So here we are.

We have quite a mixed field of delegates this year. Some are Germans, some are Europeans. Some of you leave their country for the first time and many of you leave their continent for the first time.

You may or may not have heard some stories about Europe and especially Germany. Some of them are wrong but in most cases, these stories contain some truth.

I won’t be able to explain everything so I won’t even try. But I want to give you an impression of a country or even a bit of our continent, so that you will realize the vast and beautiful variety that is Germany and also Europe.

Since I am staying in a German hostel with Danish, Swedish, Brits, Germans, Australians, French, Japanese, Chinese and Italians, there shouldn’t be a better place to write this draft.

Europe, which I define as the 27 countries that are part of the European Union are basically full democracies. Some have monarchs as their identification figure like the UK or Belgium, some have presidents like Germany, but the power belongs more or less to the people. Some systems seem to be more injustice than the others, but all of them try to fulfill the basic laws like respecting human dignity and peace in the EU.

We have 60 years of peace in Europe since the end of the second world war. This and the establishment of the EU has introduced great development in science, economy and politics. The Schengen area is not only great for holiday trips but also for trade in Europe. European citizen are allowed to live and work in any country of the EU they want without the need to apply for a special working visa.
Some of the major research areas are also organized by the EU. Additionally, the EU moves money from the rich to the poor countries to enable their development as well.

In short: there is a mass of bureaucracy going on, which is an untamable beast. But the opportunities that arise are fascinating.

More Cultures, than you can count.
And don’t forget: there are more than 30 languages and much more different cultures involved.

Europe is an area, where you can travel 3 hours, cross 3 borders and encounter three languages which unique cultures.

Germany is a country, where you can travel 30 minutes, cross 3 historical borders and meet more than three dialects with their unique flavours.
Many of you don’t know, that Germany was just united in 1871 by Bismarck. As the result of the First World War Germany transformed itself to a democracy. They tried Democracy version 1.0, which resulted in Hitler and the Second World War.
The behaviour of the Soviet Union and Germany’s defeat resulted in Democracy version 2.0 which is basically a dictatorship – prevention system .

In the last 60 years the German struggled with history and how one of the most prosperous countries should play a role in the world without misbehaving. Additionally our country is working on the economic and educational challenges left by the reunion in 1989.

Base Law but no Constitution!
Many of you have heard about the Fall of the Wall in 1989, when Germany was reunited. To be precise, Germany was not reunited but the eastern part joined the western part. That’s why until now Germany has a base law and not a constitution.

The Wall in 1985

1950 was decided, that a constitution will be written when the two parts would be reunited. At that time, nobody imagined that it would take 45 years and a multitude of political crisis until something similar bur also different would happen.

Not only do I have family in the eastern part but my parents studied in West-Berlin for 5 years in 1976. I can vividly remember the evening in 1989, when the first pictures were shown in television and my parents tried to call my relatives for hours to make sure, that even the people in the DDR knew, that the border in Berlin was open.

The national holiday is October the 3rd, which will be spend by the people from the writer session at Berlin, where the main celebrations will take place. I hope, you’ll have a nice trip.

I was mentioning that Germany is quite a prosperous country, which results in automatic nods by foreigners: Oh yeah the country of engineering.

The Country of Engineering.
Around 85% of our gross domestic product is produced by medium sized international oriented companies. Germany imports materials and pieces and exports knowledge, engineering designs and finished mechanical products. (Yes, beer, wine, sausages and bread too.)
The German gross value was 2 152,36 Billion Euro in 2009 but if you check the charts, most of our citizen work in service and not in the production area. Additionally we had an unemployment rate of 7.9% in 2009. (Yes I did some diving into statistics, I am sorry.)

Why does this work in Germany?

I think, it’s because of our high level of practical and theoretical education.

Free high level education
School is mandatory until the age of 18 and free of charge. Kids are allowed to start 3 years of organized training in specific areas of work and will finish with a certificate.
Certificates are very important in Germany and are used to prove nearly anything you did.
The certificate to visit the university can be achieved basically by visiting the Gymnasium but there are many other ways for working people. Additionally there are a multitude of other ways for self education available.
Compared to other countries, German universities costs next to nothing and over 90% of them are public universities without limiting restrictions unless the room size must be considered.
When your parents can’t pay the student’s living expenses, the state will give a special loan etc etc.

Well education is one thing, but there is also the well known “German behaviour”.
In the last years I was able to meet people from all around the world, which forced me to realize that even if I try .. I’ll stay so German ^^.

