CULTURE SHOCKS of "Small-Town" GERMANY | Struggles of Kitas, Doctors & Being Foreigners in Germany
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- Опубліковано 10 чер 2024
- A little over 6 months ago we moved from Freiburg im Breisgau to a small village in the Black Forest.... So how has that transition gone? What kind of culture shocks did we experience from city life to small town living in Germany?
Episode 98 | #USA #germany #americaningermany #movingabroad #expatlife #blackforest #traveleurope #europe #schwarzwald | Filmed February 23rd, 2023
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00:00 Intro
02:09 Finding a Kita Has been.... rough.
04:07 Kita Opening Hours in Germany
06:36 Pleasant Surprise at the Bürgeramt
09:30 Surprisingly Social?
13:33 Is life more authentic?
16:19 Why can't we find a doctor?!
17:55 What is REALLY like being "the Americans"
20:51 Do we regret it?
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Originally from the Midwest of the USA, we moved to the #blackforest in 2013 and quickly embraced #expatlife. As American expats living in #Germany, things weren't always easy, but we've grown to love our life in Germany. We started this #travelvlog to share our experiences with friends and family, and to help those who are interested in moving overseas! Whether you are interested in moving abroad, working abroad, studying abroad, raising a family abroad, or just want to #traveleurope, we're here to give you a first person look at what lies ahead. 😊🎥🌎
In seventeen years of living in small towns, the one freedom I’ve enjoyed is I’ve never had to lock the door while running errands in town. The absence of crime has been a blessing and I can expect my stuff to be there when I return. Safe and walkable and the views make all worth it! I don’t miss the big city.
Locking the door is really a difficult for hours procedure ...
Well, some thieves broked into my parents house - two times. The house is on the country side. So yes, there is crime.
@@ronnie3561 😂 I was totally thinking this! There’s no way as a Canadian of colour living in Germany that I’d give up everything I can have living in a city (including safety btw - this matters for people of colour and the countryside’s way more dangerous for us) to live in the country. You couldn’t pay me to do it.
Thieves are looking for opportunities, you give them one. And the insurance won’t cover your stolen items if you leave the door unlocked. My insurance company won’t even pay for stolen items if I won’t have decent (two stars) hinges and locks. My premium will be lower if I install three star hinges and locks. In my country there was a program on TV (maybe a decade ago) where professional thieves would brake into real homes, without the owners knowing, and show how fast it all goes. Sometimes they really need only 15 to 30sec to get into a house, mostly with the backdoor unlocked, a not so decent lock, or a small window on the first floor left open. They’re out again in one to three minutes, taking a lot of valuables. Afterwards the program confronts the owner (give back the valuables of course) and shows them the footage. And repair any damage. People don’t realize it can happen to them. But it can. For real.
@@indrinita Sad to hear that. One of my friends is PoC. She and her family have no problems to live here in germany. Good luck.
I'm an American from NY married to a German. We use to live in Esslingen where his family lives, but when the opportunity to buy our own house came about we moved. I must say, we love our small town there are only 300 people living here. We have a house with lots of land. We moved here 7 years ago. We bought our house and love our neighborhood with 5 houses on our street. Our doctor is our neighbor. We did not have a problem finding a doctor as you are having. One of our neighbors told us about the three doctors in the area and we got in right a way. I had to get use to the quietness of the night but since moving here it has been peaceful.
300 People I would more say thats Village, and you have a Doctor next Door you got Lucky.
I know that in the USA Villages are not as much of a thing but I like my rural 500 People but steadily growing Village.
It's amazing to hear about your experience moving to a small town in Germany. Two years ago my family moved from Ann Arbor to Blomberg NRW. We have had many of the same experiences you're talking about. If you're ever in the area, you're more than welcome to stop by and see how we are living and how we have adapted. I would write more, but I have to get ready for one of the many Schützenfest 😂🎉🍻
When I lived in Germany I lived in a small village/town. I loved it!! I was the only American in my neighborhood and yes I did stand out from the "locals". I wanted to blend in and understand the local cultural traditions and differences. In many ways it was very similar to living in a small town in America. I have lived in both and except for the language and the fact many traditions date back way further than those in the US much was the same. Fasching (or Carnival or Mardi Gras) is different, but fun and interesting. Germans are very fun and interesting people, but you notice that they can be a bit "standoffish" at first, but once they feel comfortable with you, you have friends for life. One thing you mentioned , Christmas, is one of those things that are very different. They don't normally decorate outside like we do (loved your reference to the Griswalds) and we put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving where they traditionally put theirs up on Christmas Eve. I would not trade my small town Germany experience for anything and I wish you good luck with yours.
I can totally confirm the buerocracy stuff. I grew up in a small village, but lived in Munich for the last 15 years before moving back out into the country.
In Munich I needed appointments, draw a number, spend hours waiting, aso. at the right office for whatever I needed.
Here in the 1500 people town I just walk into town hall, talk to one of the 4 very nice ladies there and tell them what I need.
I will get super friendly and competent help instantly.
SAME. The nicest people, excellent service, and a much more laid back atmosphere.
I live in a smaller town. On the paper it says about 50-60k inhabitants. This town was hit by the flood in July 2021 and what I loved is how everybody just stood together after that time., helping each other out, giving comfort and so on.
What I don't like is public transportation. I don't have a car and I have to rely on the bus, but during the day it comes once per hour, in the moring and afternoon twice per hour. I hvae to schedule my grocery shopping around the departure and arrival of the bus schedule.
Public infrastructure was on the top of our list when we were looking at smaller villages to move to. Although to move within the city you're going to be limited to bus/car/bike - which sounds similar to yours - we did appreciate that there is a regional train that runs twice and hour between our town and Freiburg. It has come in handy multiple times when we have visitors since they can still move around without needing us to taxi them places.
@@TypeAshton you are really lucky to have great transit in a rural area. One of the things Baden-Württemberg really does better than most of the other Flächenländer.
