We agreed people who don't like Berlin, generally on the whole are snobs. This was decided by a mix of working class and middle class folks who don't always share the same opinions. Such as whether 'The Fresh Prince of Bell Air' stands the test of time.

We also agreed:

Berlin is not aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.
There are too many foreign nationals claiming to be artists.

Also Berlin is better in the summer as the German's are fucking miserable in the winter.

Alcohol is pretty bad but I guess they think a car coming at speeds that are fast enough to kill is probably worse, in the short term. 

And the long term too I suppose.

Actually, all terms, simultaneously.

Quantum terms.

There are too many foreign nationals claiming to be artists.

Are the rents still that cheap?

I'd like to get back to Berlin at some point, it's a helluvah town.

Actually there's a big thing here about people getting evicted in order to put rents up or tear down and rebuild completely as the current buildings can't be modernised, i.e. you can't add balconies to old buildings.

Also to rent you need a job with a full time contract and getting a place is hard as you're practically interviewed by the entire block.

A lot of people living on couches, relying on friends and such.

It's a minefield.

Cheap flats can be found in new builds with low ceilings; what are typically more bellway than berlin.

More cost effective to renovate than to New build.

Think you're allowed to cross the streets here if the light is red, but I usually wait anyway. Take the time to have a look around, and ponder a bit. Find it relaxing.

One thing that is supposed to be dutch is that we swear with diseases. Not the flu, stuff like cancer etc. this is one of the reasons I never really got the discussion about swear words here (don't start it again now!), but I guess they have the same impact (only we choose diseases that kill you). Can get nasty, and I often wonder if people realize what word they are using. I don't mind once if someone's really angry, but try and keep it down.

You Ebola .

Here is a write up on Stuff Dutch People Like, which is fairly accurate.

Recent example, I've been called a "cancer whore" at least 20 times in one minute by a customer a while ago, just because I told him he was at the wrong desk. The one he needed to go to was too busy according to him. He went from being normal to a complete nutter in a fraction of a second, security was just too late, he'd already walked out before they could kick him out.

That hurt a bit. Specially as I didn't expect it at all.

Here are a few things i've noticed about Moscow culture (my understanding is that its very different in the countryside). 

- Generally speaking, only half of the population are overweight. There are very very few overweight women in Moscow. Its just the men which are overweight. 
- They are inherently racist, they do not discriminate though anyone who is a foreigner is pretty much bad. Though if you're black you will really struggle. 
- There is still a massive ethos which dates back to the soviet times
- You are not supposed to cross the road when its a red light, i do much to the suprise of the locals but i think thats more because driving here is pretty dangerous so stepping out into a road in general is almost suicide. Most of the time when you "cross a road" you will go through an underpass. 
- the vodka section in the supermarket is the biggest section of any product. I might actually take a picture of this. 
- They switch tires on cars (due to the extreme weather) and clean their cars all the time in winter because the snow fucks them up. 
- I have a box called Yota here for my internet. I got it from my brother in law. I presumed it was a 4G connection but it turns out from some reading that its actually wi-max. I thought that was old hat due to LTE/4G etc but hey?!
- Flowers are big here. I mean seriously big as an industry. Flower shops/stalls on almost every street corner. Its very much the done thing to buy your gf or wife flowers on a regular basis. 
- Its hard to find nintendo. From the looks of it Sony have the market wrapped up here. Even the Vita does well here O_O
- It smells of alcohol on monday morning on the metro. Also the gates on the metro stay open unless you try to get through illegally. Then they shut on you pronto. I wondered about this because in London they are closed and open every time. I imagine the wear and tear on the gates in london must be far far more with that system. Random eh. The metro stations here are amazing, they're really impressive. Inside i'm talking about. 
- Its expensive, often unreasonably. 

if anyone has any questions I am happy to answer.

Perhaps it's in the current affairs thread already, but...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2312267/Race-row-Tory-town-tells-Gove-super-head-We-dont-want-inner-city-pupils-here.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Yeah...

This:

John Cherry wrote:

"The trauma of taking the children out of their natural surroundings is going to be considerable."

Is particularly fucked up.
The prick probably had plans to retire anyway.

its Mr Ashworths comments in the article that I find distasteful (haven't read the readers comments yet). He seems more concerned about his delay rather than the fact a human being has just killed himself.

Last link to the DM comments section

Woman on train starts telling some guy to fuck off back to where he came from

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2312900/Video-shows-foul-mouthed-racist-rant-woman-Tube.html

The most approved comment? "She's only saying what everyone else is thinking"