Reasons for moving to Germany

I posted on this earlier.

mlovett. I know what you mean.

Most people (especially Germans) seem to find it really strange that I moved here all by myself and wasn't following a boyfriend over.

I loved Germany when I lived here before and always thought I'd settle here for most of my life. Thought I'd make it to a few other places first and never thought I'd stay in Ireland as long as I did but at least I'm back here now. It's very hard to describe why I like it here and I always end up saying corny things like I feel more like myself here and that it just feels like home.

And of course there's the environmental friendliness (although somehow not nearly quite as widespread as it was 12 years ago). And the festivals. And things happening at certain times of the year only. (Although Lebkuchen in the shops in September has to be taking the piss - that's worse than creme eggs in January!) And all the nice men with beards. And a decent public transport system. And being able to afford to rent my own place and not have to share. And the farmers' markets with actual farmers who actually live in the same region as me. Great stuff!

It probably helps though that as my parents are dead there's no family home to speak of in Ireland to feel bound to and my friends and the rest of my family are pretty evenly spread out between Ireland, Europe, Australia and t'interweb and so it doesn't make a huge difference to me in that regard whether I live here or there.

I cane here as I was running away from a woman who idnt want me, but she didnt want anyone else to have me either!

I fell for the beauty of Munich and enjoyed the lifestyle that came with it..

Now?? Well I am a long termer, the only thing I have in the UK is Family..

Will I go back? Probably not.

First citizen, If you miss so much and your bird is about to dump you, then why not go back...?

Happy here??

Couldnt be better, Lovely GF and I have my own little stalker, Havent I Robinson??

Combination of things, really.

Some years back I got the dreaded letter from my Building Scociety in the UK. Hello, your endowment policy will not cover your mortgage. Took out a top-up endowment. Then got another letter in (IIRC) 2005 - the original and top-up combined won't cover. Bugger! Had to put some of it on a re-payment basis, doubling my monthly outgoings on a flat in Bristol.

Work was erratic. I taught at a Further Education College (Gawd help me) and the powers-that-be could vary my hours sometimes term by term. I was struggling. Wasn't enjoying the work either, trying to teach travel and tourism to uncouth, slobby teenagers who'd rather be playing with their mobile sodding phones than doing any work. Freelanced in the long vacations as tourist guide/tour-manager/river-cruise director.

In July 2006 it all went pear-shaped. Accompanied a tour-group from the UK to Köln to join a river-cruise on the 16th. In the early hours of the 17th I was in intensive care in Köln hospital. Oops! It was a problem quickly cleared, so I re-joined the ship. A couple of weeks later I was in hospital again, this time in Würzburg. I was staring into the abyss. Freelance earnings gone. I knew that from September, hours at the college would be reduced again. What to do? Well, I was hanging around in Würzburg hospital, thumbing through piles of crappy magazines. For some reason, one from a German Building Society caught my eye. In it was a story about a guy who bought a second home in the Uckermark. He'd paid €70,000 for it, including legal and renovation costs. Blimey! Rang a colleage (a Berliner) on the river-ship and told him I'd found an answer to my financial crisis - move to the Uckermark! "But €70,00 will get you a place in Berlin." Lights flashed, bells rang. Berlin! Fascinated by the place since I first visited in 1978. Suddenly the future looked a hell of a lot brighter and I had a very, very positive reason to move - "following my bliss".

Went back to the UK, had an operation there, put my flat on the market, sold, and moved here in August 2007. Paid off banks, building societies etc, and after 3 months bought a place here outright. Got a place on a training-course to become an official Berlin tourist guide and passed my exams in May this year.

I already spoke the language, having left school and worked for a year in Germany. Long time ago, that was!

It's home now and I love it to bits!

Been there, done that (well if you switch the genders round). It can be easy to forget the immigrants' relationships aren't guaranteed to last at least as they started. Not just splitting but death, affairs or sickness. We get the same stuff as everyonr.

Might not feel like it but life goes on. It's not as if your partner is the only German you can have a relationships with, is it? Or another immigrant? You don't have to be unattached forever just because it didn't work with her.

In a way it frees you up. You are no longer tied to a specific place in Germany. You could stay here but move to another town. Go back to the UK. Or try another country.

What I did in your position was laid low. Made no drastic decisions. Didn't pursue a new partnership or casual affairs. When I had regrouped, life picked up very quickly - new potential relationships, new work options and social interests etc.

Portland Oregon -Regensburg Bavaria sounded the same to me.

I was offered the perfect job.

Didn't fancy Munich much, but I really, really wanted the job. So I took it.

I remember my first weekend here someone told me that Munich was a massive lobster pot: a lot of expats come in, but it's much harder to leave than you think.

I didn't believe her, but it turned out to be true. I'm considering extending my contract and staying as long as they'll have me.

..so, you never saw Schlingensief's 'no chance Regensburg' then? http://www.schlingensief.com/fotos_eng.php
Mensch, what are you thinking?

came for a change of pace,
have had ups and downs, and on a down swing now, and counting the days til I can escape here.

Q: Why did you decide to live in Germany?
A: Temporary lapse of good judgement; the temptation of trying something new; the fear of being stuck in my rocking chair at 85 wondering about the opportunities I "might" have had, had I gotten out of my comfort zone.

