# Forum Other Languages Germanic languages German  Nach Berlin

## Dogboy182

So, I'm going to germany to stay with friends for a month. 
Dec 3 - Dec 29. 
Besides a passport, do I need anything else to enter germany ?
And what about customs ? are they are going to go through all my shizzle and strip search me or ?? I know pravit went to germany this summer. What kind of stuff do they put the white man through ?

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## bad manners

Not being an American, I can't tell. But whenever I cross the EU border in Germany, they normally just look at your passport, and from what I have personally seen the same applies to the Americans. Unless they look Arab or something. Customs rules theoretically exist, but most of the time there is nobody to enforce them, i.e., you can go through the red or green passages alike and no one is bothered to look at you, let alone your stuff. Notice that customs and security are two different things; the security guys are not so relaxed, and they will get your stuff x-rayed and yourself scanned, but they will not go to the American degrees of paranoia. So, if you manage to get through the American procedures, you’ve got to nothing to be afraid of in Germany.

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## Pravit

When I went, it wasn't a big deal, I just needed my passport. Again, as bad manners said, they are pretty lax at customs.

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## Dogboy182

ok cool. I have my passport, but i was just making sure there was no extra loops to jump through like russia.   ::  . Its ok russia, i still love you. 
Thanks.

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## Евгения Белякова

Good luck on your trip Dogboy! (Maybe it is early to say that)

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## Dogboy182

lol. Well, i can still get shot down by a stupid jihading terrorist... But lets hope it WONT happen.

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## bad manners

> ok cool. I have my passport, but i was just making sure there was no extra loops to jump through like russia.   .

 The loops that you're talking about are related to the visa business. No visa, no loops. Unless we're talking USA. Sometimes I think that all the countries in the world should just make those loops mandatory for the Americans even when visa is not required.

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## Евгения Белякова

dogboy- are you going during school?

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## Dogboy182

> Sometimes I think that all the countries in the world should just make those loops mandatory for the Americans even when visa is not required.

 Why ?   

> dogboy- are you going during school?

 Yes.

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## bad manners

> Originally Posted by bad manners  Sometimes I think that all the countries in the world should just make those loops mandatory for the Americans even when visa is not required.   Why ?

 Why, indeed. Here is a story for you. I got my passport before 9/11. Like in 1996 or something and it is valid for 10 years. So I would use that passport for a couple more years, right? Wrong. Last couple of times I had to travel to the US they gave me hell, real freaking hell, because the passport was not machine readable and because my country was not keen on supporting the US in Iraq. Any visitor is now "assumed terrorist". Now add to that idiocy at the passport control the humiliating procedures all visitors to the US are subject to, and that might give you an idea why I think there must be some reciprocity.

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## Dogboy182

> Why, indeed. Here is a story for you. I got my passport before 9/11. Like in 1996 or something and it is valid for 10 years. So I would use that passport for a couple more years, right? Wrong. Last couple of times I had to travel to the US they gave me hell, real freaking hell, because the passport was not machine readable and because my country was not keen on supporting the US in Iraq. Any visitor is now "assumed terrorist". Now add to that idiocy at the passport control the humiliating procedures all visitors to the US are subject to, and that might give you an idea why I think there must be some reciprocity.

 Well im sorry your country sucks. I mean what the hell, it's not like every single american citizen got together and agreed to make it so hard for everyone exept for terrorists to get in.  Don't f*cking put the blame on me for what the goverment decided.  
We didn't vote for it, so don't punish us. 
Your "blame one, blame all" theories are just as bad as all "nti terror" propoganda we already have enough of.

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## DDT

Don't blame this administration  for security and passport problems. It was the whining, whinging "left" that complained about law enforcement "profiling" that now forces everybody to get the same amount of scrutiny.   You made your bed, now you sleep in it!

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## Dogboy182

yea whatever tree haters, you go lie in your bed of oil, i don't even want to talk about it. stfu j00 g4yz.

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## bad manners

> Originally Posted by bad manners  Why, indeed. Here is a story for you. I got my passport before 9/11. Like in 1996 or something and it is valid for 10 years. So I would use that passport for a couple more years, right? Wrong. Last couple of times I had to travel to the US they gave me hell, real freaking hell, because the passport was not machine readable and because my country was not keen on supporting the US in Iraq. Any visitor is now "assumed terrorist". Now add to that idiocy at the passport control the humiliating procedures all visitors to the US are subject to, and that might give you an idea why I think there must be some reciprocity.   Well im sorry your country sucks.

