Au pairs in the Cologne area

Greetings!

My name is Amanda, I'm 19 and I will be moving to Cologne in March to work as an Au Pair!

I am very excited at the same time terrified! I wanted to get in touch with other au pairs in the area.

I'll be living in between Ehrenfeld and Neuehrenfeld.

I would be pleased if anyone can give me some information on the area.
Also, some general advice for moving abroad would be appreciated!

I would maybe suggest you start out by having a browse through these threads (well, the ones that look like they'd be helpful to you, anyway).

General tips or advice I could give you:

1. Make sure to dive in and get integrated with the Germans. Sometimes it's easy to find other English speakers and spend most of your time with them, but you're not really doing yourself any favors. Take advantage of the time here to really learn the language and culture.

2. Cologne is a really fun city. It's decent for shopping and the people have always seemed pretty happy-go-lucky to me in comparison with many other parts of Germany. Get out there and drink some Kölsch, support the hockey team, etc. Unfortunately you'll have missed Karneval this year.

3. If there are any over the counter medications you feel you couldn't survive a year without, stock up on them now. They'll have Vick's cold medicine here- but beyond that...

4. Travel. Go to Aachen, go to Holland, get up to the North Sea.

Hey Amanda, I'm Miranda, an Au Pair in Düsseldorf, a 20 min train ride from Cologne. I hail from NZ, been here 6 months already! When you arrive, I'm more then happy to head down to Cologne for a meet up. If you have Facebook, add me there!

Hello Amanda! I too am an au pair, (though from Ireland!) working in Köln! If you have any questions PM me!

Hi Amanda, I am not an au pair, but living in cologne!
I will mke sure that there are some meet-ups organised in March...you should join us!

Hello Amanda. My name is Scott and I moved here from Detroit 4 months ago and love it. Fallen Angel gives you some great advice!!!

TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL while you are here. Italy, Afrika, Eastern Europe, Deutschland, etc...

You need no other advice but openly embrace the culture, the differences, and the party that we call Cologne. Tonight is the 1st weekend night I have stayed in since I have been here (and that is only because I am sick as a dog). am sure you will enjoy.

Hey,
My name is Bec. I am in Paderborn (about 2 hours away on the train), but am happy to come meet you somewhere! I also have an apartment avaliable to me in Aachen at weekends if you wanted to go there! I am also on facebook, search for me, Bec Fist.
Bec