Is life in Germany better than here?

Small industrial towns around Stuttgart, or Stuttgart.

Tried to :grimacing:

Not sure about the exact methodology but they are included in the governmentā€™s annual crime statistics report.

Edit: Leftist crimes tend to be more violent. ā€œBy far the most violent offences were recorded in the field of left-wing extremist politically motivated crime: 1,967, an increase of 15.6% over the previous year. By contrast, the number of right-wing extremist politically motivated violent offences fell by 33.5% to 1,130.ā€

2 Likes

yes, the news on those crimes and terrorist attacks also scare me.

Iā€™m not sure if looking into stats decreases my concerning level.

most part of the middle east is west Asia.

Thatā€™s one of the things that I canā€™t swallow here, the price and quality of the apartments especially in Taipei are a joke to me. When I have friends visiting from the US for eg. and I tell them the price for some apartment in an old leaking disgusting building I am reminded of what type of estate you could get elsewhere in the world. Depressing. And you invest so much and still have not many rights here.

Taxes would take about 40% off of that if I am not mistaken, right? Or you are saying after taxes?

I, fortunately, didnā€™t need to visit a doctor any of the times I have been there, but I visited visited a hospital and it seemed very good. I might be mistaken but the difference with Taiwan is that you have to schedule much in advance for a check up/ exam. Sometimes even a couple of weeks in advance. I also donā€™t know the prices of medicines etc compared to here.[quote=ā€œslawa, post:8, topic:180032ā€]
Public safety is alright. IMHO the punishments for criminals is quite lax in Germany. So repeat offenders can terrorize certain areas. It is better to stay away from there.
[/quote]
I definitely did not feel safe even on trains there. Like safe enough to put laptop out etc depending on the trains. Also it was not so stress free to be in cafes during the night with all my gear out, not as dangerous as certain areas in Italy, but I knew there where some scary dudes on my way back to the hotel during the nights, or just in the areas outside the cafes. I guess I am a bit too used to the easiness of mind in Taiwan.

1 Like

There is even a German forum here on Forumosa :cowboy_hat_face:

I grew up in Germany, and lived in Frankfurt area, Mannheim, Augsburg (near Munich). Here I lived in Danshui, Nangang, Banqiao and Neihu. So these are the areas I can compare.

Sorry, I canā€™t say much about the ā€œglass ceilingā€, Sund Iā€™ve only ever worked in one company, here and there. For sure in that one big company, race or gender didnā€™t mean you canā€™t be high up. Iā€™m guessing, though, that mastering the friggin hard language is key for very many jobs.

What I can comment on is quality of life. I loved living in Augsburg as well as in the Taipei area. Both have advantages and disadvantages. But to be honest, there were lots more Taiwanese things I missed while in Germany than German things I miss in Taiwan.

So: in general I would prefer life in Taiwan, but only slightly, and only because of my personal situation and preferences.

The convenience in Taiwan is out of this world. Public transport in Germany sucked for me, so I always had a car. Here in Taiwan? Mostly public, and some electric scooter.

Also most shops closed after 8~10pm and Sundays needs lots of adjusting.

Food? Much more variety here in the low to mid price range. Beer drinker or even Wine lover? Germany is much cheaper and has lots of great local and imported options. Pothead? Germany.

So all in all I guess it depends on what kind of job you want and what kind of life style. In many important areas like health care I feel both countries are similar.

since it has been brought up by the usual suspects: Safety wise, yes Taipei seems quite safe from robbery/stealing and feels safer overall than most big cities in Germany I know. But Germany isnā€™t bad either. From personal experience, I feel thereā€™s no problem for every day lifeā€¦ Unlike the tons of sensationalist reporting (up to fear mongering) that is done about both foreigners / refugees and neo Nazis.

Both countries have awful problems looming in the future, though: China craving Taiwan, and fascists and similar groups gaining strength all over Europe, threatening personal safety and freedom there. Iā€™m not happy at all with mainstream politics in Germany and Europe, either: they restrict liberty and personal freedom way too much already, for no good reason at all.

9 Likes

Is there any benefit to children of foreigners there? School fees etc

Very sad to say the German food I had did not impress me a bit.

As far as I am aware, which is only slightly, there generally were no school fees in the past. Quick googling showed that since 2017 at least for University it seems non-EU citizens need to pay ~3k EUR per year.

1 Like

Paris is a whole different country

My Irish friend lived in Berlin she absolutely loved it . Very bohemian a few years back. She was into the alternative lifestyle but daytime worked IT job. Quite international.
Heard Munich is beautiful , lots of jobs but really expensive to live.
Iā€™ve just visited the cologne and Dusseldorf and Frankfurt. Cologne and Dusseldorf are quite nice on the Rhine, I wouldnt go back to Frankfurtā€¦Overall itā€™s a good country, nice apartments, green, great public transport, clean. Big country so would choose city and district or state carefully. Germans overall are quite friendly, nicer than Scandinavians, easier to break down the barrier a bit.
Stay around from central stations areas and dodgy areas should be mostly fine .

1 Like

This! You wonā€™t find stuff like 24/7 open 7-Eleven in Germany!

Wanhua District in Taipei is an exception though!

Agree

2 Likes

ā€¦And yet living as a foreigner in Taiwan we also have many many restrictions and drug laws are quite harsh.

1 Like

My friends who currently live there also really love it. Theyā€™re always telling me that the rentā€™s cheap, the men are gorgeous, and that I should come out and party and be a ā€œcreative.ā€ :roll: But Iā€™ve worked too hard to grow up and become a corporate sellout here to get up to all that nonsense again. Sighā€¦

2 Likes

You misunderstand. There are many corporate jobs in Berlin, work by day, party night and weekends. Berlin sounds like a great place when young . Also more free time there.

Not into standing up at the counter and eating a frankfurter for lunch :joy:.

Itā€™s not the most diverse is itā€¦bread and cakes are pretty good though .

Well, more importantly, I have too many familial duties here to just up and move to Europe.

Vacations, though!

1 Like

Will check it out, but I am guessing it is in German?:laughing:

Could you exemplify some? The ones that made you craving to be on the other side?

I also saw lots of input about kindergarten age kids expense etc, but not much about high schoolers.

High School is mandatory (no home schooling) and is free

1 Like

Between all that and the beer and the cheese I imagine itā€™s hard to keep a trim waistline in Germany.

4 Likes

And the sausages ā€¦ :yum: