THE REAL REASONS WHY PEOPLE LEAVE GERMANY 🇩🇪 Why many Expats don't stay in Germany

Sofatutor is an amazing learning platform for school-age kids in Germany!
Get 30 days free and a 60% discount with my link:

If you enjoyed this video then don't forget to like and subscribe for new videos every week.
▼ ▽ MY INSTAGRAM▽▼
▼ ▽ BUSINESS INQUIRIES▽▼

[andregundel]

As a German I moved to Sweden… here it gets dark around 3 now, we have lots of snow. And I just read an article about Swedish greeting culture. It’s similar to what you say about Germany but even more extreme. It’s really interesting to see that the northern countries are very subtle with their show of feelings. That’s one thing I also struggled with in NZ. I thought I was actually very friendly and polite in my reserved German way but at one point my host sister actually approached me and said that I wasn’t showing proper appreciation and I was actually perplexed when she said that. At least now I know both extremes and I know I fit well in the northern cultural environment!

[petrafiedler]

As a German I struggle with winter in Germany. And nearly every German struggles with bureaucracy. 😀

[vee]

Hi Antoinette, I love watching your videos. I am not German, but Czech who moved to Australia. Czech republic is a neighbouring country of Germany and the weather is very similar in both countries. Actually, for me it was a shock to experience a winter time in Australia. To be honest, I have never felt so cold in my life like in Australia as houses in Australia are poorly built, have no insulation, no proper central heating etc. It was a huge shock for me to find out that I will be "freezing" inside a house during the winter in Australia... Also another shock for me was an Australian school system. I feel like there is no proper structure to primary school education in Australia. No time table, no textbooks... Another surprise was that there is no school kitchen and no eatery in Australian schools. In the Czech republic, pupils get soup and a main course and some fruit every day and eat it in the eatery. There are only canteens with often not very healthy options in Australian primary schools. Another shock was an exorbitant cost of before and after school care in Australian primary schools which is often not even available. In the Czech republic, we have a very low cost of before and after school care. I love your videos. It is great that you are sharing your experience!

[schuhschrank]

I (as a German) am lucky to have no problem with darkness and winter in Germany. I don't like the heat in summer (and that starts at 25 ° Celsius for me!), otherwise I love every season and I am glad that the seasons are there over the year.

[Wintermaus]

I love winter! Autumn also. Spring is ok, but I hate summer so much! I get terrible depression in the summer months. German winter is perfect to me. Well...almost perfect. Perfect would be if there were only 2 seasons - autumn and winter❤ and more snow in winter time.

[eastfrisianguy]

My partner's American father came to Germany as a soldier when he was 18 and at first he was very disappointed that he wasn't stationed in southern Germany but at a small base in the middle of nowhere, here in the northwest. He fell head over heels in love with a German woman, three years later they married and had children. After two kids and his discharge from the military, he got homesick and they all went to Maine together, where he had grown up pretty far north in the middle of nowhere...but the economy in the US was in a slump at the time, they were living in a trailer on the edge of the woods and after a year and a half they got homesick for Germany and moved back - the oldest daughter went to preschool and the youngest to kindergarten in the US and barely spoke German and had their culture shock as kids. My partner was the last child born in Germany two years later. His parents' marriage broke up, but his father stayed in Germany - but he doubted the decision....until his mother died in 2008, the family was divided over the inheritance and he flew to his birthplace, cleared up everything formal for the inheritance and said goodbye.... when he landed back in Germany, he finally realized that Germany is his home forever. My partner inherited some things from his father, unfortunately including his preference for soggy white bread, for which I still tease him today after almost 11 years in the relationship. 😂

[jurgenrathjen]

A great video!!! I came from Germany ti the USA at a very young age. (5) At that age you adapt very quickly to your new country. (I, m sure your children feel l very much German. since they really grew up there. I don't think the "friendliness" issue is just a German characteristic. I have been to other countries in central Europe, and not found them necessarily "warm" But, as you get to know them change takes place. AsI I have have said before, I think you have many more people watching than you think. Keep up the channel!!! I have been to your region, it is beautiful.

[florianzenker]

Thats why I started supplementing Vitamin D in the winter. It helped me with winter depression, which was caused by the lack of direct sunlight. German Novembers are definetly a challenge. I think, thats why people cant wait for the christmas time to arrive with all its magic.

[dgerkrath]

I don`t like to admit it, but it is exaxtly the way You said. In December our friends with two daughters and also her father are leaving Germany. They are Germans, who had already been living abroad, they returned to stay for a while because of family issues. But now they are heading back to where they had already been living before: New Zealand!

