Comparing Germany And America

Social problems that arise from integrating in a foreign country

Integration into a foreign country has always been a subject of interest to me. Since l had to grow up in both America and Germany, I have never really had the experience of a huge culture shock. My mother was German who married an American who was in the army so I had the advantage of having both parents who were from each of these countries. This is why I have always wondered how well a person could integrate with having neither the advantage of having parents from the foreign country nor the advantage of growing up in one.

Strictly speaking, I suppose I have never really lived in a foreign country. Germany and America were different in often annoying ways but were never unknown or new to me, just different. Even the German language wasn‘t completely foreign. My earliest memories were of my mom speaking a mixture of German and English with me and being around my German relatives. I understood most of what
Germany has a cultural lag, but one I think is in their advantage. They still sell healthy normal food compared to the “everything boxed with extra flavoring” that the Americans sell. They have little unique stores that sell different types of grains, spices, noodles, fresh dairy, meat and vegetable produce. Also, a lot of their food hasn’t been sprayed by a million different chemicals. When a German moves to America I have heard them complain that they can hardly find any natural food and wish they could just find some good bread. American’s usually complain about the lack of processed foods. Over the recent years, there has been more American foods that have slowly filtered into Germany. I have noticed more and more American boxed foods are being introduced in the German Supermarkets. Germany also has a Burger King or McDonalds at every