@@patrickhanft I don't think it has to do with BW. It has do with your choice. I live in a rural area and my choice where I wanted to live was greatly affected by the availability of public transport and that I have at least one grocery store nearby. There are other rural areas I could have chosen with bad public transport and no grocery store nearby, but that was a no for me. I don't need a grocer and public transport nearby at the moment, but I have a chronic disease that can mean I can't use my car anymore. And if I know I'm dependent on public transport I don't understand why someone chose to live where public transport is bad.
I was born and raised in the Ruhr district and have spent almost all my life here. The Ruhr is a sprawling conglomerate of about 4-5 million people, but it feels much smaller. This is partly due to the fact that instead of one city center we have about a dozen of them, suburban hubs not counted, as the area is divided into a number of independant cities. Additionaly many of the worker's quarters, wich were often centered around a coal mine, used to have a strong sense of community and solidarity. Down below, your life depended on your collegue having your back and vice versa. This culture is slowly disappearing due to the economic changes of the last decades, but still resonates in the way people treat each other.
Hey Guys, actually i living in Kappel (Freiburg) with my Family. We have two Little Boys which are growing up also in a smaller Part of Freiburg. My wife and me also are grown up in Kappel. Funny to say, we both have a lot of great memories about our childhood! When i was a Little Boy i helped the local Farmer with his cows. He also let me Drive his old tractor. I will Never forget that! Your Kids will have a beautiful childhood with alot of Natur and other Great expirence around them.
Maybe our ways will Cross someday in Freiburg. Because we „Freiburger Bobbele“ are always saying: „Freiburg ist ein Dorf“, in the meaning you will always meet some Friends when you are in town.
I appreciate that you’re trying to protect your privacy and don’t want to share where you’re living. Only “knowing” you from your (great) video’s it takes me less than 5 minutes to find the street you’re living in. Of course, I’m not going to share that here, but be aware what you post on the internet if you value your privacy. Keep up the good work!
We lived in Schaffhausen near Weil der Stadt for three years while I was stationed near Stuttgart. We loved the small town experience in Germany.
I guess what many Ausländers don’t know is that for many Behörden you don’t need to go to the one that’s closest to you. Like here we have about a dozen Bürgerbüros. I can go to any one them, I don’t need to go to the one in my district which might have long wait times for appointments. Same if you want to register your car: you can register it anywhere. Same for the Standesamt: you can go to any Standesamt in the country if your local one has long wait times.
Oh Yes, and one thing I've wanted to share is my experience with KiTa. So I live in NRW, when my daughter started daycare (almost 10,5 years ago now) the majority of the kids were picked up at 12 / noon before lunch. (about 50% I guess), from the remaining kids I think about 80% were picked up after lunch (2 p.m.) and there were only a few left who stayed up until 4 p.m. so the KiTa was open until 4.30 p.m. but when I picked up my daughter (and later son) at 4.15 p.m. most of the time they were the last ones to be there, It changes throughout the years. Kita opened at 7 am and closed at 4.30 pm.
when I visited my sister in Leipzig, Saxony; I was blown away when she could get her kid at 6 p.m.There are not only differences between the U..S. and Germany and Small town vs big town but also eastern Germany vs western Germany, although I hate the destinction after all these years. But in teh former GDR it was way more common for women to return to work after only a short maternal leave (I went to daycare at 12 weeeks old) and this is still a reason for better opening hours for daycare.
Pro tip concerning the Hausarzt: Make an appointment in order to get a second opinion on a health related issue. Many doctors will allow this. Next time you need an appointment, you can relate to the first one and tell them, you are not a new patient, they already have your file. 😊
11:25 This is a result of the more dense urban planning. It allows for more... social/public spaces or as "not just bikes" puts it, 3rd places. A little cafe on the corner, a small shop around the bend. All walkable. It breathes life into a neighborhood. Something that's rather impossible in the sprawling, car depended suburbs of the USA. Pick your favorite though. Because generally you'll live in an appartement or a smaller home in tradeoff. Different advantages.
Edit: the relevant video is: "The great places erased by suburbia" (the third place)
LOVE not just bikes. Such a great channel. The walkability and just general safety of walking/cycling/pedestrian infrastructure is something we really, really love about living in Germany.
That sort of planing is not new to Germany, though
Doesn't always work though. Maybe in generations.
They actually restricted street parking in town here and and built parking buildings which are rather expensive and inconvenient. Several shops eventually left town to expand and built their own just outside with a parking lot free of charge. Some moved to the shopping mall in town which has free parking for up to 2 hours or something.
They also wanted to make a street one way to widen the sidewalks, but I believe the shop owners protested.
The grocery shops with the highest turnover are the ones outside the town with plenty of free parking.
We spent nearly 3 years living in a small town in western Germany and loved every minute of it. Access to the countryside just out your door was phenomenal. While not the bike riders that you are, we loved being able to ride our bikes on many paved or gravel trails through the farm land near our home (and occasionally on quiet country roads). The concept of private property is so different in Germany. Plus, as you mentioned, we loved the small town festivals where nearly everyone in the town attends the event and you get to meet more of your neighbors. We made life-long friends with our German neighbors and have already visited them once since we returned to the US in 2021. We will return to visit Germany in the future and will always make time to visit our former home and the friends we made there. We are enjoying your videos, especially those about your cultural experiences in our adopted second home!
I had previously commented about how much I appreciate your technical/educational/tutorial videos, but I worried about missing videos like this one. I'll stop worrying now. Thanks so much, from a Gringo living in one of those small villages. The yearly Fasching parade passes right past our house, and neighbors gather with us in our driveway each time. I treasure these events, and the chance to see so many celebrating silliness. The same paraders from three villages conduct three parades on three consecutive days, just to make sure that each villages has its own big, noisy, joyous event.
