What can you tell me about Germany?

I currently reside in Canada, and while it's not a flawless place I do love it here. However I'm a miserable person when Winter comes along, I cannot stand excessive snow, and some of the people here are too difficult to get along with in my opinion.

I've been interested in Germany for some time now, and it does sound lovely. The culture, the people, the language, everything. But I must admit that there's only so much I can know from simple research, and while my best friend who is Dutch and lives in the Netherlands has been there relatively often, it's never really enough to get a real good understanding of whether or not it's something I should seriously consider.

So I'm asking you guys, what can you tell me about Germany, good or bad, that may help in deciding whether to move there or not?

Some factors that may play an important role:
-I do not know German, but I am currently learning it. I just started about a week ago and while I'm making satisfactory progress, I realize this will take some time. However I am dedicated to learning the language. (Also are there any patient people on here who would like to be a tutor and help me with this by chance? )
-I am 19 years old and lucky enough to be financially stable enough to support a big move and 'starting new' like what this would require.
-I don't have a completed education though, I had some setbacks in the past that I'd rather not discuss for personal reasons, but I am trying to make up for lost time. I have a little less than two more school years to go, but I'm not sure if I'm going to continue after this year. What problems would that cause if I decide not to continue?
-My dream goal is to open a business of my own one day, is there anything regarding this goal I should know? I realize I cannot just move there and start one from scratch, as I'd want to get some first-hand experience working there beforehand anyway, but any tips and advice would be much appreciated.

That's all I can think of right now..

Thanks in advance for anyone's help!

EDIT: I also forgot to mention that I heard most parts of Germany don't get much snowfall in Winter, hence why I'm considering. Is this true? To what extent? Etc etc.

[edit on 6-9-2009 by Akherousia]