What's It Like Living in Germany vs Spain as Americans?

[@RobertRod818]

Spain sounds more inviting!

[@MYTravelBF]

Spain is more inviting at first, but as a non-citizen, the low salaries make it challenging to save for retirement. Now, that we've been living in Germany for over 6 months there are definitely pros and con to living in both countries.

[@faroukbenali2]

In recent times, long distance trains got more delays in germany. It's due to the many ongoing work sites on the train tracks. The infrastructure is old and it's being renovated. But in a chaotic manner.

[@MYTravelBF]

Thank you for sharing! Hopefully once the repairs are done, they won't have nearly as many delays. It seems as though it's almost a joke how many delays they have.

[@WFH910]

Great video and much respect for pointing out some of the negatives that people in Germany experience on a day to day basis but which most of the world doesn't even know about because there are so many myths surrounding Germany (garbege, delays etc)

[@MYTravelBF]

Thanks for watching and commenting! The train delays really surprised us, especially because Germany has the reputation for being very efficient.

[@teotik8071]

Most of our weather starts somewhere on the Atlantic (Azoren) rather than in Scandinavia or Russia. That is the reason for the grey skys. Wait until the wind changes its direction to east to west. You'll have sunny skys and freezing cold temperatures.

[@MYTravelBF]

Thanks for the info on the weather! We have noticed that the weather seems to sit over Hannover for a while. If it's gray skies, it will be gray for a few weeks, and if it's sunny, it'll be sunny for a few weeks. In winter with shorter days, it has really seemed to be gray lately.

[@teotik8071]

@@MYTravelBF So true. Some years it gets so cold for weeks that the Alster Lake in Hamburg freezes over and then there will be a huge party with lots of food stalls and drinks on the frozen lake.

[@arnodobler1096]

I sat yesterday at the Italian Cafe outside, okay I live in the very south at Lake Constance. On New Year's Eve we had 15 ° Celsius!!! Cleanliness of the cities is also different, have you ever heard of "Kehrwoche"?🤣 No, Tapas is not a thing here, only in spanish Restaurants (we have 2 here in my 30k town). Local and long-distance public transport is certainly better in Japan and Switzerland, but then ...? 🤔

[@MYTravelBF]

Yes, there are definitely some cafes that have outdoor seating. Maybe we noticed less when the Christmas markets were happening, and when it was really cold. We haven't head of "Kehrwoche," but did look up what it was😂 Thank you for watching!

[@Khalid2024.]

Great video, thank you Bro. Want to ask you, with the salary amount you are getting or used to get in spain can you have a good life or matter of surviving as long you had that experience, thank you.

[@MYTravelBF]

With the amount we made in Spain through the Auxiliar de Conversación program, you can basically break even. A "good quality of life" is always subjective to one's own experiences. We were able to save a little bit over the course of the year, but watched our spending otherwise and came with a savings. If you go to a smaller city, where the cost of living in lower, you can probably have a higher quality of life from a buying power perspective.

[@michaelnajera7958]

As educators yourselves, I’d love to hear differences between Germany’s and Spains education system. I’m having trouble figuring out what the system is like in Spain. Are there magnet schools? Is there a lot of homework early on? is there a philosophy difference, especially with younger kids?

[@MYTravelBF]

Thanks! We aren't working in the German public system, but we are familiar with the Spanish public system. In Spain, the public schools were highly respected, but students did have a lot of homework, even from an early age. It seemed to be very memorization based too, instead of real world application of the knowledge. We have a video on the differences we noticed between schools in Spain and the US.

[@ANDATV1]

The Spanish educational system is being thoroughly destroyed. Now it's bad and each year that passes is worse than the last. Teachers are prohibited from making children repeat a grade, and if they do, they get into a lot of problems with justifications and extra work. There are children who finish compulsory education without almost knowing how to read but obtain their diploma.

[@Frederick.Grant.Banting]

I think one of the best comparisons

[@MYTravelBF]

Thank you! Have you lived in both Germany and Spain?

[@yasseral-saadi6557]

Cool video! I disagree about the bikes though. I’ve often cycled in Hannover and it definitely has great cycling infrastructure. It ranks as one of the best in Germany. I live in Hamburg though and the cycling infrastructure here is getting better but still pretty bad in comparison to Hannover. So I wouldn’t really agree that it’s good all over Germany.

