понедельник, 20 января 2014
(c) fleurf
Germany vs Luxembourg
себе1. Lower housing prices, family with one middle class stable income generally can afford to buy a house.
2. Higher taxes and social security contributions. Basic state healthcare covers the minimum of the minimum, and private healthcare is rather expensive.
3. Salaries are lower
4. Working environment is not yet truly international, senior management even at multinationals is often German, there is a distinct “watchfulness” towards foreigners, who are supposed to “integrate”, learn German language and accept German working style and protocol. Foreigners are not necessarily viewed as inferior (some are), but definitely as less reliable and somehow risky.
5. Working mothers are struggling, because nurseries and pre-schools are limited and often close at 4 or 5 pm. Child allowance is lower than in Luxembourg.
6. Stereotyping against Russians is common and wide spread, mostly due to a massive wave of immigration from the former USSR to Germany in the 1990s. Those immigrants to a large extent failed to integrate and join the workforce. Unemployment and crime rates among this group is a lot higher than German average and Russian districts are considered to be dodgy. I was told this stereotype is slowly changing thanks to influx of high skilled professionals and students from Russia in the recent years, but their number is still not significant enough to shift an overall perception.
7. Food and restaurants are very affordable, but…
8. Shopping in Germany is marvelous
9. Bureaucracy with officials is tremendous and officials usually strictly follow the protocol and do not listen to any common sense arguments.
10. Mass services, such as insurance companies, utilities, banks or internet providers are tailored to process customers en masse, the contracts are often designed to “trick” customers into buying unnecessary services or making it extremely hard to terminate the contract. Mistakes in invoicing and payments processing are frequent and big service providers don’t really care about customer experience. The perception is that there is plenty of other customers, even if someone is unhappy and wants to leave. Customer complains are often ignored.
11. Germany is perfect for leisure. Cultural calendar, concerts, expos, outdoor activities, affordable flights – endless opportunities.
Luxembourg
1. Super expensive real estate, you can either inherit the land or you need two incomes in the household to buy a house.
2. Lower taxes and social security payments, very good healthcare coverage by the state.
3. Salaries are higher
4. There is no such concept as “foreigners”. You can come from anywhere, speak with any accent and be as extravagant as you wish. As long as you are not a criminal and you can support yourself financially, no judgment. Your origin or accent absolutely do not impact your social standing or professional growth. You are truly the master of your destiny.
5. Working mother is a norm (if you do not count very traditional families or high paid executives, which is really a fragment of the total population). There are plenty of nurseries and pre- schools, open from 7 am till 6-30 or 7 pm. Their cost depends on your income, but generally speaking childcare system or lack thereof is not a blocker for professional women to go back to work. Child allowance is higher than in Germany.
6. In early 90-es a few dozens of Russian “dancers” applied for artist visas in Luxembourg to perform “arts”. In fact, many of them ended up performing in cabarets and night clubs and often extended their services above and beyond dancing. Many of them successfully married to local men, often elder, and frequently the romance started when the guys had still been married. Luckily, this not so honorable page in Luxembourguish modern history did not affect to any significant degree the perception of Russians in the country. A story about an old man and a beautiful fallen girl is pathetic, boring and, strictly speaking, frowned upon irrespective of your country of origin. Long story short, if your are a Russian in Luxembourg, no labels attached: you could be a banker, you could be a music teacher, you could be a journalist.
7. The assortment of food, especially seafood, cheeses, wines, fruits and vegetables in an average supermarket is well above German standards. It is more expensive, true, but you are really 100% paying for quality.
8. You usually go abroad or online for any serious shopping.
9. Officials and authorities in Luxembourg are not dogmatic and very reasonable, for example, if something unusual happens, it’s possible to negotiate a deadline extension or replace one document by a different one.
10. This is a definitive advantage of a small country – many things are very transparent. Mistakes with invoicing or changes in banking details do happen, but they usually are pleasantly resolved and customer complaints are taken seriously.
11. Go to Germany or France on weekends, it’s just 40 minutes.
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