Love thy neighbor
in rural southern Germany the stay at home mom is still the norm. that’s sad (I guess) but true.
also small towns are often really old (my hometown is more than a 1000 years old, even though it’s just a tiny village) and people traditionally never move away (over generations), so the traditions
become very unique. it’s pretty cool you get to experience that!
Its sad when Moms stay at home? Why?
@@all_in_for_JESUS it’s not sad at all. it’s sad if they have to because the infrastructure gives them no other choice.
It is sad when they have no choice
@@all_in_for_JESUS They should have a choice. I know that's hard to understand for some religious people.
Based on the information shared and my personal experience here in Germany, it is evident that kindergartens often have earlier closing times due to the fact that many children do not stay for a full day. This can be attributed to the preference of many mothers to work part-time and actively participate in their children's upbringing. I agree that the availability and affordability of childcare facilities should be improved. It is unfortunate that raising a child is often threted as a costly hobby rather than a fundamental aspect of life and society.
I actually turned my stove off to write this 😆🤔. I am German, born near Bonn/Cologne, now living in Bavaria with my Austrian wife.... When I moved here I Was looking for Mountains, glaciers and snow. And what did I find? Took me 10 years to connect. Here you are and you will stay a "Zugreister" - close to a legal alien.
But the more time I spent here, the happier and luckier I was.
I live in Weitnau. That's at the southernmost Bavarian/württembergischen Grenze.
I think this would be your ideal holiday region ❤❤❤
Spent the first 25 years of my life in one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in my city. Lovely upper-middle-class neighbourhood with a slight village feel to it. Growing up I never realised how few foreigners/migrants lived in my neighbourhood. It only became apparent when my non-German husband moved in and people started giving us strange looks or asking whether my family was running some sort of charity. Now the two of us live in a mixed neighbourhood with a fairly large migrant population. It's not as green, clean and proper as our old neighbourhood but infrastructure wise it's super convenient and no more strange looks (also, we save €€€ on rent)
A Geman here who spent a year in the States as a teenager and has a history of interest in cultural differences. I've been following your channel for only a week now, and there is so much in your videos I relate to. The academic (in a good way) approach to cultural and policy differences, breaking it down to what it actually means for one's everyday life. The end of this vid just killed it for me: We moved to a small town about a year ago, and just as you said: Kids change everything. So, now 2 weeks in without a new video, I am imagining you realize just how different having 2 kids is from having 1 kid, and as much as I am hoping for as many regular videos as you used to create, I am also hoping that you go slowly on social media and continue to absolutely prioritize your kids over your followers. Or rather: that you find the unique balance of everything that is best for the four of you. Ihr seid eine wundervolle Bereicherung für so viele kulturell interessierte Menschen und macht die Welt mit euren Videos ein großes Stück lebenswerter. Vielen, vielen Dank!
As for difficulties with Kita schedules: In Hamburg, we found a lady with a nice house and spacious garden who took in 4-6 kids for day care and offered the required flexibility. Dunno about the cost; it's been a while. So ask around or check out the message boards in super markets, etc. and see what pops up.
We are considering it for the newest little one. It doesn't look likely that we will be able to get childcare at a city organization until at least 1 year old. It would be great to even just have him in a playgroup for two half days at a Tagesmutter if possible. We had a Tagesmutter in our home when Jack was little (again, just 2 days a week) so I could finish my PhD. Without family around, I really think the Tagesmutter helped greatly with Jack's acclimation to new people.
On the 19th March there is another big event in the Elztal. On this sunday evening we do the so called "Schiebeschlage" in many different towns.
Hi, loved the update and glad things in your new home are working so well.
I moved to exactly the same are than you live now. Before I was 10 years in Freiburg. This year (so the time you shot this video) was my first Fasnet here. I come from an area in Germany were we don't celebrate Fasnet/Fasching/Karneval at all. Even in Freiburg it is kind of moderate. But here? Wow. I tried to get locals to explain as much to me as possible. And tried to particape in some local stuff (Hemdklunker??). It was very fascinating to see how involved (almost) everyone seems to be. The time and dedication they put into their traditional costumes, different for each village, each Verein. How many different parties, Umzüge there are. Fasnet is a very strange, fun, old tradition here.
Our neighbors call our house Las Vegas at Christmas and I'm pretty conservative - nothing blinking, nothing moving, no characters, just lots of colored lights on the bushes and barn. They were sad when we were in America this Christmas, "your property will be so dark." : )
I would say it was pretty much the same at our house too. We just did white lights and garland. Outlined the balcony, the fence line and then a big garland with lights all the way around our entry portico to the front door. By American standards, pretty tame. But next year Jonathan says he wants to figure out how to get up onto the roof and mount a dancing Santa. 😂
Coloured lights... That's where you went Las Vegas Style. Germans will use mostly warm white - and sometimes icy white lights.
Coloured lights are seen as tacky.
@@Warentester I didn't say multicolored lights - those are reserved for the tree: )
@@TypeAshton 😵😲😬
@@TypeAshton You have a kid, and kids love that! As a kid I was fascinated with my grandparents' life-sized lit-up Nativity scene, plastic characters with light bulbs inside. I have never seen this in Germany, though Germans will have a Nativity in their homes of course. I have searched and searched cuz I really want a life-size glowing Nativity in my yard, but no luck so far.
Interesting video.
Thanks.
I appreciate that you're calling yourselves "immigrants" and not "expats". ❤️
Finding a Kita is soo hard in Germany but concerning the opening hours it actually has gotten a lot better already in many towns. I grew up in a small to medium sized town and while when I was a kid everything shut down at 2 or 4 the Kitas are now usually open until 6, some even until 7. I think in Germany it's not the norm that both parents work full time as we have many rights to work a part time job, stay home for a couple of years after birth etc.
Nice to see that your family is growing ! All the best !
Loved this update and happy to see that you are adjusting to "smallsville" Germany,..one step at a time..
We are planning our next holiday and are looking into the black forest area and after all these great stories we are really looking forward to seeing it for ourselves.
