Copied from ToyTown Germany forum:
"Okay, so I've been living in Berlin for about 8 months now.
Wow, what a shithole. It smells, graffiti is everywhere, lots of abandoned buildings, it's dirty, and the people amazingly unfriendly and impolite. I've lived in Stuttgart and Frankfurt before, and they're both much nicer cities to live in.
I'm 31, have a professional job, and I don't care much for "the scene" or whatever is hyped about Berlin.
Anyway, feel free to tell me to "fuck off and leave Berlin", because I spend a lot of timing thinking about where to go live next. The only thing keeping me here is my very good job.
My question is the following: Has anyone grown to like Berlin? I know I am in the minority, because all the hipsters, freelancers, people "looking for their next job" constantly tell me how great Berlin is and how they absolutely "just had to move here". I feel it's a great city if you're in your 20s but not the city for me."
People are not willing to pay for public transport in Berlin. They even have a page on Facebook where they warn each other for ticket inspectors. And they comment stuff like: "it should be free" and "I'm not paying for a train that is never on time". Funny thing is, that these people want you to pay for their Hartz IV.
I wish the stupid BVG would just install turnstiles at the entrances of the train station. It would nice to be able to ride to work in peace without annoying musicians, bums selling newspapers and run-of-the-mill beggars. It would be nice to not see junkies shooting up in the corner of busy train stations. It would be nice if the trains weren't always overcrowded with freeloaders.
Yesterday my boyfriend took me to Vabali Berlin which is some kind of German spa near Hauptbahnhof. I had never been to one of these places before in Germany because I only moved here three months ago. When we got inside I realised it is one of those nude places which I guess is ok. I tried to enjoy it despite the 80-90% overweight elderly German males there but after a while I noticed one old man was always showing up around where we were. Eventually I was sunning myself wearing a bikini in one of the lounge chairs and he comes to me and tells me something in German so I say I cannot understand and he says everyone must be naked there and complains something about foreigners never following the rules. Then he pretends to trip and rubs his erect penis on my shoulder!!! I complained to the management and they said they don't care at all. I kept complaining and they just ignored me. My German bf said it's no big deal and wanted to stay. I don't know how anyone can enjoy this place and thing this kind of abuse is normal. i am leaving this city as soon as possible.
Berli police are like Keystone Kops, good for a laugh, the Lefties run rings around them :o))))) www.msn.com/de-de/nachrichten/panorama/hausbesetzungen-in-berlin-polizei-geht-gegen-aktivisten-in-kreuzberg-und-neukölln-vor/ar-AAxyyZM Google translate, you won't believe what you read. Of course the last thing Berlin wants is gentrification, we need more drug and alcohol addicted, squatting, car-burning, hartz-iv LEFTY LOSERS
If you know any Lefties in Berlin and you want to piss them off, show them this wonderful debate about political-correctness with Stephen Fry and Jordan Peterson. www.youtube.com/watch
This place is making me seriously depressed.
I have no friends here (my own choice, don't pity me).
German BF always working (and still makes a pooping wage); never go on dates, etc.
People talk poop about Americans. I was so skinny there; and gained weight here (mostly due to lack of fitness here- but I'm already taking care of that problem, and am lucky that I have a decent body type, long hair, clear skin, etc.
I'm so sick of this pooping place.
I'm tired of going to a pooping private, for-profit uni that I was suckered into attending.
I want to work, dammit. I want to make money. I want to feel like I'm working towards something.
The happiest times I had in recent memory was when I was working a full-time job, over 40 hours a week, male attention, happiness, fitness, good food, nice clothes...
Feeling extremely depressed today.
Longing for a place I can call home.
Would like to try DMT and other things... I barely drink, and I'm ashamed to say I've become a daily spliff smoker just to not feel empty inside.
I feel you. When I came here, all the people I got to know somehow were only interested in getting wasted (drinking lots of booze, taking drugs and going to clubs afterwards) and acted strange (reserved, unable to speak and laugh from the heart, "disappearing" for months and then popping up out of nowhere just to disappear again), so at some point I decided to quit reaching out to anyone and started living the "no friends by choice"-life aswell. Thank God I will leave this city next year but until then, every day it's a struggle to go out there, doing what I have to do, having to move between lots of people that make me sick and angry and fighting with depression. The best days here for me have become the days I don't have to leave my apartment. I used to love doing sports and going for walks but these days I'm not doing anything, just because I don't want to see people if I don't have to. When I talk to friends/family (they all don't live here) about my situation, I always tell them: "I am sick and tired of this disgusting place and I don't want to build something up here. I know when I'll finally get out of here and until then I'll do what I have to do and try to survive, but on the day that I can finally go, I want all bridges to be burnt and nothing that is left behind."
