Experience in Berlin, Germany by Alberto

What is it like to live in Berlin? Would you recommend it? What is the city like?

I would like to live myself a whole year in Berlin to see how the four different seasons change the face of the city, but I can't say much about it because I just had one long weekend to get to know the city a little bit better... and what I saw impressed and overwhelmed me! A very big city with many things to see, which most probably you won't be able to visit even in a whole week. So, living there for several months if not year will surely be necessary to get to know all the different faces of this German capital.
What I got to know a little bit better of Berlin was the Grunewald (a bigger forest to the west of the city centre) near the Wannsee (a big lake where most Berlin citizens like to go in warmer days). You can hire a bike and drive through the nice forest and along the lake, you can pass over to the "Pfaueninsel", the isle in the river Havel. That alone will take you a whole day - and that's just one part of this big city!

What is the student lifestyle like in Berlin?

Sorry, have never studied there!

How much does it cost to live in Berlin?

I have heard that it has become very expensive and unaffordable for the ordinary people. But, again, have never lived there!

Is it difficult to find accommodation in Berlin? Is there any advice you can give?

No, sorry: I have never lived there!

What advice would you give future students heading to Berlin?

Have in mind that it has become again the capital of Germany, like in former times before the end of World War II - a very big city with many different cultures and many challenges and conflicts. Crime has increased in the last decade, right-wing extremists getting louder and more aggressive, same with left-wing ones and foreigners (especially Turkish ones, who build a strong minority mainly in Berlin-Kreuzberg). I don't want to say "Stay away from Berlin!", but be careful where you go here and at which hour.