British expat Simon muses about drift and determination in Munich’s expat circles and finds that many of his expat friends have decided not to move to the UK again once their job has come to an end. So what attracts a British expat to life in Germany?

As I ordered a burrito in Taco Libre the other day, a lady who works there asked me if was staying in Munich for good. I was already in conversation with her colleague who had spotted I wasn’t native (it isn’t hard) and asked where I was from. She recognised me as a regular customer and joined in. Both of them had lived in London, him in bustling Kings Cross with its lively night life. She talked more about Twickenham and the leafy West, where her friends had once lived on a house boat on the Thames. Both had a lot of good things to say about London, but agreed that life in Munich was a lot more pleasant.

It is, but to stay here for good? – It’s a common enough question, along with ‘Don’t you miss London?’ and ‘How’s your German these days?’, but I still don’t have a great answer for it (nor the others). “I dunno”.

It’s not fashionable in expat circles to get sentimental about your homeland and particularly amongst the English in Munich. England can seem a bit gloomy compared with the sparkling good life in Bavaria. The cleanliness, efficiency and alpine scenes all seem a world away from run down Britain with her riots and economic hardships. Why complain? Perhaps the gloss of continental life to an Englishman can best be illustrated by a friend of mine who lost his job out here and described his intentions to a group of us out sunning ourselves in a beer garden. With limited German he knew a return to Blighty was the most logical step, yet resolved that his only criteria for a new job was ‘Anywhere but back to England’ – we all knew what he meant.

Of course, it’s not just the English who seem to find themselves drawn to longer stays in Munich, or indeed to an extended life on the road. Munich is full of foreigners. Many of them have spent long periods living ambassadorial-type existences, shipping possessions, lives and often families between foreign postings. Mostly, these one-posting-to-the-next expats seem to thrive on this style of existence and appear more broad-minded for their experiences as well as genuinely optimistic. They have kicked sentimentality about where to live out of their lives and are enjoying the limitless possibilities this affords them. Also, nearly all of them have a plan. Moving has become a routine, but you get the sense that they are in control of where it is they will finally end up.

Perhaps more common are the long-termers who for one reason or another find they never leave. Here you tend to find the odd bit of nostalgia pop into conversation once in a while. You get the sense that they are here through drift as much as choice and maybe do have their regretful moments. Munich sure is a tough place to leave.

I myself would like to make a decision, rather than just drift into it; though after nearly two years I’m not sure I am any closer to having a better answer to the lady’s question. There are some great practical reasons to stay in Munich. If you have the choice, a life in Munich is a great offer. Yet over time my sentiment for London and England grows. I have started to watch more English tele, to wake up thinking about friends at home, to pine after an all-day breakfast with proper bacon! And I have a nasty feeling these are sentiments that will only grow, which is a shame really, because I bet I’d miss Bavaria twice as much if I went back home.

Thank you Simon Goodall for your contribution to our blog.

Photos 3&4 courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The Munich InterNations Community’s May Event took place at the stylish club P1. With 1,334 people on the guest list from 87 different nationalities – the highest number in InterNations history – the Event was quite a hit!

Located behind the famous Munich Haus der Kunst, the P1 club is renowned among the party-loving Munich residents for its weekend parties and celebrated DJs who frequent the place on a regular basis. The club owners and bartenders as well as bus boys were incredibly helpful and courteous to the InterNations team and the guests. They managed to serve the over 850 attendees delicious cocktails and a refreshing fruity welcome drink of Prosecco & schwarze Dose, an energy drink, which seemed to have gotten the already high spirits even higher!!
The festivities began outdoors under several “funnel umbrellas” with a DJ playing the latest hits. The mood was set by the different colored floodlights shining into the slowly darkening sky.

As hands were shaken, glasses clinked, names spelled out and pronounced, name tags scrutinized and flags discerned, one began to feel the spirit of InterNations. A myriad of languages was spoken and laughter resounded off the museum’s brick walls. People were discussing work, life abroad, their families and friends, their home cultures and pretty much anything under the sun, finding common interests and tastes!

Armin Krusko from Bosnia and Marie Aziz from Ireland, manned the Newcomers Desk, introducing new members to each other and enabling them to get a feel for InterNations. It was also interesting to see that not so long ago, two InterNations members were then also newcomers in Düsseldorf, and are now married. One of the evening’s success stories!

InterNations Ambassadors from other Communities were also in attendance. Among others, Silvia Scheibenbogen, the Brisbane Ambassador, and Jamie Collinsworth from the United States, the soon-to-be Ambassador of the new Nurnberg Community, took quite a delight in the party atmosphere.

