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Q: My family consists of me, husband and toddler. How friendly are German landlords and neighbors to children? I like to think I keep a firm hand on the behavior of my son, but there is always the inevitable screaming fit every now and again, and we plan to try for another child soon. A: I have heard that the Germans are really nice and that they end up treating the children like their own grandchildren. I have also heard that you either love your landlord, or you hate them. don't worry about crying children, everyone has them or has had them at one point in time. Q: Also, are apartments set up the same as in America? ie, everyone shares a common laundry room? I really hate that. I have looked at your link to the KA on-line to look at rental prices, and have not found many mentions of laundry facilities. Do you know if the apartments usually have laundry hook ups? And also dishwashers, or hookups? A: There aren't really that many apartments like you are thinking, most places house two or three families. All that I have seen have W/D hookups and the base supplies you with a W/D. The only thing you might share is the entrance way or stairwell, or basement with your neighbor. The very outside of the door usually has a buzzer on it that will ring to your house so that you can let your company in. Some places, you have a totally different entrance way than your neighbor. A lot of the places are really one big house that has been broken down in to two or three apartments. Your door might be in the the front and your neighbors door might be in the back. Q: And many of the advertisements say "3 rooms" or "4 rooms", while others say "2 bdrms" or "3 bdrms". Does this imply that a "3 room" apartment is 3 bedrooms, or are they counting total number of rooms in the apartment? A: I am pretty sure that if it says "3 rooms" than that is what it means. I am not 100% sure. Q: Is there a difference between a b.i.k. and a plain old kitchen? And what is a "furnished kitchen"? A: A "b.i.k." means built in kitchen. For some reason, a lot of the houses don't have a nice kitchen. you might luck out and get a nice one because the landlord originally built it for his wife or something.........but if not, you might have to purchase shelves to use as a pantry and cupboards. If they have counters, they usually aren't even attached to the wall. Now don't be scared by this, I have seen both extremes and even in the middle. I just went somewhere this weekend and the house was awesome! It was a single family home, which you don't find too often. The house was very roomy, the kitchen, no lie, was the size of a small to med bathroom. It was so little. She loved the house and thought they could just live with the kitchen, but I think she really hates it. I also went to a friends this weekend and they had a beautiful kitchen, he had built it for his wife (landlord). Kitchens are a really big seller here, they say that people like to design their own kitchen. I know of a military member who bought a kitchen for his house. I don't think that there are too many dishwashers.....sorry. So, I am guessing you will want a "b.i.k." and not just a regular kitchen.  Q: Also, do you have any advice on which town to live in? I notice that Miesenbach listings seem to be cheaper than most of the other advertisements. Is this because it is far from Ramstein, or because it is a bad neighborhood? A: I don't believe there are any bad neighborhoods.......the crime rate is very low over here. Miesenbach is about 3 min from Ramstein. So I guess it just depends on what house you choose as to how much. I would say that Ramstein-Meisenbach would be a great place to live. There are several towns that are very close to Ramstein. I really wouldn't worry about that all too much. Just get here and see what is available and go have a look. Q: What is the difference between a terrace and a balcony? Does terrace imply ground floor apartments? A: I don't know???? Sorry Q: How is the Internet access over there? Can you get unlimited access for a reasonable price? Also, can you get fast access such as cable or DSL? I have gotten quite accustomed to having full-time fast access that I have gotten spoiled. I will hate it if I have to go back to dial-up, but I guess I can live with it if I have to. A: Expensive! I don't know of anyone who has unlimited as far as regular Internet. We pay about $40 for 90 hours a month. We have it through t-online and they used to have unlimited but I guess it got to be too much for them to offer. They do have cable modem on base, we just haven't done it yet. I don't know about off base, but I think you can. Q: Do they have Pennzoil motor oil at the BX gas station. I am very partial to it and am wondering if I need to ship some over there or not. That is all I will use in my vehicles. A: YES they do have Pennzoil Motor Oil! Q: Do they have Michelin tires at the BX gas station for American trucks. If not, I may need to pick some up and put them in my shipment. A: No, they only sell Cooper Tires and you would get them at the Auto Parts Store. Q: How can I obtain a copy of a birth certificate for my child who was born in an American Hospital in Germany? A: I was told by the passport/birth certificate office that all the birth certificates are filed through the USA. Here is an address and phone # for you. Department of the State Passport Services Correspondence Branch 1111 19th Street Washington, DC 20522-1705   (202) 955-0307/0308 Q: Can we bring our fridge and washer and dryer? A: No, I don't believe so. Q: How much of our furniture can we bring? A: You will have to check and see what your housing allowance is. You should be able to ask your supervisor who you need to talk to find out. Q: I have a question about the weather? How cold does it get and how warm? A: It gets cold! It can get into the teens. And the warm weather, I think it might get to 80! Maybe! It starts getting cold in about Aug. and