Ask and answer stupid questions here! - Page 648

On August 02 2017 23:56 JimmiC wrote:

100% of people there are weirdo's

On August 02 2017 23:09 Thieving Magpie wrote:


Well, we do...

All cultures start with a greeting, a "Hello" of some sort. This tells the other person that you have interest in them to some degree. It is then up to them to inform you, verbally or non-verbally, how much of their attention they are able to provide.

Upon this initial exchange, the onus is then on you to set the parameters of the discourse. "I'm looking for," "Do you know," "Have you ever," etc...

Their response provides for you the context of their experience, and will reveal the amount of commitment they are interested in having. Then it is up to you to guide the conversation until they take active interest in gaining the conversational momentum from you.

This is usually done in places where social conduct is culturally expected--but can be done at random as well.

At a game store: "Do you play?"
At a book/comic store: "Have you read?"
At a bar/coffee shop: "Is anyone sitting here?"
etc...

At more random places its a bit more difficult--but doable.

At a street: "Do you know how to get to..."
At a bus stop: "Do you know when the next one is?"
In a bus/train/plane: "I'm headed ____ for ____, how about yourself?"
etc...

I think the issue is not "It'd be great if we could agree on an universal sign" because we already have that. I think the issue is that people have a fear of rejection, of failing, and would rather wallow in self pity and shame than risk being an active part of their external life.

On August 02 2017 18:47 opisska wrote:


Getting an apartment is a total pain in the ass. Most places have dozens of applicants and the renter gets to chose. If you don't have a place yet, get ready for a fight, you'll need paperwork that you have a job, maybe someone to vouch for you etc ... I have some friends there so if you have trouble, I can get you in touch with them.

On August 02 2017 19:15 Simberto wrote:


I live in Munich (well, near Munich now), and can verify that. The only way to find an apartment in or around Munich is to know someone that wants to move out of it.

Also, apartments are expensive.

Furthermore, if you want to be mobile using a car, it is basically impossible to find a place to park your car at in large parts of the city, for the same reason. But the public transport is pretty good, despite people (including me) constantly complaining about it. If you are lucky and find an apartment near where you need to go to work/study, you can also go by bike pretty well, i did that for years.

Other than that, what kind of information are you looking for? If you have a place to live and a place to work/study, you don't need a lot of additional information. I don't know about the paperwork when coming from the EU, or how medical insurance and thigns like that works in those cases, but you will definitively need to register at the Bürgeramt once you are a resident here.

If you study and need a way to make extra money, you might be able to do that by teaching french to school children, if you are a native speaker and relatively competent in teaching, you should be able to make about 20-25€ per 60 minutes of teaching, but people will expect for you to come to their houses. Ebay Kleinanzeigen (local ads) usually works well for finding jobs like that (I finance my university degree by teaching maths & physics)

Other random stuff:

If you are into Pen and Paper roleplaying games, i can recommend the "Münchner Rollenspieltreffen" for meeting other players.

Munich is a really nice city, with lots of stuff going on but expect it to be pretty warm in summer and cold in winter.

I don't know how good your german is, but you can basically speak to any random person in english and have a 90% chance that they speak it pretty well.

There are some people who speak so bavarian that you don't understand a word they are saying, but there are not a lot of them.

In late september, expect everything to be full of drunk people in leather shorts.

The university mensa is a cheap way to get warm food. Quality is acceptable, but not amazing.

On August 03 2017 00:47 opisska wrote:


I would still much prefer a simple colour code you'd ware on your wrist or something like that then this awkward dance. Something that would allow you to openly but non-intrusively state your intentions when it comes to socialization. I bet it would make the life of a lot of people much easier. I am also expecting this to be dissed, primarily by people who are successful in how thing are now.

On August 03 2017 03:14 Fecalfeast wrote:
If you could tell your 16 year old self one thing what would it be? Excluding lottery numbers, stocks to buy, sports games to bet on etc.

On August 03 2017 00:50 AbouSV wrote:


I started to get into all of this, it does not look simple indeed.
Thanks for the proposition, I'll keep it in mind if need be. For now I mainly starting to look broadly for information from everywhere I think of.



To specify a bit more, I'll be working in Garching, and I've been recommended to look for a place along the U6 to avoid too long travel times. The plus is I am not looking for a city centre place, I'm not a club person, so staying at home or just having places to walk around close by is perfectly fine. However, it looks like the North/North-East is the most expensive place in Munich.

