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The fact that even the holiday season can't bring a smile to anyone's face.
I hate that people hate Berlin. Come on: the rent is still cheap, you can get a Falafel im Brot for 2.50e, the weather isn't arctic, and if you actually ask the cashiers how they are going, 3 times out of 4 they turn all smiles after being treated as more than a Lebensmittel dispenser. Sure, life is harsh and poor here, but if you get your own bubble of good things going, always look downwards to avoid the dog faeces, and avoid the haters, life is surprisingly excellent.
Ok lets see how happy you are during the next 5 months of weather and berlin faces, snow should drop in the next week then its snow and wet faces for the next 5 months then an always dissapointing pooping short summer then back to winter, " Bitte Schön" ?.
Your opinion of Berlin really depends on your situation & location...living in a predominantly foreign (or at least accepting of foreigners) area where your native language or accented German may be easily understood makes a massive difference to your experience of the city and the locals. In the 6 years I have lived here I have moved 4 times, each move taking me further East. I can honestly say, without a shadow of doubt that although not the friendliest people on the planet, West Berliners are absolutely more pleasant than those in the East...and by East I mean the areas past the cultural & language melting pots of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg & Prenzlauer Berg. I look like a stereotypical German: blonde hair, blue eyes, pale complexion (but with an always pleasant expression) - I speak German - I married a German (not a Berliner) - my child was born here so is also German...I am polite & pleasant yet, in the 6 years I have been living in Berlin I have been treated rudely on a near daily basis: everything from the typical German heavy sigh & eye roll for no apparent reason to being shoved with shopping carts while waiting in line at the supermarket because I didn't move into the 1cm of 'empty' space in front of me. I've accepted the fact that living in Berlin means dealing with the above crap every day. It saddens me that rudeness/coldness seem to be an integral part of German culture. *and it is absolutely awful when it is directed at my young child. I have lived in major cities in N. America, Japan, Greece & England and in my experiences as a 'world-liver' I found the Japanese to be the friendliest & most welcoming followed by the Brits, then the N. Americans & Greeks, which unfortunately leaves the Germans sorely lacking in smiley faces. If cheap rent & falafel are it takes to make you happy then by all means enjoy your stay here. However, before you condemn others for disliking Berlin (on a site called BerlinHater) it might be a good idea to realize that not everyone has the option or opportunity to create a "bubble of good things" around themselves...
Berlin is full with East Europeans,very unfriendly People.
Cyclists' road rage.....why on earth?
I have never lived anywhere where I have more fear of being run down by an angry cyclist than ANY OTHER type of motorist or mugging or rape or ANYTHING. Cycle Nazis riding through the city at MAD speeds and SCREAMING insults if you have a shoulder 2cm over the bike path grenze.
Berliner schnauze, its just marketing speak for miserable rude uncivilized moron
Why do Berliners stare so much? I hate the people in this city,fucking bastards
Berlin, you need this added to your water supply:
www.youtube.com/watch
I hate the freaking attitude restaurants and shops have to customer service..... if none of us offer it, none of us have to... fuckers
This is a great site... general German stuff but all evidenced in the cackhole we call Berlin
100reasonswhyihategermany.blogspot.com/
The enjoyment people has in telling you that YOU'RE WRONG!
First, I'd like to thank the creators & contributors of this site, it helps so much to know that I have not lost my mind & am not at all alone in thinking that Berlin is a depressing city full of angry, rude & downright selfish individuals.
Right, onto my latest tale of Berlin-hell: While waiting to pay for purchases, in a line consisting of myself & the elderly woman in front of me, I experienced yet another fabulous example of Berliner "customer service".
The sour-faced cashier was already eye-rolling & heavy-sighing at the poor old lady as I took my place behind her. Apparently she wasn't paying quickly enough, which we all know is a crime punishable by glares-of-death from the cashiers in Berlin.
As soon as the elderly woman's transaction was complete the cashier demanded that I give her my shopping to ring up. As the lady in front of me had yet to bag up her purchases I kindly let the cashier know (in German) that I wasn't in a rush & could easily wait for the customer to finish packing up her things. This was met with a literal growl of hatred & "hurry up" finger snapping from the cashier...nice...and remember there were NO other customers waiting behind me.
The elderly woman in front of me gave me a small smile & slid her purchases over as much as she possibly could to allow me 3 whole centimeters of space on the tiny cashier desk to place my own shopping. I began unloading my purchases from my reusable shopping bag which caused the cashier to literally shriek, "What are you doing using your personal bag for shopping?!!! That is not allowed! You must use a cart!!! Give me your bag to check you're not stealing!!" (but in German, of course)
Now...I shop at this particular store all of the time and always fill-up my (empty) re-usable shopping bag with my purchases instead of using a huge shopping cart (I then know exactly how much I can comfortably carry home). I've never had a problem with this before...in any store...including this one.
As I didn't want the situation to get any worse, I gave her my now empty shopping bag to "check" which she then threw back at me after flipping it inside out to make sure there was really nothing hidden away somewhere in its depths (this bag is only 40cmx40cm).
She then proceeded to scan my purchases...I let her finish completely and tell me the total (during all of this, the elderly woman still had not managed to get her own shopping packed away). I then asked her (in German) why she was behaving this way as neither I nor the woman in front of me had done anything to warrant such anger & verbal abuse. Receiving nothing but a furious look in return I wished her a "better day", put away my wallet without paying and walked out...sadly, instead of thinking that maybe she was in the wrong & should improve her attitude (while she puts away all of my unbought items) she will spread her depressed hatred to other customers.
fornicate them if you can move out then move on to a better country in europe its an awful place to live. Ok to visit for a few days as a contrast to the way all other normal countries and cities live in europe, its a big battered self built raft waiting to sink.
I am here 4 months now,the worst 4 months of my life, most over-rated city I have ever been to. Disgusting city with disgusting people
The faces must be starting to drop by now in berlin and the whining mutha fruckas start complaining at home about your mere existnce if you break the miserable whispering level. I remember people on the street during the day time jumping at the sound of someones keys dropping on the floor. This is the misererable daily reality of berlin life for 6 months of the year. Nothing cool about berlin or berliners get over it it was a pop up party, time to move on.
Keep spreading the word about this page and let as many people as you can know what a boring sad poop hole berlin is.