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I have now figured it out: avoid any restaurants in Berlin which are run by Germans! Every time I went into a restaurant and the waiter was German, whether with or without an 'migrant background' I got into an argument with them - over payment, rudeness, treatment of me as a customer, and so on. I NEVER had this issue in an Italian, Vietnamese, Spanish, or any other restaurant besides German! Do some research before you go out and don't give them your money!
As far as German customer service goes I've had good and very bad. I've had instances in which I was so disgusted with the rudeness and inefficiency that I just got up and left. On the other those who ran Vietnamese or Ethiopian restaurants were very welcoming.
There's a lot of things like laughing because the other one might think they lie because they laugh. Lots of such things here. Then losing the page.
One more petty annoyance that bothered me so much I refuse to go to bakeries here anymore. In the summer there are always flies and bees all over the place, crawling all over the food behind the glass. Where I'm from a food establishment would be shut down for a health violation if they had live insects walking on the food. And then the invariably indignant saleswomen often have the nerve to touch the food with their bare hands to put it in a paper bag. And to top it off they insist that you use the idiotic coin tray to pay for it. Nasty people here.
I'm not sure where you live but in my part of Berlin bakeries are heaven. Germans make amazing bread and cakes, and the bakeries I visit have no flies or bees and are incredibly clean. The shop assistants are always really kind and nice. They appreciate a few words of German and try to help when I struggle and switch to English. As a comparison, the cakes and bread are *miles ahead* of what I could find in the UK, or the USA, where bakeries are poop (GREGGS? Tesco Bread? Vomit inducing). Anglos can't bake for poop - cupcakes are the worst, most disgusting stuff in the history of mankind - just eat a spoonful of sugar, it's the same.
Sometimes I think everyone complaining here lives in some pooping expat bubble in some pooping corner of Berlin , surrounded by other pooping miserable expats like themselves. Get out more.
He's a delusional German as evidenced by the fact that he thinks German bread is good. In Germany bread is only good if you can't bite off a piece without shaking your head violently like a rabid dog. 90% of the bakeries in Berlin are massive chains that don't even do anything other than heat up frozen dough. And about sugar in cupcakes - what the hell were you expecting a CAKE to taste like?
I noticed something finally a few days ago. Was trying to enjoy a little walk through a park near my apartment and it hit me that the groups of people you see there on the weekends hanging out and having fun are always foreigners. You never hear Germans sitting around and chattering and enjoying themselves. It's always English or Spanish or Russian or Turkish. The Germans always lie around completely alone in baseball caps and sunglasses (especially men) or groups of 2 or max. 3. The only time I ever see Germans doing anything in larger groups they're doing some kind of weird sport. Germans seem extremely cliquish, probably because they spend 15 years going to school with the same exact classmates all day long. A German acquaintance even once told me about a kid who moved and joined his class in 4th grade and how that kid was never accepted into the group (even 8 years later). Just an observation.
You're right in that there are a lot of weird parks in Berlin where social outcasts hang out like Hasenheide and Gorlitzer. The one near my apartment isn't that bad and I've never seen a drug dealer there but way too many people smoking weed out in the open, way too many people openly pissing all over the place and a corner where a lot of gross gays congregate and have anonymous sex. Actually now that I think of it the park is completely messed up. I honestly can't believe that Berlin has messed up my judgement so much that I think that what I described above isn't that bad. Where I'm from even the park near the most squalid ghetto isn't that disgusting during the day.
