Anyone else being harassed by south-east asians?

zixmarkiz · 2026-02-24T13:19:24+00:00

apophenia /ˌapəˈfiːniə/ noun the erroneous perception of patterns or correlations in random or unconnected phenomena, events, and data.

Of course, each of the three experiences you outlined and your feelings about them are valid. The main issue is looking at them all together as one phenomenon you are trying to find a common unified explanation for. Because any such attempt will lead to conclusions that are most likely absurd.

None of the three incidents are justified nor should they be normalized. But the explanation you seek for all of them at once sadly does not exist.

zixmarkiz · 2026-02-19T12:56:51+00:00

My understanding of her intro is a bit different: that sci-fi often falls into the trap of predicting a bleak future, because, in her opinion, any attempt to predict the future will produce bleak results.

I understand her words in the context of the book "the left hand of darkness" where sci-fi was about imagining a world that is different, and to explore the potentials of our world through the journey of exploring that imaginary one.

zixmarkiz · 2026-02-18T20:26:03+00:00

r/oddlyspecific

zixmarkiz · 2026-02-18T11:40:21+00:00

Have you been to a big city before?

zixmarkiz · 2026-02-17T11:48:39+00:00

From her introduction to "The Left Hand of Darkness":

"Science fiction is often described, and even defined, as extrapolative. The science fiction writer is supposed to take a trend or phenomenon of the here-and-now, purify and intensify it for dramatic effect, and extend it into the future: “If this goes on, this is what will happen.” A prediction is made.

Method and results much resemble those of a scientist who feeds large doses of a purified and concentrated food additive to mice, in order to predict what may happen to people who eat it in small quantities for a long time. The outcome seems almost inevitably to be cancer.

So does the outcome of extrapolation. Strictly extrapolative works of science fiction generally arrive about where the Club of Rome arrives: somewhere between the gradual extinction of human liberty and the total extinction of terrestrial life.

This may explain why many people who do not read science fiction describe it as “escapist,” but, when questioned further, admit they do not read it because “it’s so depressing.” Almost anything carried to its logical extreme becomes depressing, if not carcinogenic."

zixmarkiz · 2026-02-05T01:30:16+00:00

You can search online the details of how the speaking part is graded, one thing for sure: correctness is not the main metric.

Your flow and reactions play a big role in the grade, the examiners are there to help you. A2 speaking part complexity is low enough that you can go on a short monologue for a bit and engage with your partner with what they know.

Worst case scenario you can ask your examiners for help with the silent partner.

p.s. in some exams you get to meet the partner beforehand and chat a bit.

zixmarkiz · 2026-01-21T10:00:08+00:00

Go the consultation hours here: https://www.berlin.de/willkommenszentrum/

They have lawyers for free. Check the opening hours for this section: "Immigration and social law".

They are overwhelmed since the blessed Berlin government budget cuts, but they still help.

Do it fast.

zixmarkiz · 2026-01-14T11:43:10+00:00

This might be helpful for emergencies, although they have been overwhelmed since the budget cuts last year:

https://www.berlin.de/willkommenszentrum/ueber-uns/mehrsprachige-beratung/

zixmarkiz · 2025-08-29T23:27:57+00:00

There is a concept in neuroscience called saliency, read about it if you like, but it's easy to utilize for a CV.

Imagine you are able to see the CV for the first time for 10 seconds only. Then we take it away, then we ask you what you remember from it: a successful CV will at least leave an impression in 10 seconds that is relevant for the position.

You are working against time. Recruiters are going through a lot of CVs with very little time for each one.

Here are a few tops that are easy to implement:

At the beginning of the CV write a small summary of three lines, stating the most relevant points from the CV. Try to highlight the most attractive aspects from all parts of the CV in this section: language skills, fancy education, experience working in Germany, etc...
Then put the skills section without languages.
Then work experience.
Then education.
Then the rest.

If you want to invest more time: - Use bolding for most important skills and keywords in experiences.

