Hamburg airport. Time to pretend we don't know who is behind the attack or why.
don't trust people without humor aka psychopaths or Germans
Germans are not known for their sense of style, but German women take it too far. It's like they wake up everyday and before getting out of bed they spend some time thinking "what are some new ways I can make myself look uglier?"
Has anyone noticed how Germans like to talk about "freedom", "independence" and "individualism"?
Take the welfare state away from them and see how much "freedom" and "independence" they have left. A lot of people can only study because they get BAFöG or because tuition fees are no longer a thing to worry about. A lot of single mothers can only survive because of Kindergeld. Without Hartz-IV and government-sponsored appartments lots of people wouldn't have a place to live.
These people couldn't survive an entire month in a country where there is no nanny state that gives them money for nothing.
Yes, this is true. Only thanks to their beloved taxes and transfers is Germany able to move it's GINI from being one of the most unequal in the world to being among that of developed countries. Going only by income, German income inequality is worse than almost every other country on earth.
Wages have mostly stagnated for the past 20 years.
Nepotism is a huge problem here, most wealth is inherited and there is no room for socio-economic mobility in this country. If you're a foreigner then things are twice as hard. The government will pay for you to live at a standard you could achieve with "normal" job in Germany. If you ever want to progress further then good luck.
But the Germans will celebrate their beloved trade unions and workers' councils. The trade unions that represent like 18% of employees, mostly in dying industries, and that are in part responsible for making life in this country even more miserable (train drivers refusing to work, pilots refusing to fly). And the workers' councils do nothing more than offer vehicles for "altruists" to waste firm resources. And they are only present in like 30% of firms.
" there is no room for socio-economic mobility in this country. If you're a foreigner then things are twice as hard."
This. Germans like to point the finger at Turks and Arabs for not wanting to "integrate" (whatever that is), while praising the efforts done by Asian immigrants to become a part of German society. Interestingly enough, in 10 years of living here I haven't seen an Asian person in a position of power. Most of them run their food businesses, or will do your nails.
Germany is not a country where you can make good money, much less a fortune. It's not the USA.
For Berliners, words like "freedom" and "independence" only mean "I can drink beer in a park" or "I have enough vacation days in a year that I can spend a week in the canary islands" and "I get to see a doctor that someone else paid for". As soon as you bring up anything such as how hard it is to start a business, how you can't even name your child what you want, how you can't even homeshool your child - they'll get defensive and start pointing out everything wrong with your country. Basically, to them "freedom" means "freedom from consequences" ie. "I dont have to make choices, I dont have to care about consequences - the State does everything for me".
And yes, I second the observation that integrating here if you're not aryan or close is extremely hard. You'll not see a foreign-looking person at any city or state government position, not even things like the order-police (the ones that check if your car is parked right). If you're turkish - good luck EVER getting an apartment - hell, this might happen to you just because you look turkish even if youre spanish or mexican or indian. It's disgusting.
Nepotism is just as bad in U.S. as it is in Germany. The Trump family is an extreme example of it.
Most entrepreneurial asian-americans open mostly small businesses like restaurants, food markets and nail salons.
The main difference between U.S. and Germany is that u.s. welcomes and cherishes innovation and risk taking while embracing failure as a valuable learning experience. Germany especially in the south is much more traditional, rigid and risk averse because failure is not viewed here as optimistically.
Koreans, Vitnamese, Thai and Chinese are predominantly Christians or Buddhist so maybe that's why they are treated better than middle eastern and north african people.
Like I said risk averse.
The average German stays in his small village and buys a house near their parents. The parents help with everything and the government pays for 1-2 years of parental leave. Many of them would not survive an economic collapse. They were given so much. They judge others for being incompetent when their government spoon fed them. In u.s., it is much more difficult for young adults. Many of them are resilient and independent.
Why is there no active ventilation in this country? In every other developed country I've ever been to I have seen recessed ceiling fans in bathrooms/public bathrooms. Why are people here so cheap they want to smell their own feces?
It is because Germans are afraid of drafts. Really, google it. Or try opening a window in a moving train/tram/bus - you'll instantly get shouted at. Yes, it's 2017 and these people think that cold/moving air causes sickness. That's why there are no ventilator, barely any AC, why you can't open windows on public transport, why apartment contracts include a provision about airing out your apartment for 15 minutes every month. It must also be why Germans don't feel bad when they don't wash for a few days - they're used to the smell.
I left last year and leaving has been like therapy for me. I still love Berlin in a way but am happy I can just drop in there once a year or so. The worst thing in Berlin were the natives. Only the ex-pats provided some refuge, even though i speak excellent German - I just never felt an appeal to really integrate at a deeper level. What really gets me about the Germans - though not all are like this - is this fastidiousness and rigid mindset. Example: at a concert a woman refused to move from her occupying the middle part of a bench in order to allow others to squeeze onto the bench because she said that it would "spoil her prime view" if she moved. The fact is there were no obstructions and she was being difficult. That is it, there is always some little thing to complain about, something really petty.