 You got that backwards, dude.   

> I mean what the hell, it's not like every single american citizen got together and agreed to make it so hard for everyone exept for terrorists to get in.  Don't f*cking put the blame on me for what the goverment decided. 
> We didn't vote for it, so don't punish us.

 Nice try, but does not work. You live in a freaking "democracy", so it is your fault that your country stinks. Next time try and make sure that you spend two minutes filling out that ballot instead of jerking off watching an xxx-rated movie. Or just be treated in my country like I am treated in yours. Your choice, fella.

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## Dogboy182

1. The American people didn't have a vote in this, so this proves who wrong right there.
2. I'm only 17, I can't even vote, so even if Americans DID vote for such a law(which they didn't) it's not like it would be my fault anyways
3. Howabout you just don't come to America anymore, we don't want you here anyways.  
And yes, If Бумер is rated X, then lock me up because i'm guilty as all грех.

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## Евгения Белякова

bad manners- "freaking" democracy?
I don't see it being neccesary for such word choice.  ::

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## Pravit

> Last couple of times I had to travel to the US they gave me hell, real freaking hell, because the passport was not machine readable and because my country was not keen on supporting the US in Iraq. Any visitor is now "assumed terrorist". Now add to that idiocy at the passport control the humiliating procedures all visitors to the US are subject to, and that might give you an idea why I think there must be some reciprocity.

 You thought that was bad? After I passed German customs, I was stopped at security and they deported me to Turkey. Then I managed to smuggle myself back into Germany and for one month I was subjected to the indignity of having to make D

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## bad manners

Dogboy: I know that you did not want that and you alone cannot change that. Problem is, when the entire country thinks the same, how is it going to change? The only peaceful and effective way for us Europeans to get the point across is by giving you the same kind of experience that we're given in your country.

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## Plastic-Saint

When I went to deutschland this summer the process was a breeze... so much better than the american airports, even though i'm an american...lol...kinda sad... 
Here is an example of how nice the german system is: I joked with the guards and other personel the few minutes I spent at their stations, and they didn't get all pissy like ALL of the american personel did if I even fidgeted a little! 
After a month in deutschland I really have to say that their admission system isnt the only thing superior to the american counterpart. 
Oh, and about america being a democracy... imho, and in many others, what we have isnt a true democracy, and is slipping quickly into something far from it. Unfortunately most people with these views cannot vote yet, and with the current system unless you have a majority your vote doesnt count on the national scale anyways. 
--Plastic

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## Antono

Plastic-Saint, however, if you tried to settle here, you might have gained other experiences...or maybe the US American bureaucracy is really bad.  ::  
Our bureaucracy is more frightening than an atomic bomb.  ::

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## Plastic-Saint

Antono,
  Yeah, I'm not sure if I ever want to try settling in any country other than the US or maybe Canada, from what I've read it is incredibly difficult to get the proper status.(I was recently talking to a canadian teacher of mine who just got his usa citizenship about our system and evidentally it is incredibly easy) 
  Who knows though, if I used contacts I have thanks to my trip and the local sister-city club I think my settling in deutschland would be a lot smoother than someone who just decided to try and move there.(I live in an old german town in Texas, our "german-ness" is just now starting to fade in the last few years...stupid city-folk moving in from Austin...heh) 
--Plastic

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## Antono

Oh, I once read a nice story by Bill Bryson. There he showed the difficulties his Bristish wife had as she wanted to have the US citizenship. Although the couple had children, they had to run from one office to another and write many letters... 
Are you able to speak German?

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## Plastic-Saint

I'm able to speak enough German to get around... if I'd ever sit down and start memorising vocabulary I would be better off though  ::  
Actually during my visit to germany, my host family like wouldnt let me speak german, lol! They needed to practice their english..heh... Of course I got mistaken for a native a few times, even by fellow americans....who came from the same town as me...crazy...anyways... 
When it comes to languages I run into the problem that i want to try and learn too many at once! It is quite unfortunate for me, because I can't seem to focus on a single language long enough to really LEARN it.  
At the moment I'm trying to decide if I want to focus fully on german, or focus fully on russian(although ive barely started with russian, and it seems QUITE difficult to pronounce a few of the words in my course book), or last of all to try and learn both russian and german at the same time. 
Oh, I said I lived in a very german town, but it doesnt help if you are trying to learn todays german language... they speak(in my town) a very archaic german from around ~1846(and from what my old german teacher told me, it hasnt developed much since then).  
Would you have any advice when it comes to choosing a language to focus on? or would you say to work on both? 
--Plastic
---I love Doener!

