[Kyek]

derTechniker, on 07 February 2011 - 01:46 AM, said:

@Kyek you americans REALLY think this is SPECIAL?

Hell i must be blinded by our beautiness. I never thought of that beeing special. Thats actually the old parts of towns around here. Modern parts don't look that way.

Yeah, modern parts look just like they do back home -- that's nothing special ;-). But back in the US, it's rare to see anything at all like the old buildings in my photos. There's a historic section of Philadelphia that's cool... but maybe I'm just used to it, because it just doesn't compare to here ;-). It's also very strange having stone-paved roads that are primarily for pedestrian traffic. Everywhere around where I'm from, roads are constantly packed and noisy. It's much more peaceful here.

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Also Kyek +1 for the Audi A6 ;-)

:D it was pretty awesome ;-). What sucks, though, is that it had a restrictor plate in it since it was a rental. So even though we could have gone well beyond 220km/h, it topped out there

[gibbonweb]

Kyek, on 07 February 2011 - 03:44 AM, said:

:D it was pretty awesome ;-). What sucks, though, is that it had a restrictor plate in it since it was a rental. So even though we could have gone well beyond 220km/h, it topped out there :(

i feel so sorry for you. NOT. :D

[Mo3]

Kyek, on 07 February 2011 - 03:44 AM, said:

Yeah, modern parts look just like they do back home -- that's nothing special ;-). But back in the US, it's rare to see anything at all like the old buildings in my photos. There's a historic section of Philadelphia that's cool... but maybe I'm just used to it, because it just doesn't compare to here ;-). It's also very strange having stone-paved roads that are primarily for pedestrian traffic. Everywhere around where I'm from, roads are constantly packed and noisy. It's much more peaceful here.

Yep there are dedicated roads just for pedestrians and bikes. In my city almost the entire midtown is restricted to people only. It's awesome. You can just walk in the middle of the road without getting hit by a car. I've been to NYC once and it was horrible, the whole place was crowded as fuck. Really enjoyed being back in Germany.

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it was pretty awesome ;-). What sucks, though, is that it had a restrictor plate in it since it was a rental. So even though we could have gone well beyond 220km/h, it topped out there

220km/h / 135mp/h is okay for German highways. Yes, there's no general speed limit, but keep in mind that you still have to be able to slow down fast enough in case if something unexpected happens. I usually go around 180km/h, nice travelling speed and quite safe, too.

[gibbonweb]

I'd say 220km/h not generally ok, it always depends on the situation and you have to consider that anything that happens at this speed is probably lethal and your full responsibility as a driver... Only do it if you know the highway and know the traffic situation. As you said, Mo3

[Mo3]

gibbonweb, on 07 February 2011 - 03:57 AM, said:

I'd say 220km/h not generally ok, it always depends on the situation and you have to consider that anything that happens at this speed is probably lethal and your full responsibility as a driver... Only do it if you know the highway and know the traffic situation. As you said, Mo3

Exactly. Also, keep in mind that the suggested speed on German highways is 130km/h - you can drive as fast as you want, but in case of an accident, you may be found (partly) guilty even if you didn't do anything. + Your insurance company is probably gonna bail out.

[Kyek]

From my window this morning:



So much prettier than the US.

[Smarag]

There are streets like that /everywhere/ in Germany O:. And "pretty" towns as well xD. That's nothing special :/.

[Cyril]

@Kyek you would love it if you came to Paris Beleive me.

[Kyek]

Smarag, on 07 February 2011 - 06:14 AM, said:

There are streets like that /everywhere/ in Germany O:. And "pretty" towns as well xD. That's nothing special :/.

It is for someone who's never left the US before ;-) We have our sprawling metropolises, our small, run-down, dumpy towns, our small rich towns ... but you don't really see small historic towns that aren't obviously rich but still so clean and bright and happy. I know the restricted roads do a lot for the place, but damn, the US forgot how to have clean, upkept small towns a long time ago. Hell, I've never lived anywhere where I could travel 3 hours and not see a single wal-mart. Seeing small successful downtown shops is something I haven't seen since I was 4. Or since I last played a Final Fantasy. Now I get where the inspiration comes from ;-)

And the fact that almost every building has a red roof is kinda cool too ;-)

FireCat, on 07 February 2011 - 06:24 AM, said:

@Kyek you would love it if you came to Paris Beleive me.

