Receiving HHG and UB

Receiving your HHG and UB in Germany can be a little overwhelming. All these boxes coming into the house and people that don't speak English constantly asking "where does this go?" If you don’t know any German you might want to try to learn these words: bedroom, kitchen, living room, office, bathroom, 1^st floor, 2^nd floor, one, two , three and four. Most Germans speak English but if they don’t speak it they usually understand it. But that is not the case for all of them. You may have movers that can’t understand anything and you will have boxes in all the wrong rooms.  They might offer to unpack everything, mine did not, meaning they will take everything out of a box and lay it on the floor leaving you with a huge mess! Take your time unpacking your items. You can schedule a time later for the moving company to come back and pick up the boxes and paper. 

Once they unload everything it's time to sign away! Be sure to read all the paperwork before signing it. If you have a high value item list make sure you have physically seen all those items before you sign for it. When my movers came they helped me unpack a few boxes to find those high value items. Make sure you ask the movers to also put tables, chairs, and beds together. They may not do it unless you ask. If you have broken furniture do not throw it away. You have to keep all broken and damaged items for the claims process. Unfortunately you have to keep it until the claims process is finished.  

My HHG and UB were delivered on the same day. They should unload one shipment and have you sign papers for it then unload the second shipment. It's important to keep the 2 shipments separate in case something is damaged. You'll need to know if it came from HHG or UB. Also, just a small tip or reminder, make sure you unwrap everything in the box. I accidentally threw out my spoon rest that was tightly wrapped in the bottom of a box. 

Tipping the movers is not necessary but is often done. Providing water and maybe a snack is a good way to go!  

German bank account

Everyone moving to Germany will need a German bank account. Don't worry, this doesn't mean you have to go off post to a local German bank where you don't understand anything. There are 2 banks offered to military, Service Credit Union and Community Bank which is also Bank of America (this is not the same as the state side Bank of America). To have a cell phone account or to pay a landlord for rent you will need a German bank account. You will need to open an account to pay internet, home phone and electric bills. German companies will not accept transfers from state side back accounts. This is very easy to do and should be something you do very soon after arriving! If you don't have an account open then you cannot get a cell phone plan or set up internet! Go to one of the banks and let them know you just arrived and need to set up a new account. They obviously do this with everyone so it will be quick and easy! When paying bills some companies will do an automatic withdraw or you can bring the bill into the bank and fill out a form that will in return send money to the company you owe. You won't need to go into the utilities company to pay a bill. Just remember, if your paychecks are being sent to your stateside bank account then you'll need to transfer money to the German account every month to keep the bills covered!

VAT forms

In Germany there is a 19% tax on everything. With a VAT form you can have that % removed from some items you purchase. VAT forms are given to military service members or any DOD (department of defense) employees. You can have 10 VAT forms at one time. You have to go to the tax office and buy them. If you use 5 of your 10 VAT forms you can go back in a buy 5 more. VAT forms are great for buying expensive items such as furniture, grandfather clocks, Cookoo clocks, dirndl, lederhosen and can even be used on cell phone plans. Not all businesses will accept them but be sure to ask before you purchase something. Buying VAT forms is better in bulk. The more you buy (up to 10) the better deal you are getting. VAT forms can be used for purchases up to 2,500 Euro. If you have something to purchase that cost more than that then you have to get a different VAT form. Go to your tax office and ask them what you'll need to do. We have not used one yet but I'm pretty sure you'll need a per-purchase agreement. 

These VAT forms can only be used in Germany. So if you go off to Poland and want to purchase a bunch of Polish pottery then you'll have to pay their tax. But here is something you could try! While in Amsterdam this weekend, we had to go to the customs office in the airport and it listed that you could get VAT forms. So if you knew you were going to purchase something very expensive you could try to find a customs office in the country you are going to see if you can get one.

VAT forms also have about a billion different pages attached together. The yellow copy goes to the business, the pink copy you keep and the white copy needs to be returned to the VAT/tax office. If you never turn in those white sheets then you can't purchase more VAT forms. There are also other pages that are filled out by the business. Most of them have done it before and know exactly what to do. If they've never done it before, don't worry, it's also written in German. 

Hubs and I always have VAT forms in the car and one in my purse! You never know when you could use one. And when you do purchase them, the VAT office will explain them for you!

