms of culture, they can be incredibly rude by our standards. They will invite everyone else in a room to a party and completely ignore you. They often times prefer to only socialize with Germans, and will organize events and or parties such that foreigners are excluded. I basically just think that they are ignorant of their nationalism, and that Germans treat each other like it is one big family, which is not what goes on in the States.

4/9/2014 4:41:13 PM

4/9/2014 4:43:07 PM

It's weird that there are few Native Americans in America. I mean where did they all go?

4/9/2014 4:50:33 PM

it is more about my experiences in Germany. The title was just something that yowilly suggested. I think that he is an anti-Semite.

4/9/2014 4:57:17 PM

I look forward to your stories and observations... although I'm not totally convinced you're real.

4/9/2014 5:04:28 PM

Grumpy can vouch for me, and here is my soundcloud account.


https://soundcloud.com/myvitruvianman

4/9/2014 5:06:28 PM

I don't really know any Jews. The Nazis must have run them out of Eastern NC too.

4/9/2014 5:11:28 PM

You need to get over being excluded from that one party

4/9/2014 6:44:10 PM

0.144% of Germany is Jewish
0.325% of North Carolina is Jewish

4/9/2014 6:52:05 PM

The more Jewy states are greener.

A) because they are in overwhelming support for environmental policy and reform

or

B) because money


In other news, German culture is hyper-apologetic towards Jews. It is a very popular destination for Jewish travelers. It's just that none of them want to stay there.

4/9/2014 7:04:31 PM

Are the Germans hot and free loving like other European countries, or are they fat and smelly like the ones I see on vacation in the US?

4/9/2014 7:14:59 PM

I grew up in a suburb of Atlanta, and there were tons of Jews there

actually, my three best friends growing up were all Jewish (they all lived on my street)

then I moved to NC, and there was, like, nary a Jew to be seen. people in NC viewed Jews as novelties. it was kind of odd.

4/9/2014 7:15:00 PM

Where did you grow up? I lived in Marietta, and now that you mention it, there really were a lot more Jews there than in NC.

4/9/2014 7:22:49 PM

wikipedia to the rescue

Quote :

"The second largest religion is Islam with an estimated 3.8 to 4.3 million adherents (4.6% to 5.2%),[173] followed by Buddhism with 250,000 and Judaism with around 200,000 adherents (0.3%); Hinduism has some 90,000 adherents (0.1%). All other religious communities in Germany have fewer than 50,000 adherents."

Quote :

"Germany has Europe's third largest Jewish population (after France and the United Kingdom)."

and

Quote :

"Today Germany, especially its capital Berlin, has the fastest growing Jewish community worldwide. About ninety thousand Jews from the former Eastern Bloc, mostly from ex-Soviet Union countries, settled in Germany since the fall of the Berlin wall. This is mainly due to a German government policy which effectively grants an immigration ticket to anyone from the CIS and the Baltic states with Jewish heritage, and the fact that today's Germans are seen as significantly more accepting of Jews than many people in the ex-Soviet realm."

Quote :

"Prior to Nazism, about 600,000 Jews lived in Germany, with communities going back to the 4th century."

4/9/2014 7:48:12 PM

^^
I actually grew up in Marietta too (although very close to Roswell.) I went to Mt. Bethel Elementary School and Dickerson Middle, and would have gone to Walton if we hadn't moved. (A couple of other nearby high schools were Lassiter and Wheeler, I think.)

4/9/2014 7:55:43 PM

this is interesting

Quote :

