How many people here live or have lived in Germany?

[glass_of_merlot]

I lived in Schweinfurt ( northern Bavaria ) when my husband was in the army. He was staioned there.
I loved Germany and whish we would have stayed.

[Philip T]

Originally Posted by irman

Just go there,
keep an open mind,
keep a smile on your face every minute of the day (people will start to wonder what you are up to !),
and have a great time !

Pretty much do that as part of my nature.

I am usually amusing myself with some thought crime

It is located in the *more picturesque* part of Germany (Bavaria - Bayern)
That area is called *Bayerischen Wald* (Bavarian Forest)

Sounds very nice, we like forest.

We have trees over 50 meters tall in the backyard in East Texas.

Easy to go almost anywhere. Big railroad station there !

Looking at various history, I see that was a large function in the area.

We like Amtrak in the US, so I guess that should be good, too.

For a year or so, depending on who you bring with you,

Mrs. + three kids -- ages 10 (girl), 8, and 5 (both boys).

see if you can live in one of those *Ferien Wohnungs* (Vacation Homes - called Fewos in Germany),
located on a working farm (Bauernhof).
Ferien Bauernhof Urlaub Ferienwohnungen Bauernhofurlaub Bayern Bayerischer Wald
(I hope you read some German ?)

Thanks. Just used a Google (mis) translator.

We lived in one of them down south a bit more, for many years.
Best thing we did for the kids !!!

Just had the kids looking that over. They love animals.

They taught a bunch of orphan geese to swim last week.

Did your kids do school there? Looks like we have an option of remote-internet-schools from the US, but sort of suspect the local German schools may be better?

How about food? Our kids are veggie, as is Mrs. Philip. Is that viewed as okay by the locals?

They are also asking about Scouts? In the US we call it Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. They have something like that?

And Ice Skating? The 10 year is competitive level on that and wants to stay current.

Do not limit your *abode* to *just Schwandorf*.
Plenty of small villages around.

Pretty much the plan.

Figure Prague, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and other spots will be on our list, as well.

Been there only twice (just driving around),
and ate at the Kreuzberg Gaststaette,
and stayed at Hotel Waldlust.

We have no idea about that part.

Hoping our host company can direct us some, or perhaps a local guide.

Our kids made a *snide* remark, since they saw a rather old jalopy,
and their license plate numbers starts with *SAD* ...

In our case, we tend to be the "old jalopy" types, ourselves.

My work truck/pick up is 17 years old.

But it keeps working, so I keep working it.

===========

For my part I am still laughing that a German Company would want to hire a US Engineer.

They tend to be a little (meaning a LOT) sharper than US.

[averagejoe76]

Lived in 2 small villages at a young age,one of them being Bad Bruckenau(near Fulda).
If given the chance i would live there again.only downside being the weather.

[chielgirl]

Philip,

I live somewhat close to Schwandorf.
It's a great location, close to Munich, Prague, Regensburg, Nuremberg, Garmisch, etc.
Great train system, etc.
I'll take you on your first trip to Prague if you like.
I've got the tour guide part down pretty well.

You will be living in the area where Germans choose to holiday.
It can get quite cold and snowy in the winter.
Last winter it was bitter cold; the winter before there was record snow.

I'm vegetarian also.
If the kids like cheese and eggs, eating out is no problem.
The diet is meat heavy.

Go, have a great time, travel.
Look me up, I'll help you get your bearings.

[fruitlassie]

I lived in Berlin for 7 1/2 years. It was an experience I am glad to have had, but ultimately I did not want to live the rest of my life in Germany. There were positive and negative aspects to life there, just as in the U.S. "Quality of life" can be defined in all kinds of ways. I don't think one can objectively say Germans have a better quality of life than Americans. It totally depends on your likes/dislikes, social/employment/financial status, part of the country you happen to live in, etc.

[diddiyo]

I was born and raised in Germany, lived there for 22 years. I grew up in a small town in the Eifel, then moved to Cologne when I turned 18. At age 22 I moved to the US and in the six years that I've been living here now I spent half a year in Kansas, two years in Miami and now about three and a half years in New Jersey.

My visa expires in a few weeks and I'm most likely moving back to Germany. I expect it to be a bigger culture shock than when I moved from Cologne to a small town in the middle of nowhere Kansas...