Hamburg issues

It's been four days in Hamburg. The Seitz Foundation has been hosting us while here. Seitz is the eighth largest foundation in Germany and focused on running the first private law school in Germany; creating more immigrant teachers; the Bucerius Art Exhibit; and leadership among young professionals in Germany.

We have been treated amazingly kind. The restaurants are great; transportation and hosts are with us at all meetings, and we have been able to see Lubeck, the harbor, and Neugammeume Concentration Camp, the US Consulate, and many other sights.

Finance
We had a meeting with a representative of a state run bank on Friday. The meeting was to be able to understand how residential development happens in Germany; but morphed into a much larger discussion regarding the subprime mortgage crisis which has hit Germany. In Germany, purchasing a home is a distant dream for most. You can only get 10 to 15 year financing, and must have 20% down, not to mention a small house costs 600,000 Euros, and taxes. Our guest was amazed with the US home mortgage financing situation. We offer up to 40 years in some rare instances, you can get a mortgage with 0 down, and even not have to prove income in many instances. She also was amazed that the conservative German investment bankers purchased these bundled subprime mortgages - Germans are known for being very conservative, even refusing to use credit cards often.

US Consulate
Karen Johnson is the Consulate General for the Hamburg district. She has been in the post for 5 months. Originally from Texas, a strong southern accent accentuates when you meet her. She shard that serving as a State diplomat is a great life, she served in Afghanistan for one year; Germany for 12, and other regions. As far as bilateral US - German relations, she is very optimistic and positive about the relationship. There is concern about the dependence from Germany on Russia oil - which I was able to get from her and the EVP from the Seitz Foundation during a dinner. Chancellor Schoeder when to work for Gazprom, the Russian national oil and gas company, but there seems to be indifference; though many are concerned that he is staining his legacy. Germany has been the recipient of many benefits because of this appointment, and according to many that I've talked to, indifference is prevalent.