This is not a practical but rather social rant about Berlin. I just don't fit. Berlin is famous for being super accepting you'd think? Nope. The lifestyle, the culture, the crazy public transport the overall "U GOT TO BE COOL ITS BERLIN BITCH" vibe that my so called friends have. I don't care for people here and people don't care for me. I'm a simple 24 year old dude who works as a photographer for ANOTHER SUPER DUPER Berlin start up. Sounds kinda cool right? Sounds that maybe I can sort of fit in and be on par with the supremely entitled hippies, endless party goers and drug addicts, oh, and also robotic arrogant German businessmen. I arrived here with my now ex GF who got sucked into this shit. I don't want to smoke weed every evening, I don't care that you're going to Berghain, I really really don't wanna go to another gay club just because it's cool. I don't have much of an Ego to throw around in these toxic social circles, neither do I want to. I rented a flat on the outskirt just because 99% of flats in the city are utter filth with a crazy price tag that you'd probably be trying to get into for a year or two if you're lucky. I have never felt as lonely and disconnected from people and the city culture as I do in Berlin. I lived in Moscow, New York, London and of course there are downsides to every single one of them, crazy prices too! But I felt alive, I felt that I can connect with my kind there to just be me and not put up an agenda mask. In all previous cities I have created a new social circles and connections, but not in Berlin. If you don't live the lifestyle or are too far away to come over and hang out you're worthless. Watching movies at Sony Center is the only pleasant experience that I have. I am praying every day to score a good job abroad and get the fornicate away from this city. I really tried Berlin I really wanted to see all the good side people are raving about. But the closer I got - the more I wanted to vomit.
Your eloquesnt ps is spot on, you've nailed it. People here are on too many drugs, so boring and old-hat. Move on Berlin you are still stuck in the 70's and 80's and it's incredibly embarrassing to be around. Talking all their Marxist left-wing BS. Everyone smooking cigarettes, even thoiugh they know it's most likely going to send them to an early grave. They've all got the same unifomr, beard, botle of cheap beer in their hands at all times, the ubiquitous dark t-shirt culture, or the other extreme of Charlottenberg designer labels that look brand new. Busy, busy, busy, with their hipster uni courses that will take them nowhere in life, they will never be able to afford to have a family with an Early Ottoman Literature degree. I hope you like doners, the equivalent of MacDonalds, actually, probably worse, I hate to thnk how that cheap 'meat' was produced. Te only good thing about Berlin is the amount of veg options, but even most of them are just junk food and the same the same. While we're on the subject of boring, 95% of the art here is crap, but what do yo expect from people who want to party and do druh=s all the time because "it's cool man".
I'll tell you what is cool in the 2020's, self-respect, monogamous relationships, family, learning a useful trade, proper nutrition, going cigarette, alcohol and drug free. Having time to chill out with friends, somethig that is impossible here because everyone is too busy being overworked by their uni professors selling Mickey Mouse and Kellog's Corn Flake degrees, while also working two part time jobs to keep up with Berlin inflation.
Big cities are so passe, they are for the ignorant, greedy, egotistical, moronic hedonist. Real people don't live in big cities anymore, they can see through the scams.
I have to go and wash off the human street-shitt from my shoes. And wash my clothes to be free of the smell of the Berlin homeless alcoholics and drug addicts.
Treat Berlin as you would Disneyland or Vegas, great to visit these weird and surreal places for a few days, once in your life, but don't live in them. Actually, New York, Paris and London are also boring these days, but as you say, you can at least make some connections there.
By the way, most of the young people in Berlin have never had a taste of real life, they are straight out of school and into uni, supported by their hard working parents and being coddled by the state. Their 'education' costs the hard working middle-class and working-class tax-payer billions each year. I hate to think of what their future will look like. Lonely childless feminists, or worse still, single-mothers, soulless men wandering around in daze or hanging out at the local spati in denial of their alcoholism. Don't fall for the bigger is better con-job, go to a smaller city and enjoy contact with people, rather than things or the promise that work makes freedom. And stay away from Left-wing feminists and 'anarchists' :o))) they are living in a dreamland where they all say the same thing, that is expected of them. but still want to take advantages from the capitalist system.
