Hello, Im a Army Wife about ot move to Vilseck Germany within 5to6 weeks...?

Show all answers

Cookie Preston

Don't be nervous! First of all, the Army offers lots of support. You will have orientations about how everything works and what is expected of you. You'll get to where you have to go to yet another orientation or meeting and you'll be thinking "I already know that!". Before long, you'll be able to tell new PCSers how things work! If you live off base there will be a housing office
that basically deals with the landlord for you. They will also give you information about driving in Germany-- the road signs and so on. The base also employs lots of locals who can translate paperwork for you or make calls for you. But your basic stuff will be in English, on the base: commissary & PX, clinic, dental, etc. Also the army offers USO tours so if you're nervous about getting out by yourself you can go on group trips. The USO keeps them pretty cheap too. From Germany you can easily get to Austria, Italy, Czech Republic-- it's really fun! You will also be eligible to use the Edelweiss Resort (a military resort) http://www.edelweisslodgeandresort.com/ in Germany. The prices can't be beat! I suggest buying a navi-system for your car to take the pain out of getting lost in Germany. We have tom-tom and it works great. You will find Germans very friendly and open toward Americans. The ones around Vilsek/Graf and in all the tourist areas are totally used to Americans and you will find the Germans at hotels/restaurants etc. speak enough English to get by. I suggest you take a little class or get an audio program at the library on base after you PCS to learn a few words of German: entrance, exit, please & thank you, numbers etc. The locals like it when you try to fit in, even if your German is really bad! There are all sorts of things to see and do . You can visit castles, cafes, restaurants, Oktoberfest, or go to the Edelweiss and try snowboarding or skiing or, in the summer, hiking or mountain biking.
Here's a link for newcomers to Graf:
http://www.grafenwoehr.army.mil/sites/newcomers/newcomers.asp

I wish I still lived in Graf/Vilseck; I 'd show you around. We loved it when we were there. You'll have a great time.

amâ™¥nda

Culture shock! Well first let me say that I think Germany is such a beautiful country with so many beautiful landmarks and rolling greens and the architecture is quite lovely too.
The people are much different too. I would say that I found people to be more accepting and more generous than in the U.S. all races are generally more accepted too. There's really everything to do in Germany that there is in the U.S. shopping, restaurants, clubs, parks, etc.
Health care is also wonderful.

EDIT:

I also found this:

Vilseck is located in the state of Bavaria (Bayern) in the Oberpfalz region. It is a small rural community with a population of about 8,000. Vilseck derived its name from the once alone standing fortress (Burg) Dagestein on the Vils river. This castle is probably one of the oldest in the whole Oberpfalz. Today Vilseck has a train station and bus connections to nearby cities. Restaurants include 1 Chinese, 3 Greek, 3 Italian and 15 German eating establishments. Shopping is available at 3 grocery stores, 3 bakeries, 5 butcher, 1 hardware store, 2 flower stores, an office supply store, 2 souvenir shops with household ware, 3 shoe stores, 3 beauty/barber shops and 2 cosmotolegists. A German post office, 4 banks and two night clubs are also available. Shopping hours are Monday through Friday from 0800 to 1200hrs and from 1400hrs to 1800hrs. On Saturdays stores are open from 0800 to 1200hrs

Alwin E

Welcome to Bavaria!

Here are directions from your location to mine (slightly distorted due to privacy reasons) in south Germany, according to Google Maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Grafenw%C3%B6hr,+Germany&geocode=&dirflg=&daddr=Waldm%C3%BCnchen,+Bavaria&f=d&sll=49.79279,11.902313&sspn=0.405142,0.884399&ie=UTF8&ll=49.487754,12.308807&spn=0.407688,0.884399&t=h&z=10

I'm sure you'll find Bavaria a wonderful state, and, to answer your other question: I don't know how you can get your cat over here, but I'm sure the US army will find a solution, and most Germans are pet lovers. I'm biased, as I love cats more than dogs. And the EU has a pet chip, did you know that? That's and RFID chip the animal gets implanted under the skin, and if lost and delivered at any veterinary or animal shelter, they can find out the owner in a central database if you keep your address up to date. (That, however, is up to you.) So your animal virtually can't get lost.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: