Back in Stuttgart, Germany (as stated before). All right, so what was good and what was bad?
First of all, I’d like to mention that Californians are very friendly, communicative and helpful. They seem to be very practical people, too. If there is a problem and they have a solution at hand (albeit far from perfect), they simply go ahead and implement it. Germans would take forever to find all possible solutions and then discuss which one is the most perferct, perfect, perfect one. This certainly has an advantage when it comes to long-term planning (e.g. infrastructure investments) but is a pain in the ass when the problem is rather minor in nature.
What I didn’t like are those flat, wide cities. You can’t walk anywhere, so no one does, so the streets are empty and the whole thing feels like a ghost town. Also, what do you need an SUV or pickup for if you only drive to work and drop your children off at the school?! Obviously the gas is still not expensive enough for you to switch.
I had the impression that Californians don’t whine as much about their problems as Germans. This could be a side effect of the fact that far more risks (such as illness, unemployment, etc.) are private matters there while they are partially social matter over here. The tax level is considerably lower in the US than in Germany and consequently citizens get less from the state. They seem to regard their problems more as their own problems and less as society’s problems. I like the attitude but am still in favor of a government that takes care of its citizens. Seeing your problems as your own problems exclusively makes you miss the point that in part your problems ARE due to structural problems in your society. In a competitive society someone just has to loose, no matter how hard they try. That’s the principal fallacy of the American Dream.
John Cleese (who lives in Santa Barbara) said that he likes living in the US because it has both the best and the worst people in the world. I wouldn’t go as far as that but generally agree. The country is very, very diverse. You can find people like the ones I worked with and people like the current federal administration. Talking about people, I think it’s time for a thank you list:
THANKS to
MF and RG for establishing the contact, DS and FD for their wisdom and expertise, BW and UB for their support at the “home front”, and the “German crew” EvW, RG, KF, SW for the interesting discussions (and the great meals we had, of course).
SPECIAL THANKS to
RG for keeping everything together and for the many invitations. TC for being a cheerful housemate, DW for being an unbureaucratic landlady, and the “Euro crew” SW, LB, JB, JO for the many nights at the local pubs. LB became a close friend of mine, which is kind of a surprise to me as I didn’t expect to find such a friend in California.
