Tell me about Germany

I thought there was another thread about Germany, but I couldn't find it.

Anywho, I've had a desire to go to Europe before I turn 30 for a time now. I made that resolution four years ago, and now I'm 26 with four years left. I might end up there for an extended amount of time [6-12 months].

Can some of you Germans/Europeans give me some insight into some aspects?

What is the culture like? Uptight? Laid back?

Where would be the best place to stay for a prolonged period?

What is the electronic music scene like?

Is it difficult to find a job?

How is the night life?

I would be traveling there in a year or so when my German language skills have improved.

why before 30? Life continues after 30. You might even get laid even more than you already do

just go to berlin, like everybody does. its like any other metropolis with a few differences you will have to find out. other than that, germany is fucking awesome.

It's just been a goal of mine.

I've been fucking about throughout my 20's, and I think after I turn 30, I should buckle down and become an adult, finally. I probably won't have as much time to travel.

Do you speak German? That would certainly have an effect on how easy you'd find it to get a job. Sorry if I'm stating the blatantly obvious.

edit: just saw the last line of your post. Perhaps you might consider taking an exam. The Goethe Institut offers something called the Zertifikat Deutsch. Might prove useful.

for me, it has the best electronic scene in the entire world. im moving there as soon as realistically possible.

i hear its quite efficient too.

Berlin sounds like the place to go for art and music.. I have a friend in Amsterdam. I want to go to Europe for a month too. Maybe ill stay with them and find work. Its hard to get enough money to get over there though

please tell me what buckling down and becoming an adult would be for you

for me, it would definetely involve sausages

Germany is pretty awesome, I go once or twice a year.

you wont necessarily have to learn german to score a job, enough international companies around here

berlin is comparatively cheap to live in. caution: everybody is a dj, and every sane person will be fed up very soon with all that hipster and scenester crap. an acquaintance of mine working for a large DAW company there is thinking about resettling, for instance

also, everybody is a dj and everybody lives off welfare/has rich parents. apply somewhere (at ableton for instance) before going. also, berlin isnt the best spot for settling down, i think... a massive bloated scene of self-important cunts circlejerking each other and shitloads of unsuccessful waiters-cum-actors/musicians/etc.

  On 1/31/2011 at 10:10 PM, jim said:

Do you speak German? That would certainly have an effect on how easy you'd find it to get a job. Sorry if I'm stating the blatantly obvious.

 

edit: just saw the last line of your post. Perhaps you might consider taking an exam. The Goethe Institut offers something called the Zertifikat Deutsch. Might prove useful.

I studied it in high school for three years, but I've forgotten a lot of it. I'm sure I can pick it up fast since I have a background in it.

  On 1/31/2011 at 10:27 PM, marf said:

please tell me what buckling down and becoming an adult would be for you

Well, there's no telling what will happen between now and then. I could be dead by next week, you never know. But I should put myself into a position where I can support myself in the long run. Right now, I'm just now breaking into that realm, plus planting seeds for viable future endeavors.

  On 1/31/2011 at 10:39 PM, abreaktor said:

also, berlin isnt the best spot for settling down, i think... a massive bloated scene of self-important cunts circlejerking each other and shitloads of unsuccessful waiters-cum-actors/musicians/etc.

I wasn't thinking about settling down there. Just visiting/living there for a period.

well then, i would do that - berlin is a lot of fun, but for a lot of people that fun doesnt extend over 1-2 years.

have fun man! its really cheap for a metropolis, i think one of the cheapest in the whole of europistan.

Im hoping to do Erasmus in Berlin next year. My German is a bit rusty though, hopefully the course Im doing this year will help!

Ive been to Hamburg before, nice place. All the young people speak perfect English because English is culturally "cooler" than German.

coming from Americas and visiting for the first time, you will probably like Berlin.. finding a job there might be harder than in other cities, but most things are also less expensive. I agree with abreaktor that it's totally overrun by really liberal and hip DJ/artist/writer types which gets just annoying after a while, but you can always try and avoid certain districts. So.. it's probably a good starting point...

personally i moved from Munich to Cologne couple of months ago. Munich is clean, rich, conservative and therefore boring. it's close to the Alps so if you really are into Mountains...

i like Cologne. Except for the beer and the architecture. Pretty good art/music scene.. it's a bit like a smaller, less loud Berlin imo.

Also if you peek at a map, within a radius of just about 600km there are quite a bunch of places around Cologne: London, Paris, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Brussels, Amsterdam, ..

Well, there's Europe and then there's Slovenia. Sure, you can see Paris and Berlin and London, but what have those cities against our Ljubljana? Shieet, this here's where it's at boy!

I'm very tired now and going to bed.

Watch out for the Nazis.

It's pretty obvious that the electronic music scene is very important in Berlin (assuming Braintree is planning to go there). Proof: Clark moved there.

Also - Germany took 3 spots in Forbes "best places to live" list last year.

I'll be there in April at the Grubenausbauwerkstatt Zeche Auguste Viktoria Marl.

"pimp" is slang for penis. That's how much I got out of German class.

I would rather go to austria to live

Vienna is a great city and the people is nice too

sent from my scrotum using ballmassage

germany is a very nice place to live. and yes, berlin is the place to go. if you have the time, you should visit hamburg and köln (cologne) too.