Expectations for German Culture

I have very little knowledge of Germany going past any World War II history. I took this class hoping to learn more about Germany about how it is today, and look at it with a better light, and not strictly based on a dark and evil time. This semester I expect to learn about the culture of Germany, how it once was to how it is today (i.e., food, music, cars, media.) I would like to learn basic things about how the typical German lives their average life: whats the education system like, are there organized sports in their schools; do Germans live like Americans? Whats their military like? What are the different states of Germany - do they differ like the states here in America? Also I am curious as to why Germany hasn't had a very stable and strong structure of Government, and how that has effected Germany today, as well as, what their government has been previously to what it is in present times. When looking at America today we face many of our own struggles dealing with things like racism, sexism, militarism, poverty etc. . . What are some of the struggles that Germany faces as a nation?