Spirits were not dampened when the forecast thunderstorms and “mini-monsoon” hit the P1 guests hard! Despite wet feet and frizzy hair, the party carried on way into the early morning hours, naturally having moved onto the dance floors of the catacombs that are P1.

InterNations founders Philipp von Plato and Malte Zeeck mingled with the guests, greeting new and old faces. Unfortunately Munich Ambassador Patrick Kessler was away on a business trip in China, but his co-Ambassador Patrick Brennan took charge and made sure everyone felt comfortable.

All in all, thanks to those who came and those who helped organize it, this was one cracking Event! We hope to see everyone who attended and many more at future InterNations Munich Expat Community Events – and to the other InterNations Communities out there: let’s try to reach that record high too!!!

Photos courtesy of InterNations and Wikimedia Commons.

This is not the title of the German remake of “Pelham 123″ about the hijacking of a Munich underground train. Rather, the mysterious code denotes the floors in our office building which are now occupied by InterNations! Yes, InterNations is moving ahead – or should we say “moving up”, given that our new offices have moved upstairs.

With a constantly growing team, we felt the need for more space quite urgently already some months ago. Soon after the decision to acquire additional floor space in our building had been made, the planning process began, and it didn’t take long for us to get properly excited about the impending move. Considering that only a few years ago, a couple of rooms were sufficient to accommodate the whole InterNations team, this is quite a step forward.

Some of you might remember reading about the BMW prize draw at the InterNations Munich event last December, which took place at the BMW showrooms to mark the start of our global partnership with Bavaria’s premium car manufacturer. InterNations members who registered for the event online were prompted to put their name down for the raffle at the same time. The winner was drawn at the event itself and walked away with a voucher for a BMW X3 Winterfreude “ski & drive” weekend for two in Saalbach/Hinterglemm in Austria. As announced previously, the lucky winner was Luigi from Italy!

Luigi and his friend and fellow InterNations Munich member Livio received their own BMW X3 for the weekend, which they drove all the way to Saalbach on Friday night. The picturesque little village in the Austrian Alps didn’t strike them as the most exciting and inspiring place on earth, but it was certainly a perfect location for a pleasant and relaxed winter weekend. Well, given their busy schedule for the next day, it’s just as well that there is no big night out to be had in Saalbach: After a bright and early start on Saturday morning, Luigi and Livio were let loose on the BMW xDrive track. They spent the whole morning test driving various BMW models in difficult off-road conditions and learning about the technology and different features of the cars. Luigi, who is originally from Rome in Italy, described driving on snow and ice as “a totally new and interesting experience”.

The afternoon was dedicated to skiing – the ski pass was included in the prize. Both experienced and enthusiastic skiers, Luigi and Livio weren’t deterred by the overcast skies and tried all the best slopes in what is after all one of Austria’s most famed skiing resorts. And to complete what had already been an almost perfect day, even the sun put in an appearance half-way through the afternoon! The delicious 6-course dinner in the evening was well-deserved and a worthy conclusion to their eventful day.

All in all, the two friends had a great time in Saalbach, and Luigi would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at BMW and InterNations who was involved in making this possible! When asked what he enjoyed most about the weekend, Luigi couldn’t make up his mind at first. He was full of praise for the smooth organisation by BMW, the hotel and the delicious food, but in the end he decided on something else: The best thing about his weekend was that it provided him with the rare opportunity to take some time out and get away from the every-day for a little while. As he confessed in an email to us: “I’m really missing those moments in Austria”. And, let’s be honest, wouldn’t it be hard to top a raffle prize that gives you the chance to spend some quality time away with a good friend?

(Photos courtesy of BMW, Luigi and Wikimedia Commons)

Rafaela, our social media marketing intern, attended her first InterNations event last week. It looks like she had a great time…

Oh Baby! was my first InterNations event, and I’m sure I will never forget it. I am from Austria and moved to Munich in January, when I started my internship at InterNations. Since I couldn’t make it to the InterNations event in January, I was pretty excited to finally attend one of the official monthly gatherings. The February get-together took place on Wednesday 23rd from 8:00 p.m. onwards at Baby! – one of the best known and most exclusive clubs in the city. As some of my work colleagues had to help out at the event that night, I met up with another member of the InterNations Munich community in front of the club: Gabrielle, who is also from Austria, and I got to know each other through the InterNations network some weeks ago.