About doner: I am sick and tired of hearing about how it's so cheap here and how that is somehow proof that Berlin is a great city. Did you know that probably 99% of it was almost banned a year or two ago because the meat contains off-the-chart amounts of phosphates? Just like most other German Haute Cuisine that consists nearly exclusively of processed pork sausage. And I guess we can just ignore the frequent doner scandals that pop up about once every year or so when one of Germany's bumbling, incompetent health and hygiene agencies finds a batch that is being used although it expired several years ago or that contains some weird type of meat that isn't fit for human consumption. And definitely don't research Charlene Downes' death and what allegedly happened to her body if you ever want to be able to enjoy this filth again.
I'm the guy who wrote the original post and I would probably frame this paragraph -
"While we're on the subject of boring, 95% of the art here is crap, but what do yo expect from people who want to party and do druh=s all the time because "it's cool man". I'll tell you what is cool in the 2020's, self-respect, monogamous relationships, family, learning a useful trade, proper nutrition, going cigarette, alcohol and drug free. Having time to chill out with friends, something that is impossible here because everyone is too busy being overworked by their uni professors selling Mickey Mouse and Kellog's Corn Flake degrees, while also working two part time jobs to keep up with Berlin inflation."
It's incredibly refreshing to see these healthy thoughts, and thank you whoever you are for taking the time to write this incredibly constructive comment. Hope you're doing great.
I'm in a similar situation than you I guess, frm the outside I might seem like a person that would easily fit in, but I just don't, I can't help it... I know some people here to hang out occassionally, but neither do I feel any connection to them, neither do they care about me. I've also lived in different places/countries before and never had any issues to create a social circle with some people I care about (and who care about me) - hasn't happend here in almost 2 more years, and I kind of gave up that this is ever going to happen. Even friends I've known before moving here got kind of sucked in this Berlin thing and have somehow changed (e.g. became incredibly flaky and unreliable), so I kind of lost touch with some of them as well. I am feeling lonely and disconnect, even when meeting with people. I questioned myself a lot recently if anything's wrong with me that I can't fit in, but reading posts like this makes me realise it must something with the city. And I think the reason I dont fit in is because I am just way too critical how things are going here, and people can probably sense this. I see no point of going to some pooping night club, waiting in the queue for ages and pay a lot of entry to see some average techno dj, I don't see a point of going to some lame bars in kreuzberg or neukölln, furnished with some stuff from the flea market that charges double because it's cool and hip, I see no point in paying high rents for some rundown altbauwohnung just because the district is supposed to be trendy, I am pissed off by people who live in places like neukölln living their cool and edgy wannabe-artist life (sponsored by their parents back home), while there's so much misery around them on the streets and they don't even realise that they make the problem worse by pushing the rents high......there are so many more things I could rant about here, but I think everything's has been said here before. My point is: as long as you're questioning these things, people will never accept you here (I guess because the truth hurts too much or just because they're comletely in denial of everything going on in their lifes). Anyway, that's why I am out of here in 3 months. Cheers!
Living in Berlin since 2014. I thought that things will change with time and I'll start to like this city - Nope...5 years later and I still hate it to the core. I'm stuck here because of my studies, but trust me once I finish with university and move away from here, it'll be the happiest day of my life.
Some people call this place a hellhole. I disagree somewhat. After my time here I would call it a walking calamity.
I was at a conference in Dresden in April and got aquainted with a lovely couple who live in Berlin. He is Japanese, she is a German and they have a beautiful 2 year old daughter. In my experience, the Japanese are very cultured and polite and won't raise an issue with something or give opinions unless they feel it's absolutely needed. It was therefore interesting to hear his thoughts on his time in Germany. He told me that Germany is a tough case and that he is often baffled by the politics here and by the treatment he has been subjected to. He also said Berlin can be tough and that they may consider relocating, for the sake of their own well-being and their daughter's.
'Of course he is baffled by the politics. Germany is a dictatorship - again.'
'Germany is a hedonistic nanny state, it certainly hasn't been a Christian nation in a long, long time.'
Germany is certainly headed in this direction, if it isn't there already. The political (and social) situation here is rotten.
