Psyringe: There _are_ some cultural differences between the two countries, but the differences between regions _within_ the same country is far stronger.
Tell me about it. I'm Bavarian (like my username already says) and you might be aware of the fact that Bavarians like to isolate and emancipate themselves from the rest of the country, often consider themselvs not even as Germans - and also the other way round, of course. Just quote a CSU politican in a German gaming forum, lean back and enjoy the shitstorm about all Bavarians being hillbillys and cavemen.
thinking that there is no such community in a whole country of 80 million people, and thinking that all those 80 million people, with all their various personalities, backgrounds, goals, ideas, and passions, are "stubborn and withdrawn", is ... absolutely clueless. Sorry.
Do you really think I meant that literally every German is like this? If I would generalize in such a ridiculous way, I must be stubborn and withdrawn too. Because you know, I'm one of those 80 millions. So are my friends and family. I was simply pointing out some negative characteristics I find very common in German society.
In my opinion there definitely are some minor and major differences in attitudes between regions, countries and even continents. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, because it provides identity and identification. I explicitly demand every single human being to develop his or her individual personality as far as ethical and legal boundaries permit it, but absolutely no common ground would be a flaw too.
Psyringe: Actually, what I was saying is that such stereotypes (as present in the line that I quoted) don't make sense if used for important decisions like where to live.
You overinterpreted this particular part of my explanation. This was just an example, just one of many reasons I made this decision. And by far not the most important one. Of course the new job and the personal challange were the main reasons. But it wouldn't have served the topic in any way if I had exposed my overall motivation to go this step. After all this thread isn't about me and my future plans, it's about what other countries people like and why.
I hope this clears out the misunderstandings.