doesn't start getting warm until May. In the summer months when it is warm, sometimes a cold day sneaks in here and there. In the spring and fall, sometimes you will have a really cold day and then sometimes, you put your shorts on. Q: How long is it cold and warm in Germany? People say it's always cold. A: It is cold about 3/4 of the time. Q: Do they have air conditioning in Germany? If they don't, how come? A: No, not in the houses and very few busineses have it either. They don't need it because it is only warm for a little bit in the summer. Q: I would like to know if my daughter is 10 years of age, will she have her own room? I also have a 10 month old A: I belive that the rules for bedrooms are if you have children of different sexes, the oldest must be 5 before you are eligible for another bedroom. If they are the same sex, I believe the oldest must be 9 before you are eligible for another bedroom. Q: I would like to know is the food at a good cost in Germany? A: The commissary food is the normal price that you should be used to. I didn't notice any big change in the pricing. Q: How do you get around in Germany? A: We drive, or there is a shuttle that goes around the bases. There is also a train that you can travel long distance by. Q: How is the school down there for my daughter? A: The schools are good. You can read more about them under schools on the website. Q: I would like to go back to college, how are those in Germany? A: I have listed about the colleges on my website under schools. Q: Did you have trouble finding room for all your furniture? A: We found space for everything although in the living room it was kind of cozy! (2 bdrm) Now that we have a three bedroom, everything is spread out real nice. We have the bigger three bedroom. Q: We are thinking about getting a dining table and chairs and was wondering is dining area good size or will it take away from living area? A: There is a place for the dining room table. Some people use it for that or they put their computer there. It is totally up to you. Some people put their table in the kitchen. There is room for it if one side is pushed up against the wall. You might want to think also that there are tons of places here to buy really nice furniture at an inexpensive price. Belgium! Q: How are the prices on things and is it cheap to travel to different places? A:Yes you can travel everywhere for cheap! You can fly to London for about $70.00. They also have rail passes that are cheap and you can use them for a week. Q: I have 2 sons and my worry is that there isn't going to be enough things for them to do. A:There will be plenty for your boys to do. The facilities on base are very good for the children and there is always something going on. Q: How many floors does base housing have? A: For lower ranking officers and enlisted, the buildings have 3 to 4 floors with 6 to 8 apartments in each stairwell. There are three stairwells to a building. For higher ranking officers, there are two story buildings with one stairwell that house four families. For the even higher ranking officers, there are two story duplexes that of course house 2 families. Each apartment is two story for the duplexes. Q: I am looking for old military buddies, I hope you have some info on the men in my battalion/unit or might direct me to obtain information. A: Sorry, I don't have any information like that. Try posting on the KA website. www.ka-online.de Q: Have you seen any sites that have info on Sembach similar to yours? A: Sembach is the same as here and is about a 15 to 20 min drive from Ramstein. Actually, some people live at Sembach and work at Ramstein and visa versa. Q: Do you know anything about the bases in Hanau? A: I don't know anything about Hanau, but from what I have seen all of the bases in Germany are pretty much the same. Q: What appliances should we bring? A: It is up to you what appliances you bring. (to a certain point. You should be told what you cannot bring, ex. W/D, Fridge) Just remember, whatever you bring, you have to use it on a transformer unless it is multisystem and will work with 220 voltage. You can pick up 220 appliances at yard sales........people are always leaving and getting rid of stuff. Q: How easy is it to get a used car there? A: There are always tons of cars for sale! And you can pick one up real cheap if you don't want to spend a lot of money. We paid $650.00 for a 1984 BMW and it has lasted so far! Q: I asked a friend who is in a GS position living over here a few questions and I thought that her answers would be helpful to you so I posted them here. A: Yes, we had to get a driver's license. Yes, we have access to base, bx, etc..we have civilian id's and are considered id holders. It can be different if you are a contractor but I work in a GS position. The govt pays us a housing allowance...etc, etc. The difficult part is medical care. We have to pay up front and then we are only reimbursed 70% of the cost. Plus it is hard for civilians to get an appt. They treat us like second rate citizens which is awful b/c my job supports the military....stupid......we are all in the same position....working overseas...we face the same hurdles...yet we are treated like crap by the medical community...... Q: What are the web addresses for the travel agencies on base? A: The web address for ITT Travel is www.rtttravel.com And the address for Sato Travel is www.satotravel.com or www.virtuallythere.com   OLD------page 1 - page 2 - page 3 - page 4 - page 5------NEW   Did you make your $1.00 Donation? Click here to help! Home | Customs & Helpful Hints | To Live On or Off base? | Base Housing Information | Base Housing Photos | Off-base Housing Photos | Schools | Phone & Internet | POV Inspection Info | VAT Information | Pet Information | German Holiday's | Q & A's | What Others Have to Say? | Area Photos | Links | Germany Information Message Board, E-mail Group & Chat Room | Currency Exchange Calculator | Have a Question? Ask Here | Site Map