Germans need some spacial awareness therapy.
Berlin, and indeed other places in Germany can seem like such joyless places. I have seen this everywhere. You walk into a bar, club or a resturant and it's almost as if someone died. If you smile or laugh they'll think somethings up with you. If you are a happy, positive person and easygoing then this place could destroy you.
Feminism: An ideology funded by mega-capitalists and governments to keep women angry and brainwashing them into feeling like victims so they will work harder to prove they are equal to men. Why? Because two income households mean more consumer spending on rubbish people don't really need and more taxes for governments and more ability to service higher loans from banks. Feminists are brainwashed morons who have fallen for the greatest scam in history. Germany is full of these brainwashed feminists and then wonder why they have zero population growth, so they have to bring in Fakeugees to pump up the numbers.
Hey, you, yes you, the feminist with the I Hate Men t-shirt. When you retire from your almighty 'career' you will find out just how dispensible you are, when the next day someone else will fill your shoes and you will never be thought of again, you will go to your power-feminist apartment with your cats and spend the rest of your selfish, hedonistic life alone, and the company you worked for will just churn out more and more human-robotic cogs in the engine. Have a nice day.
Clementine Ford and Jessica Valenti are sexist ccunt feminists, they should both live in Berlin, they would be quite at home here.
If women are equal to men, let them play 5 sets of tennis for the same money as the men get. Let them go down coal mines, and dig roads, oh no, they just want equality for the creamy jobs in air-con offices. Feminists are useless hypocrites. That is why I've goine MGTOW and never been happier. Don't give into their emoyional blackmail.But the way, to all the jerk-off cucks posting here, did you know that 70% of the luxury dollar is spent on and by women. And yet, they still whine and complain and try to find oppression in every advantage and privilege they have. They are losers. fornicate ALL FEMINISTS.
BE AN EQUALIST, you will be much happier.
To the brainless phuckwit who said "First you say that women are not equal and then you ask to be equaliser? "
Dickwad, that is not what I said, I didn't say women weren't equal, I said if they are equal, play five sets of tennis. You filhy disgusting word twistung lefty freak. Feminism is not about equality, Equalism is. One day you moronic lefty sheep are going to get your karma, full on.
From an Indian gentleman trying to make it work in Germany......
' I too think this place is filled with uptight weirdos. Everything super expensive and people are very unfriendly. While I was in Bombay I played a lotta music Rock and Funk to be precise so thought would join some music course and make friends there at least but was so wrong they looked at me as if I am some alien from a different planet. I really am so frustrated at this point but still sticking thru only cause I love my wife and returning back to India would be a hassle as she wouldn't want to move out. I am so darn stuck in this idiot I really hate it here. I have always been a fun guy, very positive and optimistic but this country has changed me so much to the extent that I feel suicidal at times which is something I haven't experienced before. Not that I am gonna do something stupid but the feeling of being in such a rut make me feel where the hell have I landed and got myself into. I really don't know what more to say....'
I feel terrible for this guy. He's like so many expats I've come across, who feel down in the dumps despite their best efforts to adapt, fit in and contribute to this country. I hope he made it out of Germany and is happy.
'Haha another Naive Idiot who move to this Hellhole Country....'
I think, like most foreigners, he came here with good intentions and reasonable expectations but has been let down. I give him points for trying and he obviously cares about his partner, but there is a limit to much a human being can take. I hope this guy is in a better space now.
Hi everyone,
I've been in Germany for a few months now and in that time I feel like I have started to lose my sanity and sense of self. I've been wondering if it's just me, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one who has struggled here. I came here for an adventure and to experience life in another country. What I've gotten instead was anxiety and depression, like I've never experienced before. I completed my English teacher training in March and I've applied for a work permit. Whilst this has taken place I've also been applying for work. I'm getting tired of the sheer rudeness and apathy of the people (not all of them of course) and I'm getting tired of dealing with the Ausländerbehörde and all the silly rules in this country. I've had to fill out umpteen forms and pay all these fees, and yet I'm still unable to work. Since I came here, and especially over the past two months I've began to spend days on end in my room. Sometimes the feeling of anxiety seems out of control. I want to stay and make things work here but I feel like I'm wasting time. I really don't know what to do at this point. Thoughts?
