Mitch 'dass stimmt doch nicht' not all german families are like that , after 12 years based over there, my brother being married to a German lass and I have a lot of german civvy friends I can tell you that its not at all like that in the more rural areas maybe in the bigger built up cities like Berlin.
Not sure how long you were out there for and how good your German was at the time, as Bde/Sqn interpretor I got really involved with the locals and their customs etc and I promise you it wasn't all like that at all. They simply have a better understanding of family and taking care of their own over there.
Ken I understand theres a level of pride however when you're freezing your backside off and find yourself unable to climb the stairs a little bit of pride has to take a back seat to practicality , another problem with being British, we're far too stubborn to take help from others and would rather freeze/starve to death than accept help from those we love.
