[RVRoadie]

This article was published a few weeks ago in Süddeutsche Zeitung, the largest daily circulation newspaper in Germany.

It was written by Kathrin Warner, a young woman who stayed with us a few months ago while researching the article. She is German, lives in New York and writes about American culture for her newspaper. We had a pleasant visit, and we knew she was writing an article. Hope we didn't say anything really stupid. It looks like we are quoted extensively.

On line translations are not very helpful. So if anybody can read German, I would love to hear your comments about the article.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by RVRoadie

This article was published a few weeks ago in Süddeutsche Zeitung, the largest daily circulation newspaper in Germany.

It was written by Kathrin Warner, a young woman who stayed with us a few months ago while researching the article. She is German, lives in New York and writes about American culture for her newspaper. We had a pleasant visit, and we knew she was writing an article. Hope we didn't say anything really stupid. It looks like we are quoted extensively.

On line translations are not very helpful. So if anybody can read German, I would love to hear your comments about the article.

Well I see the Sex on the Square couple and the drinks discussed along with Viaga, playing golf, and some stuff about sexually active seniors. It has been a while since I have taken German classes though. Last one was the Fall of 1989 or thereabouts.

[Taltarzac725]

Hopefully there is TOTVer who is fluent in German who can translate much of this.

I can pick up facts here and there like the most expensive golf cart is $35,000 and seniors acting like teens and vice versa???

[Taltarzac725]

Florida: Willkommen im Disneyland für Rentner - Wirtschaft - Süddeutsche.de

Here is a shorter article by this woman.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by RVRoadie

This article was published a few weeks ago in Süddeutsche Zeitung, the largest daily circulation newspaper in Germany.

It was written by Kathrin Warner, a young woman who stayed with us a few months ago while researching the article. She is German, lives in New York and writes about American culture for her newspaper. We had a pleasant visit, and we knew she was writing an article. Hope we didn't say anything really stupid. It looks like we are quoted extensively.

On line translations are not very helpful. So if anybody can read German, I would love to hear your comments about the article.

So she is a little over thirty and RVRoadie and his wife were kind enough to have her stay with them and then she publishes another Leisureville like article. I think the world is jealous of our good fortune to live here. She, being a lawyer, had enough money to stay in a nice hotel, but she visited with a nice couple and then said un.....un...nice things about this place. Boo, I say Boo. I know one word in German. See if I can say it right. Scheisa.

[memason]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Just because I am curious..........How OLD is she?

Here's her "short" bio:

"Kathrin Werner, Jahrgang 1983, ist sechs Wochen vor dem Ableben der Financial Times Deutschland noch Korrespondentin in New York geworden. Seit der Einstellung der Wirtschaftszeitung arbeitet sie freiberuflich in New York - ab Juni vor allem für die Süddeutsche Zeitung. Die gelernte Juristin hat nach diversen Praktika, unter anderem bei der SZ und beim Spiegel, ein Volontariat bei der FTD absolviert. Vor ihrem Wechsel in die USA war sie im Unternehmensressort der FTD und den Schwesterblättern Capital, Impulse und Börse Online zuständig für Energiethemen und die Schifffahrt."

Copy and paste this into translate.google.com for a rough translation, but she's a trained Lawyer and lives in NY. Also, born in 1983.

[RVRoadie]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Just because I am curious..........How OLD is she?

My wife says she was 31.

[Taltarzac725]

She does write quite a bit about you and your wife in her article.

How long was she in the Villages?

I am not aware of the poverty stricken streets near the Village though. I have been in very poor neighborhoods in other parts of the US but have not encountered any of them within 100 miles or so of the Villages. She mentions these in the linked
shorter article.

I know a German woman named Maggie who married an air force radar man-- or something like that-- and moved to the Villages eventually. I have not seen her for a while but maybe if someone knows her, they can get her to look at the longer article and give a translation?

Or, maybe someone who is a native of Germany and speaks German well can translate this for us???

It would take me way too long to translate the longer article.

[RVRoadie]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

Well I see the Sex on the Square couple and the drinks discussed along with Viaga, playing golf, and some stuff about sexually active seniors. It has been a while since I have taken German classes though. Last one was the Fall of 1989 or thereabouts.

The internet research she did before coming down here turned up most of this stuff. She had also read Leisureville. We discussed it at some length, and I did my best to debunk most of it. Apparently, I wasn't very successful.

One of the reasons she gave for doing the article was that they really don't have retirement communities in Germany, and certainly not on the scale of TV.

Like I say, we enjoyed her visit, and learned a lot about Germany. I think she also reports on American financial issues, in addition to American culture.

[RVRoadie]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

She does write quite a bit about you and your wife in her article.

How long was she in the Villages?

I am not aware of the poverty stricken streets near the Village though. I have been in very poor neighborhoods in other parts of the US but have not encountered any of them within 100 miles or so of the Villages.

She was with us for 4 days. There are areas of Wildwood that fit that description.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by RVRoadie

The internet research she did before coming down here turned up most of this stuff. She had also read Leisureville. We discussed it at some length, and I did my best to debunk most of it. Apparently, I wasn't very successful.

One of the reasons she gave for doing the article was that they really don't have retirement communities in Germany, and certainly not on the scale of TV.

Like I say, we enjoyed her visit, and learned a lot about Germany. I think she also reports on American financial issues, in addition to American culture.

It does sound like she interviewed a few bartenders, line dancers and a couple from Germany who live in the Villages?

[Boomer]

Never mind

[pbkmaine]

Interesting article. I think she mostly gets us. She talks about the sun, the palm trees, the neat lawns, the vitality and friendliness of the people. She wonders if we are the future. She finds our motto, "Florida's Friendliest Hometown" to be ironic, since none of us are actually from here. She's amazed by the golf carts. She notes how different The Villages looks compared to the surrounding areas. She does mention the stereotypical stuff like the uneven ratio of single men to single women, but that seems to be required in articles of this type.

At the end of the article, she quotes a German couple, who winter here and summer in Germany: "The people here are simply nicer...They stay young longer, with the sunshine and all the activity."

[Boomer]

Never mind

[memason]

Originally Posted by pbkmaine

Interesting article. I think she mostly gets us. She talks about the sun, the palm trees, the neat lawns, the vitality and friendliness of the people. She wonders if we are the future. She finds our motto, "Florida's Friendliest Hometown" to be ironic, since none of us are actually from here. She's amazed by the golf carts. She notes how different The Villages looks compared to the surrounding areas. She does mention the stereotypical stuff like the uneven ratio of single men to single women, but that seems to be required in articles of this type.

At the end of the article, she quotes a German couple, who winter here and summer in Germany: "The people here are simply nicer...They stay young longer, with the sunshine and all the activity."

Well, I know a native German speaker and I had them read the entire article.

They shared with me that the article has very negative undertone to it and there are overt references to the Morse family that wasn't even remotely flattering.

Overall, the article is not flattering to The Villages...more like Leisureville.

For instance, the subtitle of the article says:

The Villages "has more than 100,000 inhabitants, and only old.
A trip to Florida - in a city full of golf, sex and life. And without Cemetery

It goes downhill from there.....