'Your effort is absolutely useless, believe me. Berlin is hell on earth! The only chance of keeping common sense is to leave here!'
I'd like to think that my efforts haven't been wasted and that it would be premature to call this whole venture a failure, but I tell you it's sure shaping up to be that way! :(:(
Just some perspective for you: I spent over a decade trying to make it work in Berlin. Learned German to C2, got fancy German degree, did all the silly internships and student jobs humanly possible and still completely am bombing in life. If I look at the linkedin profiles of my other foreign classmates it seems pretty much the same. The ones in Germany all have low-level jobs just like I do. Foreigners cannot succeed in Germany.
'Just some perspective for you: I spent over a decade trying to make it work in Berlin. Learned German to C2, got fancy German degree, did all the silly internships and student jobs humanly possible and still completely am bombing in life. If I look at the linkedin profiles of my other foreign classmates it seems pretty much the same. The ones in Germany all have low-level jobs just like I do. Foreigners cannot succeed in Germany.'
It's interesting you say this because I was talking to an American colleague (or future colleague if I ever get permit issued by useless Ausländerbehörde) and he said that despite everything he's done and all the hours he gets (we are both English and/or aspiring English teachers), he is actually losing money here and is looking forward to returning to the USA. He also told me the first 6-8 months in Germany were hell for him.
Yeah, teaching English in Europe these days is essentially just a way to have an extended vacation while not blowing all of your savings in 2 months (but it will still go down, just not as fast). Doesn't matter how serious you are about it or your qualifications, the employers don't take TEFL teachers seriously and pay as little as they can get away with. I think startups are the only financially safe way in for most people
(excluding the elite "expats" who get sent over with very high salaries). I assume most of those coming over on artist visas have wealthy parents sending them money in the background.
'Doesn't matter how serious you are about it or your qualifications, the employers don't take TEFL teachers seriously and pay as little as they can get away with'
I get that impression. I've heard all kinds of stories about expats losing a tonne of money trying to get set up here, only for employers to not pay them properly. Many expats have told me there is not a great deal of money in teaching here and that often they've had to chase employers and clients up for payment (and this has taken up to two months in some cases). if this is the way it is, then maybe it's time to move on lol
People in Berlin keep claiming that this place is safe but it doesn't feel that way at all. Read through Berlin Polizeimeldungen online and see that someone is stabbed or shot or attacked with a bottle every day of the week - especially places like Gesundbrunnen, Rigaer Str., Warschauerbruecke and Panoramastrasse. Cars are set on fire several times a week, cigarette shops and casinos are robbed at gunpoint or with machetes. I'm also beginning to doubt the murder statistics about this place. There are so many weird deaths listed on that website where they say they don't believe it was murder but it just doesn't make sense. Also there doesn't seem to be anything in Germany like vehicular homicide (unless it was intentional), so anyone hit and killed by a drunk driver isn't even considered a murder. Most of the time they don't even mention this stuff on the front page of the tabloids or in the hourly news updates on the radio, unless it's particularly crass (like the nazi guy that peed on a family on the train a few years ago or the Bulgarian trash that kicked that girl down the stairs). They also seem to take a really long time to release pictures of criminals for help in identifying them. It's really sad to see that criminals here have more rights than victims (and potential victims). Finally, it's really weird that they will never release the full names of criminals here. You could be working with convicted pedophiles or murderers and you'd never be able to find out.
It took the police 7 months to release pictures of this guy, presumably because they're so busy arresting people for saluting in public:
www.berlin.de/polizei/polizeimeldungen/pressemitteilung.827634.php