Punctuality, Tidiness, Reliability
Oh thanks. We are raised, that 5 min too late is TOO LATE!
Waste belongs into the specific bin and DON’T YOU DARE NOT TO!
Also you have ears to hear, so don’t force me to repeat even ONE SENTENCE about the job, you have to do and don’t forget the DEADLINE (see above).

This is a vicious circle and Germans tend to think, that without these three things, the world will  go to ruins.
The world doesn’t go to ruins, it’s just getting a bit more flexible but also a bit nicer .
But as a matter of facts our team takes administrative deadlines quite strict. The assignment deadlines are flexible but we just like it punctual ^^. It’s nice when things are finished and you can give 100% in the new task.

But you need to keep one thing in mind: Germans are not used to diplomatic lies or indirect questions.
Additionally we answer with “No” and don’t mind explaining why. Our team consists of south Germans, who tend to think that not complaining = saying nothing is interchangeable with praising. But you can bet, we will be there if something is not how we like it . So intercultural competence is not only important when living in a different country but also in our own country.

Intercultural competence means tolerance.

The German Cabinet
Our current cabinet is the most mixed one, referring to the personal backgrounds. I picked the most interesting parts of their information, so this is by no means complete.

• Chancellor: Dr Angela Merkel (Doctor in Physics, female, Protestant, born in the DDR=East-Germany)


• Foreign Minister, Vice-Chancellor: Dr. Guido Westerwelle (Doctor in Law, male, gay, married (obviously to a man ^^))


• Federal Minister of Health: Dr. Philipp Rösler (Doctor in Medicine, male, 37, native Vietnamese (adopted by Germans as a baby))


• Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth: Dr. Kristina Schröder (Doctor in Sociology, female, 32)


• Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs: Dr. Ursula von der Leyen (Doctor in Medicine, female, mother of 7 children)
  


• Federal Minister of Defence: Karl-Theodor (Freiherr) von (und zu) Guttenberg (Doctor in Law, male, noble)

This is a conservative cabinet by the way.

Since we shouldn’t eat Federal Ministers, I prefer to move on to the tasty part of Germany.

Beer …. and Wine!
Germans have a well known tradition of drinking their local beer. We have very old restrictions what that beer should contain and most preferred it is consumed in glass bottles. Nearly every area in Germany has its own local brewery (1271 in total)  from where very patriotic people “export” their favorite beer to their new living places because they just can’t live without that specific taste.
But there are also quite famous wines from Germany like the Riesling. In the area around Tübingen, you can find both and we will have some beer on the Sonnenmatte to sell.

Please note, that the percentage of alcohol in one bottle is with 5 – 7% much higher than you may think and are used to.
I don’t think that you want to spend some days with a formidable headache so keep it low .

Sausages and Bread
Yummy!

The One and Only Brezel

That’s the stuff, I miss when I am out of the country.

But it’s not only food our your family that helps to define your home. It’s also the language you can use to express your feelings in the most precise way.

17 dialect families
Around 1870, a German set out to research the different dialects and languages in Germany. He was able to determine 17 dialect families and 5 languages in nowadays Germany.
Since language is a mirror for the respective culture, nobody should be irritated, that the mentality of Germans differ depending from their home.
You may not realize this in your short visit but you will stay in quite a peculiar part of Germany inhabited by the Protestant Swabians.
They are some quiet, direct, neat, hardworking but also heardwarm people… well that’s at least my summary since I am only a 50% Swabian and was not raised in this area. And never forget: “”We can do everything – except speak Standard German” (= “Wir können alles. Außer Hochdeutsch!”)

I shouldn’t forget the Corruption in Germany.

Corruption Index: place 14
Never think of paying anyone to ignore a law. Germany is in the 14th place in the International Corruption Index which means, that nearly no Corruption takes place.
If the customs duty officers call you out for the luggage check, then do as they say. They are human beings too, so sometimes, they tend to have a bad day or already too many weird people coming through, so they may behave a bit harsh.
Ask how to get out of the mess and if you don’t understand the options, ask again and rephrase your question to be as precise as possible.
Never ever try to bribe him!

This is also valid for any service you want to use in Germany.
Tips are only given to liftboys, taxi drivers and waiters. All of them own enough and get the tip as extra money. so from nothing as students to 15% in high class restaurants can be given.

And the last but most valuable information:

The Weather in September
We expect everything from 5 to 15 degrees Celsius with rain, fog, wind or sun. Open shoes, short trousers and suncream should be left at home .
You may want to bring something more fancy for the celebratory dinner and party on Saturday in Tübingen.

So here we are at the end of this blog entry.
Hopefully some of this information will be valuable to you and give you a feeling for Germany.

You may have realized that I like my country and also Europe quite a lot.

Well I do and I hope, you will too.

See you in four weeks!
Agnes