"German Jews founded the Ashkenazi Jewish community in the Early (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c.1000-1299 CE). The community prospered under Charlemagne, but suffered during the Crusades. Accusations of well poisoning during the Black Death (1346–53) led to mass slaughter of German Jews,[2] and their fleeing in large numbers to Poland. From the time of Moses Mendelssohn until the 20th century the community gradually achieved emancipation, and then prospered. In January 1933, some 522,000 Jews lived in Germany. However, following the growth of Nazism and its antisemitic ideology and policies, the Jewish community was severely persecuted. Over half (approximately 304,000) emigrated during the first six years of the Nazi dictatorship, leaving only approximately 214,000 Jews in Germany proper (1937 borders) on the eve of World War II. The remaining community was nearly eradicated in the Holocaust following deportations to the East.[3] By the end of the war between 160,000 and 180,000 German Jews had been killed in the genocide officially sanctioned and executed by Nazi Germany.[3] After the war the Jewish community started to slowly grow again, fueled primarily by immigration from the former Soviet Union and Israeli expatriates. By the 21st century, the Jewish population of Germany approached 200,000, and Germany had the only growing Jewish community in Europe.[4]"

4/9/2014 7:58:23 PM

I had a lot of Jewish friends from Atlanta I met through regional Jewish youth activities and conferences. Most were in Marietta and Alpharetta, lots of them at Walton.

4/9/2014 7:59:51 PM

Quote :

"but they throw around racial slurs and bitch about immigrants like it is the Daytona 500"

From working with a bunch of Germans and other Europeans I can concur on this. I've been shocked at the things they say with no sense that it might be wrong or impolite. Say what you will about race relations in the US, it's light years ahead of most of the world.

4/9/2014 8:03:50 PM

I knew a Jew once. He did nit live in Germany.

BanjoMan's story checks out

4/9/2014 8:06:17 PM

I heard Germans love holocaust jokes, Banjoman. You should run a few up the flagpole and see who salutes.

[Edited on April 9, 2014 at 8:23 PM. Reason : You can later call them your Nazi sympathizer friends. Will make you seem worldly, etc]

4/9/2014 8:22:14 PM

^^ was his name Noah?

I have not heard a jew joke yet, and I think that those are off limits. The weather here is also remarkably similar to NC, which is nice because I was living in Texas for the past 7 years.

But, you definitely hear constant moaning about their growing Turkish population. They describe them frequently as the uneducated Germans or the Germans that don't speak German well that depend on the government. It is kind of uncomfortable for me that these are the educated, upper class types that are the intolerant ones. I can't imagine a scenario in grad school where it would be OK to say those kinds of things without somebody telling me to STFU.

Another plus side though, the work force is more relaxed here and I don't have to worry about being bitched at for taking a 3 pm coffee break. In fact, the Germans here all appear to take three 45 min coffee breaks per day (830, 12, 3) and everybody comes including the boss. There is less class distinction here as in the States, so the higher ups will frequently take lunch and coffee breaks to socialize with coworkers.

Quote :

"re the Germans hot and free loving like other European countries, or are they fat and smelly like the ones I see on vacation in the US?"

I must say, the tall blond (or red head) phenotype is much more common here. Guys on average really take care of themselves a bit better than the states b/c everybody clocks out of work at 6, which gives them time for the gym. The girls seem to have better asses, prolly due to the fact that people ride bikes their whole lives. Also, there is just something attractive to me with the German/nordic facial structures in the women, kind of like the whole diane kruger look (that is actually very common here)

But, what you gain in looks is certainly lost in personality. Germans do not really embrace passion and spontaneity as they are more reserved people and everything goes according to the rules or the plan. The women in general definitely lack that cute factor that you can see in the states, as nothing really seems to overwhelm them and they constantly site reasons of practicality to justify their lack of enthusiasm. Also, the culture in general keeps private matters private, which means that you will get people spending 45 min telling a story about a new wurst sauce that they discovered in a market.

[Edited on April 9, 2014 at 8:52 PM. Reason : s]

4/9/2014 8:41:31 PM

Jamal

[Edited on April 9, 2014 at 8:48 PM. Reason : Jamal the Jew ]

4/9/2014 8:48:03 PM

I suggested that banjoman call his thread "boy there are remarkably few jews here" as a joke when he asked what he should call his thread about living in Germany. I didn't think he'd do it and I regret it now that he has, because people should be asking him about life in Deutschland rather than rambling about its Jewish population.

4/9/2014 8:49:27 PM

dp

[Edited on April 9, 2014 at 9:01 PM. Reason : c]

4/9/2014 8:56:33 PM

Dont feel guilty, it is not like this thread was ever gonna stay on topic. Plus, can"t we just get a mod to change the title?

