Living in Berlin

SteveDon

So im just back from 2 weeks in Berlin and i have to admit that it was easily the best holiday of my life by a long stretch.

I also had the peculiar feeling while i was there that it felt more like home than Dublin ever has to me.

Besides the music and parties which is obviously a big reason for travelling there I found that the Berliners themselves are really a very friendly bunch of people, i thought Vancouver was a friendly city but this place has really blown me away. Along with the music and the people; the landscape architecture, the fairly low cost of living and the super effiecient transport system are making me seriously consider Berlin as a new home.

So im just interested in seeing if any people here on boards have lived in Berlin for a period of time and what advice they might have?

VinylJunkie

We where also saying this when we came home in July, even got as far as looking for a job there. Haha

Serious place.

electrogrimey

My sister lived there for a few months, working as a receptionist for an English school, and loved it. I've only ever been for holidays though.

g5fd6ow0hseima

Great blog about Berlin here. The Villalobos one is hilarious.

http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/

What can I say SteveDon, you'll only be gentrifying the place!

Edit: I love the article on moving flat:

RMD

From my experience Berlin is a great place for a holiday, the clubs were nuts and the pubs in the suburbs / outer "inner" city are all cheap enough that you can actually pre-drink there before the clubs not burn a hole in your pocket.

I was there during the WC qualifiers though and my only intimate experience with the "Berliners" was a bunch of skinheads kicking me and my friends around. Never really liked the Germans, nothing wrong with them, just a culture clash for me.

Zascar

I've only really heard good things about Berlin from EM fans and also randomers galore also. It even ranks quite high on the "Best cities to live in the world" surveys in Time Magasine etc

http://uk.askmen.com/specials/2009_top_29/berlin.html

joker77

Rhea Putrid Sickbed wrote: »

Great blog about Berlin here. The Villalobos one is hilarious.

http://www.ichwerdeeinberliner.com/

What can I say SteveDon, you'll only be gentrifying the place!

Brilliant stuff, Villalobos one is excellent

I've kind of a love / hate relationship with Germany. My sister moved there 15 years ago as part of a college placement - I was 17 at the time so since then I've been over at least once a year. Only been to Berlin once on a long weekend, uber cool city but didn't get a chance to get under it's skin.

What I like about The Fatherland:

Best beer in the world. I know people will have opinions that Czech have the best beer (and is the home of pilsner after all), or the Belgians, but the Germans win for me because of consistency - they take it so seriously and you can literally walk in anyway that has a tap and know you will be getting a glass of crisp cool perfectly brewed goodness. For a reasonable price.
Efficiency - boring I know, but they are known for it after all. Trains and buses are on time, end of. Bought a eurorail ticket for the World Cup in 2006, went from my sisters place which I used as a base, and travelled to 4 cities for games - not a single hitch at any stage.

What I dislike about The Fatherland:

Conditioning - They are the most conditioned people in the world, but most have no realisation of this fact. It's the little things that bother me about this. In fairness, it seems to have changed a bit over the last 10 years or so of me going over, but it really stuck in my head the first few times. For example - a little thing like crossing the road - they won't do it unless the Green Man is up there. Wouldn't matter if it was 3am and there wasn't a sinner around, they'd wait. During the day - I'd look left, look right and start walking - I'd see them behind me shifting uneasily - thinking "What's he doing???", and I'm not joking - some of them tutted!
Rigidness - suppose this is kind of like the conditioning - but with most Germans it's either black or it's white. As Dara O'Briain says - us Irish live in a world of greys, with many shades, so there's a bit of a culture clash there
Superiority complex They have it, in spades.

Steve - do you speak any German? I've found that you don't need it to travel, but for work obviously that might be different. If you don't and want to learn I'd recommend the Michel Thomas teach yourself stuff - I did the first few but never kept it up, but found it really easy to pick up. PM me if you need any info on it

hans aus dtschl

Joker77,

All your points sit fine with me but I think people in glass houses probably shouldn't throw stones.
We Irish are by far more conditioned.

What I mean is:
Socializing = alcohol/get ****ed up.
Sex = bad/embarrassing.
Play one sport only.
Listen to one type of music only.
Waste food
Waste money
Waste time
etc etc etc

It's nobody's FAULT per se, but my foreign friends are only too happy to point out these silly little things we do, too!

japanesebanana

Great thread. I've always felt that Berlin was calling me (no pun intended), and went there this Easter, completely fell in love with it. Same as what you said, feels like home.
Planning to look for a job there when I'm finished my course.

Android 666

hans aus dtschl wrote: »

Joker77,

All your points sit fine with me but I think people in glass houses probably shouldn't throw stones.
We Irish are by far more conditioned.

What I mean is:
Socializing = alcohol/get ****ed up.
Sex = bad/embarrassing.
Play one sport only.
Listen to one type of music only.
Waste food
Waste money
Waste time
etc etc etc

It's nobody's FAULT per se, but my foreign friends are only too happy to point out these silly little things we do, too!

Well here's where you wrong mr. smartie pants, I don't play sport!

joker77

hans aus dtschl wrote: »

Joker77,

All your points sit fine with me but I think people in glass houses probably shouldn't throw stones.
We Irish are by far more conditioned.

What I mean is:
Socializing = alcohol/get ****ed up.
Sex = bad/embarrassing.
Play one sport only.
Listen to one type of music only.
Waste food
Waste money
Waste time
etc etc etc

It's nobody's FAULT per se, but my foreign friends are only too happy to point out these silly little things we do, too!