[@MYTravelBF]

Thanks for sharing your opinion! We haven't been everywhere in Germany, but overall from what we've seen it's still better than Spain, which we have traveled extensively.

[@randomvidz2890]

I literarily agree with everything especially the train problem I take the train everyday and almost every 2 days the train is late

[@MYTravelBF]

The train delays in Germany seem really ridiculous and were very surprising for us, especially coming from Spain where they mostly ran on time. Thanks for watching!

[@Tardis...]

Regarding delayed trains: There was a "cause research" which was mentioned in "Spektrum der Wissenschaft" (aka. Scientific America, German Version. The title of this article was (if I remember right) "Why are German trains always delayed, compared to Swiss trains"). One mayor reason is: A train which runs e.g. from Hamburg to Basel or Munich has to wait for a lot of connecting trains. And also have to wait for of trains from abroad: France, Netherlands, Belgium etc. And this sums up. Even to the point that the next train could overtake the train before. If another train in front of you is delayed, it's blocking your track and you have to wait until the track is free again. The denser the network and the more nodes there are, the higher the dependencies. It's quite more difficult to plan and coordinate this "complex" network than a single railway network which has not so much dependencies. And the theoretical solution to the problem is: ... there is none.

[@MYTravelBF]

Thank you for sharing! Spain has dedicated rails for the high-speed (ICE in Germany) trains, so there's no need to wait. That's probably why they aren't nearly as delayed as German trains.

[@1650million]

Interesting vid guys, thanks.

[@MYTravelBF]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@nettcologne9186]

Both countries are likely to have a better work-life balance compared to the states. Nevertheless the job is important, after all it makes up a large part of life. And if Spain does better there, too, I would go to Spain. Grüße aus Köln.

[@ivanovichdelfin8797]

Hola. En España hay un problema muy grande de desempleo. No vas a tener problemas en conseguir empleo si te conformas con cualquier cosa, por ejemplo, en ser camarero. Hay empleos en los que fácil y rápidamente vas a conseguir que te acepten y estos son en ingeniería, hostelería, conductor y construcción. El problema viene de conseguir el empleo en una trabajo muy especializado (quitando algunas pocas excepciones). Otro punto negativo de España en relación a esto es que el precio de todo ha subido al doble de como estaba antes y, sin embargo, los trabajadores siguen cobrando el mismo sueldo. Seguramente no vas a poder ahorrar tanto como ahorrarías en Alemania. Yo te recomiendo que lo pienses muy bien y te informes, pero te aviso que todo en España está yendo a pique con estos gobiernos increíblemente corruptos.

[@Juanfernandez-sm8jl]

@@ivanovichdelfin8797 Ivan gobiernos corruPPtos te referirá al Poddrido PP, y algo al PSOE porque lo que se refiere a Unidas Podemos despues de 8 años tde inventos y manipulaciones no han conseguido ni siquiera un solo caso de corrupción y el PP tienen 250 casos abiertos y el PSOE tiene 145 casos abiertos, hay que hablar con propiedad por cierto no estaría mal te fueras a Germany y así nos quitamos a un mentiroso de encima!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍Grüße aus Málaga

[@ivanovichdelfin8797]

@@Juanfernandez-sm8jl Todos son corruptos mientras puedan y más lo seguirán siendo como la gente no abra los ojos. ¿Y qué le pasa a Alemania? Yo estoy hablando de España. Si has venido a defender un país tan desastroso como España, con los precios de todo el doble de altos, con una tasa de desempleo de los más altos de la unión europea, con una tasa de abandono escolar de las más altas del mundo por el pésimo sistema educativo, con una sanidad increíblemente nefasta en la cual tienes que esperar 4 horas a que venga una ambulancia, con unos políticos que apoyan la malversación de fondos públicos, que promueven la contaminación y luego tienen la cara dura de culpar a los ciudadanos que es porque no llevamos una estúpida mascarilla que ni funciona o que no nos hemos vacunado lo suficiente. Puede seguir hablando, pero no servirá de nada mientras persista la gente ignorante.

[@MYTravelBF]

Spain and Germany absolutely have a better work-life balance than the United States. In fact, both countries do so much better than the US. Maybe that's a topic for another video...

[@MYTravelBF]

Gracias! Creo que el problema con inflación y los precios subiendo mientras los sueldos quedándose lo mismo es lo mismo aquí en Alemanía también.

