The housing may be free, but much of it is nothing even the poorest Bavarian would want. I volunteered at a converted old Praktiker (big box hardware store that

The housing may be free, but much of it is nothing even the poorest Bavarian would want. I volunteered at a converted old Praktiker (big box hardware store that went out of business a few years ago). It was a huge open space that had hanging curtains to make rooms for families. We tried to teach them German, but it was so loud that it was really hard for them (or for us) to hear and concentrate. Gradually, they got moved out to better places, but we've still got a container building of refugee apartments in the town where I work. I'm glad my tax Euros are going towards sheltering them, though. I'm from a very Baptist part of Texas and find it deeply ironic that living in Germany puts me much closer to living in a Christian society than where I grew up.