Started new contract today

[darmstadt]

Got in at 9 this morning, agent met me with a bag of goodies (pens, pads, post-its, wall calendar, coffee mug, etc.) and off I went to work. PC already there with a massive flat screen. Userids nearly all sorted out, just problems with e-mail and some Unix servers and applications (oh and no Internet yet.) Entry card which is also used for the canteen sorted out in 30 minutes with a lovely photo of me. Started work straight away and we're already talking extension time mainly because the contract is for 40 days work until end of April which works out at 21.97 hours a week but they want me to do around 3 days a week with some weeks being more which means that I'll have completed the days by March sometime and there is a lot to be done.

Nice people and we move into a trendy looking building in a couple of weeks, shame its a 3 hour drive to get here but every little Euro counts

[scooterscot]

I got an inquiry from a client in Darmstadt recently -

What's life like out there? Expensive or not? Easy to get back to the UK?

[darmstadt]

Life in Darmstadt is not too bad, some people find it a bit quiet but there are quite a lot of things to do (pubs, clubs, eating out, etc.) There was once a very big expat community here but its got smaller over the years but there are still quite a few Brits here although I don't tend to mix with them. Darmstadt has about 150,000 people and is a bit middle class and can be expensive to live but that depends on where you want to live, most people find it reasonable though. Public transport is excellent and you're only 30 minutes from Frankfurt airport, in fact you're pretty much central to Europe as a whole here and I quite often visit other countries when bored.

Getting to the UK is quite easy, you've got the airport or for budget flights you can use Frankfurt Hahn (about 2 hours by car) which is actually nowhere near and a pain to get to at the moment. I normally drive and it takes around 6-7 hours to Calais. In a couple of weeks though we're trying out the train (Darmstadt-Frankfurt-Köln-Brussels-St.Pancras) which does take a bit longer but apparently is not bad.

PM me for more info.

[scooterscot]

Cheers - good info. Job possibility starts in spring so I'm looking at my options.

Mrs Scooter and I both like the idea of living in central Europe for a while and being to visit adjoining countries, sounds fun.