>>2881433
Do it. Not sure about living there but that city is great. The Dom area is pretty nice and it is a short trip up the Rhine to some seriously nice little towns, wineries, hiking, etc.

>>2881433
I hope you like muslims, druggies everywhere, and antifa. The cathedral is stunning, but it's a typical post-Merkel Germany city. Full of scum. Aachen is far better

Accepting the offer for a Master’s program at TH Köln (Technical University of Applied Sciences Cologne) as a "vanity project" is a viable, high-quality life experience if you are looking to experience European culture without the financial pressure of a typical international student. As an American tech professional with secure funding, you are in a prime position to enjoy the experience, provided you embrace the practical nature of the university and the relaxed, social culture of Cologne.

>>2881788
fucking AI nigger kill yourself

>>2881433
If you have the money you obviously should do it. It’s great on the cv and cologne is nice enough to live in, if you avoid the shady parts. The surrounding area is also quite nice for day trips. Cologne airport also connects to pretty much the whole of Europe so there’s that as well.

>>2881784
I'll be in Aachen all the time, I have connections to it.
>>2881788
Retard
>>2881795
What parts of Cologne are seedy? Mülheim annoyed me with the number of immigrants selling gold chains but I haven't explored much beyond that and the Dom.

I don't expect it to matter much for my CV, the master's program is in something silly. Unless Th Köln is a decent university and just having it would look good.

Suffer the pain of experience, or suffer the pain of regret.
If you can afford it, do it.

Alright, girlfriend is on board. We're gonna do it.

I lived there what do you want to know specifically?

Generally weather is mostly rainy and cloudy with long dark winters. As with whole of Germany, the city, especially the center is in a worse state by each passing year. Urban decay is visible. Druggies, closed shops, closed restaurants etc.. Outside of the center it can be nice depending on the area you live in. Public transport is shit and expensive, most people try to drive with cars which also doesn't help a lot due to constant traffic jams and lots of unfinished road construction. Still better than the unreliable public transport. Rents are expensive and flats are hard to find. But you seem to have money, so I guess you might have a easier time finding something.

On the good side, even though its not a beautiful city, it is very green. Also it's the city with the probably friendliest people in all of Germany. Even with all the shitty aspects most foreigners that live or lived in cologne, like their time in the city simply because people are friendly and compared to the rest of Germany it is easy to make friends here. People don't see themselves as much German or whatever nationality they came from, rather see themselves als "Kölner”. Local patriotism is strong, but in an American sort of way where they like to include outsiders. The city and its people aren't fancy rather down to earth worker type of mentality. Karneval is huge thing, but it's basically just a German excuse for alcoholism and coping mechanism to release their sphincter muscles after obeying all the rules for a whole year.

>>2883804
This all sounds great. I'm coming from NYC so I'm used to urban decay. Trains seemed to past muster while I was there at least, I'll probably be using them to get to class.

What neighborhoods would you suggest? I'm going to be a student there and don't want to blow through my savings, but I'm also in my 30s and not as interested in partying (will probably also be having a kid while I'm there).

What kinds of things do people do on the weekend for cheap? Should I get really into 1. FC Köln?

>>2883806
Safe choices are sülz and südstadt. Bayenthal is also good and if you want it a bit calmer and more upscale then Rodenkirchen.
This doesn't mean to disregard other districts ofc, but id say these are very safe choices.

On weekend? I guess whatever you do in another normal west European city. It's not Rio or Bali Afterall. Meeting friends and getting drinks or dinner.

Regarding 1. Fc köln, if you like soccer/ football and the team spirit then it can be a good idea because the city has a very strong football culture related to its club and you'd likely find new people and friends quickly if you get into that.
If you like the idea of carneval you can also get into that, there's loads of clubs that do stuff year round. But honestly it only makes sense to join such club if you like to drink a lot of beer, dress funny and listen to traditional type of music.

>>2881433
>What is living in Cologne like?
Cologne is our German San Francisco,
for now not enough jeets to similarly shit it up.

But make sure you learn arabic, you will need it just like in Minesoohtaah.
So the Germs there are exactly your crowd,
ask in your ANTIFA group for connections.

>>2881433
one of the worst cities in germany congrats
and th köln is a meme university

>>2886150
what are the best cities in germany?

>>2881784
Are womem still allowed to walk around in Germany without a head covering?

Germany is by far the worst country I've been to, just a total mishmash of people from everywhere, every public space full of guys that look at you with death stares, then there's the pedo flags and antifa stickers, you will see hundreds per day, trains full of disgusting people . Total dystopia total shithole, pervasive sense of fear by every male

>>2887132
how about the women? did you do any cold approach?

>>2887133
The women under 40 are all manhating antifa dykes

>>2887132
I spent all of my time in Germany either in the most western or most northern parts, and experienced almost nothing but universally friendly and warm people who treated me to endless cookouts. The one negative interaction I had was a turkish electronics store man who sold me a scam phone. I don't know what parts of Germany you were in but that doesn't match my experience at all. It felt like a country of towns, not cities. Germany was the country that felt the most like midwest America I've ever been to.

