Quote:
Originally Posted by Schroeder
Just out of curiosity, what was you impression of German living standards compared to the US?
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They were more comparable to US living standards than any other country i've been to except Canada, although there were some things that would be out of the ordinary here. My grandparents for example lived in a 400 year house whose only heat was the kitchen stove. Air conditioning meant opening the windows. The apartments tended to be a lot smaller as well, usually one small room with a communal bathroom. Car ownership wasn't as widespread either. Your public transportation system was more extensive than ours but if I had my druthers I'd take private car travel over train any day.
On the other hand your country is generally a lot cleaner than mine. The lack of litter is one of the first things people notice and it is something you should be proud of.
All in all Germany was certainly no Somalia, but I must add that this was in the late 1970's and with the Red Army poised on the East German and Czechoslovakian borders there was a constant feeling that it would all be swept away at any moment in the fires of war.