Jon Lech Johansen (most commonly known as DVD Jon) wrote in his blog about things he doesn’t miss about Norway, and while I know he’s right on some points, they seem minor. I’d like to see his list about the US when he leaves. It’s really only after you leave a country that you realize what you can do without.
So, here’s my list of things I don’t miss about Germany (sure to be less widely read than his list):
- The weather. In northern Germany, winters are depressing gray affairs, with maybe one week of snow, tops.
- Dubbing. All foreign films shown on German TV or in the cinemas are dubbed. As a result, most Germans speak terrible English and they miss out on everything but the Hollywood mainstream. The same goes for other media, too: Foreign-language books, computer games or DVDs are rare, and you usually have to shop for them online.
- The Smokers. Not only do Germans smoke in restaurants, malls and other public places, but also in your office, on trains, in airconditioned buildings or even schools. Also, advertising for cigarettes is still legal.
- Church Tax (7% of Income Tax).
- Underpayed jobs in the Game Industry. There’s hardly any game industry to speak of, and everyone I know that works in it is getting about half what I’m paid here.
- 11.5% Unemployment.
- The Discounters. An often heard Mantra is “stingyness is cool” (Geiz ist Geil), and Germans will choose cheap over good. Not because they’re all poor, but because the idea of paying too much for something is shameful.
- Phone sex advertising on TV. These are openly pornographic and obscene. They also seem to be paying well, because there’s virtually no other advertising after 20:00.
- Two big political parties that are short on ideas for turning the country around, and apathetic voters that will vote for them anyhow.
- Bild.
[ media | Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd – Samba Dees Days]
Full ack, aber Telefonsexwerbung gibts eigentlich erst nach 23 Uhr. Davor Klingeltöne.
+ "Geiz ist geil" ist von Saturn, nicht von Mediamarkt ;] (Die Url)
1. Dull dull dull, doubledull. The grey skies seem to suck the energyx right out of me – I wish it were spring again.
2. Agree with you on that, but then again there is hardly anything other than Hollywood and UK-movies that the man on the street would understand if *every* remained undubbed. I don’t like dubs, but I wouldn’t like to read all the movies at the cinema off the screen…
4. Church membership is not mandatory.
6. and 7. might be closely interlinked, it definitely makes my job a lot tougher
9. And now they’re even working "together"….
Berthold:
2. That’s a vicious cycle. The reason that people don’t understand these movies is that they don’t get exposed to them, and the other way around. When I go back to Germany now, and I see a badly dubbed movie, evn a korean one, I want my subtitles back, so I can hear the original actors speak. Acting is more than just moving across the scene, there’s a lot in a voice that gets borked by dubbing. You just don’t notice it until you’ve been away from it for a few years.
4. Church tax alone isn’t the only way in which the state subsidizes religion. It’s actually a very small part of the state’s contribution to the churches’ wealth. See the link I had on that item for some additional reasons to have more separation of state and church.