>>2887142
ok but did you cold approach tho?

>>2881433
>master's program in Cologne at TH Köln
for all engineering / STEM stuff it's alright
otherwise I wouldn't bother
why even TH Köln? It's not even the best University in the region, like RWTH Aachen, Bonn or even University Cologne are usually better

>have the money to pay cost of living the 2 years
yeah it's cheap if you worked a US tech job before
biggest cost will be housing because it's very contested, you can "cheat" a little by overpaying and getting one quickly though, which likely doesn't matter for 2years
get an apartment in Ehrenfeld, culturally and for going out it's still the best neighborhood (unless you're a /pol/tard and allergic to non-whites)
alternatively Altstadt-Süd

>Should I accept?
yes.
it'll be great
unless there isn't a concrete reason for TH Köln
in which case I'd reapply to a internationally more well known University

>What is living in Cologne like?
I grew up there
generally it's a pretty cool city with plenty to offer
lots of good restaurants / food
good clubs
it's a stop for many bands on their "Europe tour", so there's plenty music events
public transport is good (albeit sometimes unreliable but you always get home, even at 3am)
it's very well connected by train and the whole region (of NRW) has enough to do touristically for a decade
also the airport connects to most of europe with budget airlines
if you want to explore Germany+Europe, it's arguably one of the best home bases
Cologne is also a VERY social city, as American you'll feel much more at home than like in northern Germany

now the negatives
for the most part it's a dirty and kinda ugly city with some shady (not dangerous, but feeling shady) parts
traffic is terrible with lots of construction
you gotta deal with german weather (Cologne is quite warm for Germany though)
and again, if you're anti-/lgbt/ and hate having foreigners around, don't even bother, Cologne is one of the most liberal / left cities in Germany with one of the highest percentage of foreigner

>>2883804
>Public transport is shit and expensive
hard disagree
public transport is
>Deutschlandticket 63€/month
where you can take any public transport in Germany
and Cologne never was particularly expensive, even before that ticket
also subway / trams run in high frequency and through the night (which is neat as student)
the only caveat is that they are unreliable at times
but as long as you live near a stop with multiple lines, you won't even notice because you never wait more than 5min

>closed shops, closed restaurants
maybe near the main shopping streets
but generally there are plenty new restaurants opening and thriving
never noticed that

>Local patriotism is strong, but in an American sort of way where they like to include outsiders
probably the best description of Cologne mentality I have heard to far

>>2887133
>how about the women? did you do any cold approach?
cold approach doesn't really work in Germany

you'll be a university student
go to student (organized) parties
maybe avoid the ones from the TH Köln (too many men)
but generally there is no easier / better way than student parties
house / WG parties obviously also work, but you'll need friends and acquaintances first that'll invite you

its an ugly and grey city for the most part ... it basically has one beautiful building lol. chock full of third worlders. like all of germany. also quite quite dirty

i dont know why people here praised the restaurant scene in cologne, imo it sucks ass minus some few

positive is people arent as stuck up as in other parts of germany, theres a live and let live attitude. idk whether thats enough to make you choose cologne over all other options

>>2889782
>its an ugly and grey city for the most part
no on in this thread said anything else
but ugly is not really a criterion for quality of living

>dont know why people here praised the restaurant scene in cologne
because it's objectively good!?
arguably the best after Berlin (and maybe Hamburg) in Germany
the Brauhäuser are extremely cool
there's a sizable bunch of fine dining / Michelin spots around (rip vendome losing their 3* rating)
Belgisches Viertel is full of great casual spots from literally any cuisine you could wish off
and probably the best city for (upscale) Turkish fusion (not Döner)

the nicer alternative nearby for OP certainly is Bonn (also because of the University)
but Cologne overall is still one of the best cities to live in as young adult for 2years in Germany

>>2889794
>but ugly is not really a criterion for quality of living
it certainly is if you have choices of where to live like op does

>>2887132
>>2887147
the duality of germany

>>2890141
not really though
one actually traveled, and had a good experience
the other one either is a /pol/ tourists or just went to like 3 most popular tourist hotspots (possible with shitty clothes, unwashed and smelly) and is now complaining about too many foreigners there that dared to look at him (for being smelly)

>>2890141
not really though
one actually traveled, and had a shitty authentic experience
the other one either is a /redddit/ tourist or just went to like 3 most popular tourist hotspots by cab ( with shitty clothes, unwashed and smelly) and is now redditsplaining away the crime, the filth and the violence from too many foreigners in hopes to get redddit gold from fellow dysgenics

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662 KB JPG

>>2881433
the colonge dome is really misleading as symbol of the city as it's the only building worth looking at in the whole city. It's a post-war BRDcore hellscape, no regard for aesthetics at all