Germany

My Father in law was stationed in Germany and my wife spent most of her childhood there. My uncle was also stationed in Germany. Because we are Canadian, none of them lived in Landstuhl, but still some basics.

Get up to date on all your shots etc. You can get it done over there, but you will be getting acclimatised, so it will be less stressful to do it here.

You can take your puters and get a volt converter. But do you have a laptop or desktop - if you don't have a laptop, get one. You don't want to spend the money and risk shipping a big ole desktop.

Banking - check and see if the branch you deal with now has branches in or around Landstuhl. The big banks will, the smaller regional ones won't.

Places to visit - well the distances around Europe are not so vast, you can visit the whole continent. Can't miss Ocktoberfest in Munich, if you like beer and polka. Austria is scenic. Northern Italy isn't that far either.

Driving - depends on whether you need to. Most countries have some sort of International drivers license that will do for a while, but eventually you would have to get licensed in Germany, and they are very strict about licensing. Gas is very expensive. If you can get by on transit, and sightsee by plane or rail, you might be better off in the end. But of course, if you do get to drive there are no speed limits on the autobahn.

I am presuming your contractor is working for the USAF? Check and see what access you would have as a civilian contrator to base facilities.

Good luck.

James

I can't verify all the information is current, but this is a good page on moving pets to Germany:

http://www.coyotecom.com/germany/basics.html

ExPats in Germany
http://www.german-way.com/expat.html

US Diplomatic Mission to Germany:
http://www.usembassy.de/

US State Department Living Abroad Tips:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/living/living_1243.html

Sorry I missed your phone call hun, but I've been up to my eyeballs in some work-related issues. Please feel free to use me as a professional reference. You have my work email and phone numbers.

If it's for more than a month rent somewhere, you can get cheap hotels but the rooms are so small you are out every night to avoid the walls pressing in you. Alcohol is a good cure for that, but soon eats up any cost saving you were making living in a cupboard, not to mention eating out every night.
Get some medical insurance as well. I got hurt and had to pay to get sorted out, cash on the spot.
Try to sort out as much as you can in advance of getting there, if you find out you've been ripped off you can sort it out, but you will get ripped off if you are running around with three suit cases and a panic stricken expression on your face.
PS I did it for 18 months and I'd do it again, it was great.
Driving I'd think about generally the public transport systems in europe (discounting the dear old U Of K) are very good.

Unless you have a high income you will be put in a sickness fund (Krankenkasse) automatically. There are private insurance schemes for high-income people but I found it more convenient to join a sickness fund voluntarily. Being in a sickness fund will give you access to almost every GP, from whom you can get transferred at need to a specialist.

So what going on with this Elf? We're all dying to know.