I'm just going to list a load of random stuff that I've observed over the last few days - feel free to help/advise me out in some cases.
Germans like their dogs/dogs like to shit everywhere
Hard to find a bank link
S-Bahn ist sehr gut
You know that red box that people scan their ticket in, do you have to do that for every journey?
I bought a ticket today for 6.10, so that I could travel freely for the whole day. Is there a weekly equivalent to this, and if so, how much is it?
Way too many danish pastry places here
People are really friendly (media portrays folk here differently)
When you ask a native if they speak english, they're quite modest in their reply 'a little' - a little now means they're pretty fluent
Drinking in public places - I've come across loads of people in the streets/S-Bahn drinking - is this the norm?
That's all for now.
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A few preliminary observations on life in Berlin
Thoughts after my first few days here
Bless you for observation no. 7, and welcome to Germany.
Partridge, I also agree with your observations about the friendliness, trains and ATM's, . We were in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Bremen for 10 days a couple of weeks ago, partly to check out areas to live and partly to visit family.
Everyone we met, from the Aldi checkout girls to the patrons in the bars were all friendly and welcoming. In fact, the only ones we met, who were less than sterling in this regard - a gruff old Polish couple we once asked for directions.
On day two we found what could have been our local pub (we will be living too far away, in Hergershausen), a great little place in Hochheim called the Altstadt Theke. The owner, Wolfgang, runs the place by himself, preparing grub, cleaning up and serving everyone. The locals were all very friendly and chatty. On our way back from Bremen to the airport we stopped there again for a pub lunch and got a couple of beers on the house!
Other observations:
The Autobahn is the best invention ever.
There are woods everywhere.
Red wine sucks, white pretty good.
Great beers, with Duckstein my favourite thus far.
Famila in Wulfsen, near Hamburg, is a great store.
IKEA is a rip-off, even in Germany.
Aldi and Lidl are dumps, but have the cheapest meat, cheese and bread.
Hessen (including the Odenwald) is god-awful ugly in winter.
Bicycles are bloody expensive.
Nordic walking is BIG.
Finally, everyone told us that we would have to change the way we live if we want to live in Germany. In SA we live on a farm with lots of space around. Well, guess what, we can live exactly this way in DE! The first time we tried we found a very neat little place to rent on a farm (Aussiedlerhof) for 530 kalt (150 nebenkosten, heating and double stellplatz included), 500 meters from the town centre, the bahnhof and the main road between Asschaffenburg and Darmstadt; nice landlord who offered to fence off an area for the dogs, with DSL connection and wide open countryside 20 meters from our front door!
Come to think of it, the last bit should actually be in the "Why am I happy today" thread. See you guys end of April!
Everyone we met, from the Aldi checkout girls to the patrons in the bars were all friendly and welcoming. In fact, the only ones we met, who were less than sterling in this regard - a gruff old Polish couple we once asked for directions.
On day two we found what could have been our local pub (we will be living too far away, in Hergershausen), a great little place in Hochheim called the Altstadt Theke. The owner, Wolfgang, runs the place by himself, preparing grub, cleaning up and serving everyone. The locals were all very friendly and chatty. On our way back from Bremen to the airport we stopped there again for a pub lunch and got a couple of beers on the house!
Other observations:
The Autobahn is the best invention ever.
There are woods everywhere.
Red wine sucks, white pretty good.
Great beers, with Duckstein my favourite thus far.
Famila in Wulfsen, near Hamburg, is a great store.
IKEA is a rip-off, even in Germany.
Aldi and Lidl are dumps, but have the cheapest meat, cheese and bread.
Hessen (including the Odenwald) is god-awful ugly in winter.
Bicycles are bloody expensive.
Nordic walking is BIG.
Finally, everyone told us that we would have to change the way we live if we want to live in Germany. In SA we live on a farm with lots of space around. Well, guess what, we can live exactly this way in DE! The first time we tried we found a very neat little place to rent on a farm (Aussiedlerhof) for 530 kalt (150 nebenkosten, heating and double stellplatz included), 500 meters from the town centre, the bahnhof and the main road between Asschaffenburg and Darmstadt; nice landlord who offered to fence off an area for the dogs, with DSL connection and wide open countryside 20 meters from our front door!
Come to think of it, the last bit should actually be in the "Why am I happy today" thread. See you guys end of April!
I bought a ticket today for 25.40 (7-Tage-Karte) but when the inspector checked it he said it wasn't valid - I was under the assumption that the ticket allowed me to travel freely for 7 days...no?
Also, I'm getting a tad embarrassed by the number of times I've said "Sprechen Sie Englisch" over the past few days.
Patridge, did you validate your 7-days ticket?? You also need to put it in one of those tiny boxes to get a stamp on it.
Are you only meant to do that once?? I´ve been doing it several times a day!
Are you for real?
oh bless just the once should do it or buy a monthly ticket which you dont need to validate.
just the once should do it or buy a monthly ticket which you dont need to validate.
Haha, woops. I guess that´s that ticket ruined.
Ha, just saw the "are you for real" post, like it was something totally fucking bizarre. It´s only 25 quid lad.
Single ride ticket (2,10 euro), one day (6,10 euro) ticket and 7-day ticket (25,40 euro), need to be validated/stamped once before entering the bus/u-bahn/tram/s-bahn ride.
The monthly ticket (70 euro) have the valid dates printed on the ticket.
The monthly ticket (70 euro) have the valid dates printed on the ticket.
And do those monthly tickets mean I can hop on and off numerous times a day on any U-Bahn/S-Bahn train?
Cool, I'll pick one up today. Cheers.
Here's one for ya -
At first when you start speaking German people think its cute, but then when you've been speaking German for a year or so people think you're an idiot because you sound like an 8yr old.
This is true for English speaking people as well - ever seen an English tourist try and explain something to someone who can speak a little English?
At first when you start speaking German people think its cute, but then when you've been speaking German for a year or so people think you're an idiot because you sound like an 8yr old.
This is true for English speaking people as well - ever seen an English tourist try and explain something to someone who can speak a little English?
Can someone please make sense for me out of @Cixelsid's comment?
Ta
Ta
A Swedish cartoonist, Jan Berglin, once described the skill level on the English language among Swedes like this
[img]http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3986/1025/320/Berglin.jpg[/img]
(Rough translation)
[pretext]
"If we by language skills refer to range, depth and a sense for nuances and styles, the actual levels look like this:"
[the staircase]
[img]http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3986/1025/320/Berglin.jpg[/img]
(Rough translation)
[pretext]
"If we by language skills refer to range, depth and a sense for nuances and styles, the actual levels look like this:"
[the staircase]
- pretty good at english
- good
- wrote his exam paper in English
- a true anglophile
- A pretty gifted 12 year old English school girl
Hey Partridge,
Have you found a job yet? Is it possible to find a job without
fluent German?
Have you found a job yet? Is it possible to find a job without
fluent German?
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