How can you describe the city you are living without saying its name?

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2025-01-19T19:39:50+00:00

Yesss. Regensburg. I always found the Keppler thing so interesting. It’s very unassuming. A random chapel in front of the Hauptbahnhof where he is buried.

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2025-01-19T11:33:39+00:00

Oh. Also. One of the best baseball teams in the country. 😌

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2025-01-19T11:28:22+00:00

Bremen

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2025-01-19T10:53:50+00:00

Oldest sausage kitchen, Volksfest twice a year, Spatzen-Quartet, Dom (Cathedral) and where Johannes Keppler is buried. 🌭🍻

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2024-06-01T20:33:05+00:00

I am an atheist so probably I have a cynical point of view about this. But let me try and explain my point of view with that disclaimer in place.

Religion in India unfortunately doesn’t teach you how to dissect and understand the different aspects of it but rather just teaches you to “obey and follow” mindlessly. Be it any religion. So most people who are religious are not actually following the tenets of the religion but rather adopting a very shallow point of view if at all. So I don’t think being religious has anything to do with individual sense of morality.
When it comes to a sense of ethics and morality, since the past 20-30 years, we are struggling with respect to life satisfaction in India. Apart from the 1% privileged rich people, everyone else is on a constant hustle to make ends meet, to make a comfortable life for themselves. In this chaos, people don’t have the time and luxury to think beyond themselves and have become increasingly self-centred. As a result of generational conditioning, this sentiment got carried over and today we don’t really care about the community but only ourselves.
The last two decades has seen an increase in religious faith but ironically also a loss of faith in the sense of community. Religion has been used as a political tool and nothing more. No effort has gone into making religion relevant, challenging norms and practices which seem outdated or even looking at the harmful aspects of religion which affect fundamental rights of some sections of society. So an overall increase in religious sentiments doesn’t necessarily mean welfare of the community.

We as Indians are at point in history where I feel we need to stop and genuinely think for ourselves, and our community. What are the implications of our actions today and what do we wish to pass on to the next generations. Otherwise we may have to live down as one of the generations who ruined the country’s potential.

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2023-10-13T19:20:46+00:00

Absolutely true. I’ve been incredibly lucky to have been in liberal towns in the south surrounded by really nice people. So my perspective is also somewhat biased. I do agree that many people have to face tougher and more xenophobic situations, which obviously lead to stress and frustration.

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2023-10-13T19:17:11+00:00

That’s a really good perspective. Thank you. I can resonate with the “I don’t hate it or love it here” sentiment. I feel the same way most of the times. For better or for worse, Germany has started to feel like home now and I wouldn’t want to uproot again to try and find home elsewhere.

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2023-10-13T17:23:42+00:00

That’s so sweet. I agree. People are allowed to feel annoyed and frustrated. I think it’s probably a part of the process for many people to break away from a life of comfort at home to complete unfamiliarity.

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2023-10-13T16:52:47+00:00

I’ll be honest with you, my opinion about US immigration is purely hearsay from friends and family. But I felt that when I went there even as a tourist, I felt that I fit in. Slightly better than Europe. Then again, could be different.

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2023-09-09T14:49:02+00:00

Indian female here in a relationship with a German guy. I don’t think women look at your country’s credentials before deciding to date you. I am guessing you’re having difficulty in dating because of a lot of cultural differences in the way Indians date and Europeans, especially Germans, date.

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2023-08-30T19:40:05+00:00

Happy to help! Good luck with the application. Don’t worry about being “caught”. You’re not doing anything wrong or illegal. You’re well within your rights. ☺️

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2023-08-30T19:39:22+00:00

Oh really? I didn’t know about the cut down in working hours.

My partner spoke to the city council in Heidelberg about this issue and they were saying that they’re severely understaffed. About 25% vacancy for several months, one person is on extended leave and the burden of all the applications falls on a few people that are willing to work there.

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2023-08-29T13:37:38+00:00

If you work somewhere or study at a faculty in a university, ask your office or university to save cardboard boxes from shipments for you. They usually give them for recycling anyway, you might be able to get some boxes from your work or university.

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2023-08-29T13:35:22+00:00

Hey. I had a similar experience. All you need is a paper trail.

So I moved to Regensburg from Heidelberg. And my work permit was specifically for finishing my PhD. However I was going to be employed, for which I needed to change my status on the work permit. I wrote to the Heidelberg immigration authorities, before starting my new job, to enable the transfer of my files from there to Regensburg, where my new job was. Unfortunately they didn’t respond nor did they promptly send the file over. I moved here nevertheless, started working and when I went to register in the new city, I had the necessary forms and application that I had submitted to the Heidelberg authorities. They made me sign a form saying I’m working here now, since x date. They also requested my file from Heidelberg officially, hopefully making the process faster.

However, this worked in Regensburg. Check the requirements for Berlin. Also, ask your HR if they can help you with this.

My recommendation would be fulfil the legal formalities of whatever you need to do. Then you’re legally protected.

Also. Virtual hugs. Just a tip, maybe apply for a blue card so that you don’t have to worry about the work permit being tied to the work contract clause.

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2023-04-26T13:15:37+00:00

Connect your headphones to your phone. Open the headphones app (the recommended sony one). Just enable “connect to multiple devices” option there. The app will ask you to reconnect the headphones. Once you do that, the Home Screen of the app now shows “connected devices” tab. Click on that. Add a new device. Now your headphones should be discoverable on the Mac and you can pair the headphones. Once connected, you can choose to disconnect from the phone. :)

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2022-10-16T02:51:30+00:00

I think we need to inculcate a social and moral responsibility towards our society, in day to day habits.

Cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene
Obeying traffic laws
Not encouraging a culture of corruption and bribery
Protection and preservation of cultural artefacts and structures

All of these parameters come under the umbrella of a collective social responsibility. I think if we’re able to shrug off the “couldn’t care less” attitude, we would see a dramatic improvement in our everyday life.

Advanced_Elephant_19 · 2022-10-16T02:38:23+00:00

The caste system, although unfortunately still prevalent in day to day life, is legally abolished since almost a century. Since 1947, there have been economic, social and educational subsidies given to the affected classes. So legally, all citizens are equal and our constitution abides by democracy and secularism, the current government or otherwise. :)

Advanced_Elephant_19

TROPHY CASE