4/9/2014 8:59:24 PM

I'm not sure if they cane but whatever. OK, beer's cheap. What's surprisingly expensive there?

4/9/2014 9:03:58 PM

this is interesting:

Quote :

"The Jews (Hebrew: ????????? ISO 259-3 Yehudim Israeli pronunciation [jehu'dim]); (??? ?????, Standard: Bnai Yisra?el; Tiberian: Bnai Yisra?el; ISO 259-3: Bnai Yisra?el, translated as: "Children of Israel" or "Sons of Israel"), also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group[14] originating from the Israelites (Hebrews) of the Ancient Near East. According to Jewish tradition, Jewish ancestry is traced back to the Biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who lived in Canaan around the 18th century BCE. Jacob and his family migrated to Ancient Egypt after being invited to live with Joseph (who rose to the rank of Pharaoh's Vizier) in the Land of Goshen region by Pharaoh himself. Their descendants were later enslaved until the Exodus led by Moses, which is commonly dated to the 13th century BCE. Historically, Jews had evolved mostly from the Tribe of Judah and Simeon, and partially from the Israelite tribes of Binyamin and Levi, who had all together formed the ancient Kingdom of Judah (alongside the remnants of the Northern Kingdom of Israel who migrated to their Southern counterpart and assimilated there).[15] A closely related group is the Samaritans, who claim descent from the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, while according to the Bible their origin is in the people brought to Israel by the Neo-Assyrian Empire and some Cohanim (Jewish priests) who taught them how to worship the "native God".[16] The Jewish ethnicity, nationality and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation.[17][18][19] Converts to Judaism have a status within the Jewish ethnos equal to those born into it.[20] Conversion is not encouraged by mainstream Judaism, and is considered a tough task, mainly applicable for cases of mixed marriages.[21] The modern State of Israel was established as a Jewish nation-state and defines itself as such in its Basic Laws. Its Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it.[22] Israel is the only country where Jews are a majority of the population. Jews had also enjoyed political independence twice before in ancient history. The first of these periods lasted from 1350[23] to 586 BCE, and encompassed the periods of the Judges, the United Monarchy, and the Divided Monarchy of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, ending with the destruction of the First Temple. The second was the period of the Hasmonean Kingdom spanning from 140 to 37 BCE and to some degree under Herodians from 37 BCE to 6 CE. Since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, most Jews have lived in diaspora.[24] A minority in every country in which they live (except Israel), they have frequently experienced persecution throughout history, resulting in a population that has fluctuated both in numbers and distribution over the centuries. The world Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to World War II,[25] but 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Since then the population has risen again, and as of 2010 was estimated at 13.4 million by the North American Jewish Data Bank,[25] or less than 0.2% of the total world population (roughly one in every 514 people).[26] According to this report, about 43% of all Jews reside in Israel (6 million), and 39% in the United States (5.3–6.8 million), with most of the remainder living in Europe (1.5 million) and Canada (0.4 million).[25] These numbers include all those who self-identified as Jews in a socio-demographic study or were identified so by a respondent in the same household.[27] The exact world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure. In addition to issues with census methodology, there are halakhic disputes regarding who is a Jew and secular, political, and ancestral identification factors that may affect the figure considerably.