I would LOVE that. LOVE love love. Another time, I suppose . My college roommate came to Germany for a semester and to this day he'll tell you it broke him. Now I get why xD. All I'm going to want to do when I get back home is travel again. Wanderlust is a good word for it, I think ;-)

[Cyril]

Kinda sad really... I'm pretty sure that, by the age of 10, the average European kid has allready been in 4 or 5 countries... While the American one thinks Europe is a country D:

[Kyek]

lol, well in the defense of Americans, countries to you are like states to us. We have two countries bordering ours, and to drive to one of those can take over a week for some people. And once you're there, that country is so huge that getting to another bordering country (if there even is one) could take another week. The only way to get to multiple other countries would be to fly to a different continent, which is *crazy* expensive and very difficult for the average American family to do. Visiting different states can produce an entirely new experience, and is much more easy and affordable. I've been to nearly all the continental US states, so I was itching to finally leave the country for once

Though anyone who thinks Europe is a country should be smacked in the face. By a train.

[Mo3]

Kyek, on 07 February 2011 - 07:11 AM, said:

Though anyone who thinks Europe is a country should be smacked in the face. By a train.

It's the same thing with some Americans thinking our Chancellor is called Hitler or those people supporting Nazis. Fucking idiots.

Anyway, Kyek, how's it going? Since the beginning of my driving lessons I have always wondered if driving in the US is different than in Germany. Care to share your experiences?

[Kyek]

Mo3, on 07 February 2011 - 07:25 AM, said:

Anyway, Kyek, how's it going? Since the beginning of my driving lessons I have always wondered if driving in the US is different than in Germany. Care to share your experiences?

The biggest thing is just learning the street signs. In the US, many of our signs are in English, and those that are just images depict something from a bird's-eye-view. Here, there's little-to-no language on the signs (which makes sense, in a place with so many different languages around), but some of the images seem arbitrary, or they're depicting something from the driver's point of view. Like the big red circle with a red X in it, and blue filling the spaces. I had to get a German guy to tell me that's what a street restriction sign looks like. Then there's the same exact thing but instead of the X it's a /, and I have no clue what that means. Then there's a sign that shows two cars, side-by-side, from behind, and the one on the left is red. After thinking about it for awhile it made sense that it would mean "no passing", but it's so different from how we do it back home that I didn't instantly know. Very strange!

The cars are the same, though, and what magik said about the HUGE difference in the patience and lack-of-aggressiveness of the drivers here is incredible. Driving on the highway is so peaceful here. Back home where every road has a speed limit, the object is to get ahead of everyone you possibly can so that a slow driver (read: one who drives at the speed limit, instead of over it) is less likely to be ahead of you. And they'll cut you off and take really unnecessary risks to do it. This isn't on every road there, of course, but crowded highways, the most dangerous roads, are the worst.

I have run into a little bit of anti-American sentiment, mostly surrounding the stereotype that we refuse to learn other countries' languages. That was REALLY frustrating, because I have plenty enough Spanish to get by (obviously breaking the stereotype) but don't know a whole lot more than the basic cordialities in German. The guy stamping my passport had a very thick accent and I had a bit of a hard time understanding him, and he started screaming at me and threatened to call the police because I didn't understand him saying "How long are you staying?" the first time he said it. Not what you want to be dealing with the second you step off the plane ;-)

What REALLY floors me is that, this morning, I saw two little kids walking by themselves down the street through the middle of town-- bright and early when not a lot of people were out. No parent would EVER let their kids do that in most decent-sized US towns, but here the crime just isn't anywhere near that bad. Amazing.

And for lunch, I had a brat that stuck out 5-6cm on either side of the bun. And it tasted amazing.

If I took the time to get fluent in German, I could definitely see myself living here ;-).

[Beau]

Pretty much the same as England then - minus the architecture and german language haha. In certain british towns though (Canterbury is one I can think of off the top of my head) there is a lot of Tudor (16th century) building-work. It's beautiful

[Mo3]

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Then there's the same exact thing but instead of the X it's a /, and I have no clue what that means. Then there's a sign that shows two cars, side-by-side, from behind, and the one on the left is red. After thinking about it for awhile it made sense that it would mean "no passing", but it's so different from how we do it back home that I didn't instantly know. Very strange!