[LucaSitan]

When I was young I thought pretty much any country was better than Germany (I'm German) - I just thought it's so boring here. So I lived in the US when I was 19. Figured out that it's really not that great there. In my mid 20s I lived in Spain. Not what I expected and not my thing at all. Throughout my 30s I lived in the UK and loved it for a long time until Brexit happened. Long story short: I've been back home for 6 years now and incredibly grateful to be German and able to live here. At the end of the day it came down to the basics of happiness: family, friends, affordable housing, good salary, work-life - balance... Wherever you find it, is where you can thrive. In the UK, the living costs just got out of control.

[indrahx]

Even Germans struggle with the German winter! It's just nasty. That's why we have such a big Christmas culture with all the lights and candles and Christmas markets. It makes the beginning of the season quite nice. Unfortuantely that ends in January and that's when the real struggle begins. So cold and dark and.. just awful.

[barbsmart]

Keep warm & cozy, Sis. And kia kaha through all the dark and dreary days in the coming months. ❤️

[tphprjp]

There is nothing wrong with the German school system. Had to return to Australia for a few years when our daughter was 12 and was in year 7 here. The school in Australia very quickly put her in year 8 because her math and science knowledge was way above their year 7.

[MichaelBurggraf-gmvl]

Winter in Germany: even some Germans are struggling with it sometimes.
On the other hand the seasons of the year can be experienced more pronouncedly. Hence when it's getting cold and wet we move our activities more inside houses, we decorate it more, we start taking care of thing we didn't have time for while the weather was better and warmer. We pick up pasttimes and hobbies like knitting, woodwork, baking and cooking, playing and working with model railways and doll's houses, playing board games or cards, reading and even learning eg. languages or whatever.
However when it's dry outside that's sufficiently good weather to go for a walk, skiing, sled riding, skating, curling (depending on facilities), etc.
And then there are particular activities like visiting Christmas markets, preparingfor the high holidays and special celebrations, preparing for carnival and the fasting season (if you're religious or if you feel that you had too many Chrismas cookies).
And after all it's also good to have a time allowing you to take the weather and the temperature as an excuse to relax and enjoy being lazy or enjoy the quietness for reflecting on whatever crosses your mind, binge watching TV series, and so on.
As a result I would recommend taking winter as a challenge jus like all other seasons.

[hanschristianwolffdr.]

Antoinette, I live in Cologne, 51° North. Of course there's less daylight in winter, but you get more daylight in Summer! NZ is from 35° to ~45° South. The much longer daylight period in Summer in Northern Europe wasn't even mentioned by you.

[MichaelBurggraf-gmvl]

Hi Emily, thank you for this interesting video. I'm actually grateful for such feedback. How could we be able to consider and possibly improve our attitudes and behaviours without feedback? Unfortunately concerning the weather there's not that much we can do about it except trying to distract from it with lots of Glühwein ...

[jha]

I myself come from a region in germany whitch is pretty harsh in the wintertime. But you always have some realy sunny winterdays. OK this the northern part of the world but it's not as hard than in scandivia where almost a half of the year is night. The wether is not as nice than in Florida or NewZeeland but it is pretty calm. Sometimes it's very hard but sometimes it's very nice.

[D-E-K]

I am German, but I lived in Francophone West Africa for 16 years. And I was so grateful that I was able to teach our children there myself for many years, together with Americans. Later they went to an English school. But for the last few years we had to go to Germany so that they could do their Abitur here. I was able to compare many school systems. German schools are really scary at times, especially here in the north of Germany. The school system alone would be a reason for me to emigrate.
The weather is another. I grew up in Bavaria, where the sky is still blue and white. In the north, it's just gray and the sun sets even earlier. I think it's also the weather that makes people so withdrawn.
When it comes to bureaucracy, I always ask myself: which came first, the German grammar or the bureaucracy or the complicated tax system? There are certain similarities. Why keep it simple when you can make it complicated?

[rhalleballe]

I am pretty sure that the number one reason is (by far) the language barriere. Many germans do speak english, but most expats do not speak a single word of german. You will fail to integrate to Germany, if you fail to learn the language. And that will be true for each country, not only for germany. You MUST learn the local language, otherwise you will be a stranger. Some people succeed, some not.

[sunrae]

Seems that some Expats have no Winter Strategy to overcome the darkness. Go into the sauna, swimming, buy yourself a day light, join a club (verein) meet new people, there are a lot of opportunities in Germany.