This is part 4 of a 5-part series detailing what I wish I had known as an American programmer moving to Berlin. This page details cultural differences and things I wasn’t aware of until I stumbled on them. Politics One thing about Germany, and Europe in general, is that it’s relatively left-wing when compared to the US. This is a place where universal healthcare is so commonly accepted that no party – not even the super-racist party! – is talking about removing it. The aforementioned super-racist party has effectively the same political platform as the mainstream Republican party in the US (minus the healthcare thing). Politics in Europe certainly has its own problems, but at least in Germany there is a flourishing multi-party system that allows for people to have some kind of choice when voting. There is even a fun website called the “Wahl-o-Mat” (“Vote-o-Matic”) that tells you which party to vote for after answering a series of questions. There’s also none of the Electoral College silliness, which I won’t get into here.

How Ed Roberts created the personal computer industry—and then walked away

In the fall of 1976 I started as a Freshman at SUNY Stony Brook intending to major in Math and Computer Science.  I took Honors Calculus I a...

A deep dive on the early days of creative computing coming to life. Punch cards, plotters, light pens and lots more.

I’m Kitty Giraudel, a transfeminine web engineer based in Berlin, focused on accessibility and inclusivity.

I’m Kitty Giraudel, a transfeminine web engineer based in Berlin, focused on accessibility and inclusivity.