Don't mention the war!
Here are five realities I’ve come to notice over the past decade in Germany:
1. The Brits absolutely believe WW II is still going on. Doesn’t matter if we are discussing soccer, world balance, economics, or EU business.
2. If you go to Dresden, the Brits are condemned in ninety-nine different ways by the locals or tourist guides (the fire-bombing will never be forgotten....even in 200 years).
3. Just about everything that has occurred in a bad way over the past twenty years....gets blamed back to George Bush. That’s the message and theme you get with German state-run TV news.
4. Germans continually harp on wonderful their neighbors think of them, and how they’ve crossed some imaginary boundary. Most of the neighbors all have a marginally positive view and will talk negative when given a chance. The neighbors rarely share the same view of the world.
5. Germans in general have almost no historical view of themselves beyond 1932. If you drag up the Kaiser or anything from the 1700s....they just look at you. Most historical German movies relate from 1932 to the modern era.
Don't mention the war!