Compare living and working in US, UK, and Germany

Hi all,

I have a slight chance of getting hired by a large, international company that has offices in London, Munich and in the US.
I've spent some time in the US, so I know what I can expect and I pretty much like it.
I visited Munich a couple of times and also liked it (visually), but I don't know much about living there.
Never been to London.
I don't do nightlife at all, but I like civilized surroundings , nature and healthy life with lots of sports, good food and good beer.
I have to add I don't speak German (but the company is US based), and I'm wondering how much of trouble is that going to cause me if I end up in Munich
(99% of Germans I've met so far spoke perfect English).

How would you compare those 3 locations, in terms of living style, mentality of people (especially coworkers and management, and how do they treat foreigners)?

Thanks a bunch!

itter

The US is not a city like the other two. Be more specific if you want a real answer.

You really should do a proper search, there are countless threads on TT comparing life in Germany (Munich / Berlin / [insert city of your choice]) and just about every other country or city under the sun.

Well that is Germany out of the equation. Now what were the other options again?

OK, sorry about that. Let's say San Francisco or New York (ok, I know that again, these two are different, so let's leave just California).
What are the people like at work? I find US folks good coworkers (I'm in the IT), we used to work hard, but they are relaxed at the same time. The management
I dealt with was straightforward, too, and had no problems with foreigners.
I wonder what is it like in Munich or London.

For sure these countries must be very different. One example, when I go to the restaurant in the US I'm always thrilled with the service, in Europe they just don't do it that way (and the same goes for other services). Just a small example and not something I can't deal with, but it surely indicates something one has to be prepared for...

Thanks.

itter

I've always found German coworkers good to work with and straightforward. They can be quite formal, though, and don't always socialise outside work.


The Germans tend not to be smiley or outwardly friendly. This doesn't mean that they're "not friendly", but they could well appear quite reserved compared to what you're used to.

It sounds obvious, but you would just have to be prepared for people to do things differently, even if they do speak English to you. As for speaking German, you might want to read Australian sues Dresdner Bank. (No matter what the company policy is, if Germans are speaking English to you, but the majority of staff are German, then they're doing you and other native speakers a favour. I'm not sure whether that would be too healthy a position to be in, to be honest, because it kind of places you in their debt. You also wouldn't be able to understand anything they said if they decided to speak German amongst themselves in your presence.)

Yes, that's a major issue to me right now - but this is internal to the company, so I have to check that out first. A trial sounds like a good idea.
I hope that since it is a global corporation with US-based HQ it shouldn't be a problem.

Other than that - after reading some threads here and combining them with my own thoughts I'm almost convinced that I should do everything not to go to London. I'm a nature folk and outdoor type, I like good beer but not necessarily in a night-club. I hate traffic, smog, crowds and not being able to see the clear sky and feel that the city just surrounds me miles and miles around like a trap.

Any other thoughts will be highly appreciated.
Thanks.

itter

P.S.
relevant links:
Family life in London v. Munich
especially Post #8

I worked in London for 5 years before moving to Munich for a year and then moving to Leipzig.

London is an exciting city. I found a lot of the people there friendly and open, but it's very big and you have to really work on developing contacts as your colleagues and people you meet are likely to be scattered all over the city. In my office my regular collegaues were mostly friendly towards outsiders. Being foreign isn't a big deal in London because with New York it's the most international city in the world. If it's peace and quiet you want and accessibility to nature you can find it in London's beautiful parks like Hampstead Heath, but if it's stunning countryside you want London obviously isn't the place. The differences between the different neighborhoods in London are huge. London's wealthier areas and 'civilised' districts are peaceful and beautiful (and very expensive) but its poor areas might as well be on a different planet, crime, drugs, dangerous at night and lots of miserable people. If it's a well paid job you've been offered you can obviously live in a good area, but if it isn't, you might have to live in a far flung suburb and commute into town if you want to avoid living in a poor area.

To be honest, I found Munich boring after London but at the same time much cleaner, cheaper and with less crime and poverty. I didn't find the Bavarians outgoing or friendly, in my office it took 3 months before anyone 'allowed me the honor' of having a proper conversation with them. Apparently this is quite normal in Germany. I also got the impression that some people even thought English people were 'exotic', which isn't that surprising as a lot of Bavarians are so provincial they regard the rest of Germany as being a different country. Don't get me wrong, Munich is an attractive city with good shopping and entertainment and the best thing for me was the nearby countryside, I went to the alps several times which only took an hour - you can't do that in London.