Some resources that could be helpful:

http://www.howtogermany.com/ http://www.exberliner.com/ http://www.meetup.com/berlin-expats/

Guess one could get help and exchange info there. But I'm speaking without experience here.

Could you (and others here) give some experiences with the issues you mentioned? Doctor, shopping for something more complex etc. I can imagine it's difficult with governmental stuff, but for the others I assume there should be solutions. E.g. going to doctors in expat-heavy boroughs, going shopping in tourist-oriented areas etc. But I could be completely wrong. So please tell me about your (negative) experiences and the barriers /showstoppers.