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Met a friend in the U-Bahn. Having a good time while chatting and catching up. I took a look at a person standing next to me while she was rolling her eyes and was speaking to her partner about ausländer and their weird german accents. Waves of hostility hit me, but all of a sudden I reminded myself, hey, that's normal here, move on and enjoy life :).
Exactly, it's the only way to survive in Berlin , just have to feel empathy and compassion for the poor souls who were unlucky enough to be born and bred here.
Especially the Left-wing losers who are going to wake up one morning in the future and say to themselves "what was I thinking, why did I tattoo my neck and face and scar my lips and eyes with a row of studs, and grow my ear lobes to saucer size holes, what have I done, now my life is totally fcked, I have no hope of getting a job to support my family, and can't even beg because there is such a glut of other losers just like me, begging as well and no one cares anymore, they are all jaded and cynical just like us".
It's inevitable. As soon as the new generation of centre right conservative kids moves up the ladder, the Lefty losers will be pushed into dingy little kneipes and begging on the U8.
Gotta feel some form of pity for them.
Second comment seems legitimate to me. The city is full of "open-minded individuals" who pretend to respect all cultures, but secretly love to bash them with other ethnic Germans. These are the kind of people that love going to demonstrations and parades that celebrate equality, homosexuality, refugees and the like while having zero friends who aren't German and liking homosexuality only in theory. The city is full of these people.
:o))) You got a taste of the Berliner rolling eyes treatment :o))) Did you also get the sneaky shaking of the head, for the most minuscule inadvertent social infractions of the encyclopaedia of Berliner rules.
"Sorry" doesn't cut it with Berliners, they want to get every drop of guilt they can squeeze out of you.
I was there too with feeling empathy and it is true. The only problem is when you force yourself to feel certain way. Berlin causes rollercoaster emotionally. Key is surely to express yourself. The way I do it is by singing, sports, then intonation also is a good idea cause you get these intonation fleas. Inspiration for this is movies simply. For me Columbo is quite handy but also generally something with humour. Or overacting things. It is a good idea to note poop people said and then let something come up that you feel you wanted to reply. As for empathy is rather a selfassertive expression just like being kind because it might seem absurd to be kind to people here but it makes sense for your own emotional health. Another such thing is respect and it goes well with anger. But as for all that what i realized is once i sang, not to sound well, but to just feel and then sing such way or shout, it is like going to toilet. Things affect you less then and some energy is out of your system. If you can't sing you'd be surprised what enough poop people gave you can make you sound really well as a side-effect.
Berlin is what hicks think a big city should be like: hicks who watch Tatort and who've never spent more than 48 hours in a real metropolis like NY, London, Paris, Rome. Most of the people here, "locals" included, come directly here from a small town and begin to reenact various scenes of misanthropy, antagonism and cynicism exactly as they saw depicted in some crappy film / TV show about a big city, once upon a time. As a result, they get it completely wrong. Berliners are so proud to be snarky, pretentious and arbitrarily rude to other people because they think it puts them in the same league as London and New York, where people can SOMETIMES be snappy due to unremitting stress. WRONG. I've lived in both cities and the thing is, when people in NY lash out, it's due to real stresses that are beyond their control - out of control crime, say, or unregulated employers who are making their lives hell, or open trash laying in the streets. They are lashing out DESPITE their better selves, and feel BAD about it afterwards... you know, like an emotionally stable human being would? Whereas Berliners, who have it all (a clean spacious city, cheap enough rent, pretty well regulated employment sector) and are lashing out by CHOICE because they think it's COOL. Basically this city is filled with kids who are just play-acting at being in a big city, and it's sad, sad, sad!
The other thing about real big cities is that they have a sense of community and civic pride that holds things together below the frantic, impersonal surface. They have regulars' bars, local's spots, squares, unique scenes and so on... which everyone gravitates toward to put things right after a hard day, and reconnect with one another. Big cities may look like they're aggressive on the surface but what holds them together is civic LOVE. This is the one thing that's never shown in any of the 2nd rate TV shows or movies that Berliners base their performance of civic life upon - love - so they bend themselves completely out of shape trying to enact pure HATE instead.
I have never ever met a single Berliner who feels love for the community around them, have you? I mean a real, generalized, "God I love the Village" or "Dalston's such an intense scene!" kind of love. I only hear that in NY and London (and other major Western capitals). The only "love" that anyone here seems to feel for their city is about superficial details "I like that park, it's got great trees" "check out that architecture! It says so much." This is a psycho-narcissistic way of valuing a city. It's not REAL. It's not HUMAN. And it's NOTHING like how people feel about living in a real metropolis, where they feel like a valued and necessary part of the social fabric.
The only love that anyone here seems to feel is for his or her own tiny, hand-picked clique of mates - which is exactly the sort of exclusive BS that most people move to big cities to escape.
The unfiltered, small-town naievete which people bring to Berlin has trashed a perfectly good big city with a lot of promise. It's a f*cking shame. If it weren't for the people and their juvenile preconceptions they have about big city living, this might actually be a nice place to live.
If you want all the drawbacks of living in a fast-paced city but none of the bonuses, though, then hey this is the place for you!
The only form of civic duty here is blindly opposing any semblance of progress in the city whether it's new industries (uber and airbnb), new companies relocating (google & co), respect of property rights (Rigaer strasse), phony Mietpreisbremse or just stupid things like Tempelhoferfeld. A country that doesn't run on innovation, but rather on hindering innovation coupled with convoluted protectionism.
