u/Secure-Entrance-4095

Hi everyone!

My boyfriend is visiting Berlin for about 8 days, and I’d love to take him to some great pubs or beer bars. I’ve been living here for around 1.5 years, but since I don’t drink, I’ve never really explored the pub scene.

I’m looking for places that are:
Affordable
Great for beer
Have good music (live music, indie, rock, pop, or party music—anything with a fun atmosphere)
Lively and social, where people are chatting, having drinks, and enjoying the night
Preferably with an authentic Berlin vibe rather than super touristy places

Any recommendations for specific places or neighborhoods would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m a working student in Berlin and my contract requires me to work up to 20 hours per week.

Since I started, I distributed my hours flexibly across the week. For example, I might work 5–6 hours on one day, 1–2 hours on another day, and so on, while still staying within the 20-hour weekly limit. My manager never told me that I needed to work a fixed number of hours per day.

Recently, HR informed me that they count any day with more than 4 hours of work as a “full day” and any day with less than 4 hours as a “half day.” According to their calculation, I have already used up almost all of my available working days, even though I always stayed within the 20-hour weekly limit.

The problem is that my contract ends in August, and I may need to prove around six months of work experience for future internship applications. If HR’s calculation stands, it looks like I will end up with significantly fewer working days than expected.

My questions are:

Is this normal for working student contracts in Germany?

Can a company count working days this way if it was never communicated beforehand?

Should I speak with HR, my manager, or the works council (Betriebsrat) if there is one?

Is there any way to correct the records based on the actual hours worked rather than the day-counting method?

I’d appreciate any advice, especially from people familiar with German labor law or working student regulations.

Thanks!

My boyfriend applied for a German Schengen visa through VFS Bangalore.

Timeline:
June 18: Application submitted
June 19: Dispatched for processing
June 22: Reached the German Consulate
June 23: Passport dispatched from the Consulate and now in transit back to VFS

We submitted flight itinerary, accommodation details, insurance, financial documents, etc.

The passport hasn’t been returned yet, so we don’t know the decision. The process just seems very fast.

Has anyone had a similar timeline and received an approval? Or does such a quick turnaround usually indicate a refusal?

Would appreciate hearing your experiences.

I have my graduation so the reason is to visit for my graduation, submitted invitation letter from college and also accomodation letter from my end.