We moved from The Hague to a smaller town near Rotterdam and some of the issues you mention are the same here (day care spots, number of doctors etc) but we definitely enjoy the community of a smaller town more than the "anonymity" we had in the larger city (we hardly knew our neighbours there).
I take small town life over city life any day. Here in Norway a city of 250k would actually be around the 2nd or 3rd largest in the country :)
I'm in a small(ish) town with about 6-7k people and around 15k total in the municipality. One day in Bergen for me is more than enough. Way to much noise pollution.
We have several grocery stores, to many if you ask me. Sports equipment stores. Most car brands have a shops here. Several places to eat with different types of cuisine. Two ski resorts.
After the equivalent of high school you do have to go a city though.
Another great video. Well done!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!
Hi you 2 so nice to see you and a wonderful vid about your experience and your feelings about moving to a small town and yes it`s different and to your likings that is all that counts
When I was in elementary school, our family moved within the city. But the first part was rather inside the town, where I had to cross a big road to school each day. The destination was a new part of town near the city limits, where playing outside was much easier. Well for the most part, there were fields, but a forest isn't far away. But the nicest thing is, that most of the times you can't even hear the cars on the not so distant road.
We are expatriates who have lived in the small city of Bad Homburg since 1987. Our point of reference was suburban Long Island. We love the small city life experience here in Germany which we believe has no analogue in the US. The benefits of the sustainability of life, the walkability, the feeling of community, the work-leisure balance, the sense of place and the cultural anchors of place combined with the social supports of German life are something hard for us to make our American friends and family understand. We lived in a house with a yard in a small suburban feeling village connected to Bad Homburg while our children grew into adulthood, but now I enjoy life directly in the old town here right in the middle of this city of about 50,000 people on the bordering Frankfurt and the Taunus “Mountains” (a Hessen version of the Black Forest with its own Feldberg).
You are not expats, you are inmigrants
Oh hello dear neighbour;) Greetings from Kirdorf
In Germany, there is still partially a cultural expection that a mom stays at home after birth and starts to work part-time when the children reach school age.
That does not describe reality, but that fiction is uphelp fiercely by more conservative people. Rural areas are simply more conservative.
May be, southern Germany in rural regions are very conservative, in the north nobody expect you to stay at home as Mum
Not even in rural villages.
It’s a class thing. The lower classes need the mothers working, for the middle class it’s a status symbol.
The rich people simply take care of the children. No going to work shortly after childbirth. Look up the statistics.
@@meinich5488 it's more of a West/East thing, childcare was way more accessible in the DDR
I grew up in small villages (to call them or even the bigger village they belonged to towns would be a massive exaggeration) here in Germany, but then for a long while I moved to Cologne, which is one of the largest german cities. As of now, I have moved back to my family home in the small village.
The differences are quite remarkable. When coming back from shopping, in Cologne it was like this: Take some stuff, lock car, unlock house door, walk upstairs, unlock appartement door, put stuff away, leave appartement, close doors, unlock car, get more stuff and so on. Here in our village (app. 2000 inhabitants , the small "burb" I live in has 174) it is much easier: Leave car, get stuff, leave car trunk (boot) open, head to home, unlock, put stuff away, leave for the car while leaving the house door open, get next stuff and so on. No worries at all that someone would steal my shopping, vandalize or steal my car etc.
Also the community is great. In my samll village I know most people by face, if not by name, just having a few problems with the kids, as i don't have so much contact with them. We have several community events throughout the year that get organized by the whole village and are great fun for everyone.
@TheBlackForestFamily, thank you for sharing. It is good to know the differences.
I live in Berlin and have both hustle and bustle and nightlife as well as just my peace and quiet in my quiet Berlin neighborhood where I can just relax. I can get anywhere in a short amount of time by train or bus. I wish you a nice time in your new home.
In Cheyenne Wyoming I have noticed that couples will have one member working the overnight shift say in a distribution center to avoid daycare issues.
You are so lucky to live there. I visited Freiburg and surrounds on my last trip there - it's beautiful! I'll definitely be back. I loved the trip up the Hollentalbahn travelling up the valley, so many lovely little towns
All da best!😊
Gday BFF family, so lovely to see you both again. Hope your pregnancy is going well and you are keeping energised.
Living in a cohesive, safe , engaged and inclusive
community is so important to one’s happiness and wellbeing particularly when you have a young family and also when you are a senior citizen.
This is why I love living where I live, because of all of these elements. It’s safe, cohesive, engaging, inclusive and welcoming.
Their are huge open spaces, parklands with sporting facilities, schools, kindergartens, shops, public transport health services that are all within a short distance from where I live. I never take any of this for granted and feel so thankful everyday to be a part of my community.
I hope your new community will also provide your family with a positive experience.
Best wishes
Hi there! Thanks so much. Many of the perks of your community are also what attracted us to live in ours. SUCH a great thing to live in a pedestrian area that has a lot of free, and open community services and amentities.
We moved from bug city in UK to small village in Germany in 2003 for very similar reasons to yourselves. The children had a wonderful childhood here. Quite possibly, as we get older, a bigger town would again be better, but we took roots here and are reluctant to leave….at least for now 😊
I had to laugh when reading this statement! When we moved from Hamburg to a small village, my husband and I dreamt of returning to the city once the kids had moved out. Well, the kids are legally adults now, I am way in my 50s, I still love Hamburg, but I cannot even imagine to exist without a garden and seeing the horizon every day.
Grew up in a vilage of around 10.000(including the two other small villages around ) and I had to bike to the next town of around 15-20.000 every weekend to drink with friends. Went to the next big city to study and I really like the anonymity you have in the crowd. You have to greet everyone in villages and they all know about the local drunks( my dad) so I really did appreciaty not having to interact with random people on the street. I still agressively greet everyone I know, I got a lot of strange looks from the people when I just moved in, but some (older) people really appreciate the interaction, so I think there is a balance to be struck.