[@ggthjwf]

Everybody is outside in Germany in spring and summer but of course that is not possible in winter season 🤷‍♀️

[@MYTravelBF]

Yes, people were outside in summer and into the fall this year. It just seems more people were outside in Spain, even when temperatures were the same. However, the Christmas Markets are packed in Germany, and it was super cold this year!

[@allanjohnsalgado2119]

Spain is being groomed the next tech and business hub like Singapore and Dubai. What can you expect. If you go to linkedIn lots of tech jobs

[@MYTravelBF]

Thanks for sharing! We heard they opened up a new remote work visa, but don't know too much about it. Since I first lived in Spain in 2010, it has seen rapid development with high speed rail, internet, and tons of other things!

[@miss_anna]

Hey) great vlog I agree about bureaucracy in Germany) I‘ve been living in Berlin 3 years and still not get used to 😂🤪

[@MYTravelBF]

Thank you for watching and for the kind words! I don't know if we'll ever get used to the bureaucracy...

[@miss_anna]

@@MYTravelBF agree)I also like traveling -welcome to my channel too :)

[@MYTravelBF]

@@miss_anna We'll check out your channel!

[@marcuscole4394]

I'd probably choose Spain or Portugal over Germany, mostly because of weather. I do like Germany, but I think I'd like Denmark better.

[@MYTravelBF]

Spain and Portugal are both wonderful countries! Our jobs brought us to Germany though. We don't know much about Denmark, but maybe we'll be there in the future!

[@marcuscole4394]

@@MYTravelBF Enjoy Germany, it really is a beautiful country.

[@Miguel-ve1lh]

Hey! Randomly found your video and i too am from (mke) Wisconsin! 🧀 currently living in Germany, thinking about making the move to Spain once i get my EU citizenship in the next two years! Saving money for retirement is a big one but the way i see it, more life >>>> more money in the bank ☀️ > ☁️ Friendly people > people who have a hard time opening up to strangers whom they didn’t grow up with since kindergarten 🤡

[@MYTravelBF]

Cool! Always great to find someone else from Milwaukee! Where are you living in Germany now, and where are you thinking of moving in Spain? It's so great Germany has opened up to others getting citizenship here!

[@Farizzy_king]

Mr yanker You should visit my county Bangladesh because I just received my citizenship and I’ll vsit my county every year and hopefully one day u would be down to visit my county 😊

[@MYTravelBF]

First off, congratulations on your citizenship, Faris! I would love to visit Bangladesh. I'm not sure when that would be, but hopefully sooner rather than later!

[@chuckcooper272]

your observations about Hannover are correct (trash, train schedules), but I think this has to do a lot with covid-19, since these problems were not so evident 3 years ago. There is also the problem with changes, for example the garbage collection is in the midst of a great change, with new containers for plastic waste, which especially in your area of Hannover, List, is terrible. For the last 6 weeks there are over-filled containers through-out the neighbourhood, which looks very bad. Things are supposed to get better in the next fortnight. The same with the train schedules...the tracks at the Hannover train station are being enlarged and there are many construction sites, causing delays. The super policy of a €9 ticket also got the train system overtaxed, which is just slowly returning to "normal." In the last couple of years the federal government has been forced to finance many new situations, like the pandemie, refugees, war in Ukraine, climate change, problems which the former conservative government ignored over 16 years, or have just developed in the last 2 years.

[@MYTravelBF]

Thank you for all the information! We didn't realize that a lot of these issues came up since the pandemic. Hopefully, things get better moving forward and with the new government.

[@jubillie06]

Wow . . . I thought it was cloudy in western Washington . . .

[@MYTravelBF]

😂😂😂 Northern Germany was pretty cloudy and gray all winter…

[@LarryFleetwood8675]

A good way to learn German more so than reading it, I think is watching German TV which is how I learned it back in the '70s and '80s, you pick up on the meaning of words easier that way.

[@MYTravelBF]

Thank you for the tip! We'll have to try it out!

[@ivanovichdelfin8797]

La densidad de población es mucho más baja en España (94h/km2) que en Alemania (233h/km2), pero en España a la gente le gusta mucho más salir afuera. Madrid es la segunda ciudad del mundo con mayor superficie forestal. The population density is much lower in Spain (94h/km2) than in Germany (233h/km2), but Spanish people like much more to go out. Madrid is the second city in the world with the largest forest area.

