Gutersloh - any info??

[Toffeepop30]

Hi All

Am brand new to this forum!- so please put up with any and all mistakes I make with anything!!!

Need some info in anyone can help me - Dh is deployed on Ops at moment and phoned today to give me the good news that our next posting is gutersloh. We have been far and wide during his career- but never done Germany so although we are not due to go until March - am feeling a little at sea with it all.

We have a daughter who is in year one - two dogs and I am a secondary school teacher. All the usual questions please!! How easy is it to get a job over there - what's the area like / housing - how easy is it to bring the dogs over and is all the paperwork for bank accounts, driving license etc as complicated as it looks?!!

Any and all info appreciated!!
Thanks

dogs are easy. contact your vet to get pet passport organised. assumed they are chipped and rabies vacced anyway, so shouldn't be a problem. just need to get blood tests etc done. (this for ease of travel between countries). plenty of time - need 6mos but get it done now.

children - contact children's education advisory service at upavon. the helpline is great and they will tell you what you need to know re schools.

work was a pita when i was there because of security checks etc but might be better now. unless you are already an sce teacher it is unlikely you will be able to work as a teacher (unless you are intending to work on the german net) as the posts are usually sce tied. (service children's education) i know several teacher friends who have been unable to work o'seas due to the ridiculous sce rules. you'd think they'd be interested in saving themselves some money, but in true mod fashion, they'd rather fork out for additional quartering/ shipping etc, than piggy back onto a serviceman/ woman. hey ho.

whereabouts in gut are you headed? prb or mansergh?

all the other stuff is easy peasy and will be done when you arrive.

gutersloh is lovely. we were at mansergh, lovely small camp, but most of the facilities are at prb. i used to run the thrift shop (memories!)

i think there are some current germany based mners, so they should be able to fill you in on specifics if you have bother..

have fun - it'll be lovely!

If you are on facebook there is a group called Army Married Quarters If you post on that you will get loads of info

Hi Toffee,

we have just come from Paderborn and will be back in Germany in 6 months time. Moving twice in a year but anything for a German posting.....

Driving licence - you need to sit a 'matrix' test to learn about some of the different road rules but its nothing too bad really.

You need to change your headlights once over there but good deals can be found in Sixth Sense magazine or BFG bay. Registering your car with BFG is usually straight forward.

You'll probably will have to register with Sparkasse Bank, they do speak English and a new bank card will arrive swiftly.

Dont forget to apply for Kindergeld - top up from English child benefit

Jobs - because you are British, it will be easier for you to get a job within Army system, us Germans dont have a chance in hell (something to do with paying tax).

Google Guetersloh Hive - lots of info in there.

Any other questions, feel free to ask.

Hi Guys!

Thank you for all the info - From the feedback - it seems to be a good posting?

Is housing decent? I have heard that there are a lot of flats? If so do they come with gardens? - Any pictures of the area / housing would be great
Cheers
xxx :)

there are flats. depends on rank etc etc as per normal. we were in a great 3 bed hiring with a huge 5 room basement as were most of our friends, so can't comment on the flats per se. i do know one family who were very unhappy in their mq (a flat) and did eventually get moved, but i think the flats are pretty spacious. german housing usually is of much higher standard than the uk (or the places we've been anyway!)

Why dont you call the Estate Warden there and ask which areas have the most houses vs flats and put your request in based on that? Thats what we have done, fingers crossed it will all work out.