This?



That's no parking and stopping at any given time.

This is no parking at the LEFT side, but stopping for maximum 5 minutes:



The sign below it basically says that the parking restriction only applies at those given times.

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Then there's a sign that shows two cars, side-by-side, from behind, and the one on the left is red. After thinking about it for awhile it made sense that it would mean "no passing", but it's so different from how we do it back home that I didn't instantly know. Very strange!

No overtaking

Keep in mind that if the middle white line on the street is drawn through, overtaking is forbidden, too.

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The cars are the same, though, and what magik said about the HUGE difference in the patience and lack-of-aggressiveness of the drivers here is incredible.

Yes, I absolutely agree. Of course there are some idiots here too, but in general everyone is calm and patient. We even learn that in driving school. "Gegenseitige Rücksichtnahme" - Mutual considerateness. Why put someone else's life at risk just to get through traffic faster?

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What REALLY floors me is that, this morning, I saw two little kids walking by themselves down the street through the middle of town-- bright and early when not a lot of people were out. No parent would EVER let their kids do that in most decent-sized US towns, but here the crime just isn't anywhere near that bad. Amazing.

What if I told you that I walked to school alone when I was in 1st grade (I was 6)?

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And for lunch, I had a brat that stuck out 5-6cm on either side of the bun. And it tasted amazing.

Was it called Halbmeterwurst (Halfmetersausage)? Because those are *AMAZING*.

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If I took the time to get fluent in German, I could definitely see myself living here ;-).

Of course Germany is not a bad country to live in, but you get bored after living there for a long time. I guess that's the case in every other country, too.

Germany is, next to the US and India, the leading IT employment place, + our unemployment rate is only 6,7%. Also if you're unemployed you get a nice bunch of cash every month from the country. Not a bad place, actually.

[Matas]

Kyek, like many others have said, if you liked Germany you'd probably enjoy almost ever other country in Europe as well. Jena looks so nice that I'll have to visit it.


Btw in Lithuania everyone walks to school or their parents drive them.

[Kyek]

Mo3, on 07 February 2011 - 08:46 AM, said:

This?

That's the one! And here I thought that was a restricted sign xD. What's it mean when there are no arrows on it?

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Keep in mind that if the middle white line on the street is drawn through, overtaking is forbidden, too.

THAT makes sense to me. Same as the US. We have double-lines when there's no passing (overtaking), a dashed-line when you can pass, and sometimes (on two-lane roads, when there's just one lane for each direction) you'll see a solid line next to a dashed line. In that case, cars on the dashed side can pass if the other lane is clear, but cars on the solid side can't.

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Yes, I absolutely agree. Of course there are some idiots here too, but in general everyone is calm and patient. We even learn that in driving school. "Gegenseitige Rücksichtnahme" - Mutual considerateness. Why put someone else's life at risk just to get through traffic faster?

Yeeeeah, that's definitely not a focus here ;-)

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What if I told you that I walked to school alone when I was in 1st grade (I was 6)?

We used to be able to do that, in small quiet towns. But I haven't heard of anyone young kid walking more than a couple blocks alone to school in a long time.

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Was it called Halbmeterwurst (Halfmetersausage)? Because those are *AMAZING*.

To be honest, I'm not sure ;-). I'll pay more attention next time!

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Of course Germany is not a bad country to live in, but you get bored after living there for a long time. I guess that's the case in every other country, too.

Yeah, I can understand that. As cool as this little town is, once I've been through the restaurants and the two shopping malls and the small night club, there's not a whole lot right in this area to do. I don't think I'd really mind, though. The peacefulness here makes up for it.

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Germany is, next to the US and India, the leading IT employment place, + our unemployment rate is only 6,7%. Also if you're unemployed you get a nice bunch of cash every month from the country. Not a bad place, actually.

Yep, there's Unemployment Compensation in the US too. It's not a *lot* of money (just a small percentage of what you made the last time you worked), but it's enough to get by while you look for a new job.

Where in Germany do you live, Mo3?

[Koen]

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Where in Germany do you live, Mo3?