When we entered the club at around 9:00 p.m., I was quite impressed by how many people had shown up.The venue was crowded and all guests were engaged in animated conversation. People were chatting, drinking, dancing and exchanging phone numbers, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I can’t deny that I was amazed by how many expats there are in Munich. As I found out today, nearly 350 members from many different nations had attended the event! Even though the location appeared a little bit small at times to hold such a big function, I think the evening was a great success. My friend and I certainly had a good time and got to know other global minds and expats from all around the world.

Now that I have attended my first InterNations event, I can say that I had a great night out and that I’m happy to be part of the InterNations team and the InterNations community in Munich. I love to meet exciting and like-minded people and I’m already looking forward to the next event!

Photos courtesy of Hagen von Deylen

Some weeks ago, we used this space to introduce our new colleagues who joined the InterNations team in Munich at the beginning of the year. As the recruiting process continued (yes, we will soon be able to welcome even more new members to our team!), work space had suddenly become a major issue in our offices. The continuing growth of our Editorial and Ambassador & Event teams made the need for an office expansion ever more pressing. At the end of the day, there are only so many desks you can squeeze into one room without creating a slightly crammed and oppressive atmosphere…

After several weeks, months even, of contemplating the pros and cons of an office move and searching for suitable locations, the solution to the problem turned out to be closer at hand than we first thought: We were offered the possibility to acquire additional floor space by the property manager of our current office building! So… no disruptive move, no new contact details, email signatures or business cards: The InterNations Headquarters remain where they are, but the office is growing – just like the team. Admittedly, this is not as thrilling as moving somewhere new, but it’s causing quite enough excitement for us already. What will the new lounge look like? Where is the new conference room going to be? And might it be possible to shift the editorial office to the sunny south side of the building? We shall see…

(Picture: Wikimedia, used under a creative commons licence)

It was indeed this popular Christmas hit that happened to be on the radio when all team members were crammed into the back of a rental mini-bus, heading for the Tegernsee, a lake resort and popular recreation area in the Bavarian Alps. The weather gods, however, didn’t need any extra encouragement. It had been snowing all over Germany for the past few days, and many a nervous driver on the motorway south seemed to be less than excited about the current road conditions. Despite the continuous snowfall, we did make it to the Wallberg more or less on time. With a height of 1,700 metres, this mountain may be a mere dwarf compared to other peaks and ranges in the Alps, but it does boast the distinct advantage of featuring Germany’s longest toboggan run. As soon as we had reached the summit via the gondola lift and warmed up a little with a cup of mulled wine from the panorama restaurant, we grabbed our sledges, and down we went.

Everyone who might have thought that such an activity was for kids only was quickly disabused of that notion. The first part of the ride was indeed a bit of an adventure, due to the strong wind and the dense flurry of snow-flakes blurring our sight. Sometimes, it was even difficult to spot where the piste ended and the steep slopes down the mountain began. But in contrast to some anxious or black-humoured predictions, nobody ended up at the bottom of a ravine by accident — although a few knees were bruised and clothes got soaking wet when one or the other racer failed to notice a pothole or toppled into a snowdrift. Halfway down the mountain, however, the slope led to the forest road, where the path was wider and the air between the snow-capped fir-trees was icy, but calm. After about 45 minutes, even the slowest and most overcautious team members had made it all the way down to the gondola base station. Now we were all desperate for a cozy room and a hot drink, though!

But first, we had to huddle together in the car and return to Munich, where we had booked a table at The Big Easy , the popular New Orleans-style bar and restaurant in town. Instead of proper starters, soup, hot chocolate, Bailey’s coffee or tea were suddenly all the rage, but soon everyone felt warm and comfy enough to look forward to the delicious food: Jamabalaya, gumbo, blackened chicken breast, juicy steaks, seafood, and other specialities of Southern cuisine were waiting for us. After the first bites from the mouth-watering delicacies, we deeply regretted that the helpings were so generous. There would be no room left in our stomachs to try any of the tempting options on the dessert menu!

However, there was still time for a round of cocktails and the Secret Santa Gift Exchange, a great opportunity to see how well we know our colleagues and how creative we are when it comes to choosing Christmas presents. All in all, it was a perfect occasion to get into the holiday mood together and to say good-bye to our current intern Bence (who also took the photos) since he’ll be going back to university in Hungary soon.

Visiting one of our InterNations events in Munich always feels like playing on home turf to me. The local InterNations Community is big in numbers (we have almost ten thousand members in south-east Germany), and the members have a great community spirit, too.

