Servus,
I am writing this from a region of Germany known to many foreigners as the real Germany. It is called Bavaria. Although it only makes up a part of Germany, many German stereotypes find their home here. The leather pants, Oktoberfest, wheat beer, white sausages, blonde men with big bellies, blond girls with big boobs, the Nazi party and did I mention beer? So I moved to Munich after just a year in Frankfurt. It is not that I really wanted to go to Bavaria. Like many people, especially from the Rhineland, I have some thoughts about the prototypical Bavarian in my mind: He or she is deeply Catholic, not only talking in a weird dialect but being proud of it and forcing it on others, living in strong cliques and showing their status through materialistic possessions. Well, ehm, thinking about it, this applies to us from the Rhineland too. Just exchange Oktoberfest with Karneval and you got the same deal. We too have our special beer and food and are terribly proud of our dialect. Yet, it is so much fun to reply a merchant demanding that you order a “Fleischpflanzerl” instead of what you said with “Ne, isch will en Frikadell im Brötscha, dau hel” (have fun with Google Translate on this one). So I decided to throw all prejudices overboard and just see and feel this small town with its many churches and christmas markets. So far I can say the following:
- Prices for apartments are ridiculous (downtown ~15€ per sqm + provision)
- There are not many Bachelor pads on the market this time before christmas
- You hear at least as many languages on the street as in Frankfurt – but way less Turkish
- People are actually friendly (so far)
- Some suits are just as annoying as in Frankfurt, but at least there are less of them here
- I don’t speak this city’s language yet. Both in terms of tone and dialect
- Even if you make 10.000€ a month, you will still be one of the poor
There are some Internet portals for meeting people. Both for dating or activities. But in order to make use of them, you have to pay. Seems like this city wants all of your money. And it also seems people take care not to live close to foreigners, especially of Turkish decent. Two times I heard already that it is good that there are not many foreigners around – I beg to differ. Dönerbuden are quality of life, so are the little corner shops and I have yet to see a kiosk or watering hole in Munich. Back in Koblenz, I witnessed a traffic accident and the only ones that really helped were those running out of sport betting clubs and all night Turkish cafés. So why is it bad again to live around foreigners? I yet have to learn a real reason.
But let’s go back for a second to moving out of Frankfurt. I had to leave my perfect shared apartment behind me. Not only the apartment but also its people. This not only meant to carry my stuff down four flights, but also to drive a big car down to Munich. Here’s an impression of packing up my possessions:
Taken the night before the move
Carrying down the stuff, boxes and dismantled furniture was only possible with friends and a roommate. Thank you all, this was the last flat without a lift, I promise.
After driving down the road in half-darkness through torrents of wet snow and rain (which didn’t affect my manliness at all – I drove strong and fast and manly) I arrived somewhere in Munich, asked for directions, made a u-turn and drove to where I needed to go. With the help of my sister and a friend I hauled my stuff into a self-storage compartment. One day later I returned to move the stuff again, this time to a smaller compartment. If my mum would still be there, she would have told how stupid I am to do it alone. But I prevailed over my strained back and lack of will and moved it. Because I am so terribly proud to have fit contents of a 19sqm room into a 3sqm compartment, I had to take a picture of it. I couldn’t have done it without my massive Tetris skills. Thanks GameBoy and Alex Pajitnov
Compression rate: Very high (takes longer to decompress)
Contents of this compartment:
- 140x200cm mattress
- 20” LCD
- midi tower PC
- 8 boxes
- two mountain bikes
- 140x200cm slatted frame
- stuff in bags
- more stuff in more bags
- two sideboards
- glass media panel
- dismantled shelfs
- more stuff
So I’m sitting here now, hunting for apartments and thinking about how to meet new people in this big, anonymous city. So far I decided the best way to do it is to sit in a comfortable chair and googling for poetry slams, activities partners and such. I am sure I’ll find the right crowd there, those stuck up social failures singing in tune with me. The fitting meme would be: Forever alone. So that’s it for now. I thank all of my Frankfurt friends for a great year. I learned that the city has more to offer than arrogant snobby, pushy and loud bankers, lawyers, sons and daughters of rich people, drug addicts, cheap whores or grumpy Hessians. Of course, there are many of the aforementioned, but there are also very good people. 
Yeah Munich, here I cooohooome aaamm!
