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I've been living in Berlin for more than ten years and although I have a good job I really hate the city and most of the people here. I basically don't even leave the house anymore because I don't ant to be confronted with more rude people and drunk idiots on the U-Bahn. The biggest mistake was going to New York for a couple of weeks this year because I loved it so much and got along with the people there so well. Now Berlin seems even worse to me, haha. I wish I could work in NYC but that is practically impossible ...
Being trapped in traffic because of the Garmin Velothon.
Love it that a private event can block off the streets to the entire city. The "interaktive Verkehrskarte" on the Garmin page doesn't work at all.
angelamerkeleatingthings.tumblr.com/ THIS!
2013 We cannot believe the NSA spied on Merkel!!! This is an outrage. We soooo believe in privacy.
2014 Yes we Germans support the NSA in some anti-terrorism operations specially in Somalia and the Middle East. But don't worry.
2015 Yo France remember when I said you and I were friends, lol I lied, I spied on you and your companies. But it's ok, I spied on Austria as well and they seem ok with it.
This is your daily reminder that shi,t is about to hit the fan in Europe and Berlin is again part of the problem.
The fact that being Spanish makes me subhuman in their eyes
Ok, first of all, I, thankfully, do not live and have never lived in Berlin, but I visited a couple of times (my best friend lives there). Let me tell you something - the only times I felt good there was when we were sitting around in the apartment. And that says it all. I felt really awkward in all the public places, the people are so rude and always have a Kristen Stewart facial expression, which is fairly creepy is all I'm saying. But there was one situation in particular that left me speechless. So, my best friend's bf and I went to buy some burgers down the street and so we were sitting there, waiting (for like 45 mins or something - it is really crowded) and then some couple approached us asking if they could sit at the same table while they wait. So, we said yes, of course. Now, he is German, so they started talking in Deutsch, but then he told them that I dont speak it and asked them if they spoke any English, to which they answered - yes, BUT continued talking in German. I was shocked. And so the time was passing by and I was sitting there, watching them laughing, trying to look calm, looking at my mobile phone... Then I thought to myself - ''you are not a moron, you don't deserve this, do something for god's sake''. And so I interfered by just asking some really polite questions, ''demanding'' answers. I could see how they felt really pissed about it which gave me the ultimate pleasure. At the end of the wait, I told them ''Good luck with your future life and hopefully you'll learn how to be polite to somebody else who isn't German''. They were shocked. Oh well. Do I care? NO. But the person that hurt me the most in this whole misadventure was my best friend's bf - he just kept talking to them in German. I told him that he was extremely impolite afterwards to which he replied that he didn't want to be rude to those two (?). Oh, but being rude to me was okay, huh? Good to know. Duly noted. So, again, I can only be thankful for not living there, but my friend is stuck there, surrounded by rude, unapologetic excuses of people.
I love how this site is getting more and more popular <3. Even during spring & summer
the Women here are all Feminist
There is certainly nothing wrong with people wanting equality but I kinda get what the OP said, Berlin feminists are a special kind. They demand equal rights while at the same time many of them demand that foreigners shouldn't be allowed to work in Germany or the need to "clean" of undesired peoples from all-German neighborhoods and other neat stuff I hope you never have to listen to. These type of comments are sadly commonplace among feminists in Berlin.
I'm (unhappily) married to a German & have lived here for over 6 years and in that time have tried everything possible to fit-in, make friends and join the community. Breaking through the barrier of xenophobia & rudeness in Germany is nearly impossible. I have blonde hair, blue eyes and speak German but as soon as I smile & open my mouth to speak with my Canadian accent I am shut down & treated rudely or simply ignored.Seriously, I have adults ask me a question and when I start to answer literally turn their back to me & ask someone else. One of the most shocking things I've been told was by my kiddo's pre-school teacher on the first day when I dropped her off.
She: "where are you from"
Me: I'm Canadian
She: "That's not too bad, at least you're not Turkish."
Of course this exchange was in German and in front of other parents who were looking at me with pity & nodding their heads in agreement. WHAT?
Everyday is another adventure in bizarre rudeness here and I look forward to the day when I can eventually figure out a way to leave.
Dude, I don't know what to tell you. I have been Nine years here in a similar situation. Even worked hard to get rid of my accented German but still the little Grammar errors or the tell tale minor incorrect usage and I am shunned. Even splitting up with the nasty German wife only made life worse as she controls all and participates in blatant parental alienation as often as she can. F'in hate this place, want to take my lovely little girl and run before she becomes the same as the rest of them.
Yup, you nailed the thing that bothered me the most while I lived there. Berliners' (and Germans' in general) complete lack of awareness of manners and social sensitivity. I still have this scene in my head during the the carnival when people approached a bunch of asians on the street and started yelling in their faces "Yao kun pow ping pong honda kawasaki". And in their heads they were being playful and not utterly offensive. I witnessed so many stories like that in so little time there that makes me feel glad of not being there anymore.
Oh, about the so-called "carnival" a few days ago...I was walking down the street in Kreuzberg and a bunch of hipster scum laughingly yelled "NIGGER" when I walked towards the U-Bahn. I should have kicked their ass. I'm sorry I didn't, they would have deserved it. That's *their* idea of being funny and humorous, I suppose...
My first impression about Berlin was so: "HOW can this boring, grey, ugly idiot be called the capital?" HOW F****** CAN IT BE? The capital of boredom? The second capital of Turkey? The capital of absolutely disgusting architecture and the same women? Maybe. But definitely not the capital of european land. Just compare this pathetic village to other european capitals, just like Paris, London, Madrid, Rome or even Moscow / Saint-Petersburg. Worst city in the world, and i'm pity for those people, who are forced to live here.
all by all it is best descripted by the Kanzlerins typicall face expression, its not a smile its the oposite: to merkel :( Dont do the same, dont "merkle" around, this city doesnt need any more unhappyness.
Somehow on this site the niveau got down a bit, so the hating texts are also not really beaming of intelligence and meaningfullness, but thats still no reason not to hate berlin :D So what about costructive critsism?