So... all I can recommend is: Leave, as soon as you can. NOTHING is worth staying at a place that doesn't feel like home and makes you feel miserable.
I feel everyone around here. I have no social life and lots of times I blamed myself for being the anti-social. And I was, I was anti-social, not open because the anxiety this place put in me, I developed a nasty defence mechanism. I used to be a friendly, social, happy person until I reached Berlin. I was never close to my family and I was completely OK with that dynamic. It’s our deal, our thing etc. But now I feel super lonely and estranged. I had a boyfriend here that was my only thing going on socially, but he was always pinpointing things that are “wrong” with me, including not having friends here(by choice) and him blaming my family, which he never met, that they broke me or something. To mention here, I do care about my family and will jump to help them if they need me anytime, even though everyone has a completely separate life now. We broke up and I am super grateful we did. He was adding more poop to my poopy mood. I only regret not being more social and active.
There are likeminded people around as lonely and frustrated as we all are...
When pointing out pooping things and all you get is „It‘s Berlin“. People pissing on the street in the middle of the day- It‘s Berlin. Loud people burping beer in public transport- It‘s Berlin. Smoking in underground stations- It’s Berlin. Nudist old wankers in parks- It’s Berlin. Rude cashier at the supermarket- It’s Berlin. Getting AIDS- It’s Berlin.
Wtf is happening. This Karneval thing seems like a big massive thing for the most unemployed, most dirty, most primitive humans ever. I just took the Ubahn from Hallescher ( big mistake) and was like a human zoo full of hobos all caring a bottle of liquor in the hand.
I knew Berlin is rotten, but this weekend I am staying inside... for my sanity
Make sure not to get out at Hallisches Tor over the next few days. There are always at least 20 guys pissing right there in the bushes and in train station there for the duration of the entire karneval and I promise you I am not exaggerating. Berliners are animals.
I grew up in New Jersey in public housing and I have to say that the quality of life there was way better than in a normal apartment here. Sure, I had a lot of drug addict neighbors who never seemed to do anything, but they were pretty chill at least. They would talk to me but were never aggressive. Here it's the polar opposite. I have to call the police on my upstairs neighbor at least once a month because he is having a raging party at 3am during the week. And at least once every few months someone sets the junk mail trash in the entrance on fire. A couple of weeks ago some junkie was doing heroin at the bottom of the stairs. And the entrance always reeks of piss. I've had three bikes stolen within 12 months. I don't know how a city as f*cked up as this one ever managed to exist this long but that is the only thing impressive about Berlin - that it doesn't just collapse into itself. No one here seems to hold a real job. And lately I keep seeing all these news articles about how companies might move their headquarters to Berlin after Brexit. Does anyone really believe that? This place just seems like it is propped up by unsustainable, cheap tourism that will decline as the price here continues to increase. There doesn't seem to be any real industry here at all - just a bunch of "start-ups" that are actually 20-year-old companies that are pretending to be young and cool by only having open space offices and cheap furniture. Anything owned by Rocket Internet is not a start-up. I only moved here because I was in a long-term relationship with a guy from Berlin and he kept gushing about how great this place is and how he could never imagine moving somewhere else but wow, this place is simply the worst. I've still got about 6 months here before I can afford to move back to the states and I'm counting the days. It seems like everyone here has an undiagnosed mental mental illness. I've never seen so many passive aggressive people in my entire life. Can't wait until I never have to hear this ugly language again.
People can be pretty crazy here. They walk in the middle of the street or block the way and not care at all and still make one feel like the bad guy. It's those passive aggressive fleas that are the result of not being assertive and expressive and it leads to provocations and all that nonsense happening by itself. And the problem is in not perceiving rude behaviour after a while or getting used to being passive aggressive thinking it would be assertive when it though just feels very lost and provoked which makes it easy for somebody to be disrespectful and then on top of that letting out when one didn't perceive the rude act and instead is wondering how in the world did that all work again.
You wake up .have a shower ,put on your clothes ,start your day ..
You hope that somehow your day could go normally ,without aggression ,without someone shouting screaming ,pushing ,shoving ,insulting or generally acting like a 3 year old having a tantrum ..
So you keep your optimism ,you stay positive ready to face a new day ,new challenges ,,
You hope the happy smiley faces you have seen on B.V.G. pictures will be true ..
You hope all the positive imagery and propaganda images showing Berlin as " the place to be ! " will be true ,,
You take a deep breath and leave your apartment ...
