Life In Germany

How would you describe the culture of the place where you live?

German culture is Post-Christian. They show a total indifference to Christianity, and to spirituality in general. They are content with what they have and don't see the need to believe in anything outside of themselves. They are hospitable, but also very direct and can seem cold. There is a general lack of joy.

Describe where you live. Population, favorite restaurant, popular modes of transportation, seasons, or age of city/town.

We currently live in Bühl - a small and very quiet town of about 15,000 in SW Germany. It is in the Rhine Valley, right on the French border, and on the edge of the Black Forest. It is beautiful here! There are four true seasons, although we do live in the "warmest" part of Germany. We have a lot of good restaurants - our favorites are a great Thai place and a great Italian place. Records of our town go back to the 1400s and the oldest buildings still standing in town are from the 1500s. We also have a Castle :) We don't have a car, so we walk or bike everywhere in town, and we take the train when we are going somewhere outside of the area. We are really looking forward to moving in August to Cologne (Köln in German). It is the fourth largest city in Germany, with over 1 million people! It is the 3rd oldest city in Germany, over 2000 years old, and was started as a Roman colony.

What were some of the biggest adjustments you had to make in relocating to where you presently are?

Language - everything we do is in German! Also, it has been quite an adjustment for us city folks to live in a small town. And Germans, though they pride themselves on efficiency, do things quite slower than we are used to. They do things well, but they definitely operate on a different timeframe than we were used to.

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