Moving to Germany

[brc]

After visiting Germany in 2014 and falling in love with the country, I promised myself to get my butt over there for an extended period of time by a 2020 deadline. Well, today, that dream became reality. I found out this morning that I've been accepted into a 2-year Master's program in Stuttgart beginning March 2017, along with one semester in Liverpool going for an MBA. It's unreal typing that, let alone saying those words out loud.

I don't have any specific questions to ask, but just want to know in general any advice or stories you folks have of similar experiences of moving to another country for school or work or travel. I speak a little German and Italian, so I don't anticipate too much difficulty becoming more fluent. I've never packed and shipped a personal bike (SyCip road bike) before so that will be a new experience. But I guess even before that, I don't know how to begin searching for accommodations. Sometime in February, I plan on selling my car and furniture I don't need, but wonder if that's a poor decision. When, and if, I return to Northern California, I may have very little possessions and have to start all over again. Or is that perhaps a blessing in disguise?

Feel free to chime in on Germany, grad school, Europe, career paths, cyclocross, anything really. And don't forget to vote!

-Brandon

[spopepro]

So get this: when I was visiting they didn't have erasers for the chalkboards. There wasn't a ledge either for the chalk. Each lecture hall had a squeegee and a bucket and you cleaned the chalkboard after using it. No dusr, perfectly clean every time. It was awesome.

Of course, no uni has chalkboards anymore probably. I sure haven't used one, and frankly do all my lectures writing on my computer so I can record them. Anyway, I sure thought it was cool at the time.

[snotrockets]

Do you think you'll move back? If so, I'll try store things that would cost you more to buy when you get back (books, furniture, appliances), and sell things that the cost of storing would be more than re-buying (car, most electronics).

Either way, try to bring as little as possible, because it costs a lot to ship things internationally. And it can incur import taxes. When we moved to the US about two years ago, we tried to just bring the things that were worth more than the cost of shipping. Flew here with three duffels and one bike, sent about 6 more boxes in the post (don't bother with shipping companies: the cost would be prohibitive; A 1st call USPS package is much cheaper). Sent it surface mail, so it took about 3 months to get here, but wasn't 1/10 the cost of air mailing. Most of it were clothes, my daughter's books and toys, and some of our own books we cared about or had sentimental value.

We sold a lot of things, gave, donated or thew away the rest. Some furniture that we thought was worth it we stored; when we visited a year later, we wondered why we didn't got rid of it in the first place: storing it was costing more than it worth.

It was a strange feeling, the first few months, not having our things; there wasn't a day without an Amazon delivery of something trivial we realized we didn't have.

There are some things I'd really wish I could ship here, but the cost is prohibitive (a few pieces of furniture my grandmother brought over when she immigrated from South America, and I inherited. They're currently stored at my brother's, and I hope to one day be able to afford to ship them over).

[snotrockets]

And try to find some one else who immigrated and would be willing to help you navigate the local bureaucracy. You'd have to re-do a lifetime of bureaucracy in a couple of months, it's easier when you have someone to guide you.

[ABiCi]

I'm about to move to Germany too. Berlin. For starters I'll make it six months there starting April next year, then head back to Sydney for the Australian summer... I may keep chasing the sun or I'll stick with Berlin, that is yet to be seen.

[Rich Beaudoin]

I moved to Tokyo for three years after college then two more in Berlin after that.
You would do best to avoid paying for storage by selling or giving away as much as possible and storing the few essential/sentimental items with family or friends. Don't be weighted down by your 'stuff', live and travel light.
After awhile you won't miss things - I may still have a box in my mom's attic!
Regardless of the election results, we would like to live abroad again...in other words I envy you.

[j44ke]

Second or third on divesting possessions. Once you connect to the expat crowd there (and this is inevitable even if you try to avoid it and is actually not a bad thing in terms of stress relief and longevity as an expat yourself - for example, jokes and laughter which never quite seem to translate, what a relief to get a joke completely and have a good laugh) you will find that someone is always coming and going and furniture, apartments, cars, etc. sort of get handed around. Storage is really expensive and actually untrustworthy, but if you have family things and keepsakes pack them well and store them with people you can trust not to put them in a puddle in the basement. A few boxes, like 2 or 3, reasonable size, waterproof, bash proof, and leave them with family or good friends. There will be enough things that use different electricity, different plugs, need different dimensions to fit into closets or drawers, etc. that you will end up buying most things all over again.