The day begins ,.the first bus ride ,the first encounter with other human beings ..and the first explosion of all that optimism and positivity as little by little the people start to blow the happy bubble you had created ..:(..But you breathe deep and tell yourself ,its ok ,,i wil stay calm ,i will not join in the sick power games ,the sick ill treatment of other humans ,the passive agressive words and actions will not come from me ! ..
So you head to the supermarket to get some food ,where again you witness ,someone screaming at someone ,someone skipping a queue ,someone having a mental breakdown ,someone elbowing you to get by ,someone staring at you agressively or passive agressively , " egal " ! ..So you breathe deep ,and continue your day ,determined to not let any of these people steal your good mood ,steal your energy ,steal your life force ,,
You breathe deep ,but you can feel that first slip of your vibe as these Walking Dead are slowly spreading their virus into your body ,..but,, you fight against it ,,and proudly determine to not allow yourself be like them ,not become one of them ,to be better than that ,to keep your self together ,and be among the zoo monkeys without becoming one ,,,So you breathe deep ,count to ten ,try not to explode and your day continues ,,You arrange to meet a " friend or acquintance " ,for sure ,because its Berlin ,,this meeting will either not happen ,your friend willl be late ,your friend willl need money from you ,or your friend will arrive with low and negative energy ,as they also are trying to survive " the Hunger Games " they are living here ,,and you realise that your fight to keep yourself together here is worth fighting for because your friend is coping far worse than you ,drowning in the pit ,and you don't want to finish like him or her ,,,so you breathe deep ,,you count to ten ,,and your day continues ,,you decide to go to some social place ,a bar a club a restaurant ,,again ,you are greeted on the way ? and once you are there ? to aggression ,,passive and active ,,,the same shouting ,screaming ,pushing ,shoving ,,plus ,,as alcohol is involved ,and its now getting late ,,this ill behaviour is exaggerated and amplified ,,,but ,,these leeches can smell you are not one of them ,,they can smell that you are fighting to hold on to that better part of you ,that you have not given in ,and you have not given up ,,so they increase their attacks on your sanity and well being ,,the shouting ,screaming ,,pushing ,,abuse grows ,the personal insults come flying ,the stares are longer ,the insults thrown at you are sharper ,,the passive aggressive comments and actions are harder ,,the active aggression from the " gangstas" is doublefold ,,as they try to get you to join them ,in their misery ,...so you breathe deep and count to ten ,more disgusted and more determined not to become one of them ,your brain recalls happy moments in far away places where people were nice to each other and meeting people was not something you associated with problems but as pleasure ! You breathe deep and count to ten and decide you should probably leave and head home ,,,As you head home tired from a whol e long day of fighting to simply maintain your composure and balance .you feel exhausted ,drained ,and your thoughts are heavy and dark and faith in humanity has dropped a thousand points ,.You wonder can you make it back to the safety of your bedroom without some sick person invading your energy ..like the last sprint before the finishing line ,somehow they can smell that you have survived a day without becoming like them ,so this last ten minutes before you get home is the most important ,this is when you are most ripe and open for someone to drive their frustrations and depressions and anxiety into you ,,so you breathe real deep and you count to twenty ,as you know it is so important that before you hit the sack that you don't give in and you don't give up and you don't join them ,you make it back in one piece ,tired but alive and still sane ,you are proud that you didnt explode ,that you didnt berate another human ,that you didnt abuse another human ,you didnt dump your misery into another human ,that you still have some happiness in your soul ,that you still believe in something positive ,that you still have hope for the future ,and you still have the strength and wisdom to know that not every day should be like this ,and in some places outside of here ,a day is not like this !So you go to sleep ,or at least try to ,and wake up ,and do it all again ,,
I advise to watch Columbo series 3 episode 3. To study the intonation/expressions that help neutralize negative energy. It gets you back in touch with being nonreactive, with staying connected. It shows a lot of such behaviours. The first conversation in the office, prior to that it shows how to use casual talk to defend. Columbo gets asked pressuredly if he votes. He calls the bluff and takes him for real and gets chatty but it's just a defence an expression to clear the vibe, to undo the suggested position. Then the interaction at the dressmaker. Pretty much the whole episode is full of inspiration to express oneself, to apologize when one feels like it and witty techniques to sidestep. It is not about being fake, but a means to not be lost and have then better connection to be oneself.
By that I also mean, it can also be done with humour and it makes you more cheered up which side-effect wise is the best counter to low vibe :) One gotto be expressive, can't afford eggshell-feeling. And the intonations are all really really good, nothing that enables or provokes.
Oh, I nearly forgot. The intonation and the rhythm. To wait at times like in music 3u4u and start on the 1 or other time he throws something in on the 3. To stop and begin new with flow like a phrase in music. This is very important energy wise and usually it works naturally but we can be out of tune.
