My Expat Life in Frankfurt, Germany

Frankfurt is a particularly popular city with the Germans, it has a domestic image of being a grey, concrete city with little culture.  John is a British expat in Frankfurt and has lived there for 8 years - he clearly disagrees with the rest.

Q. Where in the UK are you from and, initially, what motivated you to move abroad?
A. Boredom. I was on a pretty uninspiring path in terms of career back in Kent and was looking for a new job, I wasn’t actually looking overseas but stumbled over a position being advertised for an English speaker here in Frankfurt. I had very few ties at the time and it all came together pretty quickly really.

Q. Why Frankfurt?
A. It was simply where the job opportunity came up. I’d never been to Frankfurt before, or Germany at all. Naturally I did a lot of research before committing. It really was a case of ‘why not?’, but I quickly came to love it here.

Q. What do you enjoy most about your life in Frankfurt?
A. I love the fact that it feels like a much bigger city than it actually is, and there are so many aspects to German culture that now feel completely imbedded in me. The social scene here is great, whether you enjoy the hip cocktail bars in the banking district, or the traditional Bierkellers in the old town. For me, the latter is what makes Germany fun. The kellers are full of laughter and good times. I guess it’s the equivalent of the local Pub in England. I also think German food is criminally underrated.

Q. What are the practical challenges?
A. Language. I guess that’s the same for British expats the world over though. Some schools in England teach German I think, but the schools I went to covered French and Spanish. When I arrived I literally didn’t know a single word in German. I’m still a long way from being fluent, I don’t find it an easy language to grasp.

Q. What anxieties did you have about living abroad?
A. When I left, it was moving so far from my parents. But really, apart from that, none. I would have far more anxieties about moving back.

Q. How has expat life benefited you?
A. In many ways. I am far better off financially in the job that I do now. I have made so many interesting friends. You learn so much about the wider world. As a result of the mobility of professional expats, I now have friends that live all over the world doing some incredibly interesting stuff – and I really enjoy that. That is something that I can’t now imagine being without.

Q. Would you consider moving to another overseas location one day?
A. Yes, definitely, and I would like to do that sooner rather than later. Not because I am keen to leave Frankfurt – but because I simply would like to experience the same thing somewhere else.

Q. What does the future hold?
A. If all other things were equal, then I’d like to move to somewhere warmer. That is one box that Germany doesn’t really tick. Realistically, with the line of work that I’m in, South East Asia or the Middle-East are the feasible ones. We’ll see. There are no specific plans yet.