Reddit user 100coffeesaday moved to Berlin three years ago and speaks German fluently. On the social media platform, he’s been active on the Germany subreddit, as well as in expats subreddits. 100coffeesaday had so many negative things to list about Germany, he was “considered a troll trying to disturb the peace” on the Germany forum.
On an expat forum, the poster said: “This was deleted in under two minutes with considerable amount of zeal. This post followed a longer more personal post about how huge the difference was between the image of Germany from outside compared to what it was like living in it.”
He then proceeded to repost some of his criticisms to “start a dialogue”, but also said some of the points were “part of the joke”.
He said: “Food. Ugh, not enough stuff, too much meat, am I right?
“Stores closed on Sunday. Ugh, inconvenient!
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“The s-bahn is broken or late.”
One German user took it well and said: “We Germans are not known for having the best humour though.”
When the original poster was asked if he planned on staying in Germany, he replied: “Of course not, I can’t live here.”
After receiving a lot of negative comments, he eventually wrote: “Food – totally agree, I love it.
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“Should have picked something else. It was supposed to be something trivial leading to something hard and political.
“I am also trying to be vegetarian and I love the choice.”
In another post, in which he criticised the work environment in Germany, the original poster wrote: “I find it that the locals just don’t keep it very real.
“They try to have their cake and eat it too. Be brutally exclusive yet advertise themselves as open and liberal; be almost comically inefficient and yet convince the rest of Europe in the exact opposite. It would help if there was some acknowledgement of it all.
“It feels like the moment in Hot Fuzz when the protagonists realise something isn’t right with the village.
“I’m getting random flashbacks of propaganda I read.
“‘It’s difficult to make German friends but once friends, they are friends for life’ was one. Now thinking about it, that’s total nonsense,” he claimed.
“Friendships with Germans are absolutely normal and regular, like all other friendships I had with people from all over.”
Expats in Berlin also shared their own struggles, with one saying “I’m having a hard time in Berlin” but “going back to places where everyone speaks English feels like playing a video game on easy mode”.
And another one wrote: “I’ve been in Berlin for nine years now. It took me two-three years to kind of accept it. By year two, I was ready to leave, but I got a good job and made friends.”
Someone else said: “I never lived in Germany and I don’t mean to pick on it as I’m sure it’s a beautiful country but it seems that the majority of expats I heard or read about are finding very hard to integrate/blend in.
“Maybe it’s due to language/culture/bureaucracy. From what I heard and read, Germany seems to be a tough nut to crack for expats.”
