Scene in Berlin
 

I'm moving to Berlin in a couple of months--I know there's a scene (I know about Keirin Cafe too), but does anyone know of a forum (like NYC fixed gear) for Berlin? I can't find anything through simple google searches, so I thought I'd throw it out here.

I'm jealous. Hopefully I'll be following you in the summer.

Oh, and I'm useless and have no answer to your question.

Why don't you send these people an email and ask:

http://keirinberlin.de/

Fixed Gear in Berlin
 

Hi,

if it's no problem for you to read and write in german, you can try this forum. Hopefully they understand your english although.

Another Website to get in contact to the berlin scene is Cicli Berlinetta.

And here are some general informations about bike messengers and fixed gear scene in Berlin.

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

Cheers

YaGonna

Awesome, thanks guys for the bit of help. I just bought my ticket--May 15 here I come! I don't know anyone there (I've got some friends of friends I'm going to e-mail in the next few months), I don't know German really well, and I don't have a job set up or a place to live. It's going to be me, a few clothes, and my bike. I'm so stoked! Seriously, I can't believe I just bought a one-way ticket to another country!!!

best thing you've ever done - trust me

yeah, I don't know about the cycling scene in Berlin but it's a cool city. Seriously.

hopefully you have EU citizenship. If not you arent going to "get a job". Not without sponsorship of a German company in which you have a skill they can't find in a German. Americans are not welcome to come and work in Europe. You will need schwartzarbeit (black work) and you'll get paid like a mexican gets paid here. One more thing to think about: one way ticket. You may have a hard time passing through customs with that. That is a red flag that you plan to overstay your 90 welcome as a tourist. Are you a dual citizen or the child of a natural born German? Good luck - Berlin is, in my opinion, the best city in the world. I once did what you are doing. I brought 10 thousand dollars and lasted 6 months. I never found a real job with sponsorship.

Ain't that the truth. I went to High school in France, I have a French high school diploma, but there's no work for me in France....

Le Sad.

le lolz

Unless you have something other than a tourist visa or can legally stay for other reasons, youre going to have issues when you land in Germany.
One-way ticket holders with that description are often denied entry and sent right back home, at the traveler's cost, of course.

this forum isnt really berlin specific, but you could check it out and ask around...http://eingangradforum.de/ im studying in germany and i love it here, i hope you do too.

but what was said about getting a job is.. well, sadly true. what you could end up doing is maybe getting a job teaching english, but you kind of need to know a bit of german to do that...

the overall fixed gear scene in germany is well, pretty non-existent, i dont know how it is in berlin but most people here dont even know what a fixed gear bike is.. couple roadies, and lots of people just riding this city commuter type bikes..

viel glück und viel spaß wünsche ich dir.

I've got EU citizenship and have been wanting a random new place to move to. I've never been to Berlin but only hear great things about it. The thing is, I'm not the biggest fan of the general German populace, but comments have me thinking that Berlin is somehow different.

My Dutch is okay so I figure I can pick up German easily. Since a few people here have tried Berlin (or are about to), how is it at first with very little to no ability to speak German?

I'm not too worried about the job thing. I should be able to get one teaching English no problem and my university can help me set that up (I guess there's something to be said for graduating from one of the top universities in the US...or something...good resources at least). I have a few months to work out the details. :)

I'm not stupid, just psyched.

I also know enough German to get by and I'm brushing up on it--Ich werde nicht gesorgt.

All Germans speak good English. Same with the Dutch. So the bare essentials will be do-able. But... being a non-native speaker in a foreign country is difficult. I lived in Amsterdam so what I'm talking about is from my own experience. You can feel very alone because of the language barrier. You can't understand 90% of whats being said around you. Think about that. You can't make quick friendships with strangers. In a bar someone will speak to you and you have to say "I don't speak Dutch"... they act polite and move on. The Netherlands is easier than Germany because you can just blurt out English without asking permission. They will respond in English without acting insulted (but thats the end of it).. France is the opposite. You will be ignored in France if you just speak English. Germans are friendlier than the Dutch and will invite you into their homes for the rest of your life. Berlin in specific is much like NYC - an art city with so much happening and so much to do. It is giant. I took 1 year of german in college to prepare for my journey. The Netherlands is really big on bikes. They already have singlespeed bikes! Bring your own and it will be very cool. Try Amsterdam if you want to just get away and need to survive on English only.

Oh, I'm familiar with living in places with foreign languages. I was just wondering how Berlin is in particular.

Germans, in my experience, are not as friendly as the Dutch. It obviously depends on the region and also where you come from/what you look like, unfortunately.

Yea, Amsterdam is nice, but I already spent 5 years in Nederland and will wait a little while to revisit that cute little country.

Though I said before that I don't know anything about the bike scene, much less the fixed gear scene in Berlin, I have been there and I will say that it is my favorite city in the world besides my own. You will have blast, no doubt. Work will be a problem, apart from the work visa issues there is little work to be had anyway - but it is very cheap to live there, in Kreuzberg you can get a really nice 1 bedroom apartment for like 200 euros a month. As for English, yes, most Germans do speak good English, at least those under the age of 45, however, you really should learn some German if you want to get around, and definitely if you want to make any friends while you are there. I took German for 2 years in college before I went and it made all the difference. Even if what you are saying is not 100% correct, and even if they just respond in English because they realize you're an Amerikaner, they appreciate the effort, and will generally be helpful. And I'll say once again, I'm jealous.

Check out the club Tresor. It's ridiculoid.

There are lot of Berlin websites where people look for and advertise for different types of flatshares and rooms so if don't already know about those, try to find someone how can point you to those.

I've had lot of friends who have lived there for longer of shorter time periods and finding a cheap room before actually going there was never an issue to anyone.

emory?

Knowing dutch will surely help you a bit, but its still another language, and German will still be difficult to learn, just like any other language. A common misconception is that it will be noo problem..

That, and one can't really say they arent a fan of a german populace, i know plenty of amazing germans, and not so great germans.. exactly the same with americans, one can not generalize a population, especially in this modern world. Granted there are some cultural differences, but you should never really encounter problems because its not an extreme difference, especially among todays generation.

Well, thanks for the wise talk. One can always generalize. It's just common sense to interpret it as no more than that, a generalization.

Culture is not a small factor. Lots of things about American culture made me leave that place. Many people supersede their country's/culture's ****ty traits, but unfortunately more don't--and that's what I was talking about, the general folk.

Amongst my best friends are a German and an American, but as far as the general populations go, Germans and Americans are some of my least favourite people. Sorry, but "this modern world" hasn't gotten rid of bad character traits that are to a large degree cultural. Take religious and racial intolerance, which has been seriously on the rise in Western Europe...again.

Compared to when? 50 years ago? 100? 500? I can't really imagine when this wonderful hyper-tolerant past was...

Um, compared to the preceeding period when tolerance seemed to be increasing. For some reason you want a date, so I'd say generally 10 years ago things were more mellow on the immigration/race front for western EU countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, etc..

It's not a secret. It's been a much bigger-than-usual issue in politics and people's general sentiments (although the politics are somewhat cyclical...right, left, right, left). Never heard of Le Pen, Pim Fortuyn, or Haider, for instance? They came to prominence rather late in their careers because the time became ripe for a bunch of racists.

Even though Haider is the chancellor, my same anti-racist friends in Hamburg, Amsterdam, Berlin are still kickin it with the same scene, same attitudes... so i don't agree. Maybe anti-muslim in France. Thats all I've noticed. Germans are very anti-racist except in small towns in the east. Check your anti-Fa websites.

Just cuz Bush was president for the last 8 years doesnt mean American cities are full of racists either.