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A dining room is for entertaining dinner guests, for those who have never seen one. It's for relatively formal occasions, when one might hire a cook and invite the boss from work, and work colleagues (this used to be one way people advanced in their careers), or relatives for a holiday dinner, or one's friends for a special occasion. The family also might use the dining room for ... you guessed it, dining, while the kitchen would be used for breakfast and lunch.
As life has become more informal in the US, formal dining rooms are disappearing, or have been downsized to a corner of the living room. Kitchens, for that matter, are also being downsized to a corner of the living room. I hate this trend. Some of the kitchens are so small, they're difficult to use.
I don't think so, I think kitchens are getting even bigger than before, but with dinning rooms I agree, it has been downsized to a little corner in the room. The houses are getting bigger, but the space they are adding are large hallways, lots of open space and such.
Here are a few of my opinions. I am an American who has been living in western Germany the past three years and I am moving to Dover, Delaware in seven weeks.
As has been stated all of the history you get with living in Europe vs. the States. Obviously the US is a much younger country compared to European countries. Depending if I am flying out of Frankfurt, taking a train or driving I can see many different cultures easily. From my house driving I can be in France in 30 minutes, Luxembourg in 70 and Belgium in 90.
Life seems to move at a little slower pace and is more relaxed. The locals don't worry about a 70 hour work week and get ample time off work.
Regarding the roadways I would say the roads I have driven on in Europe for the most part are in better shape than the US, especially in Germany. The US does have wider lanes as that is needed for the larger cars. I get tax free gas in Germany and I pay US prices. If I was spending around $8.50 a gallon than I would drive less.
The weather here for the most part is O.K. at best. The amount of cloudy days and rain gets a old. I moved here from New Mexico where I got over 300 days of sunshine a year. I love the long summer days here but don't like December and January when the sun comes up at 0800 and sets at 1600. Leave for work and it is dark and when I come home it is dark. The winters here aren't too bad at all temp wise. A few sub zero days and nights along with some snow, although it didn't snow once this winter. I grew up in Iowa and had hot humid summers, bone chilling cold winters and spring rain and tornadoes. Late August through October was nice though.
The cost of travel here is cheap. Flying out of Frankfurt main or Hahn has gotten me spoiled. I haven't had a flight in the US for over three years. I was checking prices out of Philly and Baltimore for when we get back to Vegas and a few other places and I was shocked how expensive it is compared to Europe. I will also miss having access to the high speed trains and just a good train system in general.
My house here is a 190 sq. meters and the rent is 1400 euro a month. The Germans do a good job building them. They are made from cement blocks, not wood frames with insulation. I have radiant heated floors on the main floor and radiators on the upper levels. I just have the floor heat on in the winter and the towel rack on in the master bath on the second floor and that is good enough. I also love the rolladen shutters. Blocks out all of the sunlight and that makes for great sleeping. I don't like that I have a small 1 car garage that doesn't open into the house. The kitchen is very small and the appliances, especially the oven and fridge, are smaller than what is offered in the States. I also can't understand why Europeans don't have closets in the bedrooms. I have wardrobes I got locally and the dressers I brought from the States, but why no closets? I just don't get it. Today I am really missing air conditioning. It was 96f or 35c today. It was 34c yesterday. Damn hot.
I am looking forward to moving home though. I miss little things such as closets, a big garage and AC as already mentioned. When getting gas I can use pay at the pump again. If I want to use weed control on my yard it is allowed. I can mow my yard between 1300 and 1500 if I want. I don't have to worry about a 19% vat if I am out on the economy. Having DirecTV again and watching college football at a normal hour. Being able to use my phone if I go to another state (country here) without getting crushed with roaming charges. A sports bar that has descent wings and beer selection. Germans make great beers but most pubs are tied to one brewery and it is usually just a pils, weizen and couple of others. I miss American craft beer. Also shopping and restaurants that I have not had access to for three years.
I have enjoyed my time here but I miss home and will be happy to get back.
One of my GF's best friends is from the UK, and she has always said that the quality of life in the United states is better if you have a decent income, but the average person seems to be happier in the UK. She has always said that the way she lives over here would only be attainable if she were extremely wealthy in the UK. Her husband is an attorney and she's GM at a chain restaurant. I don't know what their combined income is, but I would suspect it's over 200k. They live very comfortably. They both drive brand new cars, go on vacations, own a nice home in a gated community, own a time share in Hawaii etc
A lawyer and manager in the UK would live a very nice lifestyle.
I've already told you that London is a drier city than Paris or Istanbul or Oslo or Rome, (look it up if you don't believe me) so why do you continue with this 'wind and rain' thing,
Seriously though, in France I find a lot of young people with kids totally skip over the true suburbs and instead want to be "rurbains" (rural urbanites),
The distinction of urban and rural in France is very blurred.
I don't think so, I think kitchens are getting even bigger than before, but with dinning rooms I agree, it has been downsized to a little corner in the room. The houses are getting bigger, but the space they are adding are large hallways, lots of open space and such.
In the US, houses are getting smaller. And the trend is to make the kitchen, dining area, and iiving room all one room. In some houses, that means just a corner for the kitchen, with the dining area in the other corner.
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