My wife and I had a similar experience: a few years ago we moved from a city of 1.5 million people in Brazil to a town of 60k-ish in the Netherlands. We are also old 😛, so we are loving it! Well, it helps that it is just a half hour drive (20min by train) to the city where the university is located. Anyway, I’ve been watching your videos for a while and it’s been quite interesting to notice the similarities in cultural “shock” experiences. Your videos about the differences in American and German life are great!
You've been in Bart de Pau's videos, haven't you? You and your wife seem like great people :)
@@jarnobot Yes, my wife and I are in many of his videos! Small world. ;-)
You bike?
I'm so, so proud of you!!!
Well done. 😁😁😁
Should come of no surprise that the Ausländerbehörde is faster in a small town in the middle of the Black Forest. There are probably only you two and about 3 other people who are foreigners and need to go there. ;)
That's also why they are so kind and friendly. They love that they get something to do, when you show up. ;)
Welcome to reality in German life! Thanks so much to describe the daily struggles and pleasures!
That's great re: stuff going on. Freiburg's farmers market is amazing.
If I may give you a hint: in the city you consume, but in the village you participate. Make sure that you get involved somewhere in the village community, in an association, even if it is in church work, for example. You will see that this is the turbo gear for integration.
To say this: I subcribed here about one year ago and I really like your channel.
Totally agree. It is clear that the locals really love their city and are really welcoming to new families. When we lived in Freiburg our jobs/University were our "connection" and was the way we met new people - but here it will be important to get involved in another organization.
100%. My parents moved from lower saxony to NRW and even after 25 years of Living in this small town (10k), we still feel only half-integrated just because we had no interest in doing church work or joining a 'Schützenverein'. We did sports and went to school here.
So this is even true for germans from different regions xD
@@christophhanke6627 Well, you had no interest in church or Schützenverein. Your interests were on your own. So it's no wonder you stayed a stranger. We got integrated after some months because we were interested in the villages interests.🙂
@@PeterBuwen the funny thing about this is that we actually found a lot of friends this way. ^^ Because a chunk of the people that moved here also weren't Fans of Schützenvereine or german folk music groups and they got in contact with us. So basically we forged friendships with people from different Parts of germany who all shared their common non-interest in these village-activities (except for joining sports clubs) xD
@@TypeAshton Villages don't make it hard for foreigners, because often times they are "recruited", if they are friendly. This requires a good village-life, but Corona and multiculturalism killed a lot of domestic culture in the South of Germany. Unlike the small villages in the US, as I know them, in Germany these villages are basically organized pretty centrally among competing branches of sport, singers or carneval etc. So, it is more important to know either side and stick to one side, as it will be questioned, if you go to rivals instead. Also, in small villages it is more hard to get new deep friendships, because the inhabitants all have them pretty much settled and organized. And it's important to know, that friendships in Germany are anything but superficial. Icebreakers are mostly children and community work. The city has more neutral fields and is more fast-paced.
Ich wünsche euch einen schönen Sonntag! :-)
Wow! Vielen Dank für die Unterstützung. Sehr nett von dir.
I'm born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, a really green city in tiself with all the parks and the Alster etc. and you need heavy maschinery to get me out of here.
When you visited Hamburg you saw more of the inner city with its older buildings. My area was rebuild around 1950 to build fast and cheap living space after the war. They used the english garden-city modell as a blueprint, so there is muuuch more green here than in the inner city.
With public transportation I'm at the town hall in about twenty minutes, and in the outher direction it takes the same time to get out in the fields.
Using my bike would take a little bit longer, but there is a route almost completely through parks and at little streams from my home up to Hamburg habour.
Your reenactment of American Gothic is pretty cool.
That sounds interesting. The issues you are talking about (lack of Kindergarden places for childs, lack of Doctors taking new patients), completely apply to the city I live in...but that city is Mainz, size wise comparable to Freiburg. Where in the smaller cities and villages around Mainz these issues are way less than in Mainz...so it looks like it is just opposite to Freiburg and your Blackforest town.
Ah that is super interesting!
I grew up in Freudenstadt and back then I thought it was boering. And in fact there wasn't even a direct train connection, neithter to STuttgart nor Karlsruhe nor anywhere further than 40 km. Looking back now I really loved the time and things I was able to do. All the parties we had as teenagers somewhere in some hut in the woods... :-D
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and appreciating Germany that much!
The "International Cuisine" is what I missed most when I moved from Berlin back to my small home town ;)
If you love the new years fireworks you should come to the ruhr valley on silvester. Its very flat but you can go up one of the halden and see fireworks going of for dozens of kilometers
What I love about smaller towns is the sense of community, neighbours helping each other out, looking out for each other, noticing if something is amiss, etc.
Also, I can totally confirm that smaller towns hereabouts have far less bureaucracy. I used to live quite close to your area (close to Bad Säckingen on the Swiss side in a tiny village). And right when I decided to move away in a month's time, ended my renting contract, I got a notice from the town office that my living permit was ending and had to be renewed. So I called them and told them that I would move away in a month's time anyway and how I could best solve this. Her answer? Consider it done, no need to come by, we'll just post you your paperwork and you don't need to take any further action. No fees either. I was pretty much flabbergasted. 😂
I have always been a city-person, having lived in Berlin, Córdoba (Argentina), Buenos Aires and London. So, when we moved first to a small town and later (for being able to buy a house) to a village in Switzerland was a huge change in lifestyle, with some similarities and some differences. As foreigners with two kids (which were born here) we were also on our own, without a family network to help.
The fact that every village, town and region has its own unique culture is certainly similar to your Black Forest experience, though "High Culture" is not Switzerland's strongest area. It exists in the cities like Zurich or Geneva, but compared to our previous cities (especially London), well...
What I really came to appreciate, was nature: Having a creek to splash with the kids in summer, a hill for sledging in winter and a forest for camp fires all year round, all within walking distance, is just amazing.