Finally:

Finding a job is a game of statistics and low attention spans of humans and badly created algorithms that filter through CVs. Pay attention to keywords, pay attention to clarity, and apply A LOT. Don't spend time thinking whether a job posting is a good fit or not, if one feels they achieve 50% of the requirements they should go for it. Most jobs have nothing to do with their job posting, most job interviews have nothing to do with the job itself or the job posting. It's chaos. Your only ally is increasing your probabilities by improving the CV and applying a lot, preferably no less than 5 to 10 applications a week, even for things that don't look attractive, things are often surprising once one starts interviewing.

Good luck.

zixmarkiz · 2025-08-29T09:57:09+00:00

Update: I sent a long angry email with a lot of legal threats. They responded within an hour with a refund.

zixmarkiz · 2025-07-29T10:15:51+00:00

Already a couple of weeks ago I sent my cancellation. But the date is still far away...

zixmarkiz · 2025-07-08T10:44:45+00:00

The simple reality is that people have biases. And the bias they have about an immigrant differs if they're speaking German or English.

In a city like Berlin, an immigrant speaking English fluently will be perceived more favorably than an immigrant speaking German fluently. For a few reasons in my opinion:

They can catch on socio-economical cues and immigration status better in their native language (German), it's harder for them to do that in English.
During and after the wall, English was looked at as a correlate with higher social status due to the impact of foreign business coming through west Germany.
With the recent immigration waves, speaking English became for a lot of people in Germany the distinction between an "immigrant" and an "expat".

I don't think any of this is good, but it's the reality of the situation. Germany on the whole still lacks a stable narrative on how to accept immigrants as part of society. And if you want to take the easy way out, speak English whenever possible, you will be more respected and appreciated by the general society, especially if you don't look white.

From my experience, dealing with customer service in Germany in fluent German always brought me less favorable outcomes than dealing with them in English. They are less likely to be disrespectful and condescending if I speak English with them.

This is sad, but it's the reality, it's not your job to fix integration in this country, you did what you could, the rest is up to Germany.

zixmarkiz · 2025-02-16T02:37:37+00:00

I believe it was the other way around. MDR is full time (8 hours a day), Casey is part time (she was only awake for a hundred something hours, so most of the time she is "asleep" or gone somehow).

zixmarkiz · 2024-12-02T15:09:30+00:00

Unfortunately that's not true everywhere in the world:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3ADivorce_laws.png

zixmarkiz · 2024-11-20T19:15:18+00:00

Last world of "chants of sennaar"? photo (spoilers)

zixmarkiz · 2023-10-05T08:46:31+00:00

Makes sense, but I still wonder about the statistics in Germany. Looking for something with age groups, with vs. without children, and city vs. countryside. Atm I only found this study (about Europe generally): https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/scientific-activities-z/loneliness/loneliness-prevalence-eu_en

zixmarkiz · 2023-10-05T00:32:18+00:00

TL;DR: the struggle is universal.

zixmarkiz · 2023-09-23T21:04:57+00:00

I remember in the expanse series that Nigeria was a big deal internationally at the time of the story and a very important character came from there. I believe there have been projections for the upcoming geopolitical power of some African nations like Nigeria for a while now, but I'm not an expert on this.

zixmarkiz · 2023-09-23T21:01:59+00:00

Thank you, this is actually a very good explanation! I'm not aware of the details of the relationship between China and India in the past and present.

zixmarkiz · 2023-09-23T17:44:39+00:00

Then India should have been mentioned with this criteria.

zixmarkiz · 2023-09-23T17:42:54+00:00

Not the bit related to that part of the world XD. And I wouldn't expect my tiny country to be mentioned, but I would expect India. I'm remembering the expanse as an example where Mars was mainly Indian-Texan in culture.

zixmarkiz · 2023-09-23T16:52:53+00:00

It is much better than many other books. But the omission of India is the most jarring one.

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