Cell Phones, Internet, Cable

You need to be prepared to be a little confused when deciding how to go about getting all three of these things. Just go ahead and know it might take a while and a lot of question asking!

There are four different cell phone companies, TKS, T-mobile (aka Telekom or Deutsche Telekom), Vodafone, and O2. All of these companies have different plans that you will need to research to figure out what works best for you and your family. Some of them have home phone, internet and cell phone services all packaged together, but you don't have to get them together. Make sure to ask about calling back to the states either from a cell phone or house phone. Most of them will allow unlimited calls to the states from a land line for around 5 euro a month. Don’t jump into a plan just because you want a phone; be sure to understand the contract. Ask about military, deployments, month to month plans or 2 year plans. Know all your options before signing a contract.

Be prepared to wait a LONG time for internet if you are living off post in a private rental. Not all companies can service the small villages. Your best bet is to go to T-mobile for internet, they are the largest company and can usually service all locations (usually, not all the time). The day you pick your house be sure to sign up for internet and home phone. It can take weeks before a technician can come to the house to hook it up. Even if you’re not moved into your house yet, go set it up! Lucky for me this is how all these posts came about…. 5 weeks without internet!

Remember you are living in a foreign country, all of your letters and mail from phone and internet companies will be written in German. Be sure you translate them (use Google translate or a neighbor) they usually have some kind of important information in them such as a company can’t service where you live… after you’ve waited a week. Yup, it happened to us.

As for cable... we do not have cable. If you can live without it then there really is no point in paying for it. Since I don't have cable I don't know all the ins and outs about it, but to get AFN and all 11 or 12 channels it offers you have to have a decoder box and those can cost up to $200. You will also need a satellite. If you move into a house that previously had a military family it might already have a satellite. We do not have one which means we'd have to buy one. And they can be quite expensive so we have opted out of having cable. TKS does offer a cable package with more channels than AFN. I don't have much information on that but just ask different companies when you get here. If you choose not to get cable you can watch TV shows on ProjectfreeTV.com. The post library also has a large selection of DVD and TV shows that can be rented. 

Getting a cell phone is usually first priority. You will have no way of contacting anyone without a phone. If you don't feel comfortable setting up a plan you can always get a pay as you go phone from the PX. You add any amount of money to the phone and use it until you need to add more. Pay as you go phones work great from some people who don't use it much, or that teenager who might run up a bill ;)

My husband and I have a phone plan through O2 and internet through T-mobile. We originally wanted internet with O2 as well but they could not service where we lived. Just remember to be patient, it's normal to wait a few weeks for internet.

Housing

Housing information is the one thing everyone wants to know but will vary depending on where you are being stationed and your sponsors rank and number of dependents. I will tell you how housing works here at Vilseck/Grafenwoehr. I'm sorry for those of you being stationed somewhere else, if things are run differently then I can't help much here. But maybe it's done the same way throughout Germany. 

There are three types of housing: On post housing, which is physically on post. Off post government leased housing, which is still owned and maintained by the post itself just outside the gates. And private rental housing, which is rented out through a landlord. Some locations have a rule that E6 and below and a few other ranks such as commanders can live on post then all others can live in government leased housing depending on availability. On post and off post government leased housing have both 110V and 220V plugs. So lucky you, you get to use all your American appliances. I have heard there are not enough 110V to plug in all your American appliances so you will still need some adapters and maybe a transformer. In smaller locations, like Vilseck, the off post housing may have nothing available and will send you to private rental. A private rental house is still through housing but you will search through listings of houses on the economy that are for rent from a landlord. This can be a little frustrating due to the language barrier of landlords and the distance. A lot of private rental houses are anywhere from 10-40 minutes away from post. But it is ultimately your decision if you want to drive that far. Make a list of pros and cons of the houses you look at and decide what will work best for your family. 

Most people want to know their chances of living on post before they get here. My husband and I were approved for a 3 bedroom government leased house before we arrived. We thought we would then for sure live in a government leased house. We are now in a private rental. Don't get your heart set on a location or type of house because it will likely change. 

If you are coming to Vilseck/Grafenwoehr you can go to either housing office. We are stationed at Vilseck but found our house through Graf. Just remember to be patient when looking for a house. We love our house but it is a 30 minute drive to and from work everyday. But we have made great friends with our German neighbors and absolutely love being the only Americans in our village! 

                                                    A few photos of our house!

                                         And the beautiful view we have!!!