Moving to Cologne - general tips for newcomers

Hello,

I am moving from Prague to Cologne in January and I desperately need some opinions and advice.

My german is quite good and it will be possible for me to arrange a german passport (german mother). I am currently living in Prague and have two cats that I will bring with me. I have heard that its hard to find accommodation with pets, is this true?

Which areas should I be looking to live in? What is an average wage for bar/shop work?

I was an english teacher in a kindergarten here in Prague for one year. I am a certified tefl teacher, is the certificate also sufficient for teaching work in germany?

Any help would be so much appreciated!
Thanks,
Alice.

Well I think landlords normally do not mind cats at all so am sure you will not have a problem there!

If you are a certified TEFL teacher then you'll have no problems finding some freelance teaching work the pay isn't great but you can earn enough to get by!

Sorry I cannot help on the bar/shop work front. I worked in a bar in Bremen about seven years ago and was on 12DM an hour I am not sure what the current rate is.

There is a girl on here J-M she works in an English kindergarten in Frankfurt I think she might be able to give you more tips!

hmm with two cats, I imagine you don't want to be right in the middle (?) unless they are only "flat cats".

"Real Köln" is on the left hand side of the river .. ie. the side where the Dom is!! If you get a map of Köln (eg. here) you will see the main road heading out west is Aachenerstr. The quarter below this road all away around to the river (in other words south west) is in my opinion a fairly safe bet.

No idea as regards wages, though - sorry. Give us a shout if you need any more stuff.

Yes the cats are house cats (at the moment anyway)! Thanks for your help - where is a good place to look for accommodation ie websites etc?

Hello everyone!
We are moving to Cologne on December 17 from Montreal, Canada.
Has anyone of you moved an animal to Germany? I am aware that a microchip has to be implanted and also the anti-rabies vaccin are mandatory and we are planning on having it done ASAP. Am I missing anything?
Also we will be looking for temporary accommodation until we find an apartment. Do you know anything decent and affordable in Cologne?
Thank you very much
Viconti

Related topic: Importing pets to Germany

We are possibly moving to Koln,can anyone recommend a good bank(savings/sparkonto).I have heard Sparda is very good,and has good customer service?
Any help with a decent cell phone company would be greatly appreciated.
Many Thanks

Braunfit