Interesting discussion. My favorite German city is köln, but after spending a lot of time in various areas, over three years in all, I'd have to say that Germany is a lot more diverse than is being represented here (in terms of attitudes not people). I also think the closer you get to the Rhine river and France, Belgium and Holland, the less harsh are the features that people typically complain about. There are loads of really beautiful German girls, but their problem is the twisted mentality. Sometimes I can never figure them out and sometimes they are like social robots, operating along some predetermined plan without any feeling. Among expats who've lived around Europe for a long time, most who have spent a lot of time in Germany generally agree that it's one of the easier countries to get ONS. If you want an easy introduction to germany go to Oktoberfest. The predetermined plan there is, during this festival I can do things that I would never do otherwise. So girls, get laid, for guys the main job is not getting too drunk.
In the West I always did well, but in Berlin it's a completely different thing and it's really two different cities. East and West and a lot of people on either side avoid going to the other. So you have to find which thing you fit into and know the codes to make you welcome there (dress?)
The "immigrants" are a good bet because they usually don't feel completely at home in Germany. This includes EU natives from other countries. The EE girls especially are happy to meet foreign guys who respect them because they feel like they are the same as the Germans, yet they are treated as second class citizens.
I always think that people who like berlin like it because you can drink beers for $2, smoke weed in the open and bone a new grungy, alternative, or artsy chick every week. that's East Berlin. Suit game is often a negative there, as opposed to west berlin where it is a strong positive. I agree with the opinion that there aren't so many good looking girls in Berlin, but sometimes in some underground events, you can see these killer hot blond girls with perfect bodies that must come from some deep suburbs somewhere, speaking with those harsh regional accents and not talking to anybody but there musclebound boyfriend.
MANY girls in berlin told me that they just wanted to find a guy with a real job. They don't trust the guys, because everybody is working on a plan to do something and most of the plans are planning to find a job. So the hot girls, don't go out much, stay in their own circles and private events and until you get an in on that, it's hard to find them. In Berlin there are tons of Russians. Almost all in West Berlin and there are so many in the west berlin district Charlottenberg that some have started to call it Charlottengrad. Some of these are ultra-hot and over 90% are Jewish (some visa waiver thing), openly saying they only want Jewish guys. For some of the reasons stated above, I think by Flint, they usually are not going with German guys. So in West Berlin if you can hook up into the Russian scene you can do very well, especially if you are Jewish.
@flint: your point 1 on East vs West is completely consistent with what East Germans say, but West Germans stereotypically give a completely different picture. Any failing of Germans in the former DDR is immediately explained as "They are from the East" and if you say East German girl, they say EASY!
Quote: (06-12-2013 09:19 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:
I am interesting in living in Berlin for 3-6 months (or a season out of every year) because it strikes me as the "San Francisco of Europe" in a lot of ways.
-Bohemian/Strange/Quirky counterculture
-Startup scene is arguably the best in Europe
-Cost of living for a major capital is good (this is unlike SF)
I am mainly interested in it as a travel hub and a startup hub.
Has anyone lived there and operated in the startup scene?
Yeah, that's true. I never really liked either city! The startup scene is a lot of hype, but for German startups it really is the best place. A well funded startup in Berlin has $500k if they are lucky. The best startup scene in Europe is in London (in this case it is so much better that we can ignore the fact that they don't consider themselves to be in Europe). An American girl I know who worked in a bunch of startups there always got laid off after three months or so becaue they didn't have money to pay her anymore, and she was making peanuts.