Day care is private and rather easy to find, but ridiculously expensive (think 120 Franks = €/$ per full day per kid. Full time gets you above 2000 a month - *cough*). Kindergarten (from age 4 or 5, depending on the canton) is mandatory and free, and the state always provides a space. Public administration in Switzerland is extremely smooth and efficient, everywhere, as is public transport, which even reaches the smallest villages.
The toughest part, though, was making local friends. It's relatively easy, if you join local associations, like the firefighters or sport clubs, but that's not really my cup of tea. In the end, we made most of our friends through work and through the kids (playgrounds). Swiss, not too many, mostly Latin Americans and Germans, but at least some.
I grew up in a large city (Detroit). My mother's family was from a small northern Michigan town, where we spent summers. When married I moved into the log cabin my grandfather built. It is not in a town at all. We are out in the middle of a national forest. Seven miles from a small berg (post office, two churches, one gas station, one bar, and a K-12 school). We are a half hour drive from the nearest city of 6,000 people. And over an hour from the nearest city with a shopping maul. Have been lucky to have a wonderful career with a University (Cooperative Extension) allowing us to say here for 45+ years. Retired now, with no intention of moving.
I am relieved to hear that we are not the only ones with a culture shock after leaving the "big" city. We are also immigrants, lived at home in a big university center with about 500k population, moved to Germany (Ba-Wü) 7 years ago to a smaller "big" city with about 140k population. That was our first shock, but somehow that was obvious being from another country. Last year we decided to move out of town to a quiet neighbourhood. Our problems to solve were rather logistical, because the nearest supermarket is about 3km away, no more running to the shop when you forgot something, public transportation is rather rare and not very reliable. But hey, one can not have everything and we are happy where we are right now.
Die kurzen Öffnungszeiten in den Kitas sind in alten Bundesländern normal. In den neuen Bundesländern sind teilweise die Kitas bis 18:00 Uhr geöffnet.
Hey y'all, long time subscriber. Like the fact that yall keep it real in this chanel. The metric system is real, no talk about miles, placed some Km's on the vehicle. Very nice content, and like how y'all take time to answer the questions form all of your subscribers. By the way, how would you think y'all be treated if y'all were american, but not white in that small town?
In 1993 I went to Konstanz to go to the University. After studying I stayed because the city has so much to offer. The most important thing is the lake Bodensee. In summer one can go swimming everywhere in the town. You allways feel like in hollyday. The people are happy and friendly. About 20.000 of 80.000 inhabitants are students. Interntional too. Nature is everywhere. Biking, sailing, skiing... is easy to do. There is a theater, a philharmony, a Therme and lots of culture, restaurants and bars. It is great for younger people as well as for families and old ones. Only one thing is difficult. Everything is expensive. This is because Konstanz is direktly at the border to swiss. To rent a flat is like in Munich. I love this city.
We live in a big village (about 12k inhabitants) and moved there 11 years ago, and we really love it! The grocery store is 400 meters away from our house, so are the village square, the doctor, the pharmacy and the post office, to name a few. Our village is extremely active. In the warm time of year, you just need to step out on the balcony on a friday afternoon to hear some commotion hinting that there is yet another fest going on on the village square. During Fasching, the village grows to double the size in people. And we live only a kilometer away from the Autobahn, so we have good access to basically anywhere. And when we leave the house in the opposite direction to the village square, we are out in the fields in 2 minutes.
Next year, we will be added to the city rail system of the big town 20 kilometers away, and then even the public transportation bit will be much improved.
Your "Tschüss" at the end was spot on! You *sing* it like a local 😀
Thanks so much!
Was raised in a small town in N.California and since then wherever I've roamed, because I do like to roam... whether in Wales, France or Italy and now Mexico, I have ALWAYS chosen to live in smaller towns.... because they're real/authentic, (less frenetic or touristy) people are friendlier, it's always greener with space to breathe and yes the bureaucracy is usually much less exhausting, + they're so much better for kids too. Never was much of a party girl even in college... so small town life has suited me to a T for 70+ years. So enjoy, I of course think you've made a wonderful choice! 😉
You are lucky enough that in our region, there are so many cute little towns to choose from... But, in my case... if i have a chance to have a day in Freiburg, i take it. The city is to fantastic to forget it, even if we live nearby now.... Great video as always and great environment for Jack to grow up.
I am not planning to move to Germany but I did move from Russia to USA( I have been living in USA now for 15 years). Oh how I remember my first years here! Your stories brought me to tears!
I am secretly hoping one day we will move to Europe!
Thank you for your videos!
Thanks for telling us about this awesome magical small town in Germany that we will never get to experience because we'll never know the name. lol ;) Seriously though, glad you found a nice location.
hahaha yeahhhhh its best we not give TOO much away 😉 But thank you, we really love it.
so it's basically the Bielefeld of the south - a legendary town that might or may not really exist? ;-)
We purchased our home two years ago in a small village in the Upper Harz. Our village has a tourist center/Post and a grocery store. There are a couple of hotels and an ice cafe as well. The first time we went to the grocer, we were asked if we were there on vacation. When we said that we purchased a home in the village, the cashier's response was, "Oh yes, you purchased .....'s house." There is no anonymity in a small town, but I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma and enjoy living here in our little village. Enjoy!
Look, I am a german who was growing up in a small village. But when I was 16, 17, 18, 20 I preferred to spend my time in the big city. There was more going on. And of course as I got older I moved to the city and then I lived in the city for 30 years.
A few years ago my wife persuaded me to move back to the country and since then we have lived in a small village with 200 inhabitants. The nearest towns are 10 km away.
To my surprise, I had to realize that living in the country also represents a massive improvement in the quality of life. I would not have thought that before. But EVERYTHING is better here, people are friendlier, life is more relaxed. I'm glad my wife convinced me to come here.
We also very much enjoyed living in Freiburg when we first moved here. It is so vibrant, fun, and there's no shortage of things to do on a Friday or Saturday night. And as much as we LOVED the city (we lived in Altstadt), we started searching for something slower and quieter once Jack arrived. As you say, there really is a nice quality of life in a smaller village.
