Hi everyone. I’m sure you have seen it everywhere on the news : a crisis. lots of refugees. It’s probably the biggest challenge for Europe right now.
All those events are way beyond our scale of power, influence or understanding. However, It feels like we could assist a little the effort of supporting those people leaving everything behind to come to Europe & to come to Berlin.
The Berlin Expat portraits series aims at putting in word the realities of being a foreigner here. Sometimes, a biased opinion is needed to get a clearer picture of what Berlin is like.
Second post of our series “Berlin Expat Portraits”, we meet today a Canadian guy that just can stop traveling and loves Poutine. (the dish, not the President)
Once you have arrived in Germany, you will need a place to live. No question. It will be cheapest to share a room in an apartment by becoming a subtenant. When you rent an apartment, you will need to know a lot of rules. This article is to brief you on what you ought to know for general orientation.
First thing is to find such offer. University students post their empty rooms on the blackboards on campus. Another possibility will be with classifieds in local magazines. After visiting and testing many possibilities, you finally found something suitable and affordable. Good work! Continue Reading…
Ever since i got to Berlin, i always counted on my notions of German to get me through what i thought would be a short & fun stay in this beautiful city. I had learned German for a year during high-school.
As time went by, the short stay became a longer one, and before i knew it, i had actually settled here. Since it was never the plan to stay here for good, i didn’t take German too seriously but still trying to learn as much as i could to escape the usual expats crowds and discover what was beyond the obvious “scene”.
It was never an scholar approach anyway; “Just speak the street-german, you’ll be fine”, i told myself many times.
If you are regular, you may have noticed that SiB has been updated with a slick new look which i hope will put content even more forward.
The last look was as old as 2011 when i first started this blog, with the aim of making the life of new expats easier. With humble beginnings, i’m proud to see SiB become more impactful with time.
When moving to Berlin or when planning a trip, you need to know how the public transportation system works. We take you by the hand today and give you a few tips to get to your destination fast. [Easter egg inside by our friends at getdoido.com]
The Berlin Expat portaits series aims at putting in word the realities of being a foreigner here. Sometimes, a biased opinion is needed to get a clearer picture of what Berlin is like.
First post of our new series “Berlin Expat Portraits”, we meet today a french guy that regrets Paris not.
Hello there,
I know, i know. It’s not easy. You have your dream in sight. You finally took a decision to move to Berlin. So what’s wrong ?
Well, there are so many things to take care of to just do that. That’s what wrong.
A job, a visa, a place to live, a social life, a date with Scarlett Johansson, a pink rabbit; and the list of items keeps growing !
I have been through that. For such a big move in your life, it’s hard to know where to start. It can really bring your motivation down.
But sometimes all you really need is a good check-list to move your project forward.
Behold my friend of the interwebs, this is where i come in. I made a timeline that lists all the main things to take care off in what i think is the right order.
I hope it helps :). Let me know what you think or if i missed some elements to tick off.
Good Luck
There has been undoubtedly a sharp increase of foreign population living in Berlin for the last 8-6 years. This continuous flow of very different people from around the world has both brought a new dynamism and great changes to the city. This new state of affairs is perfectly normal to us expats as we belong this movement and we have no to little idea of how the city looked like before this “rebirth”. However, to original local Berliners, their environment has drastically changed over the past few years, raising mixed feelings like excitement, suspicion, joy, or fear among others.
I will try to present here what Berliners friends felt about Berlin’s new face, expats, and change. By doing so, i hope to give a clearer view of what locals think of expats here.
This post is addressed at everyone out-there wanting to move to Berlin after a sweet sweet dreamy stay. I have got a message for you : you have been bewitched, and the Berlin you have seen is enchanted. The curse is called : Post-tourism.
Contrary to the classical definition, i mean the following : The post-tourist is the person that settles in Berlin (or wants to) after spending some time here while not having residency in the city. The city has made such an impression on him/her that every effort will be made to try to extend this experience as much as possible.
