How easy is it to Make Friends?

Member since 13 September 2011

matt9bMember13 September 2011 16:28:30

Hi everyone

I'm thinking of moving to Germany. I'm british and live in London right now. I grew up at JHQ in Rheindahlen (NRW) there but went to an english school, so although it feels like home I don't know German..

I'm self employed in London and work from home, in the music biz. So the positive side is I can live anywhere I like but then the scary side is that I don't speak German. At the end of the day, although I only lived there until age 13, Germany has always felt like home, and despite the fact I don't speak German, when I'm there with the parents I always wish to stay. Living here in the UK feels alien. I'm 30 now so I don't want to live the rest of my life with regrets..

I'm in between choosing Rheinland-Pfalz/Saarland or sticking to where I grew up, in Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Looking on rightmove, Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland seem to have some incredibly cheap houses that look really nice. It's amazing that I'm totally priced out of the UK market, yet you can buy a beautiful detached house in Germany for around £100k! Rents also seem bl**dy cheap at 350Euros a month. Is it too good to be true?

How easy is it to make friends over there?

Are there any supermarkets with home delivery?

I often use the net to buy computer components here, like ebuyer.co.uk. Are there any decent online german shops for this sort of thing, with hassle-free returns and customer service?

Thanks

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Armand ViP

Member since 23 February 2011

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ArmandViP14 September 2011 07:30:36

24785

Hi and welcome to Expat.com matt9b

Maybe you should browse the forum to know about the latest meetups. Why not organising one yourself ?

Regards
Armand

matt9b Member

Member since 13 September 2011

matt9bMember14 September 2011 11:44:43

Armand wrote:
Why not organising one yourself ?

Because I'm not in Germany yet.. don't mean to sound ungrateful but your post doesn't answer my question..

missbeesy Active member

Member since 04 January 2012

missbeesyActive member12 January 2012 09:01:20

Hey Matt,

Saarland is quite small, and although good for living the quiet life nowhere near anything interesting. Think of the country in England, maybe a bit more metropolitan but you need to drive 2 hours to get anywhere it seems.

We're on the border with France, but travel to and from is expensive, so the low cost of living is counterbalanced by the high cost of transport (at 142 euros to Paris and back it seems a bit steep, espeically coming from Australia where you could fly across the country for much less).

The people are pretty friendly, but you need invites to get you started. Its not really easy to just pop out and meet people at the local, and although most people here speak some English you'll need also a decent command of German. But there are sporting teams and such that you can get going with.

The week is pretty quiet and the weekends are busy late on Saturday but everything closes on Sundays.

Home delivery isn't an option for groceries, but you can order everything online and just go and pick it up from the store without having to go through and select things yourself. Globus and Real should offer this, and Aldi and Edecka aren't that big anyway so you'd be find hanging out there.

Whatever you're buying online shouldn't be a big deal, as you'll be able to have it sent here. Duh. Transport of goods in and out of here isn't a problem.

Anymore questions about Saarland, give me a shout.