@theblackforestfamily We moved in August to Baden Württemberg area to a town of 1900. Talk about small. No backery, no gas station, no metzgeri. Until Dec, it only had 1 restaurant. It does have one awesome thing that really made us move here...the view is wonderful. We are in the mountainous region and can see over the whole valley behind us.
We've lived in Bavaria for the last 10 years and just had our daughter. We think that it's time to settle down after moving every three years to provide a stable environment. We decided for a small town in Brandenburg. This will be quite an adjustment but we plan on integrating there by joining a sports club or a Krabbelgruppe. In contrast to Bavaria there are almost no kindergarten spots or doctors but the opening hours of shops, doctors or the kindergarten are so much longer.
Wow, moving from bavaria to brandenburg is a culture shock even for a germans. Must be something to adjust ^^
Waldkirch is a really nice Schwarzwald-Town. I wish you all the best living there.
I'm happy for you being happy in your new home. It is a pretty hefty change.
Well, this New Year's Eve was a bit special concerning fireworks. Since it wasn't allowed to have large parties with fireworks during the pandemic, these were fireworks that were pent up for three years. Usually, it's about 10-20 mins. This time, it was kinda crazy.
"A new plague every month" - oh yes. Kita time is sick time. When our eldest came into Kita, the whole family was sick from August to the following April. I have some health-conscious friends, and when they were reluctant to drop by when our kids had the sniffles, I told them "If you don't come over as long as someone sneezes in this house, we'll see each other again in 20 years."
New intro? I know that corner leading down to the valley very well, its one of my favorite streches of road. If there is no traffic. When i commute between Freiburg and my place i usually avoid the B31 and come along this part. Funny how beautiful it looks from above. When i drive there i am too focused on the road. And mostly schneller als die Polizei erlaubt... 😁
In our small hessian village with 3500 inhabitants there are 35 Kita-places. five of them are from 7am to 5pm, the others only until 3pm.
The Kindergirten (including a forest kindergarten group) offers selectable care times from 7:00h to 17:00h.
Even in the rural areas there seems to be strong differences....
Very nice video and an interesting comparison. Here is a little bit of our experience in the US.
We are a German Family of three living in central Pennsylvania for more than 14 years. We are both working, but only one of us is working full-time. Our son is eight and attends a smaller private school after a year of homeschooling during COVID.
The place we live is certainly not remote; close to the capital Harrisburg and rather busy during the summer months due to the well-known amusement park.
It's funny that we face somewhat similar problems. Our KiTa opened earlier and stayed open longer than the German KiTa, but there were so many days on which they had closed or closed on short notice that we were struggling many times to find ways to care for our kid while we were working. As you guys, we don't have family here, so we are entirely dependent on a nanny and occasionally friends. After a year of homeschooling and the transition to a private school, we were hoping for a little bit more stable situation. Unfortunately, that did not come to fruition. We still struggle with the many days the school calls off, sometimes on very short notice. Just recently, one of us had to bring our son to work because, on short notice, we could not find support. However, we are very lucky that I can sometimes work from home or just go to work an hour later.
Schools, also the public schools, start relatively late, 8:30. By that time, both of us have to be at work for almost 2 hours. So we have a nanny that comes to our house every morning to make sure our son gets on the school bus on time and safely. During the second year of COVID, we had to pay up to 35$ per hour for a nanny. Sound like a lot? It is, but we wanted a reliable and safe person, so that's what we had to pay.
We often wish we had our family close to us, but other than that, we feel that central PA is home for us even though your pictures from the black forest caused some mild homesickness.
It's quite hard to find a generalist that takes new patients in Switzerland too, but that's because there is a numerus clausus on medical students.
I am from Germany, but somehow enjoy your well made videos. Keep up the good work and it is also interesting for us Germans to see the world through your glasses. Greetings from Berlin.
I studied and lived in Freiburg. After that I worked and lived in Heidelberg. After a few years, however, I bought a house in a small town in the Rhine valley. The monthly financial burden for the house was significantly lower than the rent in Heidelberg. And after a while I even enjoyed the ride on the S-Bahn between home and work to relax and switch off.
I loved this video!! 8 months ago I moved to a small village 50 min away from Hamburg (830 people as of 2008 latest data) and I had the same worries/concern as you guys but surprisingly I have met already three people that speak fluent English and my right next door neighbor speaks English, Spanish, and German which happen to be my three languages as well. Anyways, the experience has been amazing and I have a Kita less than 3 min walking from my house..
Additionally, right now I am starting my PhD and I have a 9 month old baby. So, it would be cool if you can make a video about how your PhD experience in Germany was and how you dealt with Jack during this time (did you get maternity leave, how did you do with Jack sick days and so on), how the University dynamic is compared to private industry, and your family dynamic. That would be cool and also it would be interesting to see the contrast with a PhD position while being a mom in the US.
Keep it up guys, I love your content!!
AH yeah the time with Jack and the PhD was quite the juggling act. When I was pregnant with him I found out I was awarded a pretty prestigious 1 year research grant (that would begin one month before his due date). After speaking to them, I learned that legally - they are required to give me Mutterschutz but not Elternzeit. And since this was a 1 year grant, they couldn't transfer it to another academic/fiscal year.
So the "compromise" that we found was to hire on a Tagesmutter 2.5 days a week. She worked for us privately and came directly to our house. This was great since I was still breastfeeding so I could be close by when it was 'snack time', but then I could also get dedicated time to work on my research.... but it was pricey. Basically the majority of the money I got in "income" from this grant went towards the Tagesmutter. But it was either do that and make meaningful progress towards my project - or forfeit the grant all together.
Schön euch hir zuhaben 👍🏻🤗
Carnaval is a festivity in which every village, town, or city wants to distinguish themselves from others.