A real BERLINER sitting at the Bar by himself and wants to be left in Peace! If you are looking in the Pub a free Seat at the Table, where they sit just one Person, he always refuses to let you sit down. If you do not belong to any Social-Bubble, than you´re doomed to eternal solitude. How sick is that?!
Can someone explain to me what Ayran is?
Ayran is a word that one could easily look up on Google :o) But I know what you mean, I see it everywhere in Little Turkey, otherwise known as Berlin. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayran
Good read on Germany and the main terror attacks in 2016. Central theme seems to be unwillingness to consequently deport declined refugee applicants.
www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2016/272231.htm
And thats why I would not befriend any parties lefter than the FDP (the Libertarian counterpart).
It's not paranoia and it's not lies spread by alt-right trolls. German society, what existed, is falling apart rapidly.
www.thelocal.de/20170719/left-wing-assassination-attempt-on-political-opponents-no-longer-out-of-question-berlin-authorities-warn
Only morons fall for Lefty propaganda, the greater majority of people see through their imbecilic actions and worthless words. You can smell these scum in the air in Berlin, the heaviness, the negativity, the doom and dread and the pessimism that oozes out of them, like putrid, raw sewage. .
Stinking as if you didn't have had a shower for weeks, neved brushing your teeth or having sh*t still warm in your pants seems to be a completely normal and socially accepted thing here. F*ck Berlin!
Oh, poor little snowflake, can't handle the smell of shtty pants on the U-Bahn, upset about seeing guys pissing in the open in front of his girl friend, can't handle the putrid smell of an alcoholics breath as he bends down to harass you for money-for-nothing, little diddums can't handle imbeciles who feel a need to party for 48 hrs straight, in dens of depravity and delusion, to escape their lost lives, he probably hates the Kafka-esque bureaucracy as well, what a fcking wimp, you're probably one of those people who hates dog sht all over the streets, and vomit every 200 metres, not to mention having your bike stolen every 6 months. I bet you even complain about all the human camels spitting every 10 seconds on the footpath and platform you are following them on.
I have a feeling you are a fascist racist who thinks that people who come from other countries shouldn't be selling drugs in the open on street corners to young people, to fck their minds up as well, you are probably against so called anarchists taking money from the tax-payer funded state that they so vehemently hate.
What a pusssy.
How every person in a shop asks you back, knowingly what you wanted and thinks nobody realizes. They can't freaking just give you what you wanted, just like that. It's like you can't freaking do such thing, when you know what it is, you can't freaking ask as if you wouldn't. It's completely face up and embarrassing. Like an idiot who steers the car in the dirt and all you can do is look at it in awe wtf he just did. It's such a shame social wise.
I got what you were saying, you were alluding to the mixed metaphors of the quantum juxtapositions of the fallacious signatories to the accord of astro-physist transcendence of the ethereal soul pattern of Jupiter's rising coinciding with the convoluted excesses of alcohol and drug induced stupor. Any fool could work that out.
Oh ok, I meant lets say you buy cigarettes. You say the brand and the colour and they ask back everytime which colour or act like somehow they didn't get it. It goes like this
Hello, I'd like one pack of *brand* the blue ones please. ...Blue??
Hello, one pack of *brand* blue please ... Which ones?
It rails the conversation into artificiality whereas otherwise something natural from life might come up. Other than that it is just plain stupid. You stand there knowing the person already knows all the info needed but out of habbit has to ask you back perceiving it as an okay thing to do socially when it is complete brainfart.
Coming soon to a city near you ;o) www.breitbart.com/london/2017/07/18/migrants-riot-sexually-harass-women-german-folk-festival/
Was enjoying a picnic yesterday with my wife and children at one of the many lakes here in Berlin. Until a 40-50 year old creep wearing nothing but a baseball cap and sunglasses sat down directly in front of us, no more than 3 meters away, and starting jerking off. I called the cops and they eventually came out but did nothing except talk to him for a moment, shared a laugh and then left.
What's wrong with you, why are you complaining about a guy jerking off in front of your children and wife, you must be a Right-wing fascist, this is normal behaviour in Berlin, you are intolerant of disgusting filthy Berlin scum. You are probably one of those morons who hate guys pissing in the street, filthy smelly beggars harassing you, seeing an army of garbage scavengers and a total lack of customer service. Go back to civilization.
Stuff like this confirm that Germans don't care about sexual assault:
www.stern.de/panorama/weltgeschehen/oktoberfest--wie-sich-ein-polizeibericht-anhoert--wenn-deutsche-maenner-frauen-bedraengen-6641130.html
Things that will soon cease to exist:
a) Soundcloud
b) Agora Workspace
The only question is which will go first?
I heard Agora got screwed by Berlin's very own Lannister wannabes, the Samwer Brothers on some deal at their new playground at the old Kindl Brauerei, As a result of the investment, which has since collapse, Agora's finanzes are now exposed to huge costs.
I don't really understand this business stuff, all I know is, who do you think willl end up buying up the factory space Agora already occupies?
Greetings....
From Berlin. Know where that is?
Been here for many years. Always went through alternating phases of hating the city and feeling almost indifferent about it. Until about a year ago. Now something happens at least once a day that makes me rage at the incompetence, unfriendliness and utter idiocy in this city. High time for me to get out.
If I was a freaking german I'd learn English just to get some comedy. I just gave the "Quatsch comedy club" a chance on YouTube, my butt is funnier.