Any Munich mums out there?

[cheechymunchy]

Me, DH and DS (2) will be moving to Munich in next three months or so. We want to rent a house in a nice area, within about 20 drive of the city. Any suggestions on good/friendly areas to live, plus any other useful information on what it's like in Munich? Don't want to be in the middle of nowhere with the little one, and really want to make friends when we arrive. Thanks!

I think people here like and expect things to be well organised and in general things are well planned and well organised. Personally I would say that Germany feels more organised than the UK but I don't know how to explain that really. They don't have this tendancy to just muddle through that I think is probably very English but seem to place a lot of importance on doing things the "right way". It takes a while to get used to that because at first it can seem unnecessarily rigid.

My initial impression when I came here from London was that it seems cleaner, feels safer and more prosperous perhaps because the majority of people seem (wild generalisations here of course) better dressed and more groomed.It'll be interesting to hear all your news when you get here.

What's happening with your accommodation. Will you have to organise it yourself or will your dh's company do that for you?

I'd forgotten about Korea, sorry!

We've got to find our own accommodation. Very daunting when we don't know the place. DH is moving out there in two weeks time (back at weekends) so will start looking then. I've been firing off requests on all sorts of expat sites to advice on areas. It's so hard to get a feel for somewhere when you've never visited...

I'll probably have to bend your ear on some of the most pernickety (sp?) things like, where the hell do I get nappies from!

You can get everything here no problem, especially in a big place like Munich. They have drugstore type shops here which sell babyfood and nappies, formula, etc. They're called Schlecker or Drospa round here and you find them all over. You can buy them in supermarkets too, so don't think you'll be wringing out cloth nappies all day!

Maybe your dh's secretary or some colleagues will be able to recommend areas to you which are convenient to his workplace but nice for families with small children.