I feel very safe here in Wolfenbuttel (in fact Germany in general) and I do many things that I would NEVER do in Australia - such as walking home alone late in the evening or placing my handbag at my feet when my hands are busy.
But then someone pointed out to me that perhaps the reason that I feel so safe, is not because the town is actually any safer than anywhere else, but perhaps it is because I am not exposed to the media - I see no television or newspapers and what I do see I don't understand. So this makes me wonder exactly how much of societies fears and paranoias are fueled by the media? An idea explored by Mike Moore in Bowling for Columbine.
On the flip side of this blissful ignorance of German current events - I occasionally log on to the Sydney Morning Herald website to check out the Australian news and all I see reported is murder and political mayhem. Perhaps it is not safe to go back?
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I also wonder how cultural this is; i.e., maybe German media doesn't use the scare tactics which are so prevalent in for example the US media.
I had the perception Australia was safer than Europe :-P
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