Do you feel at home in Germany as an expat?

I moved here permanently in 2012 and love it. I fit in here better than in my "home" country (USA) and no one has treated me badly, or like a foreigner. I could already speak German when I arrived and have never expected anyone to speak English with me. When someone switches to English after hearing my accent, I just stick to German - because I enjoy speaking it! :-)

Because of an expat group I'm in on Facebook, though, I can tell you this is apparently not always the case. There are a LOT of expats who complain about how rude Germans are, how "customer service does not exist here," how they are frequently being told by strangers (including at doctors' offices) that they should learn and speak better German, etc.  I have never had a similar experience and am often baffled by what they report. That's probably because I'm so terribly charming.

Here are some more tidbits from others. They are generalizations, but there's probably a granule of true in most generalizations:
Germans never smile.
Germans stare a LOT.
Check-out at the grocery store is stressful - you bag your own groceries and have to be FAST or others will get annoyed at you.
Germans don't understand personal space.
Germans don't know how to queue -they push and shove to get on trains and buses, and they push to the front at bakeries, etc..

The first two or three could cause a foreigner to feel judged or mistreated, but don't take it personally if you notice it - they do it to each other, too. :-) And it's not true they never smile. They just don't smile as often - or as "bigly" - as Americans with our goofy over-friendly grins.

So...there are no guarantees. Probably a lot of it depends on you and the people you find to spend time with. With Germans it often takes a lot of time and effort to make it to the first stage of friendship. They want to make sure you're worth their time before they call you a friend. This is very different from the USA, of course, where people pretend to be your friend almost immediately. Don't expect your neighbors to greet you warmly and invite you for coffee, welcome you to the building or neighborhood, etc. My husband and I have lived in a house on a very quiet street in a tiny village for nearly 7 years, and I still wouldn't recognize our direct neighbors if I passed them in town. This does not bother me, but apparently it annoys other expats. (We are friends with the neighbors on the other side.)

If you come here, volunteer in your community, learn German, watch what others do, and try to fit in. You don't need to pretend to be someone you're not, but there's no harm in making an effort to blend in.

Good luck with your decision.

~Ami im Schwabenland

Obviously, a big and diverse country like Germany offer all kinds of niches, and many foreigners (but not all) find theirs.
In the big cities it is perfectly possible to live an international lifestyle without noticing or getting used to many German specifics - like the ones Bhejl mentioned above).
In other places, e.g. countryside or the economically depressed East, you need to blend in, do as the locals do and learn near perfect German to get a feeling of belonging.
But one abovementioned thing is certaily true: Things move slowly in Germany - if you feel at home and have a good social circle after three years, you are quick!
One advantage is your profession: Kindergarten teachers, especially if native English speakers, are highly sought after, so you can find a job instantly, anywhere. (They are badly paid, though.)