[28]The Jews (Hebrew: ????????? ISO 259-3 Yehudim Israeli pronunciation [jehu'dim]); (??? ?????, Standard: Bnai Yisra?el; Tiberian: Bnai Yisra?el; ISO 259-3: Bnai Yisra?el, translated as: "Children of Israel" or "Sons of Israel"), also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group[14] originating from the Israelites (Hebrews) of the Ancient Near East. According to Jewish tradition, Jewish ancestry is traced back to the Biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who lived in Canaan around the 18th century BCE. Jacob and his family migrated to Ancient Egypt after being invited to live with Joseph (who rose to the rank of Pharaoh's Vizier) in the Land of Goshen region by Pharaoh himself. Their descendants were later enslaved until the Exodus led by Moses, which is commonly dated to the 13th century BCE. Historically, Jews had evolved mostly from the Tribe of Judah and Simeon, and partially from the Israelite tribes of Binyamin and Levi, who had all together formed the ancient Kingdom of Judah (alongside the remnants of the Northern Kingdom of Israel who migrated to their Southern counterpart and assimilated there).[15] A closely related group is the Samaritans, who claim descent from the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, while according to the Bible their origin is in the people brought to Israel by the Neo-Assyrian Empire and some Cohanim (Jewish priests) who taught them how to worship the "native God".[16] The Jewish ethnicity, nationality and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation.[17][18][19] Converts to Judaism have a status within the Jewish ethnos equal to those born into it.[20] Conversion is not encouraged by mainstream Judaism, and is considered a tough task, mainly applicable for cases of mixed marriages.[21] The modern State of Israel was established as a Jewish nation-state and defines itself as such in its Basic Laws. Its Law of Return grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it.[22] Israel is the only country where Jews are a majority of the population. Jews had also enjoyed political independence twice before in ancient history. The first of these periods lasted from 1350[23] to 586 BCE, and encompassed the periods of the Judges, the United Monarchy, and the Divided Monarchy of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, ending with the destruction of the First Temple. The second was the period of the Hasmonean Kingdom spanning from 140 to 37 BCE and to some degree under Herodians from 37 BCE to 6 CE. Since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, most Jews have lived in diaspora.[24] A minority in every country in which they live (except Israel), they have frequently experienced persecution throughout history, resulting in a population that has fluctuated both in numbers and distribution over the centuries. The world Jewish population reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to World War II,[25] but 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Since then the population has risen again, and as of 2010 was estimated at 13.4 million by the North American Jewish Data Bank,[25] or less than 0.2% of the total world population (roughly one in every 514 people).[26] According to this report, about 43% of all Jews reside in Israel (6 million), and 39% in the United States (5.3–6.8 million), with most of the remainder living in Europe (1.5 million) and Canada (0.4 million).[25] These numbers include all those who self-identified as Jews in a socio-demographic study or were identified so by a respondent in the same household.[27] The exact world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure. In addition to issues with census methodology, there are halakhic disputes regarding who is a Jew and secular, political, and ancestral identification factors that may affect the figure considerably.[28]"