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## Pravit

You should choose the language you like the most, but I wouldn't recommend trying to learn more than one language at a time, unless you already have a solid foundation of one language and have ended the "active" learning process for it. By this I mean that you've finished reading grammar and working in textbooks and you learn the language through contact with native speakers, reading, etc. At this stage you could probably start picking up another language. But to try to learn the basics of both languages at the same time is rather difficult.

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## Plastic-Saint

Thanks for your reply Pravit! 
   I think that I have a fairly good base with German, all thats left really is expanding my vocabulary, and solidifying my understanding of the grammar. 
here is a problem with russian though:
  How do y'all write in russian? Do you prefer print or cursive? if you prefer print how do you write д? Personally I cant seem to get it right... and for cursive I guess it just takes some time getting used to writing in it if you've never used cursive in any language? 
Oh, is there any Russian industrial//gothic rock? Something on par with Rammstein, OOMPH!, or L'ame Immortelle? 
--Plastic

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## Pravit

I write in cursive, and as I've already mentioned 84958903 times, I don't write it very well, but at least it's readable. About Russian gothic rock I'm sure there is some band that will fit your tastes. Unfortunately I have a very crude understanding of the divisions of rock music. Perhaps you would like Ариа? They're kind of like Iron Maiden...

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## Plastic-Saint

hmmm I don't really know much american music, despite having grown up here...lol... so I dont remember what iron maiden sounds like! BUT, I will look for Aria and see ^_^ 
THANKS
--plastic

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## Николай

> You should choose the language you like the most, but I wouldn't recommend trying to learn more than one language at a time, unless you already have a solid foundation of one language and have ended the "active" learning process for it. By this I mean that you've finished reading grammar and working in textbooks and you learn the language through contact with native speakers, reading, etc. At this stage you could probably start picking up another language. But to try to learn the basics of both languages at the same time is rather difficult.

 Personally, I don't find learning multiple languages at once too difficult. I learn French and German in school, then study Russian on my own. I find it neat to see the worlds that are the same in both languages. Like the French and Russian word for store, etc.

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## Pravit

Hey, neat, I used to do that. I did not find it too hard to learn a language in school and a language on my own time, but I found it difficult to learn two languages on my own time.

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## Plastic-Saint

I really find it difficult to learn one language on my own time, because I can never settle on a language I want to learn..constant switching really isn't very conducive to learning   ::   
For some reason the same week I decide on "the one" to learn first, I find a reason why a different language would be more worthwhile in finding a career. I switch from german to russian to japanese often, and normally only long enough to remember what ive already learnt the last time around(for japanese and russian thats really just extremely basic things). 
If anyone reads this: Which language do you think would be more useful in the Computer Science(programming/linux) "world"?(Out of German, Russian, and Japanese) 
--Plastic

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## Pravit

Yeah, so many interesting languages to learn, so little time. If you want to go  into CS, the most important language to know is English. So you're already ahead of all the Russian and Indian programmers out there(well, maybe not the Indian ones). I don't really think there is any other language that would be helpful to a programmer, since a lot of foreign programmers comment their code in English, esp. if it's going to be worked on by other programmers. So I guess it depends on whichever country you plan to work in(I really doubt a US-based programmer would need to know a language other than English).

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## Plastic-Saint

Yeah I figured as much, but was hoping that maybe I was wrong(it would be easier to settle on a language if It would help me career wise)! 
Well, I guess its back to the "which is most interesting" question, which has an ever-changing answer(at least for me..lol). 
--Plastic

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## Pravit

Basically pick the language of the culture/country for which you have the most interest. You should have a strong desire to learn a language, and learning more about the culture would only make you want to learn it more.

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## Plastic-Saint

Thanks for the advice Pravit! Although quite simple advice, I never really thought of how much I like each culture/country(in any depth anyways). 
After much thought I think Russian actually offers the most(for me) from being able to read(later) some great works such as Tsiokalvsky's early work on aeroscience, and later Korolev's(if any is available) to learning about the USSR(in more depth than english commentaries or translations) and being able to watch the centre of the USSR's continueing recovery from its collapse("first hand"). 
Whereas my only real motivation for japanese was being able to watch un-subtitled Anime. As for German...never really a reason beyond reconnecting with heritage. 
Again, thank you! 
--Plastic

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## Pravit

I'm glad you've made such a good choice.  ::

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