I mean to connect back to the natural rhythm that is always there, to tune into it intuitively. You can't really count you know :) And you know, ideas just come up after you leave something...It's a good example to show how Columbo really comes up with new ideas after he is about to leave and he doesn't really do it as a technique but also at times. While this being though not neccessarily one of the useful things in itself. Just read it as one thing, if you makes you feel better. I know some people get offended by multiple posts :)
Well, surely I mean Peter Falk. I'm sorry don't have a link. Overall I think it is a good way of tuning, to check out different ways to express something whatever series resonates with one.
And I want to clarify one more time: There is no using casual talk, it's gotto be genuine so this can only be about inspiration because the whole point is to be expressive and natural and not selfconscious. At the same time it could be playful. That's how I meant it.
I give you an example: If you just listen to how he turns down the first 2 recommendations of the dressmaker where he touches the material and says no like it's no big deal, this in itself is a universal expression and it is really how he means to say it, it's nothing to try to say. He doesn't feed back into it, nor does he try not to. I mean, he was there for a different reason so it might come easier to him but those are really good. Other thing I like about this character is that he finds ways to say what he really felt for example to the dentist in the beginning.
At times we can have intonation habbits and things come out not as we actually mean it, so I found this to be useful. Obviously with friends everything's easy but throughout the day there can be a lot of misexpressions thrown one's way.
But to be honest I think it's all based on how one is. He says it in this way because he is actually busy checking out other material and just gives it a quick look and it expresses like this. When you focus too much on the tone, it probably is not good. But either way, as for the tones, he says Nein, zu grob: Nein is higher and then a deeper tone, zu is the same tone as the one before and grob is a deeper one, and it really expresses minding one's thing and giving something not more attention than it needs. He comes in fresh there, he is not connected all the time with the other guy. He says it and then tunes out again but before, he is very connected with him. And of course there is so many ways to say this and it depends how one feels and so many things. That all being said I really like it, the way he says No in these 2 tones, then the same tone and then a deeper one, it feels good, solid and has a good distance, no justifying and stuff, one just gotto get what it means and then just feel it.
It sounds all very theoretical and stuff but it actually can make you angry, as I said get you in touch. I was just coming back from getting some cigarettes in this miserable freaking place and the freaking zombie female tried to dump on me. I said for 6.20 and she said 6.30 ! because they cost more now. Then she acted like it's a big deal: Das tut mir leid! I wished I replied: What are you talking about? 6.20, 6.30 it's all the same. Did I give you any sign that I am unhappy about it?! (giving it right back) But I didn't. Yet I realized it and as a result I felt pretty angry which is good. Anger that is based on reality and seeing the bullshit. Because you can actually let that out and you would feel better then. Its not passive-aggressive. At the same time had I replied like this right away, I would not been angry and it would have been easy cause it's also really dumb and stupid. This freaking vagina I hate her so much. Sick of this poop place
The Google campus seems like a big win to me. You'll get an influx of smart folks who'll contribute more tax so you can fix this god forsaken place.
The only ones protesting are the developers who can't reverse a string in place and think they're a dev because they do Wordpress. Pack of monkeys
Google will get what they pay for. The highest compensation they’ll offer will be about 100-120K.half of it is ripped of by the socialist twats, the remaining take home is earned by a junior front end developer in rural areas of us.
and as a preamble to the brain damaged idiot who thinks cost of living and social benefits worth the pay cut: it is not worth and i can find bazillion country arguments against this socialist propaganda about the low salaries.
Who the hell is the Berlin scum who keeps downvoting all the posts here lately? Reveal yourself you freaking loser.
If you don‘t get depressed and leave, you might turn into an egocentric, small minded - always looking for bargains, disfunctional being as well. If you‘re easy to manipulate and try hard to integrate you will probably won‘t even notice how morally corrupt you‘ve become. Ignorance is bliss.
If you want to sit in a Pub in Berlin because there's no place in the house, a single person at the table will send you always away! When you see that the bast*rd goes up and leaves, you just can't understand the behavior! I encounter this horror very often. The same I have experienced during various public celebrations. Berliners won't let you get to the table, even though you're in a tavern and there's nowhere to be a free space! At certain moments I have a desire to break a face to every other person in Berlin! When you're in the bar, the Berliners sit alone at one table and there's no free space. Even a few locals told me that it was perfectly normal?! So when the Germans are going to join my table in my home country, I'll send them away every time!!! This city is full of fuc*ing mother*uckers!!! Locals explain that they want to have peace. Why on earth do they go to the pub??? :((((