Young people who have recently immigrated to Canada from Germany are discovering many differences between the country they left and their new home.

"Our government in Germany is very stupid," says Victor Friesen."Our government owes other countries 40 to 50 billion dollars. Yet, it wastes money on out-of-date jets."

Friesen is an exchange student from West Faleu in Northwest Germany, who is attending school at Garden Valley Collegiate in Winkler.

Andreas Doerksen, another German student at GVC, came to Canada with his family from Nordheim, in northwest Germany.

"People are more relaxed in Canada," Doerksen says. "Germany is all about time."

Since East and West Germany were re-united in October of 1990, unemployment has grown in the Eastern German region and many citizens there have protested. Those living in West Germany, on the other hand, are upset by the high taxes needed to cover reunification costs

With his native country undergoing major changes, Doerksen suggests many Germans
desire a more stable and relaxed pace of life.

If the sentiments of Victor Friesen and Andreas Doerksen are typical, immigration from Germany to Canada may continue. Winkler is already home to two German families and by late fall, many more German families are expected to settle in southern Manitoba.