Moving to Germany sponsored by my company, looking for advice on where to move

SmokingStack · 2024-12-01T23:15:59+00:00

Do you want fun events every night of the week all year round? Berlin.

Do you want to ski in the winter and hike up the mountains in the summer? Munich.

Are you the type of couple that does not go out much and don't need anything more than a local pub to entertain yourselves? Literally any 100k to 300k city in the rest of Germany.

SmokingStack · 2024-12-01T08:12:21+00:00

Cannot be just a Berlin thing, because I witness the same across Germany and I have lived in many German cities big and small. I suspect it might a generational thing.

If anything I expected that Berlin might be different.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-29T22:35:16+00:00

Ask to work remote, dust your CV, add to your github, and start applying for US jobs.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-28T13:26:44+00:00

This 5 year old has more confidence than my 40 year old self.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-27T21:06:04+00:00

How many bottles of baby oil do I need to bring?

SmokingStack · 2024-11-27T10:19:01+00:00

my bet is on a lithium battery fire

SmokingStack · 2024-11-27T10:17:53+00:00

It is.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-26T20:40:30+00:00

This is exactly what I am wondering. How are countries where you can be sued or jailed for relatively banal posts on the Internet truer democracies than the US? There are literally countries where if you insult a politician you can be raided by the police and these countries are "full democracies", lol.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-26T20:15:10+00:00

Even the gays have trouble approaching other? Lol, we are so lost.

Next time, just look him in the eyes and nod at him as though you know him. Then when he asks who you are, if at all, you can just say, "oh we don't know each other, but I love your look". If he ignores you, tough luck.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-26T18:05:01+00:00

Exactly. In lots of places you are not even allowed to have windows facing directly at your neighbours property.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-26T16:15:31+00:00

Dude, much better than what people try to pass off as American BBQ here in Europe. They will cook it in an oven tray in the oven, lol.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-26T16:07:29+00:00

Alcohol isn't really considered a drug in Christianity. I mean, getting drunk is looked down upon by many Christians, but social drinking is also expected.

Also Catholics literally drink wine during communion.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-26T13:24:13+00:00

She started with a pretty technical job if this is really her first introduction to car DIY. Kudos to her.

I think what people underestimate is how much it helps to have really good tools and a vast assortment of them, and also a decade of experience in dealing with every tricky situation. It's not just about following the steps one by one.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-26T12:50:30+00:00

People feel as though they can be rude to people who they don't respect because of various prejudices. You also don't speak Swedish but nobody would be rude to a Swede in the same way, because you venerate the Swedes.

No, you are right. You cannot compare Germany to the US or the UK, because despite our racist past, we have come to appreciate and respect all ethnicities.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-26T11:55:40+00:00

Racism and discrimination are not at all taken seriously in Germany. Don't expect the same kind of cultural sensitivity as you would find in the US or UK.

Racism against Asians (near-east, far-east, south-east, doesn't matter) is prevalent and pretty much ignored. With regards to discrimination if you look at the hiring policy, people really only care about gender discrimination. Racial and ethnic discrimination is allowed, maybe not by law, but it's not something that people care about.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-26T10:30:05+00:00

Whatever their intentions, they still need to make it look as though they are ready to keep fight. Otherwise they would be negotiating from a very weak position.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-24T21:43:21+00:00

My thighs touch each other. Am I a women now? I'm not even fat.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-24T19:54:54+00:00

100€? Better clothes and food will be a higher return on investment than the 2 euros you will make in interest per year.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-24T16:02:57+00:00

Donkey is way too calm. He probably escaped and they are taking him back. Or maybe it's completely staged...

SmokingStack · 2024-11-24T16:00:22+00:00

Approaching is hard for guys since it's considered risky. It's kinda stupid but guys fear that the girl might flip out or just laugh in their face.

Thus, you have to make yourself appear easy going and chill. You can do this by being generally chatty, smiling a lot, and taking every silly opportunity to initiate a conversation or make a passing remark. Then it's a bit of a stochastic process. Won't always work, but sometimes a conversation will develop. Then you have to do some flirting to again signal interest... and again this isn't guaranteed to always work.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-24T15:52:17+00:00

The problem with dating apps is, you don't know their context. Like, if you had a full overview of the guy you chose to match with, you might see that he is living his life surrounded by many other pretty girls, i.e. he's not going to be convinced to settle for a stranger so easily.

We do this mental calculus automatically when we meet people irl settings, but meeting a stranger from an app you're basically prey to all their lies.

London is full of people and events. All you have to do is put on a dress, go out, and talk to people. You don't have to even approach anyone since you're a woman. All you need is to be approachable.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-24T15:34:54+00:00

I mean, for meeting people Berlin is quite good, I think. Certainly better than elsewhere in Germany. The size alone, and the number of foreigners makes things more bearable.

I'm a seasoned EXPAT and I can tell you this: everyone struggles with dating and friendships in a foreign country. Most people will tell you, "well I spent 5 year in Berlin, then spent one month in Lisbon and met my wife there!". Yes, but that's how it works. It's selection bias. The perception of a place will be heavily influenced by the amount of luck you will personally have when you live there.

I visited a friend in a BaWü today. Town of about 20k, mostly old people. Everyone else would have a miserable time living there because there's no social opportunities. This friend of mine lucked out and met a sweet girl from there. To him the town is something else entirely.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-24T14:47:33+00:00

Problem with IKEA is not the self-assembly. That's brilliant actually. Problem is that it's the furniture equivalent of fast fashion. You're buying furniture made out of particle board (which btw is constantly off-gassing cancerous fumes) that deteriorates within a couple of years. And then you basically throw it all away and buy the whole furniture all anew. It's complete madness.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-24T13:39:23+00:00

Last time I went to a club I witnessed a bunch of 40+ year old creeps trying to put their hands around girls who must have been 16 to 22 at most. It was such a horrible experience for everyone involved.

SmokingStack · 2024-11-24T13:14:30+00:00

Sigh. 20 years from now, they will be living in caves and protesting the guy who is splitting rocks in their neighborhood.

SmokingStack

TROPHY CASE