OMG I had a similar experience at a basketball game where a man decided to simply stand and block the view of 6 other people behind him. Even though they tried to talk with him, his logic was undeniable "if I sit I won't have the view I paid for"... crazy
The lefties in Berlin are the mindless ones, they are just like sheep, bleat, bleat, baa baa. I'll take Breitbart any day over their scumbag daily rags. When Afd gets elected, you can all blame the lefty sheep for it. The pendulum will swing and you will be forced to get a job or live down with your old buddies sleeping and begging in RosenthalerPlatz U8, where you belong, sitting there living day to day from handouts from real people who actually work for a living, giving a few cents because they feel pity for you. But you win't get a single cent from me.
What you people complain about is rather a German problem, not Berliner thing. I've been living in Germany for over 10 years and I've finally understood that they're a nation full of irony:
-Believe themselves to be superior, yet never won a war.
-Dislike Americans and Brits, yet consume American media and pretend to have a British accent when speaking English.
-Dislike the USA, but without the USA Germany wouldn't have recovered from WWII
-Obsessed with order and cleanliness, yet only shower a couple of times a week.
-Judge the USA for wars on foreign soil, yet they provide the guns (3rd biggest weapon manufacturer)
-Overpriced, overrated cars
-Believe themselves to be a superior race....yet they have the ugliest people I've seen across Europe.
There's no German word for modesty.
If you had any feeling for the word modesty you would realize that your extensive homework (using dict.leo.org) returns miserable suggestions. Genügsam, Sittsam, Anstand: modesty they are not. The closest thing to the word modesty is prüde, which explains why these ice apes think exposes themselves to children is acceptable.
Never go to Gravis, it is full of DDR ex-Stasi kkkunts. Go to the best guy in Berlin for Apple, 88 WranglerStr Kreuzberg, he's cheap, fair and knows what he's talking about, no BS.
Just as I always expected, 92% 0r left-wing activists in Berlin live with parents, and one in three unemployed, makes sense, who'd employ some idiot with rings in their nose and those stupid huge earrings and covered in tattoos even up to their chin. . What a bunch of moronic losers and baa baa, sheep.
www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/02/07/berlin-report-92-left-wing-activists-live-parents-one-three-unemployed/
How about Bild? m.bild.de/regional/berlin/linksextremismus/92-prozent-der-berliner-linksradikalen-wohnen-noch-bei-mutti-44249918.bildMobile.html
Germany is the country where I first heard that "respect has to be earned".
So yeah, that's the reason why foreigners are treated like shit. Because you have to prove you are a valuable human being.
My problem is always the why should I work extra hard at brown nosing to earn their respect just because they are German. I treat everyone equally with politeness and respect. If a German besserwisser responds with rudeness, smugness, and coldness because he is so honest about his standards, I have no incentive to be invovled with them beyond cold superficial interaction. It's the worst with German in laws. Thank goodness, they're living far away from me.
What, you too? I've heard this a couple of times back when I was still interacting with Germans. I could never get them to explain this to me without them going into a loop ("you have to earn respect because you have to earn respect"). Some ventured the "well, you are a guest here, you must show your good manners", to which I replied "as a host, you should be warm, welcoming, and happy to see me".
This will sound a bit extreme, but can we really not see why this country started two world wars? If everyone must "earn their respect", then all the other countries in the world start at 0 (or even negative if you're eastern european or turkish). Simply put - these people have a superiority complex built into their culture.
Not so long ago, I moved away from that place. Never again Berlin. I burnt all bridges and kept the important friends who themselves will leave Berlin soon.
There are countless small experiences which led me to see Berlin the way I do nowadays. None of them is particularly dramatic. However, now that I live in France, and having lived in England, Madrid and Munich before Berlin, I really see how its not just a bunch of idiots - no, it is a local culture.
Berlin is the capital of rejection. The capital of people saying "Nein" to a friendly hello, a possible conversation, a polite request at a store. But also they love to reject other people, trash talking wealthier people, foreigners, people who don't dress in grey and black, women who dress femininely, people who have something going for themselves. Their illness is called envy.
Add to that a more subtle form of greed. They tend to reject southern cultures and traditions due to their greed - how can you talk about preparing a good dish if all they think about is how cheap it could be? An example to finish this little therapeutic session here: "Hey, that guy forgot his cigarettes [in the Späti]." "Whatever, I won't get them or run after him" "Yeah he's an idiot if he doesn't get them". These situations made me feel cold inside. What the hell am I doing here, I kept thinking. They reject this stranger - purely out of the habit of rejecting other people. They also reject their bodies taking so many drugs and not taking care of their faces or looks in general.
I wish all Berliners good luck with their very difficult city. I hope that they - as a culture - can find some greater cause outside of themselves, something that connects people among each other (I don't mean mutual self-benefit). Maybe that's why Islam is so appealing to many young Berliners? Some sort of dignity/worthiness outside of themselves could help the greedy and envious in this city overcome their self-centered imprisonment. Rejecting ideas, other human beings and the world at large does not make you free.
When you speak German pretty decently, are white, and don't really stick out in any obvious way Berliners will accept you the only way they know how. They'll try their best to compensate for their inferiority complexes by goading you into some argument about what they hate about your home country. Real autism-grade statements. And then they'll follow up with "But hey, to me you're not a XXXX citizen anymore - you're German".
No, thanks.
Did anyone live in any other city in germany except berlin? If so, what are your impressions of the people there?