4/9/2014 9:08:15 PM

gasoline, nike and addidas brand shoes. Riding the bus is actually 5 times what I would pay back home. All of the meats that americans crave like steaks and burger patties are at least double the price, and they are not as tasty.

4/9/2014 9:08:20 PM

Meat is drastically underpriced in this country.

Surprising to hear that riding the bus is so expensive. Are you in a city with light rail (or U-bahn) service as well?

4/9/2014 10:15:09 PM

how do you say the food is high quality and then talk about how shitty and overpriced it is

4/9/2014 10:19:03 PM

TWW: when Facebook just won't do when you want to brag about mundane shit like living in another country

4/9/2014 10:22:28 PM

^^^Corn is underpriced, since almost all of our livestock is fed on a corn diet, its keeps it relatively cheap.
And just a quick google search shows gas at about $8/gallon, I can imagine the costs to run a bus would be high compared to the US.

What meats are typically used? If the quality is high, but steak and burger cuts are expensive is it just a sausage fest?

Also, what is the reaction on all the meat contaminated with horse meat?

4/9/2014 10:29:43 PM

fascinating shit right here:

Quote :

"According to Jewish tradition, Jewish ancestry is traced back to the Biblical patriarchs [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]], who lived in [[Canaan]] around the 18th century BCE. Jacob and his family migrated to [[Ancient Egypt]] after being invited to live with [[Joseph (son of Jacob)|Joseph]] (who rose to the rank of [[Pharaoh]]'s Vizier) in the [[Land of Goshen]] region by [[Pharaohs in the bible|Pharaoh]] himself. Their descendants were later enslaved until the [[The Exodus|Exodus]] led by [[Moses]], which is commonly dated to the 13th century BCE. Historically, Jews had evolved mostly from the [[Tribe of Judah]] and [[Tribe of Simeon|Simeon]], and partially from the Israelite tribes of [[Tribe of Benjamin|Binyamin]] and [[Tribe of Levi|Levi]], who had all together formed the ancient [[Kingdom of Judah]] (alongside the remnants of the [[Northern Kingdom of Israel]] who migrated to their Southern counterpart and assimilated there).<ref>According to the [[Books of Chronicles]] chapter 9 line 3, the Israelites, who took part in [[The Return to Zion]], are stated to be from the Tribe of Judah alongside the Tribe of Simeon that was absorbed into it, the Tribe of Benjamin, the Tribe of Levi (Levites and Priests) alongside the tribes of [[Tribe of Ephraim|Ephraim]] and [[Tribe of Manasseh|Manasseh]], which according to the [[Books of Kings|2 Kings]] 7 were exiled by the Assyrians. (The Biblical scholars [[Umberto Cassuto]] and [[Elia Samuele Artom]] claimed in their book '''"The Books of Kings and Chronicles in modern view"''' (1981) these two tribes' names to be a reference to the remnant of all Ten Tribes that was not exiled and absorbed into the Judean population).</ref> A closely related group is the [[Samaritans]], who claim descent from the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, while according to the Bible their origin is in the people brought to Israel by the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] and some Cohanim (Jewish priests) who taught them how to worship the "native God".<ref>Knoppers, G.N. ''Jews and Samaritans: The origins and history of their early relations''. "Although interactions of Jews and Samaritans had become contentious by the 1st century CE, the two groups actually shared much in common... Both groups could be found both in the land and outside of the land in diasporic communities. Each groups developed its own synagogues which were so similar architecturally that it can be challenging to tell them apart. Members of both groups professed a pedigree in the same eponymous ancestor (Jacob/Israel). Samaritans claimed to be descendants from the northern tribes of Joseph, representing Jacob's progeny of Ephraim and Menasseh ('eprayim and menasseh), while Judeans (yehudim) claimed to be descendants of the southern tribes of Judah (yehuda)." [http://books.google.co.il/books?id=YAgZUPT6CusC&pg=PA127&lpg=PA127&dq=samaritans+joseph+jews+judah&source=bl&ots=ELXQU09LFH&sig=aWg9zLqvfTy0qdoViH8pKMizIXY&hl=iw&sa=X&ei=9lXUUYKpLeqE4ASNmoHQDg&ved=0CH4Q6AEwCDgU#v=onepage&q=samaritans%20joseph%20jews%20judah&f=false]</ref> The [[Jewish ethnic divisions|Jewish]] [[Ethnic group|ethnicity]], [[nationality]] and [[religion]] are strongly interrelated, as [[Judaism]] is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.louisville.edu/library/collections/brandeis/node/234|title=The Jewish Problem: How To Solve It|first=Louis|last=Brandeis|authorlink=Louis Brandeis|date=April 25, 1915|publisher=University of Louisville School of Law|accessdate=April 2, 2012|quote=Jews are a distinctive nationality of which every Jew, whatever his country, his station or shade of belief, is necessarily a member}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Palmer|first1=Edward Henry|authorlink1=Edward Henry Palmer|title=A History of the Jewish Nation: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day|url=http://archive.org/details/historyofjewishn00palm|accessdate=April 2, 2012|date=October 14, 2002|origyear=First published 1874|publisher=Gorgias