[@MYTravelBF]

Entendemos que la densidad de población es mucho más baja en España en general porque es un país muy vacío en comparación a Alemanía. Sin embargo, las ciudades en España nos parecen que tienen una densidad de población más alta porque hay más cosas. Probablamente esto es porque la gente le gusta mucho más salir afuera como dijiste. Gracias!

[@ivanovichdelfin8797]

@@MYTravelBF Sí, es cierto que en España hay mucha gente concentrada en las ciudades y luego te alejas de estas y ves muchos parajes preciosos apenas tocados. No sé si eso también pasa en Alemania o es que simplemente no salen mucho, xd

[@danielwoldorff2086]

Why did you move from Spain to Germany, given that Spain had such positives? If you get to this in another video please link me!

[@MYTravelBF]

Good question! It was for more permanent job opportunities for both of us and for a new adventure. Maybe we'll end up back in Spain someday, or maybe somewhere else!

[@Juanfernandez-sm8jl]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Tapas, Tapas. Tapas, We enjoy life!!

[@MYTravelBF]

Absolutely! We definitely miss tapas and a lot about Spain. We can't wait to get back!

[@PeterSlazy]

Well, winter in Germany is no fun but so is summer in Spain. At the end I prefer Germany. The heat in Spain is unbearable.

[@MYTravelBF]

Absolutely! We were in Madrid, and it was unbearable in summer. However, the grey winters of northern Germany aren't too fun either...Both places have their pros and cons. Thanks for watching!

[@jthanrubio1126]

Very true. Germany is very dirty when compared to Spain....but Spain is more of an exceptiok than the norm, so Germany is like most other older European countries in cleanliness/garbage.

[@MYTravelBF]

After having visited Spain again, there are definitely parts of cities that area clean, usually the centers with tourists, but other pats can be very dirty, even dirtier than Germany. Overall, we don't find Germany that dirty and think it's pretty clean. We do get annoyed with the broken bottles on the street in the mornings though😅

[@emmanuellegd4515]

As a new French teacher in Spain, how much can I ask for a one hour face to face class if I go to the house of my students?? I agree with you about living abroad in Spain.... So many different daily things to get used to.... I don't know if I would like to settle to Germany.... Thanks for your tips and speeches... Help a lot😜

[@MYTravelBF]

For private lessons, it depends where you live in Spain and what level of experience and certifications you have. In Madrid, most people charged at least €20 per lesson, but in other smaller cities, it was closer to €15 per lesson. It also depends on the student's intention with the class. If it's just conversation, they might not want to pay as much, but if they are studying for a specific official exam, they might be willing to pay more. Thank you for watching!

[@fritzneuer319]

which country is safer in your opinion???? Spain or Germany

[@MYTravelBF]

Ohhhh that’s a tough one to answer, especially coming from the US, where both are way safer than there. If we had to pick, Germany might be safer overall, but both are very safe places.

[@fritzneuer319]

@@MYTravelBF which city in the USA is the most dangerous????

[@Ilar-en7lg]

​@@MYTravelBFWhy do you think Germany is safer than Spain?

[@Miguel-ve1lh]

@@fritzneuer319mostly all bigger cities that you can think of have problems tbh

[@space.cowboyyyyy]

Germany is better, but Spain is more relaxed and easy going.

[@MYTravelBF]

Spain is definitely more relaxed and easygoing. Both countries have great things about them, and things you could complain about though. Thanks for watching!

[@mimamo]

I mean, you are in Hanover, right? That part of Germany is not known for its outdoor life, like open air cafes, biergartens, festivals etc. Would you live in Southern Germany that would be a whole different world. So, don't equate Hanover with all of Germany. ;) Also regarding density, liveliness and cleanliness: Hanover is considered one of Germany's ugliest, most boring cities. The reconstruction after WW2 really failed there. In many other German cities you will definitely find denser, older and more livelier quarters. Additionally, you come from tourist hotspot cities in Spain. Of course they clean there regularly. Hanover is not a touristic city. Go to places like Munich, for example, and everything is much cleaner and nicer. Gotta please those tourists.

[@MYTravelBF]

Thanks for sharing your opinion. It looks like we'll have to travel to southern Germany for more livelier outdoor life! As for cleanliness, even small non-touristy cities in Spain had cleaning crews come through every night to hose down the streets and sweep up the trash, which isn't something we've seen in Germany. Now, it might be because it's a waste of water or resources, but it does make the city look cleaner.