About the car, I have one and can bring it if need be. But if I can just sell it and do with a bike a good shoes, that's fine too. I didn't see the city centre, but for what I could see from the U6, S1 and S8, bike looks like a good way to go as you said.

For now I don't have anything. I just know that I'll start working in November, or maybe October. I saw different information about the flat rent, such as you need a bank account to rent a flat, but you also need a valid German address to open a bank account. I am still unsure what to believe yet.

I've been told about the Bürgeramt, and that it is also recommended to go with a German speaker. Especially since my German is inexistent (apart from the few common words). The bright side is that I4ll be able to take German classes at work (since about half the people there is not German).


For the random stuff:
If you are into Pen and Paper roleplaying games, i can recommend the "Münchner Rollenspieltreffen" for meeting other players.
Noted!

Munich is a really nice city, with lots of stuff going on but expect it to be pretty warm in summer and cold in winter.
I've been warned indeed.

I don't know how good your german is, but you can basically speak to any random person in english and have a 90% chance that they speak it pretty well.
Sure, but I still don't like to be somewhere and don't talk the local language, so I'll try at least, see what I can get out of it.

There are some people who speak so bavarian that you don't understand a word they are saying, but there are not a lot of them.
I've been warned too. Also to make sure I learn German and not Bavarian, not that it's a big deal anyway.

In late september, expect everything to be full of drunk people in leather shorts.
A colleague goes to Munich for work either the third week of September, or the first week of October and takes a few days off for that specific reason :p

The university mensa is a cheap way to get warm food. Quality is acceptable, but not amazing.
There is a local canteen where I'll work, so this should be fine.
Although, I already tried the fried apple (don't know the actual name) for now, not the biggest fan x)


So basically, if you know anyone renting a flat close to the U6, or at less than 30 minutes bike or bus from Garching, let me know :D

On August 03 2017 03:14 Fecalfeast wrote:
If you could tell your 16 year old self one thing what would it be? Excluding lottery numbers, stocks to buy, sports games to bet on etc.

On August 02 2017 11:51 Thieving Magpie wrote:


Doesn't any bar in the world count as that as well?
Or really, any place where social gatherings occur?
Clubs
Game Stores
Concerts
Coffee Shops

Just head over and talk to a stranger.

Train rides
Plane rides
Taxi drivers

Comic book shop? Are there other humans in those? I haven't actually went inside the local one, but I'm pretty sure I've seen silhouettes of people moving in there.

Oh Gaming tables (poker particularly) I've had some amazing convo's there. I met an 80 yo asian woman that taught me things I can't post here... No but you could always try the outside place. I hear people walk all over there and it's not even just the ones on meth talking to themselves that will talk to you.

On August 03 2017 07:17 Ryndika wrote:

I don't really feel bar culture in my area. It doesn't exist or I don't understand it.
I don't know any clubs and I'm not interested in their hobbies and if you mean night clubs I firmly believe those are worst places for chatting with stranger.
We have one store or two if you count capital here. Those aren't for chatting but game's workshop exists and could be good if you had reason to be there.
Concerts are scarce, expensive and don't play music I like until someone who likes comes here and those are special cases. Good idea tho.
No one talks to random people in coffee shops.


Good idea but in my culture it's hostile and rude to talk to people in those situations even if the other person would like it. You need hella good excuse to break up a convo.

We have games workshop and it's pretty social place but it's too bad I'm not interested in anything that happens in there even if I do find it fun and cool.


Poker table sounds like best idea ever. Not sure if you meant casino grounds by "outside place," but typically people are doing something for some purpose. In my entire life I don't think anyone has approached me or anyone around me(or heard of such behaviour) in any other business than asking if bus went by or asking directions.

Thanks for answers guys!

On August 03 2017 07:24 Yurie wrote:


Public transports are a gamble of course. My father took a train a while ago and wanted to talk to the person having the seat next to him and got rebuffed.

Don't know of any culture that sees it as rude unless the person has headphones on or is trying to sleep. Could you expand on the issue with some examples? Even if they are reading a book it can work to start a conversation about it if it is a longer journey where a break from the book is expected anyway.

On August 03 2017 11:49 Zambrah wrote:


I believe animals have some concept of ugliness, its not often remotely close to our concept of ugliness, and even if it was they'd have to be more able to recognize human ugliness rather than whatever species they are ugliness.

I think.