I agree that we Irish have many, many faults, but would have to disagree with us being more conditioned. I wasn't trying to make it into an 'us against them' kind of thing though, just outlining some of my views based on experiences.

JoseJones

I went there this summer for a couple of months and loved it. I'm also planning on moving there when I finish college. It seems to be a place that almost anybody can fit into, so many people seem to feel at home there. It's a really great city and I also love the way that the different areas are very different from each other and have their own feel.

Android 666

hans aus dtschl wrote: »

Joker77,

All your points sit fine with me but I think people in glass houses probably shouldn't throw stones.
We Irish are by far more conditioned.

What I mean is:
Socializing = alcohol/get ****ed up.
Sex = bad/embarrassing.
Play one sport only.
Listen to one type of music only.
Waste food
Waste money
Waste time
etc etc etc

It's nobody's FAULT per se, but my foreign friends are only too happy to point out these silly little things we do, too!

I've given this further thought.

Drinking? I was going to argue this one but the auld head's a bit delicate - commiserating with Kildare over their loss on Sunday.

Sex is never bad if its called riding. Preferably with a young wan.

One sport only? Bloody cheek of them. Have they not heard how skilled we are in curbs.

What's the one type of music? Country and Irish? You haven't lived 'till you've seen Declan Nerney in full flow. Hypnotic the way he gently bucks up and down while singing out that doleful dirge with his dulcet tones.

While sometimes I can't finish the 16th potato on my plate I'll usually throw it out to the birds. That's hardly wasting food, is it?

We can't waste money anymore because we don't have it.

Its not time wasted if you're reading a paper whilst taking a poo. Most Irish people will understand if you were late because you were finishing off the crossword while waiting for that last brown nugget to fall from its perch.

Etc. etc.? Only pseudo intellectual foreigners use that phrase when they've run out of things to complain about but want you to believe they have more to say. Would you not just tell your friends to feck off, finish their drinks and stop talking out of their arses.

hans aus dtschl

Wow android...
Actually can't figure out whether you're agreeing with me or not there. Impressive level of rambling.

No, joker, I think your assessment was pretty fair and honest, not "us versus them" at all, just that I think few enough Irish people can accuse foreigners of being conditioned or conformist.

For what it's worth, I'm Irish through and through, so I'm levelling this charge equally at myself.

Just sayin, like.

joker77

Ah yea hans I know what you mean about the Irish, more conformist than conditioned I would say. I used to think the Irish were very non-conformist, didn't obey the rules or the law, but I've come to the realisation over the last few years this is not the case at all. At the heart of it we generally don't rock the boat. The smoking ban was a classic example - in some countries there was huge opposition and it had to be revoked, here we just gave out a little, but there was no real resistance.

Now I've a few thoughts on why we are the way we are, in terms of not breaking the rules too much, mainly stemming from us being a colony, but these views are really outside the bounds of this thread, so I'll keep it on topic...

Germany is a great place, and the Germans for the most part are very honest, decent, friendly people.

g5fd6ow0hseima

joker77 wrote: »

Germany is a great place, and the Germans for the most part are very honest, decent, friendly people.

It's just a pity about the language though.

Hamiltonion

Speaking of smoking bans in Berlin they really dont care, was over 2 weeks ago and once a bar was any way busy/past 7pm you could smoke away. Even the bar staff smoke on the job. Same in many places in Amsterdam though not quite as lax as the Berliners. Personal freedom is taken very seriously in Berlin as the sheer number of murals/protest fliers etc will attest to

locked 1

Im off to berlin in two weeks to see Paul van Dyke in the O2 arena stayin 4 the weekend can any1 recommend any pubs or any early bars/clubs that open early on the sunday wats the pub opening hrs

eeloe

I'm really thinking about heading over there for a while just to see a bit of the place!

A mate of mine is just back, he stayed there for the summer but had to come home due to money restraints. Once he gets back on his feet and finds himself a job over there he's heading back!

Even if I went to see some of the clubs I'd be happy!

old gregg

off to spend a few days doing field recording there in Oct for the next project. Also to catch the Touch music Live at Berghain event with Fennesz and other Touch folks.

The biggest challenge will be locating recreationals for those spacing around town doing the tourist thing moments. I guess it's not a real challenge but would like to hit the ground running, as it were

empirix

just back after the weekend, was over for the Shed album release @ Berghain, great night, its a great city which i have been to many times but i wouldn't live there, friendly but quite serious people too, a holiday is a whole lot different to living there although if you speak german you would be fine, Irish people are far more friendlier and well fun. Some smokn womens there though Have you ever been to the eastern suburbs???? i imagine you would get done within 2 weeks, Nazism lives!!

old gregg

well that's almost great news. The bad part for me is that I've arranged to spend a week doing field recordings in Oct for a project after booking a place to stay in what I've since read is an eastern suburb neo-nazi stronghold. Apparently during the day it will be tres chilled and perfect for recording and wolfing down green to a night time ambience akin to frickin' advanced danger mode (for an old long haired spacer bastard like me). Maybe I need to go undercover

Derryleigh

Just back today after three days there. A fabulous city. Great history intertwined with a real modern feel. First time there. Easy to get to and will definitely go back. But visiting somewhere and living there are two different things. Love to go to Rio but would I like to live there???/ Nah.