Q: And are you happy here?
A: Rather than getting myself into trouble by answering that, let me say I am absolutely thrilled that I have a ticket out! And yes, I plan to use it! Just don't ask me to pinpoint when that will be. The jury is still out on that one ...

No I am bloofy well not. Full of mioserable Germans

Came 'ere cos I had no where else to go. Met me wife in Mongolia 'oo came from 'ere.

Ended up buying a bloody big 'ouse 'ere wi' apple and plum trees and growin' me own veg.

irritating country.

We came as a couple.

We bought a house on the Bavarian-Czech border mainly for business reasons (fed up with travelling from Wales to Eastern Europe on business trips), decided to do a bit of holiday letting to cover some of the running costs of the house.

We never actually made the decision to move here, lock stock and barrel - we still have our house in the UK.

We decided to stop going back to the UK much because...we love the scenery, the clear clean air, being in the middle of Europe (like going to Prague for the day), the fact that we can get things fixed in the house almost immediately rather than having to beg and cajole tradesmen to even come and look at work that needs doing, our neighbours and people in the village, who have welcomed us without reservation and always greet us by name and with a happy smile, the massively lower cost of living here, the lack of crime.

Why do we stay? All the above, plus the holiday letting going off like a rocket - we love introducing this area of Germany to new people and making sure they have a good time. Such an antidote to frantic lives.

Why is it hard to imagine going back to the UK? Council tax, difficulty of getting plumbers/electricians etc., crime, lack of rapport with neighbours, distance from everywhere on a small island on the edge of Europe, and all the advantages above.

Maybe we will go back, but please not yet!

Came over in the recession of 1982.Was bad back in Blighty.Just like it is now.Came over found a job and stayed.Go back to England, for a holiday yes, but have grown apart from most of the people i know over there now.Contact has got less and less.Not even contact now at Christmas.
But if you call me a German i am gonna get annoyed.

Came here mainly for Love. I'd been here for three months on a loan deal and got offered a permanent move by work but as I was dating somebody in the same company everybody won. By then I'd worked out that Bavaria was a far better place to settle down and have kids than Edinburgh.

The love passed by and now I live in a great country with some great friends and have a great new girlfriend. Every time I go back to the UK I realise how lucky I am to wake up every day with the mountains on my doorstep and a safe clean environment around me. Never say never but I can't see myself going back.

If you have people to laugh with I think you can live pretty well anywhere though.

I came to Berlin to be surrounded by communist architecture and be with my girlfriend (perhaps not in that order). Now it's full of twatty English tourists who talk in very loud voices about 'how cheap' everything is, and there are Subways and McDonalds cropping up all over the place while rents increase at exponential rates.

After a trip to the Canaries, where there are quite a few Brits, and the temperature never really goes beyond 20-25 deg C... I am left wondering why people have chosen to move to Germany? Clearly, if your significant other is German, then that is your reason. And I do realize that the job situation in the Canaries many not be ideal, but surely Spain (and other warm European countries) have jobs. Plus, the Spanish language is FAR easier to learn than German.

Anyway, just curious, as I was just perusing a Spanish forum (so I can practice) run by an English expat who has written a book:
http://www.notesfromspain.com/errant-in-iberia/

Topics merged by admin

Reasons for moving to Germany, Work, love, study, etc.

Ok, maybe we need a thread merge. My search didn't come up with that one.

mlovett, while it is pretty much a given that it is easier for native English speakers to learn Spanish than German, it is not normally easier for them to find a job in Spain (especially USians) where more of the work is off the books and on temporary contracts and companies with English as the business language are considerably fewer.

Conqui, I guess my comment was directed more at the Brits on this site (who are the majority here??). So then I suppose good job really does trump good weather/ good food. Not for me.

after having lived here a while, i'm not sure why one would choose germany either unless having trains run on time is extremely important to you.

that said, it's not a bad place to live either. not by a longshot.

€0.80 beer that doesn't give you hangovers, decent grass available in every park, best internet transfer rates I've ever had, and people who generally don't give a feck about who you are (this has its obvious negative factors, but i mean in the positive, personal freedom sense).

the people tend to be a bit dull is all, but maybe because i talk alot of shit that doesn't translate well.

well I thought it was muck when I was there, but i'd trust horse's opinion before mine to be honest, probably more of an expert in that department

Please change "Army" to "Military." I'm sure any Navy/Air Force/Marine people are having a hard time answering the poll correctly.

Not too many (US) Navy and Marine personnel in Germany anyway. Air Force is a different story...

I came to germany after my life became to much like the same routine over and over and again. I grew up outside of my home country and i became very lonely when I went back back. I was also starting to get this weird paranoia when i walked down the streets. It was as if every face that went by I had seen before, but did not know where. Then on the verge of madness, I just said fuck it, and left everything behind, and ended up in berlin 2 weeks later.

so I ran... I ran so far away...

I'm (was) Navy. And there are (were) many more than you think.

The Poll says "Army" - I think you meant "Military" (there's more than Army here (Air Force, Navy, Marines etc...)

A Scottish friend of mine literally ran away to Germany to join the circus.

Hmm. So did I, come to think of it. Just didn't realize it at the time. Clown to the left of me, jokers to the right...