Street interviews in Munich
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During the Bayern München game, my classmates and I gathered to not only watch the game, but talk to a few local citizens. We interacted and talked with a number of people around our age group during the game. When we asked two boys, Markus Schnitzler (22 years old) and Johannes Koopolod (23 years old, also featured on the left) about Germany's economy, they shared some insight. Together they explained that Germany's labor market is successful even though other European countries were experiencing an increase in unemployment rates. We learned that Germany's unemployment rate is at one of the lowest levels in its history. When I talked to Markus a bit more, he explained that he studied economy and history in college and still had one more year of studying left. He wasn't worried about finding a job in a few years when he was done his studies.
I also talked to a group of younger-looking girls coming out of a Zara clothing store. One girl, Claudia (16 years old) complimented me on my sneakers I had just bought earlier in the day, so I decided to see if they had any insight on the German economy. Claudia, Katja (17 years old) and Ute (16 years old) immediately asked me if I was from America and asked about my trip to Germany so far. After sharing some of my experiences so far, I began to ask about their thoughts regarding the German economy. Katja, who worked at a Pimkie clothing store nearby, explained that there has been an increase in sales recently and she thought it was because of the higher employment rates. Ute disagreed and shared that Germany is economically better than in the United States, but Germany is not on the same level as the United Kingdom. When I researched later, I noticed that the British pound was worth more than the Euro was and that the U.S. dollar still fell quite short from the Euro currency. Ute also explained that there is talk about a second currency for countries that use the Euro, but there hasn't been any official news about such a thing occurring yet. The three girls said that a German currency would be interesting to use because it would make Germany as a country separate from other European countries. Germans were kind, friendly and fun to talk to. I felt that I met a number of people throughout my time in both Germany and Italy that shared insight about each country's culture and history. |