Choosing between London and Munich

Hello People,

I'm a 28 year old Australian who is moving to Europe in a week. I'll be backpacking Europe for about one month then will say with family in Portugal for a few weeks.
I'm thinking about living in Germany (Munich) or UK (London). To me it seems London is a better option as they speak English and work would be easier to find but I'm having second thought's since London seems to have a crime problem as you in read in the paper of weekly stabbings and it's not safe to walk at night. Germany to me from the last time i seen it, seemed rather safe, clean, technological, intelligent and people seemed to be united. Where in london people seemed separated.

I currently hold a EU passport and was born in Europe.

What would be the requirements for living in Germany? Would i need special paper's?
Requirements of renting in Munich?
Would it be hard or easy to find work as an English speaking alien?
What are the troubled neighborhoods of Munich to stay away from?

All i know how to say in Germany is thank you.

What are your recommendations?

Thanks

Hey Timmy,
I'm an Aussie who has just moved to Munich and I would vote this city above London any day. It is clean, virtually crime-free, has a fantastic underground and public transport system... in fact it beats London on just about every level.
I don't speak German either but I've found that most people around my age (mid 30s) and younger speak fantastic English and I haven't had a problem getting understood or finding things out.
Being an Aussie living in London is so cliched. If you want my advice, I would suggest Munich. And if you feel lost here, there are always a couple of Aussies you can have a beer with (and oh yeah... the beer here is cheap and brilliant). :-)
Steve

I dunno, if you're only going to live in one European city in your life, then I would say it should be London. The crime is localised and largely gang-related, so it needn't affect you. The "Aussie in London" thing is only clichéd if you follow it; if you live in Shepherd's Bush in a room with 17 other Australians and spend all your free time in Walkabout then you are certainly wasting your time being there. But the common language means that you can live with British people and make British friends and go to British pubs and have a great experience there.

There are plenty of other threads on the subject of finding work in Munich without speaking German, but that would be my main concern here. Teaching English appears to be the best option.

If you hold an EU passport then you don't need any extra papers. Just turn up. There are no dangerous neighbourhoods in Munich. For your other questions, search through the site.

I agree with STB on that one, I think London will be easier to find work also. You could always visit munchen too for a test of both. If it feels right for you.

Just speaking from the Aussies I know here who have done both (and they speak German though not sure about broader professional skills like writing etc).

They get decently paid jobs in their profession in London (law, finance, events mgt etc). They do call centre work or English teaching here and tend to live hand to mouth.

As a 25 yr old Aussie whose lived in London for 2.5 yrs, and now just starting out here, might be able to help:


really just overhyped media reports: There are some bad housing estates (around SE London mainly) that you wouldn't want to walk through at night, but these are few and far between and you can spot them a mile away.


Germany is all those things although I'm not sure what you mean with 'united' vs 'seperated'. You'll get into things a lot quicker in London because of the obvious cultural and language similarity, and simply the fact there are *so many* Aussies, Kiwis and Saffas all doing the same thing, who usually have similar interests to you etc. Germany is a bit harder because of the language barrier but there are still expats here and a lot of the Germans are easy to get along with (and some of them just love the Aussie accent )


Is your passport from an eastern european country that joined in 2004 or later? If not you don't need anything else. If it is eastern euro I think there'll still some restrictions, not sure.


Money. Have a look at sites like wg-gesucht.de to find rooms in flat-shares


Depends, in IT with a few years experience it's not too hard. Not sure about other professions.


None. Really, I visited friends the other night in what is supposed to be one of Munich's worst 'ghettos' (Neuperlach) - it's nothing bad at all.


Luckily the Germans speak embarrisingly good English. Just be prepared for quite a bit of effort/learning curve to get on top of the language


Little doubt that everything will be easier for you in London - easier to find work, make friends, etc. and you'll probably have a great time there. Munich on the other hand is more difficult to get started in (I know because I'm at that stage now) but has more varied things than London I think. Eg. London winters get very claustrophobic when you seem to only see the inside of your house, office and pubs, whereas in Munich you can go skiing every weekend. Also in London you end up hanging round with other Aussies and Kiwis a lot and it can get a bit generic, not experiencing the local culture and all that, whereas here you have to learn the local culture, language etc. But then again if I could choose again I would still've chosen going to London first, I had a great time. hope that helps and remember even if you choose wrong it's nothing more than a ~€60 flight to the other city.