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Frankfurt conjures up images of financial institutions. That, plus the standard imagery of the city's skyline, makes for a single minded carricature. Frankfurt is very varied city. It is probably Germany's most cosmopolitan city with more than it's fair share of foreign influences, languages and palates. And that makes for an exciting mix! That said, you better brush up on your German before embarking for any German city, including Frankfurt.
Living in Frankfurt is not cheap. Rentals are calculated per square meter, like office space. As in the rest of Germany rents run hot and cold. As everywhere, location is what determines the price. This means that Sachsenhausen and the Westend are the most expensive. They offer a superb living experience though.
A 3 bedroom, 2 bath appartment in a quiet sidestreet of the Bergenstrasse can cost around EUR1,450 cold or EUR1,700 warm. To that you would typically have to add a garage. At the time of this writing there were no hauses for rent in Bornheim, so we looked at comparable Sachsenhausen, in search of a family house. We did find some, but be prepared to spend some serious money: between EUR3,000 for a 4 bed, 4 bath in the wrong area of Sachsenhausen to EUR5,500 (cold) for a 4 bed, 2 bath villa of 260 m² in a better area.
You could opt for a "Fachwerkhaus" with mature garden and experience authentic feel of living in a place that was built in 1806. For EUR1,100 (cold) you get a 3 bed, 3 bath in Sachsenhausen South.
Working
Working in Germany means punctuality is paramount, and so is the dress code. No casual Fridays here. Staff efficiently fills a 7.5 hour day, but management is gyrating towards American work practices. This used to be different until as recently as 2000. Until then, after the required time in the office, come what may, people left the office. If you're working in the financial circles, you will find many of the working practices you are used to when working in other international locations. Going into the non-financial sectors though, you will need to adjust to the German way of doing things. This means no first name basis, not too much job hopping and the expectation that you will build long term business relationships.
Schooling
Inner city schools contain a mix of germans, turkish and eastern european children. Kids up to 6 years old will pick up basic German in a say 6 months, but there it may be another language. You will find English tuition at the international school, where there is the expected body of American, British and Japanese children. This one, as well as the German preparatory schools charge tuition.
The "free" schools are by no means bad, although in the inner cities you would do well to carefully investigate the level of education and whether the school atmosphere matches your expectations.
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