I'm new to politics so excuse me if this is a dumb question.
It's a dumb question with dumb premises and dumb conclusion, but at least you're aware of it.
Germany is not a socialist country. It has some socialist elements just like every other country in the world. These socialist elements didn't make much of a problem at first because the German culture considered the usage of welfare as shameful. So you had a safety net if you fell, but you were motivated to get on your feet ASAP. Later on the welfare was expanded just like anywhere, and when you combined hat with the massive influx of immigrants who love to use the welfare, it's a recipe for disaster. In other words having social elements works when no one is using it anyway, but once people start using the social elements the state's resources are quickly drained and the country goes bye bye. Which is happening all across Europe now.
Just got done talking to a foreign exchange student from Germany and she said
That's like me asking a tourist how great Croatia is and they all love it, but they're not the ones who have to seek jobs here with the corrupted government and all that stuff.
Plus, you talked to a girl. Seriously? Girls are not good at discrimination, although they are better than guys at acceptance and warmth. Girls want welfare and they have no clue how government works. Girls think you can just get anything for free. Well, you can't. Someone pays for it. That girl thinks Germany is a socialist country, that says it enough. Germany has been great because of capitalism. Germans in Europe have a reputation of hard-working, very skilled and very organized people. These are not socialist traits.
and that the economy is great
German economy was great when socialist elements were not used.
Take a look: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_debt
Debt: 145% of GDP.
Of course, that girl who was telling you about the great socialist country of Germany doesn't understand debt. She understands credit cards - you put it in, money comes out of nowhere for free, how great is that.
Just for comparison, on that same list US debt is 103% of GDP.