10 Challenges Americans Face Moving to Berlin
While moving to Berlin was a dream come true and I could go on about all of the things I love about this hedonistic city, it came with its share of adjustments.
Some were easier to acclimate to as I quickly picked up a new way of doing things. Other things I still struggle with, even after a year of living here.
But at the end of the day, it’s all a part of the adventure. Anyone who picks up their life and moves abroad naturally craves change, newness, and a lifestyle shift. However, despite all of the best intentions and a can-do attitude, some things take longer than others to get used to.
— Want to know the flip side? Check out 20 Things I Love About Living in Berlin — From an American Expat for all the magical and exciting things I love about life in Berlin. —
10 Struggles American Expats Face When Moving to Berlin
Over the past year, I’ve noted what I’ve found to be frustrating, confusing, or a royal pain in the ass. Keep reading to learn about the harder, more challenging things for Americans moving to Berlin.
- Finding a Permanent Flat and Registering an Address
Finding a place to live where you can register your address (or Anmeldung in German) is by far the most challenging experience internationals face early on when moving to Berlin. As one of the most populous cities in Europe with the best nightlife in the world, not to mention the culture, history, and booming startup scene, it’s no wonder people from all over the world flock to Berlin’s gates.
Rent prices have skyrocketed in cities across the world, and it’s no different in Berlin. While it’s more affordable than Paris, London, or Amsterdam, it’s not as cheap as it once was either.
For example, I live in Neukölln where rent used to be extremely low since it was once a risky neighborhood to live in. That is no longer the case. Today, Neukölln’s known for eclectic bars, hipster cafes, music venues, green spaces, and some of the best street food Berlin has to offer. No matter what district you wind up in, finding a suitable place to live can be tricky.
Here are some tips that may help your search:
- Use Facebook groups: Look up expat groups and take notes of past posts and helpful comments other internationals have posted about. Sometimes it’s information overload, but it can also open doors.
- Create a profile on rental sites: Don’t just message people who place ads for available rental space. Create a profile or a room request as well if you can. A good site for this in Germany is wg-gesucht.de. Some details to include when crafting your reply and/or profile include your age, what you’ll be doing in Berlin, your personal preference for tidiness, how often you’ll be home, and your non-negotiables — like a rental contract or high-speed Wi-Fi (or WLAN).
- eBay Kleinanzeigan is a great resource: eBay’s not as common in the U.S. for finding a place to live, I know. But people in Germany frequently use eBay-kleinanzeigan.de (or private ads). I have multiple friends who’ve had success finding freelance work and places to live on this site, so don’t let any skepticism based on eBay in the States scare you off.
- Beware of scams: Never send your credit card information without knowing exactly what you’re getting yourself into. I wouldn’t send a deposit or any substantial amount of money until I’ve viewed the place in person. Housing is a competitive market, and some will definitely try to take advantage of this fact.
- Follow up: If you find a room or flat that may be a good option for you and they say to contact them after you arrive — make a note of that and CONTACT THEM WHEN YOU ARRIVE. There were around four people I’d messaged on wg-gesucht.de who I followed up with after I got here, who still had a room available, and who were more than happy to show me the property in person.
Just remember, when it comes to finding a flat, it becomes a lot easier once you’ve arrived and have feet on the ground. So, if you’re dealing with the madness of finding a place, getting rejected, and losing sleep over securing a spot before you arrive — take a breath and know it will work out once you get here.
2. Germany’s Cash Culture
The phrase “cash is king” takes on a whole different meaning in Germany. Paying with cash is mandatory at many bars, restaurants, shops, and even doctor’s offices in Berlin. If your purchase is a small one, you almost always have to pay with cash. I once got yelled at by a bartender in Friedrichshain when I didn’t have the cash to pay my tab, muttering “In Germany, we use cash.”
This is not the case in the U.S. or any other country I’ve visited in Europe. As one of the most prosperous and wealthy countries in the E.U., it’s surprising that card payments are frequently not accepted. I’m used to it now and always have some amount of cash on me, but it took time before this felt normal.
3. The Bureaucracy
Similar to my previous point, Germany is still lagging in the digitalization department. All important documents are sent by post. Video calls and emails to get legitimate documents are nonexistent. You have to physically visit the administrative and governmental buildings for anything official.
As a result, the system is backed up and it often takes months before you can schedule an appointment with any official administration. While the system is slowly becoming digitalized, it’s a slow process that was exacerbated at the height of the pandemic.
For example, when you’re registering your address or interviewing for a resident permit, it may take months before you can schedule your appointment. The slots fill up so fast, and you have to wait patiently on your computer, hitting the refresh button repeatedly every morning to see if anything opens up. It’s a major headache, but eventually, you begrudgingly accept that that’s just the way it is. You have to play the game.
