The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

[Stumpy Pepys]

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

Evariste Euler Gauss wrote: Things the Germans can't do: customer service.

Yeah, that was an obvious omission.

German supermarkets appear to sell two types of tea:

1. Herbal or fruit teas, which smell great but taste of nothing at all
2. Teas implying spurious health benefits — Erkältungstee, Hustentee, Bronchialtee, Weltschmerzentee*, which are all horrible

Therefore I buy catering packs of PG Tips off eBay, from some outfit in Leipzig

* One of these may not be a real product

[EIM]

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

Bacon and tea come under my breakfast umbrella.

[Toby Gymshorts]

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

Stumpy Pepys wrote: Weltschmerzentee

Any chance of you sending me some of that over, Stumpy?

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

"Weltschmerzentee"

Brilliant. Gap in the market, that would sell like the proverbial hot cakes (or in Germany like cold cake for the afternoon coffee I suppose).

[treibeis]

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

Evariste Euler Gauss wrote: But there are some great pubs in English cities where you can have a great evening if you know where to find them.

I've only been to Britain twice in the last ten years, so I don't know what's typical and what isn't.

The first of these two visits was to Bristol, a city that I've been told now has a vibrant pub culture (as opposed to the violent pub culture that it had when I first started going to pubs there).

During this visit, I deliberately sought out pubs that I used to go to in the 1980s, which were either dad pubs or pubs where you could see bands. They all had blokes in security-guard clobber on the door.

I know pubs change over the years and I know that doormen are often necessary (and I know the phrase "You should never go back"), but I'd prefer to avoid public houses that are only 'public' if the stranger on the door decides that they are.

The second visit was to South Wales. The village pubs were fine, but in one place in Haverfordwest, the staff told me twice that I had to sit down - even though I wasn't standing in the way of anything or anybody, and even though the table they were gesturing towards was already occupied.

As you said, these are isolated examples. But they're the only examples I can give you. And, as you also say, there are great pubs if you know where to find them. I thought I knew where to find them (at least in Bristol), I was wrong and, after half a dozen attempts to locate doorman-free pubs that I was halfway familiar with, I had neither the time nor the inclination to look for the 'great' places.

[Geoffrey de Ste. Croix]

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

Germany also does free University tuition very well.

[hobbes]

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

Finally got P to watch this a couple of months ago after 6 years of trying.
Needless to say, she bloody loved it.

[ursus arctos]

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

Geoffrey, as the father of a student who is interested in exploring university opportunities outside of his home country, I was interested to find that the German government is devoting significant resources to attracting foreign students who can be counted on to pay "more market rates of tuition".

This is, of course, a tactic that the UK has been extremely successful with, going back to Ms. Thatcher.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

Germany also does free University tuition very well.

Really? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say "keeping university tuition free" is something it does very well. The quality of the tuition (and of the undergraduate experience generally at German unis) is something about which I've read more mixed (usually negative) reports. For example, I believe student to staff ratios tend to be substantially higher than in England. Also, some German universities have appallingly decrepit facitilies (Hamburg University's woeful state, for example, having been featured at length in a recent Spiegel piece).

[MsD]

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

hobbes wrote: Finally got P to watch this a couple of months ago after 6 years of trying.
Needless to say, she bloody loved it.

Just to reiterate ... It is available on iPlayer this week.

[treibeis]

The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)

Evariste Euler Gauss wrote: Also, some German universities have appallingly decrepit facitilies.

Most of those with bad facilities are, as far as I can gather, in western Germany. The places with top-of-the-range equipment are usually to be found in the east.

The company I work for has been involved in the "Study In The Far East" campaign to persuade more people to study in the former GDR. Unsurprisingly, the company I work for claims this campaign has been a great success, although I don't know whether it's down to German students 'going / staying east' or to the non-German students with a lot of cash, as ursus mentioned upthread.