Press|isbn=978-1-931956-69-7|oclc=51578088|laysummary=http://www.gorgiaspress.com/bookshop/pc-45-60-palmer-e-history-of-the-jewish-nation.aspx}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://press.princeton.edu/einstein/materials/jewish_nationality.pdf|title=How I Became a Zionist|first=Albert|last=Einstein|authorlink=Albert Einstein|work=[[Einstein Papers Project]]|quote=The Jewish nation is a living fact|date=June 21, 1921|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|accessdate=April 5, 2012}}</ref> [[Conversion to Judaism|Converts to Judaism]] have a status within the Jewish ethnos equal to those born into it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/beliefs/conversion.shtml |title=BBC Religions/Converting to Judaism: "A person who converts to Judaism becomes a Jew in every sense of the word, and is just as Jewish as someone born into Judaism." |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |accessdate=2013-10-02}}</ref> Conversion is not encouraged by mainstream Judaism, and is considered a tough task, mainly applicable for cases of mixed marriages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-golin/the-complicated-relations_b_842806.html |title=Paul Golin: The Complicated Relationship Between Intermarriage and Jewish Conversion |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |accessdate=2013-10-02}}</ref> The modern [[Israel|State of Israel]] was established as a Jewish nation-state and defines itself as such in its [[Basic Laws of Israel|Basic Laws]]. Its [[Law of Return]] grants the right of citizenship to any Jew who requests it.<ref>A 1970 amendment to Israel's [[Law of Return]] defines "Jew" as "a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion." {{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Immigration/Text_of_Law_of_Return.html|title=Law of Return}}</ref> Israel is the only country where Jews are a majority of the population. Jews had also enjoyed political independence twice before in [[ancient history]]. The first of these periods lasted from 1350<ref>''Ancient Canaan and Israel: an introduction''. Golden, Jonathan M. (2009). Oxford University Press US.</ref> to 586 BCE, and encompassed the periods of the [[Book of Judges|Judges]], the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|United Monarchy]], and the Divided Monarchy of the Kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], ending with the destruction of [[Solomon's Temple|the First Temple]]. The second was the period of the [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean Kingdom]] spanning from 140 to 37 BCE and to some degree under Herodians from 37 BCE to 6 CE. Since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, most Jews have lived in [[Jewish diaspora|diaspora]].<ref>Johnson (1987), p. 82.</ref> A minority in every country in which they live (except Israel), they have frequently experienced [[Persecution of Jews|persecution]] throughout history, resulting in a population that has fluctuated both in numbers and distribution over the centuries. The world [[Jewish population]] reached a peak of 16.7 million prior to [[World War II]],<ref name="JVIL2010"/> but 6 million Jews were killed in [[the Holocaust]]. Since then the population has risen again, and {{as of|2010|lc=y}} was estimated at 13.4 million by the North American Jewish Data Bank,<ref name="JVIL2010">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/jewpop.html|title=The Jewish Population of the World (2010)|work=[[Jewish Virtual Library]]}}, based on {{cite book|title=American Jewish Year Book|publisher=[[American Jewish Committee]]|url=http://www.ajcarchives.org/main.php?GroupingId=10142}}</ref> or less than 0.2% of the total world population (roughly one in every 514 people).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4291987,00.html|title= Jews make up only 0.2% of mankind|publisher=[[ynetnews]]|date=October 2012}}</ref> According to this report, about 43% of all Jews reside in [[Israel]] (6 million), and 39% in the [[United States]] (5.3–6.8 million), with most of the remainder living in [[Europe]] (1.5 million) and [[Canada]] (0.4 million).<ref name="JVIL2010"/> These numbers include all those who self-identified as Jews in a socio-demographic study or were identified so by a respondent in the same household.<ref>Jewish Virtual Library. ''World Jewish Population''. "Refers to the Core Jewish Population. The concept of core Jewish population includes all persons who, when asked in a socio-demographic survey, identify themselves as Jews; or who are identified as Jews by a respondent in the same household, and do not have another monotheistic religion." [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/jewpop.html]</ref> The exact world Jewish population, however, is difficult to measure. In addition to issues with census methodology, there are ''[[halakha|halakhic]]'' disputes regarding [[Who is a Jew?|who is a Jew]] and secular, political, and ancestral identification factors that may affect the figure considerably.<ref name=Pfeffer>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/903585.html|archiveurl=//web.archive.org/web/20090319024731/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/903585.html|archivedate=March 19, 2009|title=Jewish Agency: 13.2 million Jews worldwide on eve of Rosh Hashanah, 5768|accessdate=January 24, 2009|last=Pfeffer|first=Anshel|date=September 12, 2007|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref> "

