I moved to Germany from Bosnia 13 years ago.

Germans are harder to make friends with, as most of them have friends they already made in school, at university or some club. So as adults, they don't actively look for friends like people who just moved here and, this is the most important part, they don't look as much for loose and causal acquaintances as people in the Balkans, South Europe or Anglo countries. I think that this is the biggest difference: Germans are not as good with these warm casual encounters. For people who were only socialised in the Balkans, this can be super hard: People reacting weird because you brought them burek or cake, even though you've just known them for a month, or a colleague being uncomfortable because you want to make friends with them too quickly. And then, if you do make friends, it's a challenge if a German hasn't had a lot of foreign friends, so it depends on you getting their culture, jokes, etc. It's a struggle for both sides, but much harder for migrants in general. However, in big cities like Berlin, people are more interested in other cultures, so it's easier there.

That being said, the advantage in Germany is that people aren't so much up in your business. I don't have neighbours anymore who constantly gossip about my life to others and, when looking for a job, I won't depend on having a strong casual network of people who have to put in a good word for me. Also, once you have a close German friend, I have a feeling that they tend to be less flaky than a lot of Bosnian friends I had. In Bosnia, you will sometimes have friends who won't be comfortable openly telling you that you're not close friends. So when you call them during an emergency, they might not be there for you. I feel like a lot of Germans are more upfront about this. They'll tell you: You can or can't call me at 3 AM if you need something. In addition, German society also expects you and teaches you to be more self-reliant and not call relatives or friends for every little thing, but rather try to accomplish something first. In Bosnia, I had the feeling that a lot of people will call their dad, sister or uncle for every little problem they have.

Since there's a lot of Balkan or other people here and Germany is becoming more diverse, it's easier to have both Balkan and German friends here for different needs, but you still need to learn the language and cultural codes quickly in order to feel at home.