4. Everyday Items That Are Only Available at the Pharmacy
Buying rubbing alcohol, skin care, flu medicine, or melatonin can all be bought at any drug store in the States. In Berlin, you have to go to the pharmacy (or Apotheke) for all of these things. This can be frustrating when working around limited hours of operation and dealing with the anxiety about speaking German, or trying to, before asking if the pharmacist speaks English.
Luckily, there are apps, like MAYD, that you can use to order from the pharmacy online and avoid this process altogether if you plan ahead.
5. Hours of Operation Aren’t Always Reliable
You know when you need to visit a store after work so you look up the opening hours on Google beforehand to plan your day? You expect it to be open when you get there before closing time, right? Well, depending on the shop, that doesn’t always go as planned in Berlin.
If the shop is slow and nobody’s walked through the door for a while as the end of the day approaches, shops won’t hesitate to close earlier. This has happened to me on multiple occasions when visiting a copy shop, photo studio, butcher, or bakery. Similar to my point about the lag in digitalization, online hours of operation are more of a suggestion than a rule for many small businesses across Berlin.
6. Learning German is Challenging When Everyone Speaks English
Perhaps a blessing and a curse, most people speak English in Berlin. You can actually get away with never learning German and only speaking English if you really want to. Sure, this helps during the initial transition moving from the U.S. to Berlin. But now, after living here for over a year, the improvement in my German language skills hasn’t grown much.
Whenever I try to practice and communicate in German, most people usually recognize that it’s not my native tongue and switch to English. Yes, this is helpful at times, but all in all, you have to work harder to learn the language than you would have to in a smaller city in Germany.
7. Winter Nights Begin at 3:00 PM
Coming from Florida, a state known for its sunshine and tropical climate, getting used to the winter season was a major adjustment — especially during my first winter. After Daylight Saving Time, it gets dark by 4:30 PM and gradually increases to 3:00 by mid-December. The winters are long, cold, windy, and grey. As a result, seasonal depression affects many people and vitamin D deficiency can easily become a problem.
To combat the dreary winter season, consider investing in a sunlight lamp that emits artificial sunshine. I just got one and it’s already making a huge difference. Now that it’s my second winter here, I’m much more mentally prepared. I already know I’m going to be inside more often, and I try to use this time for working on my goals and projects — like practicing my German.
Thankfully, summers in Berlin are incredible and make the winter season worth waiting out. Just hang on until then and you’ll understand why people rough it through the winter.
8. Understanding the Metric System
If you grow up in the U.S., you use the Imperial System for measurements and the Fahrenheit scale for temperature. Except for a handful of other countries, that’s not the case for the rest of the world where the Metric Scale and Celsius degrees are standard.
I remember the first time I tried to bake a pumpkin pie around Thanksgiving because I was feeling homesick. It took forever as I converted quantities for every ingredient from my mom’s recipe while using a measuring cup with few details. Needless to say, my pie didn’t come out splendidly. It didn’t take long before I got proper measuring utensils that converted cups, ounces, and teaspoons to grams, liters, and milliliters.
It helped to change my phone settings to Celsius degrees early on. While I had to look up the Fahrenheit conversions for a long time, it started making sense after a couple of months. Figuring out the differences becomes second nature with time.
9. Grocery Shopping
Shopping at the grocery store can be a bit intimidating the first time in Germany for several reasons, particularly the lighting speed that cashiers scan your items at the check-out line.
The hardest thing for me was grocery shopping in general translating all the ingredients from German to English. I’d often wander around my local Rewe, Aldi, or Nahkauf for hours before finding everything I needed. In retrospect, it’s probably easier to shop online in the beginning.
On the bright side, it’s good practice to familiarize yourself with the German terms for garlic, cinnamon, vegetables, potatoes, and more early on if you plan on making this country home for a time.
10. Doing Laundry Using a Drying Rack
Flats in Berlin don’t come with dryer machines. Instead, you dry your laundry using a drying rack. I made a mess of things my first time or two hanging my clothes that left noticeable indents and wrinkles. Thankfully, my flatmate was able to correct my technique to avoid this problem in the future. It’s simple once you figure it out. That first time or two, though, was something new.
The other aspect is understanding the German settings on the washer machine. I used the scan image feature on my Google Translate app in the beginning. After that, I could figure out the setting by just going off the time limit, temperature, and spin speed.
Even typing this makes me feel extremely privileged to have always had a dryer. Nonetheless, nobody wants to ruin their clothes doing laundry, and this was still something I had to get used to during the first few weeks of life in another country.
The Benefits Outweigh the Challenges in the End
I hope this provides some perspective for anyone searching for a realistic view of some difficulties you may encounter when moving to Berlin or another European country from the U.S.
In comparison, my list of “challenges” is much shorter than the list of things that I love about Berlin. Some of the adjustments, like not having air conditioning or learning your shoe size in European measurements, are so trivial in contrast to all of the experiences and growth I’ve enjoyed since moving abroad. If given the opportunity, I’d make the same decision to move abroad a hundred times over — no questions asked.
