I moved to Germany and regret it. I've felt unwelcome by the people, and not even the great healthcare can convince me to stay.

www.businessinsider.com I moved to Germany and regret it. I've felt unwelcome by the people, and not even the great healthcare can convince me to stay.

Stephanie Vollmer said that her healthcare and safety were better in Germany than in the US, but she said that she often experienced microaggressions.

I moved to Germany and regret it. I've felt unwelcome by the people, and not even the great healthcare can convince me to stay.

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She uses words like "microaggression" repeatedly, so she's practiced at finding offense where there isn't any.
She's American, so she's ignorant of foreign cultures and believes hers is superior. Anyone who doesn't conform is an "ist".
Her German is weak. Many Germans do not speak English. She complains about having to take lessons.
She moved to a small town and complained about small town problems. In small towns, people speak even less English, and are even less used to foreigners. Public transport is less accessible.
Complains about Amazon delivery taking too long.
This is the most American whinge I've ever read.
- Yup, the title of the article is incredibly misleading. She didn't move to "Germany", she moved from a big city to a small town that happened to be in Germany, then got surprised that it felt insular, like the vast majority of small towns in the world. You could move from a big city in the US to a small town in the US and have exactly the same experience.
  
  Yeah, how would she react in a rural part of SK? She was probably staying in Seoul or Busan, of course a small German town would feel quaint in comparison!
- I mean, yeah, Germany is certainly not the most welcoming country in the world, but wtf is she on about?
  She literally complains about earning US$ from "freelance marketing gigs" (lol, is that code for "tiktok"?) and having to pay the exchange rate? I didn't realize US$ was the official currency in South Korea? Also gas is expensive, yes, but last time I checked it's basically impossible to buy something like a 50 mpg VW Golf in the US, so... (I suspect they're driving a RAM2500 and wonder why nobody likes them, lol)
  "We live in a small German town called Otterberg because of my husband's job" vs "Also, we can't afford to live in a city like Berlin or Frankfurt, which have more young people and other expats." – What is it now?
  I'm really looking forward to Stephanie's report from Bumfucknowhere, Ohio, because I seriously doubt they can afford to live in SF or NY either.
- For real, I read the article thought it was very obivous why she is struggling to adapt.
  As for the microaggression point, I kept waiting to read about it in detail, but there was nothing.
- She also complains about lessons being expensive, because she probably chose to go the Goethe institut route. But IRC you can get lessons for much cheaper or even a free vocational course at a Fachhochschule - although I suspect she's not elligible for that, because her husband earns too much.
  Of course, that would mean mingling with immigrants and muslims. Let's be honest, that's almost certainly one of the reasons she chose to go the more expensive route. This woman gives off "I'm an expat, not an immigrant" Karen vibes.
  
  500 for a course is nothing compared to what I've had to spend to learn Dutch
  
  The best thing is where she claims "state-sponsored integration programs offer language classes for free" in South Korea and the link goes to a page only listing youtube videos, duolingo, and books, udemy courses, etc. that are certainly not free.
- For real. I went to Frankfurt am Main a few years ago and it was wonderful. The people were incredibly nice and were very patient as I stumbled my way through broken German and more often than not switched to English.
  I get it can be a culture shock to live in a new country where you're not a native speaker and where customs are different, but you can't expect everyone to cater to you.
- Talk about dumm Auslander.

75 comments