One Year in Deutschland

I missed the exact date, but as of May 11, we have survived one year in Germany! Although I have always been interesting in travelling, Germany was never even really on my radar as a place to visit. Considering that and all things, I’d say our survival is definitely something to celebrate! Here are some reflections on the best and worst parts of this past year.

The Negative:

• Language: Hands down, the most difficult part of the transition has been the language. At first, we couldn’t even do the simplest things, like understand mail that we received, read the products at the grocery store, or understand the announcements on the bus. Even after a year and lots of German lessons for both of us, there are times when we just don’t understand what’s going on.

• Bureaucracy: As would be expected, there was a huge amount bureaucracy, paperwork, and procedures to complete during the immigration/relocation process. It often seemed like there was a separate form that needed to be filled out for everything that we wanted to do and that Germans were less likely to “budge” on issues where Americans might be more willing to relax the rules. As an example, I needed to change my bus pass subscription from one that was valid only after 9am to all day. After going to the customer service desk (where I thought it could be handled immediately), I found out that I needed to fill out a four page form (in German) and mail it to Frankfurt. I had also already missed the “deadline” for that month, so the change would not take effect for six weeks!

• Car Issues: Although the public transportation is pretty great, there are times when a car is just more practical. In July of last year, we purchased a used car. In October, the check engine light came on and we thought the car would need serious repairs. In a combination of both the language issues and bureaucracy issues mentioned above, as well as other misunderstandings, we ended up being without a functional car for nearly six months. Eventually we realized that the issue was not that serious and was able to be repaired rather easily and cheaply. As least we got a lot of exercise from walking!

The Positive:

• Cologne: I don't think we could have asked for a better city. Cologne is gorgeous, with a beautiful skyline across the Rhine River. There are a lot of activities around town, interesting sites to see, and fun restaurants to try. So far, the people that we have met have all been great and we've frequently been told that people in Cologne are the nicest/friendliest in Germany. I guess that can't really be proven, but they do seem to be down-to-Earth, happy people. The city is much larger than Pittsburgh, but is similarly broken down into smaller, distinct neighborhoods, giving it the "small town within a big town" feel. It's safe, clean, has great public transportation, and tons of opportunities!

• Traveling: While we did travel a lot while in Pittsburgh, moving to Europe has allowed us easier access to so many places. In only a 3 hour time frame, we could get to 3 or 4 different countries by train or car. On top of that, flights within Europe can be cheap (our 20EUR roundtrip to Romania) and plentiful. Six weeks of vacation time from work is sure nice too! Our travel wish list for the upcoming year includes: someplace warm and beachy!(maybe Turkey or Greece?), Prague, and Poland. 

• Overall Experience: Although there was a lot to do in the beginning and some bumps along the way, our overall experience in Germany has been pretty positive. Sometimes we'll be talking about how if we were in Pittsburgh, we'd probably want to visit Europe, but now we live here. We have so much available right at our fingertips. It's definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to dive deeper into a country/culture/lifestyle/language than what otherwise would be possible during a short visit. 

Photo Credit: Our friend, Nadia. Check out her other great photos here: http://www.nadiamianphotography.com/.