I've never worked in Germany, but I worked for the U.S. branch of a German multinational company, reported to a German manager and visited Germany a couple of t

I've never worked in Germany, but I worked for the U.S. branch of a German multinational company, reported to a German manager and visited Germany a couple of times. Living in Germany felt like it wasn't for me. There is very little diversity in ethnic foods (doner kebaps and Italian was about as ethnic as it got, outside of a sprinkling of Chinese restaurants), and everything felt really old (in a conservative way -- not in an artistic way like in Paris). Foodies would struggle with Germany (great breads, sausages, pork, and beer but nothing else stands out). German management was also not for me -- it felt really old-fashioned compared to American management, and it was hard to do anything new -- there were a lot of gatekeepers where it was their way or the highway. Ideas would get discussed and blocked at every turn, and there were lots of rigid egos. The U-Bahn/S-Bahn/ICE train systems there were good (undoubtedly, better than anything in America), but compared to Asia or other parts of Europe, they felt a bit old and not really that punctual. The whole place just lacked dynamism. It's ironic because I've admired Germany all my life. This is, after all, the land of Gauss, Bach, Goethe, Beethoven, etc. It's the land of great physicists and chemists. Yet there is a sense that what was once great about Germany (all the great thinkers, high tech, etc.) is not really at the forefront anymore. Instead, I saw a nation resting on its laurels, and accepting too much bureaucracy in many aspects of life. If I was into doing lifestyle optimization, I feel I'll find a decent, if unexciting, life in Germany where my basic needs are taken care of. But I feel if you really want to work on something new and exciting, that's not the place to be. (I was in Munich where the money is but people are conservative when it comes to new things. I heard Berlin is much more innovative but generally have no money to scale).