4/9/2014 10:36:16 PM

Quote :

"how do you say the food is high quality and then talk about how shitty and overpriced it is"

German sausages and bread, as well as cheese and deli meats are much higher quality than in the States. It is just the American things that are different.

4/10/2014 3:01:26 AM

Def wish this had a different title.


What is the one thing that you do completely different there than you would in the US and it took awhile to get used to?

4/10/2014 3:25:50 AM

Is it true that a large portion of Germans speak English? Does it even seem worthwhile for Americans or people from the UK to study German anymore?

Do you ever make really insensitive world war 2 references?

4/10/2014 4:00:15 AM

^ One time when I was getting eatin up by bugs I made a comment that "the godamn bugs are coming down like stukas" but nobody got the reference.

The whole German and English thing is a different and annoying issue, but Germans in academia speak English very well. However, there is a huge drop off once you leave the academic world. Doctors, bus drivers, and all city employees (even the international visa office people) will not speak in English. So German must be learned or you have to bring around a translator.

Three things that took a lot of getting use to:

One is having to plan everything in advance. You can't just call somebody up when you had a good day at work or if the weather is nice to go outside for a picnic or to get a beer. Everything must be planned and organized well for them to consider it. More importnatly, everything must also happen on a weeknight because most Germans that are my age go home to their parents for the weekend (in their late 20's, come on!) so doing stuff the way I traditionally do things on the weekend is out. This means having to go out on a monday or tuesday night late, have fun, but then be at work at 830. I don't get why you can't just do this on a Friday or Saturday.

The second major thing was the lack of electronic comunications and the reliance on hand written notes and/or bulletin boards. I work in a field that requires ordering supplies from different department, and in the states this was done electronically so as to keep a nice permanent record of what was ordered and who did it. Here, however, everything is done through notes or forms. When these forms get lost or the wrong thing gets ordered, people just assume that you made a mistake and everything has to start all over again. Furthermore, My colleagues and boss do not communicate with me through email, but instead leave notes or even letters on my desk with important information on them: can't you just send this through gmail so that I never have to stress about finding it?

The third is a biggie for me, and that is how they go about handling situations when things go wrong, which is basically to first assume that a foreigner did something. The key here is that Germans believe that they follow the rules and that foreigners don't. So, when something goes wrong they will individually seek out all of the foreigners first to inquire if they did it before considering that a German did it. This really burnt me up bad when people kept harassing me about something, when it turned out that a German had a mistake.


Some of these (like the third one) fall under normal workplace annoynces prolly.

[Edited on April 10, 2014 at 4:13 AM. Reason : a]

4/10/2014 4:08:57 AM

you must be in a smaller city. I spent a lot of time and hamburg frankfurt munich and berlin. Literally everyone I came across in nightclubs, bars, and public workers all spoke english. When i felt lost, people always offerred directions in english. It seemed like most signs/menus were english and people seemed like they often spoke english as a defualt. especially in frankfurt which seemed like being in the us.

berlin and munich seem to have a culture different from each other and the rest of germany. berlin is very hip. love the culture there.

its against the law to put anything other than like hops barley wheat water in beer

[Edited on April 10, 2014 at 4:32 AM. Reason : k]

4/10/2014 4:30:47 AM

OK, lemme backpedal a bit. Touristy places like bars and clubs and restaurants will have people there that can switch to English. Typically, everybody of the younger generation can get along well with English. BUT, going to the Hospital for an emergency or to the foreigner’s office is a different story. It is like the job requirement is that you can't speak English.

I live in a city in the Dortmund area that has a population of about 300,000. So it is not the small or that big really. And it is a major university town (kind of like chapel hill I huess), so there are a lot of people that live here that could speak english if you were in an emergency.

4/10/2014 4:47:44 AM

are cars expensive in Germany?

4/10/2014 10:33:04 AM

yes, but they are incredibly fuel efficient. Germans complain about the price of gas all the time, but it really is a wash when you factor in the fuel efficiency.

4/10/2014 10:35:54 AM

how much is gas in Germany?

4/10/2014 10:36:52 AM