Sup Clutchfans, A lifelong dream to travel abroad is coming true mid-November, and I'm totally not prepared one bit: Don't know much German Will have to buy winter clothes there...or is it worth the luggage weight to buy here? Have never been to Europe before. What to do's? It's a project with German co-workers from my company, so I'm not totally thrown to ze wolves.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/eO7tVypeYAo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Play this from a boombox wherever you go.
I've spent time working there. Some random thoughts It will be very very helpful to learn some German -- most anybody under age 40 or so will speak decent to sometimes truly exceptional English. But you'll still need to do things like deal with transportation (taxis/buses/trains, etc), grocery shopping, some small restaurants, old people, etc that don't speak any English (or are unwilling to use what they know). If you don't speak German, where you really lose out is the social side of things. If you don't know German now, you won't learn enough to be capable of maintaining a social conversation in a year's time. Your time in Germany will likely be spent either with ex-pats or forcing Germans to speak English to you. You can make it work, it's just not ideal. yes, it's probably worth the luggage weight for the winter clothes. I found Munich to be far more expensive than the US (especially Texas). expect less comfortable surroundings, in general. Smaller (and older) apartments and hotel rooms, toilets that need more water (lol), smaller cars, smaller shops, etc. Not really a big deal but you do notice that it's less comfortable than a typical Houston lifestyle. People: the women are hot. Just as many pretty faces as the US, but far less fatties so the pool of what's considered attractive is higher. People in general aren't as friendly and open as in the US, but I enjoyed the people I got to know. They are very direct and typically skip the politeness ritual that Americans tend to do. Also work feedback focuses on the negative aspects (almost exclusively), which is strange for Americans. world class beer. duh. Munich is a fantastic city -- one of my favorites. You'll have a good time
wow, congrats. That's coming quick. To do list? Buy NBA League Pass International, and don't buy German clothes like this. They love horizontal stripes for some reason.
I think Munich is an expensive city (not like New York or London, but still). It might be a good idea to buy a couple of key winter gear pieces before you go. I actually *love* Munich, but I'm not very hip. It's a gorgeous city to walk around in -- the parks and museums (even the small ones) are fantastic. Make time to enjoy the beer gardens, and if you don't have any friends yet, you can make some there. I really like some of the newer bars -- they have a decent cocktail culture -- but that can be expensive. Definitely make some time to travel south into the nearby mountains, even if you don't like winter sports. You could get to some really pretty small Austrian towns in the mountains as well. Finally, on a grim front, I was very moved by Dachau (a really intricate and overwhelming concentration camp museum, north of Munich). You can take a train right there, but leave yourself a whole day. There's just a ton of information, all really well done. [EDIT: was typing very slowly, listening to the Giants game, and now see bigtexxx's good message. Really agree on knowing just a tiny bit of German -- just to order train tickets and all the little things. Also really agree about German culture. It's just very straightforward and un-Texan. If you ask "how are you doing?" even in German, they'll be all like "why do you ask?" But they can be friendly if they know you're staying a while, IMHO. I met some cool people and look forward to going back.]
Munich is better than 95-99% of the possible cities you could be sent to. You should be lucky you are not being sent to some hole in India or China or South America. Munich is expensive and people will generally not just approach you with small talk. The women are overall attractive and quite "open" sexually. I had a lot of fun in Germany with some of the alternative lifestyle women I met. The food is good as well.
Also, tryout some of the Expat websites on the Internet to meet Americans to help you get started meeting people without relying on coworker. Here's one http://www.internations.org/berlin-expats/americans Facebook has them, too. Should be easy to find some invites for Thanksgiving. Irish pubs is also a good place to start to meet English speaking people. Not to suggest avoiding the locals, but it can get exhausting trying to go total immersion speaking German, and sometimes you just want to be surrounded by your language. They'll help you branch out, too.
One more thing... Manners are very important. Holding the door is something I noticed, be very clean as well and tipping is expected. Also don't be loud or play loud music in your apartment.
You can't expense the travel cost (including any luggage fees)? or by weight, do you just mean the actual heaviness?
Take two suitcases. A larger sized one (which you will leave in your hotel/apartment in Munich), and one carry-on size which can be used for weekend trips around Europe.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLv650I7TzJik3BU-WeC1j7O8NdJv74dhU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> You're welcome!
Some great advice on this thread already. Have you lived in Houston all your life? Then you will probably feel really really cold when you arrive. Munich can get quite cold in winter and sometimes you will have snow for days or weeks. Internations is a good idea, you will be able to meet expats through that. There is also http://www.toytowngermany.com/munich/ which has an expat community and a lot of helpful advice. Is the company setting you up with an apartment or do you have to do everything yourself? I can give you advice on which parts of town I would recommend and which I personally wouldn't prefer. Assuming you are still quite young, you might want to live in Schwabing or Maxvorstadt, close to the university area, where you will easily meet lots of other young people. I would not stay in the suburbs like Hasenbergl or Laim. I don't live there anymore full-time, but I am still there quite often (I stay in hotels then). Would be happy to meet for a beer or coffee and think of more tips, or if you have specific questions, I am happy to try and answer them. Hope you will have a great time!
I suggest you find Yung-T and watch a few Liverpool FC games with him. He's a big fan. Me and him are brehs like that.
if you can afford it, wait to buy your winter gear in munich - they have better stuff. munich, imo, is by far the best major city in germany to live in. and as others have mentioned, the most friendly girls are there.
