What are the main problems expatriates in Munich face?

[TalkMunichAdmin]

TalkMunich primarily exists to serve the expat community here in Munich and the surrounding regions (and also for Germans who wish to participate).  First and foremost it is an online forum, however it does not need to be limited to a virtual community.  I would like to extend the culture on TM to a more practical level and actually provide real services to people who need them from time to time.  By this I mean pragmatic solutions to forum members who may be struggling in some way for whatever reason. 

Back home, you tend to have a network of family and friends to help you with the little things in life, such as moving house, being at home for the telephone guy while you have to go to work, baby-sitting in an emergency, a loan of a few Euro to fix your broken washing-machine, that sort of thing.  When you move into a new country, suddenly these small things can become major problems and the resultant isolation can make people think twice about their decision to move away from home.  It can really detract from the quality of life and is one of the drawbacks of being an expat.  You just do not have that safety net and support when things go wrong.

I would like to try to use the forum to mitigate this isolation.  Not just by providing a friendly place to chat and discuss things, but also on a more practical level.  So this question goes out to the forum members, whether expat or German: what can TM do to make life easier here for struggling members (expat or German) or those facing an emergency or crisis?

I think there are two ways to approach this.  One is to ask if anyone has any special skills, time or energy to devote to making this community a practical one which helps those who need it.  Another approach is to ask what TM can do by itself.  I am looking for answers for both.

To start the ball rolling, tell me where you think TM can offer practical solutions to help compensate for the potential lack of having family and a circle of friends around to help.
E.g:

• Hardship Fund - should TM provide emergency loans/grants for people needing essential services (e.g. emergency dental treatment, urgent transport to visit sick relatives, etc)
• Temporary Storage - should TM offer cheap/free storage solutions for those in dire straits?
• Accomodation - people sometimes need a place to stay for a few weeks or a month or so until their next apartment is free, should TM help in this
• Social connections - sometimes we just need a friendly introduction to the right people and life becomes easier all of a sudden
• Stress support - provide counseling for those feeling homesick or lonely
• Emergency baby-sitting services - sometimes if you have a young family with you and have no available friends or spare cash, then getting a baby-sitter you trust at short notice can be nearly impossible but totally necessary

The list can go on and on.  I am eager to find out what the expat community would like support for the most.
At this stage I am simply brain-storming, so all suggestions/ideas/comments are welcome.
TM Admin

[Peter]

Have I understood you correctly, are you looking to choose a few key areas to help expats with?  If so, I am impressed at the initiative and think it is a wonderful idea.  It may be expensive.

My choices of important areas to help people with:

• Create a basic document of general Munich do's/don'ts and settling advice - where to register, what companies to choose for services and other things to help newbies to Munich
• Translation services - offer cheap/free services to help people understand their bills
• Accommodation help - maybe keep a list of free rooms and cheap apartments
• Legal advice - if you can get us cheap rates for this with an English-speaking lawyer, then it will be fantastic
• Repatriation help - if someone suddenly loses their job and meeds to return home, then maybe a little help tidying up their contracts, etc before they leave will be a great service.  I think  many people may end up just doing a runner and having difficulty if they ever return to Germany, so leaving the country in the correct manner might be useful

What can I offer this community?  My fantastic socialising skills.  I can water someone's plants while they are on holiday and feed their goldfish. 

Those are just a few ideas.
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[Laneris]

I can assist TM members with problems in  intercultural communication and intercultural relationships. I have MA in European Studies with emphasis on German, UK and Russian cultures.

[Anakin12]

I would think the biggest problem expats face here would be either accommodation issues or work issues.  If you are able to offer English-language services in these areas, then you will cut out a lot of the stress we experience.  Not sure how you are going to do that, unless you put new sites or a section on this site offering jobs and flats for rent.

[bigwig]

I think you need to get the basics right first.  A hardship fund for food should be the first charitable offering.  I suspect many foreign people in Munich fall through the safety net here and can't claim government handouts for a while which leaves them in dire financial trouble.  Giving them emergency food money will be a cheap and effective way to serve the expat community.

[Francis]

Meeting people is always difficult anywhere you go, but especially in a big city and even more so for Munich.  Making it easier to meet friendly people would probably be the single biggest thing you could do for the expat people here.  I know there are events and meetups but is this enough?

[KingCape]

The thing people may need most help with is all the form-filling and that sort of thing.  It would be great to have an expat advisor who can help us fill out forms, deal with the nightmare bureaucracy that exists here.  For example, setting up an internet connection with a provider, utilities, license issues (there is even a thread about this).  It would be very useful.

[maplegirl]

Help with the language would be a good thing to offer. We can have meetings where we only try to speak in German. it could be that people would not want to do this too often as it will be tiring.

[KingCape]

Getting access to products from back home.
We need a good all round generic expat shop here in Munich. Covering food and other essentials from all over the English-speaking world. I am guessing most English-speaking people come from the States or the UK, so perhaps we should focus on those countries first.

[bigwig]

I think the most important what expats would need is the support of a strong community in Germany. The help can include any listed by TM Admin things as well as social contacts and financial help.

[adamicus]

I would say that the biggest problem is language barrier and cultural misunderstandings. The first thing you miss here is your native language TV, radio and friends.

[Maker]

Language problem is the biggest one. Imagine you could speak fluently German and understand everything, it would be wonderful! It takes years of hard work to learn German.  So don't think that just being in a country will eventually make you a fluent German speaker (for newcomers).

[TaxGuy]

To be honest I think that a lot of the newcomer / how to / where to is covered by the SI MUNICH info/survival pack.....then there are the local expat experts like myself who are always offering to help explain such topics as tax/ insurance/ starting businesses etc etc

There is already an english and an aussie shop here - along with numerous russian and greek specialist shops - so no real need for many more......and there is also a delivery service at reasonable price for supermarket shopping from UK.  In fact i think its free when you order over €60 or so.

I agree that some of the worst aspects of moving here would be both the language and the social aspects.....so lets try and help with those areas.

Good topic!!!

[bigwig]

Yet there is still a whole load of things expats have problems with which are not covered. For instance, what can they get from their embassy? What happens if they get caught accidentally on the wrong side of the law. That sort of thing.

[Laneris]

I am totally agree with you. There are so many things that you cannot plan and forsee. One of them is how long  it takes by diffrent official institutions to process your matter. German bureaucracy is notorious, you can wait for work permitt up to 6 weeks!!even if you are already the contry and your contract is signed and your company is waiting for you to start. So, really make note of that.