23M from the USA studying my masters in energy engineering in Munich, Germany.
I have enjoyed Munich so far (1 year in) and made some occasional, hang out sometimes on the weekends type friends, but no close friends I can talk to daily or every other day about anything deeper than surface level stuff. I am scared this will just continue if I choose to live here long term, as making friends in Germany without speaking German is notoriously hard. If I were offered an internship or full time position, I would make it a priority to learn German.
I was planning to go back to the US to start looking for jobs after graduating, but I might have an opportunity to intern and then maybe work at a famous Bavarian automotive company as a battery engineer. I love the benefits of working here and work-life balance, even at a lower salary. The salary at this company is also a bit higher than other companies in the region for my position.
This has got me thinking where would you guys recommend to stay?
Weather is not an issue for me as I really enjoy Munich’s weather — it is pretty similar to the Northeast where I’m from.
Thanks!
I would stay.
Consider how people in the US would look at your CV that said “Worked at famous Bavarian automaker for [period of time]”. You can always return to the states. I would absolutely wring everything I could out of my time in Europe, personally and professionally.
I think this is what I will do. I was leaning towards this, but even though my time has been good so far, it’s been pretty lonely. It’s easier to make friends than to get a job offer though, so I think I will shoot for staying here. Thanks