smoke in the kneipes (pubs). Munich comes first with 22,290 Americans followed by Cologne and the surrounding regions (10,933) and Frankfurt where all the bankers congregate. Berlin, the capital of Germany has 10,000 or so Americans. Personally, I love Germany, the neighborhoods, the opportunity to walk out at night and have no worries. It is generally very safe here and while I live in the middle of Hamburg, I never worry about walking to local restaurants or stores no matter what time of the night it is and a large majority of businesses are locally owned so there is a high degree of personal service. Germany is full of lovely walkable neighborhoods, where you see the same people passing each day - it's something I missed when I was living in the American suburbs where an auto is an absolute necessity. Here, I simply catch the train to go where I want to go or I walk a few blocks to the grocery store, the pharmacy or a neighborhood restaurant. Life in Germany is different than in so much of America - it's personal, it's beautiful, it's generally safe and the food is fattening as can be. I can buy a sausage and french fries for two euros or order a pizza in for five euros. I can buy a lovely bottle of French or German wine for less than three euros and go into a pub and have a beer for less than two euros. Not that I am only interested in food or drink - it is just much easier to compare. We used to use the "McDonalds" analogy when I traveled from country to country - comparing the cost of a Happy Meal in each location - it gave my children a brief intro to economics and prices that they could easily understand.
If you are thinking of moving to Germany, learn German!!! One of the most frustrating things for me about living in Germany is that although I have a basic grasp of the language things still fail me. There are some excellent resources for learning German that are on CDs or books, or you can attend a German language course in your area - the Goethe Institute comes to mind but there are several others. If you do not learn German before you come, you will be obligated to learn it once you are here. Since 2005, the German government offers and often expects immigrants to participate in a German Integration Course - a course designed to assist immigrants in integrating into German life and culture with fairly intensive language sessions.
Naturally, one of your best resources to make sure you get everything just right is talking to the German Embassy nearest you before packing your belongings. The Washington D.C. German Embassy is a great place to start if you are an American, their Web site has a lot of very valuable information and tips on what you need to do.
Photo in Treffpunkt Eppendorf, a typical neighborhood restaurant and kneipe, by Michele Hartley