Bavaria

[Mo3]

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What's it mean when there are no arrows on it?

Parking restricted in the whole area But usually there are arrows in it.

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THAT makes sense to me. Same as the US. We have double-lines when there's no passing (overtaking), a dashed-line when you can pass, and sometimes (on two-lane roads, when there's just one lane for each direction) you'll see a solid line next to a dashed line. In that case, cars on the dashed side can pass if the other lane is clear, but cars on the solid side can't.

Just like in Germany. Although I've seen yellow lines in America, couldn't quite figure those out yet.

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We used to be able to do that, in small quiet towns. But I haven't heard of anyone young kid walking more than a couple blocks alone to school in a long time.

A while ago, when I still lived directly in Munich, I've seen little kids ride the subway alone all the time. Germany is probably the safest place I've ever been to. XD

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Yeah, I can understand that. As cool as this little town is, once I've been through the restaurants and the two shopping malls and the small night club, there's not a whole lot right in this area to do. I don't think I'd really mind, though. The peacefulness here makes up for it.

Yeah I can understand that, too. You always want the opposite of what you currently have.

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Yep, there's Unemployment Compensation in the US too. It's not a *lot* of money (just a small percentage of what you made the last time you worked), but it's enough to get by while you look for a new job.

Really? I could swear I saw someone bitching about that in the US.

EDIT: Sorry that was healthcare

Small percentage? German citizens usually get around 80% of their past salary in the first year, I think. After one year it drops to 40%.

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Where in Germany do you live, Mo3?

Bavaria I used to live in Munich for over a decade until I moved in a really small town about 30km away. Munich is probably the most awesome place in Germany - mid-sized town, really really clean and friendly, no hecticness, peace, lots of stuff to do, great job offerings, nice workplaces, awesome schools.

EDIT: Here's a video I made in summer, recorded at a place 15km outside of my town



Thank god I'm living in a town and not there, I would probably commit suicide

[Kyek]

Mo3, on 07 February 2011 - 09:32 AM, said:

Parking restricted in the whole area But usually there are arrows in it.

Oh man, I am so much less confused now :D Thank you!

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Just like in Germany. Although I've seen yellow lines in America, couldn't quite figure those out yet.

Color really doesn't matter, usually. When there are two solid lines in the middle of the road, it means no passing no matter what color they are, but they're almost always yellow. Sometimes you'll see dashed lines that are half white and half black on concrete roads, and that's only because the white is really difficult to see when the sun is bright. The only place color matters is if it's on the edge of a sidewalk or something -- yellow there means no parking in that spot.

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A while ago, when I still lived directly in Munich, I've seen little kids ride the subway alone all the time. Germany is probably the safest place I've ever been to. XD

I believe it

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Yeah I can understand that, too. You always want the opposite of what you currently have.

Truer words have never been spoken ;-). I always wanted to live in a city until I lived there, then I started learning the value of peace and quiet xD

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Really? I could swear I saw someone bitching about that in the US.

EDIT: Sorry that was healthcare

Oh yeah, the healthcare topic is a MESS in the US right now ;-)

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Small percentage? German citizens usually get around 80% of their past salary in the first year, I think. After one year it drops to 40%.

Ooo, yeah, ours doesn't change. And it goes by the last job you had where you worked a certain minimum number of months. So since my last salary was with a startup, but the startup lost funding and had to shut down 3 months after I started there, I had to base my unemployment compensation on the salary I had at the job before THAT, which was annoying because I got paid about half as much there. Even so, though, they paid about 40% or less of what I made at that previous job, which was REALLY low compared to the amount I had been making.

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Bavaria I used to live in Munich for over a decade until I moved in a really small town about 30km away. Munich is probably the most awesome place in Germany - mid-sized town, really really clean and friendly, no hecticness, peace, lots of stuff to do, great job offerings, nice workplaces, awesome schools.

Sounds awesome

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EDIT: Here's a video I made in summer, recorded at a place 15km outside of my town



Thank god I'm living in a town and not there, I would probably commit suicide

rofl. I spent a lot of my childhood growing up on a dairy farm on the outskirts of a veeeeery tiny town in Pennsylvania. It was much like that ;-). I think that's why I wanted to try living in the city so badly.