Someone touched on it above - it gets dark in the winter. We had to plan a trip midwinter, usually the Canary Islands, where we could go look at the sun. Otherwise it just got too dark. We lived in Prague, and the sun would come up at 9:30 and go down at 3:30 with gray skies all day. By February, even the locals are quitting their jobs and breaking up with partners, so go find some sun. Then in April everything is peachy again.

[Mabouya]

Congratulations!

Be sure to ask them why Hitler had so many rants about the NE Patriots and Bill Belichick.

[brc]

These are great tips. Thank you all. I'll be able to leave some stuff in my dad's basement and I'll sell my car and large furniture. For now I'm going to research how to obtain my study visa, citizen registration, residency permit, health insurance, cell phone, and Euro bank account. Wow, lots of work to do.

If anybody is in the Stuttgart/Munich area, I would love to meet up for a ride.

This opportunity couldn't come at a better time. I'll be moving out of the country shortly after the new administration moves into the White House. It's hard to be a proud American right now.

[72gmc]

Don't be weighted down by your 'stuff', live and travel light.

Great advice.

As for me, not (yet) a veteran of a trip to Germany, it really works for my brain to have a plan penciled out. Even if I know I'm going to change it X times on the ground, I like to have a list of things I want to see/do if only to remember why I chose those things and what I hoped to get out of them. I even did this for a three-day business trip to London and wound up tired but happy with the ground I'd covered when not in the office.

[rec head]

The cell phone should be easy. When I went to Spain with an unlocked phone I just bought a sim card at the airport and it was a pretty good deal. That will be enough just to get going. If you're an Android guy it might be worth getting a Nexus phone and Google Fi phone plan. Then you can keep your old USA number for a while if you want people to be able to get in touch with you.

[j44ke]

All the financial things and legal residency stuff should be facilitated by the school you are attending. I am going to bet they have staff dealing with that, especially if they have a large international program, and coming from the US, you will be simple as pie compared to someone from Kazakhstan.

Of course, Skype or FaceTime will be a tremendous asset for keeping touch at home.

When we lived in Prague, we'd watch the exchange rates, and when there was a dip in the right direction, we'd transfer cash and buy Euros & Czech koruny. You want to avoid any fees that applied to transactions for exchanging the currency, because with daily life going on and needing toilet paper etc., the fees can really add up pretty quickly. So we ended up with US accounts, a European account and a Czech account - basically salary & US debt payments, travel in Europe and home life expenses in the Czech Republic. I think on currency we might have actually broke even, but we missed a big surge in the Euro value or we would have actually made some money just before we came back to the states.

[deboat]

Five years ago I moved from Australia to Berlin. And are currently based in Salzburg but fly to Berlin at least twice a month to see the Wife.
The winters are cold and can be hard in head to deal with but I find the lack of sun is the biggest issue. Münich is a great City and the area is full of amazing bike riding. There is a lack of races but the few I do are epic.
I thought German would come easy after some time here, but I still attend German courses. My English is bad too so I discovered I have no Talent for languages. Es ist eine harte Sprache zu lernen.
Only come with one bike and one bag. Sell everything else. Materialism can be cured.... ;)
If you're from somewhere warm then you will Need good winter clothes. wait till you get here to buy.
If you have any direct questions just ask.
Good Luck!

[Gattonero]

... Don't be weighted down by your 'stuff', live and travel light.
...

That's what I did when I arrived in London 12 years ago. One medium suitcase and a rucksack.

Now I need two vans to move my stuff, and that does not include the bikes

(essentially, try to stick with that good suggestion above)

[brc]

Yes I will be getting rid of many "things" that I don't need anymore, or storing them in the family attic. My goal is to limit myself to one large check-in luggage, one check-in bike case, one carry-on luggage, and a backpack. Trying to decide on a bike case since I plan on doing a lot of traveling throughout the continent. A hard case might be safer for my bike but a soft case is easier to pack down. I'm also surprised by how expensive bike bags are. The Scicon Aerocomfort 2.0 TSA and Evoc Bike Travel Bag are both over $400. Gulp!

So what do Europeans do in the winter (other than CX, of course) when the sun isn't out for very long? Gym time? Yuck. I'm not packing my rollers, that's for sure.

[Gattonero]

Spinning classes, leg-press, and a bike with mudguards!

As far as the bike case, the VK is ugly and can be a bit of a faff to do all those straps, but it's the lightest and does't cost a fortune. Plus you can nest the two halves one in side the other and put it under the bed!