For the November Get-Together, we had to limit the guest list to 500 participants. The venue we chose, the Paradiso Tanzbar, is smaller than the usual clubs and bars where our Munich events take place. Paradiso is the “in-place” of night-life in Munich at the moment. Owner Jürgen Maier has managed to create an exclusive club for the 30-45 year old crowd. Here, you will find the trendy avant-garde of Munich’s older party scene – those who don’t feel comfortable in some of the usual posh places with young whipper-snappers showing off their magnum bottles of champagne which they just bought with daddy’s credit card. The Paradiso used to be a gay strip club in the Munich’s most liberal neighbourhood, the Glockenbachviertel. Today, however, it has the look and feel of a classy 1920s nightclub with red velvet, plush, and crystal chandeliers, and a reputation for gaudy 1970s / 80s retro flair. It’s always packed on week-ends, and it’s hard to find approval from the stern-looking bouncers.

Tonight, though, it is the exclusive venue for our November InterNations event. Members from over 50 different nations are happy to enter the club, and the cozy atmosphere quickly helps them to mix and mingle. I spot many familiar faces, but also a lot of new arrivals, who are thronging around the newcomers’ desk, which is being managed by Oliver Detjen and Rachel Senior, two long-term InterNations members, tonight. They make all new guests feel immediately welcome by answering all their questions and introducing them to each other.

Whereas one of the two Patricks, the famous Munich Ambassador team from the States, is currently out of town on a business trip, Patrick Kessler is greeting every single member personally and thus helps everyone to start off the evening nicely. By 9pm, there is already a long queue at the door. At least our Albatross Members enjoy quick and easy access through the Albatross Entrance.

When around 22.30 the DJ turns up the volume, the general socializing turns into a roaring party. Old classics and a few newer chart hits lure everyone onto the dance-floor; just a few tired folks are relaxing in the red satin cushions of the VIP lounge. There is a great vibe, and our members are really getting closer to each other. The Italian consultant is dancing with the French teacher, the Irish party-queen with the Latino salsa king. The mood is definitely exuberant right now! The party goes on until 3 am in the morning and many members might have a tough time going to work on the next day. I, for one, feel that I might have needed a little more sleep since I’ll be back at the InterNations office at 9 o’clock sharp. But then, the get-together has indeed been worth it…!

(Thanks to InterNations member and professional photographer Hagen von Deylen, who braved the crowd to get all his incredible pictures from that night!)

Since our fast-growing international community went online almost exactly two years ago, on September 11 2007, both the InterNations team and its members around the world are looking forward to our second birthday party. Or, to be more precise, to our second anniversary parties.

Of course, the main event is going to take place in Munich, our founding city. Here we are currently busy rolling out the red carpet, polishing the champagne glasses and planning special treats for a glamorous Friday night with the biggest, longest and best party of all.

At least another fifteen cities all over the globe, however, have also scheduled their monthly events on the same date, from Brisbane and Shanghai over Milan, Madrid and Lisbon all the way to Ottawa and Rio. So we will be able to toast the success of our vibrant network and share the celebratory spirit with as many international party-goers as possible.

We’re eagerly awaiting next week, watching the number of confirmed attendants on our guestlists climb: 210 for Munich alone, and many more to come…

With the temperatures rising to a record high of 36 °C, the sweltering heat transformed Munich’s inner city into a veritable oven. The sweat-soaked urbanites were desperate to escape to shady beergardens, nearby lakes, air-conditioned ice-cream parlours or — if they were fortunate enough to be InterNations members — to one of the coolest and hottest events in town.

Owing to popular demand, our local Ambassador team, Patrick (Brennan) & Patrick (Kessler), had decided to revisit Munich’s inofficial holiday beach as this month’s venue. Every summer, the Nektar opens its exclusive beach club on the Praterinsel, and last night, over 400 InterNations members and their friends, a new record number of global minds from Myanmar to Mali, had the opportunity of revelling in some quasi-tropical feeling right in the middle of the River Isar. Basking in the warm air of a clear summer night and sipping at their ice-cold Cuarenta y tres con leche welcome drinks, the guests were lounging on the white leather furniture or crowding the dancefloor in the adjacent bar until after three o’clock in the morning.

If the InterNations Munich event in September, our upcoming Birthday Party, should turn out to be at least as successful, we’ll be celebrating the second anniversary of our international community with a definite bang!

(Special thanks to our photographer Hagen von Deylen for the pictures! You can see the rest in our photo gallery.)