And if they do not have something special, they will invent and promote it. It's there to celebrate your local identity, with local colors, local ways, local parades.
I live in a smaller town half an hour by train from Vienna, Austria. I actually grew up in Vienna and quite liked city life, but the area I grew up in which had lots of parks and nice safe spaces for kids had become too expensive for my husband and I to afford a kid-friendly apartment in. So we bought a house and garden in a nearby smaller town, which was cheaper and nicer, the only downsides being the longer commute to work and less active cultural and social life. I really love living here, and we're lucky in that the town has all the amenities you could wish for, except for a hospital. There's several schools to choose from, several doctors, several grocery stores and a small shopping center with non-food stores. There's a (private) castle which has opened its gardens to the public, a public outdoor swimming pool which is open from May to October, and in the past years the town has become extremely bike-friendly, you'd love it! There's cycle paths everywhere, a free bike-repair spot outside the city hall (with tools and a pump affixed to a bike-rack by chains) and a covered bike parking area next to the train station.
Your town and community sounds really lovely! Was it truly the first time they tried an American-style Halloween for Jack's sake? Halloween has become somewhat popular in our area due to American movies, and a lot of families participate in trick-or-treating by now. The trick is to figure out which doorbells you're allowed to ring and which houses to avoid. We have an unofficial system in our town that everyone who wants to signal that it's okay to ring their doorbell places a clearly visible lit jack-o-lantern in their garden or near their door on Halloween, and the houses that aren't decorated for the holiday are off limits. This can mean quite a long walk for kids, as it's often just one or two houses per street that are participating. But it's also fun to look for the pumpkins, kind of like an Easter egg hunt!
We lived in Kandern (population about 8,000 in Lörrach Landkreis) for 10 years. No kids in tow for us, but still good to hear of your struggles and joys. We absolutely loved life in a German town. Our life was less German due to the number of American/Canadian expats (about 300 families, mostly missionaries), so one could easily get away with living in the expat bubble. We were in the middle: an older couple, working in an English speaking international school, but eager to meet and enjoy the wonderful, dear German families in our neighborhood. We only attained a B1 level of German, but work limited our time availability. Your video brings up so many wonderful memories.
Anyone who has an open heart to new experiences and different (but wonderful) approaches to life, is adaptable, learns the language, and diligently studies how "life" works (legal, government regulations, medical, education, shopping, festivals, social etiquette, etc.) will thrive in many/most areas of Germany. Wonderful country, even more wonderful people.
Thanks for the personal update: congrats on the coming second baby. Keep up the excellent work (your recent crime series was great and you really put it out there, but did so factually, calmly, and kindly). Hard to get angry at you, even if I did disagree. Your work reminds me of Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, an evangelical climate scientist: her knowledge and her gentle, fact based approach are admirable, as is yours.
Throughout the video, I could hear a voice (or two) in the background chirping: "I like it here! I like it here!" :). I wonder whose voices were those!
Hello Ashton, hello Jonathan,
happy Sunday!
Yes, moving to a new town brings new experiences, good and not so good ones.
So I wish wish you all the best in your new place, you will start enjoying it. I personally would also perfer living in a small(er) town. Best regards Ralf
Hi Ralf! Happy Sunday. Thanks ☺️ We have really been enjoying it too.
Concerning the difficulties of finding a new Doktor, I resently moped to a town 25Km from my old place, I still go to my previous Hausarzt because they know my inside out abd it would be still difficult to find a new here, eventuell wirh private insurance. So this a Problem for a lot of people that moped to a know place.
With the short Kita hours, it's an issue in the former West Germany. In the former East Germany the Kitas and the day care at elementary schools are open from 6 AM to 5 or sometimes 6 PM. Doesn't matter if it's a small place or a bigger city.
Same in Eastern Europe, it is normal.
I was born in Freiburg and moved to the 20 times bigger city Berlin 20 years ago and still like Berlin more, the nature and the city. What I struggle with is the dark winters here, but the cheapest flights to Mallorca are from Berlin, so there is a way to deal with it. The flight from Berlin to the island goes directly over the black forest, so two times black forest is Mallorca, if you will and I can see my old home every time from the bird´s eye view.
I grew up in a small town, than lived in vienna for 7 years and now moved back out into another small town. I have to say, I just love the small town festivals. It doesn't matter if its a "Feuerwehrfest" a "Kirchtag" or a "Faschingsfest". I just like these things. And you just don't have the same atmosphere in the city. I also love to being able to go for a walk in the nature anytime, without having to going somewhere else before.
The best way to integrate in a small town/village is to join the lokal volunteer firefighter or the lokal soccer(Football) club.
Friends... I'd love you to visit Kempten, Isny and inbetween Weitnau. You would love it here 😊❤❤
The thumbnail pic is absolutely hilarious! 😂
Small town. Love the greenery. The forest starts 50m from my front door, so I can have a forest cycle ride at any time. The bats eat all the flies and mosquitoes. And scratch people sometimes, then you need to get a rabies vaccine. The tics give you Lyme disease. It's fun.
The struggle to find a (good) dentist is a real one.
Can’t wait to see a video from steinwasenpark where i spent lot of time as a child. Greetings from Bangkok ( couldn’t handle the cold in basel)
Yeah our Kita can only support until 12.30. greetings from the neighborhood.
Your small town looks like a dreamy metropolis compared to my kleine Dorf! Well done!
Indeed. Sounds like I one of these small villages that are slowly morphing into suburbs of the nearby major city. Usually, families with kids move there first. When the kids grow up, they tend to leave the place, leaving behind their aging parents. It then takes several decades until the place reaches a healthy mix of young and old people.
I grew up in such a newly expanded suburb back in the 70 and 80s. In the 90s, the neighborhood became a bit depressing, as most kids had grown up and left the place, leaving their old parents behind. By now, some of these older people have moved out (or passed away), leaving space for new young families to move in. Now when I come to visit my parents, I can see kids playing in the streets again.