Advice For Would-Be Expats?

Every so often, I get an E-mail from someone who's read my blog and wants to know my thoughts on whether he/she should become an expat and go live in Hamburg. Usually the emailer doesn't have a job set up and waiting for them in Hamburg, or even any contacts in the city; most of them seem pretty fuzzy as to what they'll do to support themselves. Sometimes the emailer doesn't speak any German. I get these E-mails often enough that I've evolved a more-or-less standard response; my reply to the latest emailer is reproduced below.

For those of you reading who are/were expats (or are Germans/Hamburgers), how often do you get this kind of email? Do you respond? Do you agree with my advice -- or are there things you would add or change?

I realize that I'm pretty risk-averse (even though I've gone to live in Hamburg twice), so I don't want to rain on anybody's parade and crush their dreams of living abroad with my too-cautious thoughts. On the other hand, I don't want to encourage someone to put a spare change of clothes in a bag on a stick, skip over to Germany thinking "I'll teach English/work in construction/pick fruit/play my accordion in the subway!" -- and then have them cursing my name as they're deported for overstaying their visa or thrown in jail for Schwarzarbeit.

So here's what I tell people:

Sorry that it took me a few days to get back to you. But here are my thoughts-in-brief about Hamburg:

• It's an absolutely beautiful city. Hamburgers are inordinately proud of where they live, and they have every reason to be. The cultural opportunities are awesome -- lots of museums, parks, and the like; good nightlife and restaurants; there's always *some* kind of festival or special event going on. We miss the "let's just leave the house; we'll find something" atmosphere we had in Hamburg.


• People and Language: People are friendly; the whole 'northern Germans are dour, gray, and unfriendly' stereotype is a total myth. Going about day-to-day tasks (light shopping, etc.) with minimal/nonexistent German should be no problem at all. *Many* people speak fragmentary-to-excellent English; however, the 'all Germans speak English' stereotype is *also* a complete myth. Once you hit the ground, you'll want to start learning as much German as you can, as quickly as you can; while nobody's expecting you to be fluent, the person-on-the-street will often warm up to you a lot more if they can see you're at least making an effort. The average Hamburger is probably not too fond of the USA these days, but nobody we met ever had a problem with us as individual Americans.


• Costs: living in Germany is not as expensive as some would have you believe. For us, day-to-day costs 'felt' about equal to what we were paying for goods in San Jose (where we lived before Hamburg). However, if you come anywhere near a car, the formula blows up completely: gas, insurance, and training/licensing are all very expensive (but Hamburg has great public transit and a cheap monthly pass; the very few times we needed a car, I just rented one for the day). Also, given that the dollar is in the basement versus the Euro and the situation is only getting worse, you might find yourself in real trouble if you're living off of dollar-denominated savings. You can live in Germany for up to six months before you have to start paying German taxes; if your income is high enough, you'll find German taxes to be pretty punitive compared to the US. (And note that if you stay over six months, and you elected not to pay taxes during your first six months, you'll be retroactively liable for that first six months of taxes.)


• Jobs: frankly, I think it'll be awfully hard to hit the Hamburg job market without speaking German and without any connections. The German economy is still doing pretty badly and competition is high; most companies will presumably want to hire a native and avoid the extra expense and legal hurdles involved in hiring a non-EU national. (And not speaking any German seems an obvious and particular handicap.) As an American, the most straightforward path to German employment is probably to find an American company with offices in Hamburg, hire on with them, and work your way to Germany from the States. Alternatively, if you're flying blind, you'll want to expand your social net as widely as possible soon after you arrive in Hamburg; I know a number of expats who were able to parlay an under-the-table, friend-of-a-friend first job into more gainful employment. (I have no idea what happens if you're caught working a black-market job, though.) Note that without a job or extenuating circumstances (like, say, being part of an educational program or marrying a German), the maximum length of time you'll be able to stay in Germany is ninety days.


• Other Resources: If you haven't found any of these already, there are a couple of books you might want to look at: The German Way, by Hyde Flippo (and I see he now has another book, When in Germany, Do As The Germans Do) and Culture Shock! Germany, by Richard Lord. These books were helpful in answering some of our basic this-is-too-embarassing-to-ask-somebody questions. Additionally, there's a "German Way" Yahoo group and a Web site to go along with Flippo's book.

In short, if you can come up with a workable plan, *GO*! We loved Hamburg, and I'll always remember it very fondly. But I think you've got to be realistic about economic/work/visa issues, too. I've had a number of people contact me with vaguely formed plans about moving to Hamburg -- "I'll just get a job teaching English!" -- and I think those total-seat-of-the-pants days are long gone.

Posted by Kevin at November 27, 2004 12:35 PM