What I liked about Germany was starting early; stopping for frühstück, finishing early (in comparison to UK but also Italy) and beer ofc. The great thing about German bureaucracy was you could be absolutely certain they would grind through according to the rules, however that might turn out!
Who would want to live in a hot hellhole of religious intolerance, teetotalism and general unfreedom as the Emirates? Not me, so I'd take this kind of survey with a big dose of salt.
Paris on the other hand is not only lovely and friendly (yes, the other day some non-white kids went out of their way to help us on the Métro), but also dynamic. Greening streets, cleaning the Seine, creating the Grand Paris Express -- every time I visit, it becomes better. Who could say that of any German city?
In addition, German banks are slow and heirarchical, the German financial regulator is stupid and semi-corrupt... no wonder "stupid German money" is a thing. So it's easy to agree with the premise of this (once again) very readable piece.
Someone who moves from a more developed to a less developed country is generally classified as an expat - the inverse is generally classified as an immigrant, despite similar nature of work (i.e. management, finance, etc.). The lifestyles do differ with generally a large increase in quality of life in the former and decrease of quality of life in the latter. That does somewhat play into the results of the study that wasn't factored in.
I travel a lot for work in Europe (and have spent significant time in Dubai and Kuwait). For years, I was told that the French were rude and people who didn't speak French hated going there. Over the past 8 years, I've spent a significant amount of time in both Paris and rural (western) France, and have found just the opposite. My French is terrible, and still I've found people to be helpful, cheerful, and generally a pleasure to be around. And the French take their food seriously! Every meal is a mini work of art. After a week in France, I do love coming home to a nice A&W teen burger. I guess my culture bucket gets full.
I’ve lived in Frankfurt some years back, and the German bureaucracy is really something special, but overall I enjoyed my time there. In my office at 5.30 on the dot the office would empty (at the latest). People really value their free time.
There must be something flawed in the survey. Invert it (after Spain) and you are nearer reality. Panama, Malaysia & UAE as near best? Italy, UK, HK (it may be post ChiComm takeover) & Ireland near worst? China in the middle when it should be bottom?
I am surprised Germany and Germans rank low. “Infrastructure miserable”? We are always told Germany is a model of efficiency and better run businesses. Germans are individual humans just like Britons, so I think it depends on the individual and our attitude to them. With Middle East states - outside the ex-pat bubble - we have huge - chasmic - differences in beliefs, culture and philosophy of life.
What I liked about Germany was starting early; stopping for frühstück, finishing early (in comparison to UK but also Italy) and beer ofc. The great thing about German bureaucracy was you could be absolutely certain they would grind through according to the rules, however that might turn out!
Who would want to live in a hot hellhole of religious intolerance, teetotalism and general unfreedom as the Emirates? Not me, so I'd take this kind of survey with a big dose of salt.
Paris on the other hand is not only lovely and friendly (yes, the other day some non-white kids went out of their way to help us on the Métro), but also dynamic. Greening streets, cleaning the Seine, creating the Grand Paris Express -- every time I visit, it becomes better. Who could say that of any German city?
In addition, German banks are slow and heirarchical, the German financial regulator is stupid and semi-corrupt... no wonder "stupid German money" is a thing. So it's easy to agree with the premise of this (once again) very readable piece.
Someone who moves from a more developed to a less developed country is generally classified as an expat - the inverse is generally classified as an immigrant, despite similar nature of work (i.e. management, finance, etc.). The lifestyles do differ with generally a large increase in quality of life in the former and decrease of quality of life in the latter. That does somewhat play into the results of the study that wasn't factored in.
I travel a lot for work in Europe (and have spent significant time in Dubai and Kuwait). For years, I was told that the French were rude and people who didn't speak French hated going there. Over the past 8 years, I've spent a significant amount of time in both Paris and rural (western) France, and have found just the opposite. My French is terrible, and still I've found people to be helpful, cheerful, and generally a pleasure to be around. And the French take their food seriously! Every meal is a mini work of art. After a week in France, I do love coming home to a nice A&W teen burger. I guess my culture bucket gets full.
I’ve lived in Frankfurt some years back, and the German bureaucracy is really something special, but overall I enjoyed my time there. In my office at 5.30 on the dot the office would empty (at the latest). People really value their free time.
There must be something flawed in the survey. Invert it (after Spain) and you are nearer reality. Panama, Malaysia & UAE as near best? Italy, UK, HK (it may be post ChiComm takeover) & Ireland near worst? China in the middle when it should be bottom?
I am surprised Germany and Germans rank low. “Infrastructure miserable”? We are always told Germany is a model of efficiency and better run businesses. Germans are individual humans just like Britons, so I think it depends on the individual and our attitude to them. With Middle East states - outside the ex-pat bubble - we have huge - chasmic - differences in beliefs, culture and philosophy of life.