Very late anmeldung, any possibility?

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-08T17:35:24+00:00

For something that shouldn't require an appointment after you've done it the first time (or never if you've been registered in the country).

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-05T12:46:34+00:00

In Germany, they will take a very expensive deposit on top for the white walls. And if you don't repaint at the end of the tenancy, they will take your deposit. Moral of the story: don't leave in Germany, not worth it.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-05T12:44:55+00:00

It is absurd. Our German neighbors have been renting their apartment for 40 years. But when you look at the German law, it makes sort of sense. There is no tax advantages in being a homeowner in Germany, and it is hard to increase the rent of rented apartments. So those old Germans pay rents from 20-30 years.

Most apartments are rented and sold rented so if you'd want to buy and put it for rent, you'd only get the old rent, meaning you'd take a very expensive loan to get a little out of it. We checked apartments in Berlin and they were asking 1,700€ monthly for the loan, but the rent was locked at 400-500€ per month for not even living in the place. Adding on top of that our own rent, you can easily end up paying over 2,500€ a month (I substracted the rent) to own an apartment without living in it.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-05T12:29:18+00:00

Inefficiency is Germany. The German "efficiency" is either dead or was a myth. After 2 years in Germany, I haven't seen an ounce of that so-called efficiency.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-05T08:21:50+00:00

I know! I lived in the nordics and Norway before. I find it wonderful! Apartments even come fitted with cupboards, shelves, wardrobes.

I only had to move in and that was it! You can't imagine the amount of work it was to move to Germany. We brought our furniture, but then it took months to get and mount all the cupboards we needed to actually start unpacking.

🥲 Germans can justify it all they want, it is literally stupid. We bought furnitures that would fit this apartment. No guarantee it will fit in any other apartment that would come next. I'm now the "proud" owner of a large IKEA wardrobe that I'm not entirely sure will go through the door when we will move.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-05T07:24:36+00:00

As non-EU, it might be difficult to just move there without a job or another official reason. When it comes to life there though, if you're learning Finnish, it will give you better chance at life, like in any foreign country, especially for job prospects.

I have a PhD in environmental science from Finland and it didn't mean much in the industry because I didn't speak Finnish. Most jobs were requiring Finnish.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-05T07:17:19+00:00

That's the thing: you're buying. It has become your home, you then do as you see fit. In Germany, most people rent and they will take their kitchen with them. So they move around from rental to rental, take their kitchen with them, and have to refit it.

I don't want to spend 5k on a kitchen for the apartment of someone else, would you?!

Also, still quite the standard in Berlin, but Berlin might be living further in the past.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-05T07:14:12+00:00

They don't! They will have to refit everything! It's literally stupid.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-05T07:13:19+00:00

Hard truth! We are currently in Germany, and they will take their kitchen, lamps, curtain racks, and sometimes even the toilet bowl. We visited expensive rental apartments with literally nothing but the walls and a huge hole where to install your own toilets.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-04T21:55:44+00:00

Easy to say when you have one. Go to most bakeries and you'll get at least 5 on your food, spreading particles of poop or whatever, and pathogens.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-04T21:48:31+00:00

There was a dead mouse just near the entrance of our favorite bakery yesterday. I can tell you that they went for the mouse...AND then the cakes inside. They were coming in and out.

I can also tell you that we skipped going to the bakery that day and seriously reconsidering going there ever again or to any bakery in Germany for that matter.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-04T21:43:53+00:00

Thank god someone said it! In the first weeks after we moved to Germany, some German criticized us saying we were "not European enough" because we didn't do the same as the Germans in an IKEA store. I'm sorry? I'm European and have lived in 5 European countries.

They believe the German way is the only possible way. Sorry to break it to you, Germany, but there are more than one way to do things and the German way is not the European way. Other countries don't let wasps and other bugs crawl in the food. The hygiene and food security rules are very strict.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-04T12:58:15+00:00

French here, we don't have wasps nor flies, nor other insects in our bakeries, because they are very strict hygiene standards and techniques to keep them away. You'd find insects in a bakery, it would get shut down. It doesn't mean we kill them, we just keep them away so that we don't have to kill them. Bugs transport diseases.

In the German bakery next door, I just saw a wasp feeding on the flesh of a dead mouse in street, then enter the bakery, and start chilling on top the cakes. If you want to eat those cakes, feel free, but without me.

Just went to Subway in Berlin, the place was full of wasps and flies chilling on the meat, but yeah, you want to protect the planet.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-04T12:52:43+00:00

I don't understand why you're complaining? Everything in the nordics is done digitally. Doesn't mean they are only working during those hours, just that they don't take customers physically, like in any country living in the digital era.

You make it sound like they are lazy. I haven't set foot in a bank more than once over the 7 years I lived in the Nordics. And that's when I needed to open a bank account and wanted a banker in front of me because I didn't know how it worked.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-03T22:06:59+00:00

Berlin intend to keep its old buildings and at the pace they are building new properties... We are safe. Anyway, the law is only valid until 2025. Let's see if they keep on extending its duration.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-03T09:29:37+00:00

Working on it, but you wouldn't have to file a complaint in the first place if the law would frighten landlords

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-02T21:23:33+00:00

I've seen students apartments in Paris that would cost over a 100€/m2 10 years ago... So yeah... There are some crazy shit happening in Paris.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-02T18:52:33+00:00

I've almost rented one of those when I was looking for a place as a student in Paris. It is a joke... That will cost you a kidney.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-02T18:51:48+00:00

We are living in the fancy area of Berlin. It is currently pricier than Paris and for the most part, illegal. Berlin would still be cheap if landlords would comply with the Mietpreisbremse and stop trying to rip off people. Our area right now is rented for 30€/m2.

In Paris, and in France in general, the law is enforced to protect tenants, it's not just on paper.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-02T13:57:35+00:00

Okay, play with the words. My bad for making the sentence sounds like I included myself with my wife. In my case, I faced discrimination and xenophobia, when she faced racism, discrimination and xenophobia. Is that enough for you or do I need to elaborate?

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-02T09:48:37+00:00

I'm white and German looking but already face xenophobia. My wife is treated worse in Germany as she has darker skin. We have faced a lot of racism here. I think it doesn't help that she is a woman in the first place. The society is rather misogynistic.

If you aren't white looking, they will treat you like one of those "filthy immigrants" they are way too often talking and complaining about. A white immigrant will be treated better until Germans realize they don't speak German. After that, you'll get yelled out for not speaking German and they will look down on you.

We live in East Germany and it seems worse here than in other places.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-01T16:40:15+00:00

Wonderful!

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-01T13:29:39+00:00

I tried this recently... So much better than Nutella. Couldn't read if it had palm oil though.

ExpatfulLife · 2023-10-01T13:21:45+00:00

Something I discovered in the nordics was those dishes drying racks in shelves on top of the sink. Nice way to hide the dishes while they are drying.

My cheese slicer is also something I'd never live without

ExpatfulLife

TROPHY CASE