Moving abroad gets sold as a glamorous adventure, but the people who actually pull it off rarely do it for the postcards. They do it because something about the new country fits them better than the one they left. For Abigail, a computer science graduate and project management professional from rural Tennessee, the question wasn't where to go on holiday. It was where her values would feel at home.
In this episode of the Move2Europe podcast, SueJin sat down with Abigail, who went from signing with Move2Europe in late September to landing a job offer by November and relocating to Osnabrück, Germany in early January. From the German work-protection culture to the small-town friendliness she didn't expect, she's honest about what made the move feel like coming home rather than starting over.
If you're considering a move to Germany, her story is a grounded picture of what's possible when preparation meets the right support.
In This Episode
- The Long-Term Goal: Why Germany
- The Job Search and a Fast Yes
- Choosing Osnabrück, Not Berlin or Munich
- A New Kind of Work Culture
- Sick Leave Is Not PTO
- "I Found My People": German Social Norms
- Daily Life in a Walkable City
- The Blue Card, ZAB, and the Driver's Theory Test
- Her Advice: Start Now
The Long-Term Goal: Why Germany
Abigail's interest in Europe started in university. The international students she met were mostly European, and the way they talked about life and work back home stuck with her. As she dug deeper, Germany kept coming up. The values, the structure, the rhythm of daily life all lined up with how she actually wanted to live, even when friends and family were surprised by the choice.
That clarity mattered. She wasn't shopping for a holiday destination. She was looking for cultural alignment, and Germany was the country that read closest to her own values.
The Job Search and a Fast Yes
Her path to Germany was unusually fast. She signed up with Move2Europe at the end of September. By November, she had a job offer. By early January, she was in Osnabrück. That's roughly four months, end to end.
The process wasn't frictionless, though. The biggest early hurdle was the resume. Where US guidelines tend to be loose, German employers expect a specific, detailed structure, and a mismatched CV gets you filtered out fast. That part of her process was rebuilt to local standards before applications went out, which is exactly the kind of thing our US vs. German CV guide breaks down.
The other surprise was just the speed of the inbox. German hiring runs slower than US hiring; waiting three or four weeks just to hear about an initial interview is normal. Once she got into the interview rooms, though, the process was much shorter than the American five-rounds standard. Two formal interviews and a third meeting, and she had the offer.
Choosing Osnabrück, Not Berlin or Munich
Most expats default to Berlin or Munich. Abigail went to Osnabrück, a smaller city in northwest Germany, and it turned out to be the right call.
The bigger cities are international and English-friendly, but they're also more reserved. In Osnabrück, the friendliness surprised her. Coworkers who'd lived in Cologne and Munich before told her the same thing: people here are noticeably warmer. Her A2 German, picked up through an online Goethe-Institut course before the move, opened doors that English alone wouldn't have.
If you're weighing where to land in Germany, the "obvious" cities aren't always the best fit.
A New Kind of Work Culture
The work culture was the part she'd been waiting for. American workplace stories about constant overtime and "everything is needed yesterday" weren't her style, and Germany solved that problem at the level of law, not just culture.
In her workplace:
- The 40-hour week is a real ceiling, not a target
- If a manager asks for 10 hours of overtime, HR and the law itself push back
- Plenty of colleagues work slightly longer Monday through Thursday so they can finish around midday on Friday
That mix of structure and protection lines up with what our guide to work-life balance and labour rights in Germany walks through in detail.
Sick Leave Is Not PTO
The one that hits Americans hardest: in Germany, sick leave is completely separate from vacation. They are not the same bucket of days.
In her old US role she had 15 to 17 days of PTO that lumped sick time and vacation together, which meant she worked through illness, including COVID, to keep her vacation days intact. In Germany, when she sliced her finger in a kitchen accident and ended up in the ER, her employer told her not to worry about making up the time. Her PTO balance didn't move. The system is built so being unwell doesn't cost you a holiday. Our deep dive on sick pay in Germany and how Krankengeld works covers the full mechanics.
"I Found My People": German Social Norms
The single biggest emotional shift was social. In the US, strangers smile, nod, wave. In Germany, mostly not. For Abigail, that wasn't cold, it was comfortable.
"I'm living with my people."
She even adopted what she calls the "German glare." At a crosswalk one day, she watched some tourists about to jaywalk across a red light. One disapproving look from her, and they actually turned around and went back to wait for the green. It's a small thing, but it captured something bigger: in Germany, social norms are visible and quietly enforced, and she found that grounding.
Daily Life in a Walkable City
The other quiet revolution was the walking. In rural Tennessee a trip to the pharmacy was a three-hour driving errand. In Osnabrück, she can finish her groceries and city-centre errands on foot in roughly the same time. Sundays are closed and quiet, which suits her, and the pace shifts what daily life feels like.
She did over-pack on hair and skin care, unsure she'd find equivalents (she did). The two things she still misses are American staples that just don't translate: ranch seasoning, and properly Tex-Mex food. A trip to Rewe usually solves the corn tortilla problem.
The Blue Card, ZAB, and the Driver's Theory Test
The visa route was the EU Blue Card, which for skilled professionals is usually the fastest and cleanest path. The piece worth starting early on is degree certification through Anabin / ZAB, where the German authorities confirm your degree is recognised as equivalent. Our full EU Blue Card guide walks through the rest of the documents.
Sort your degree recognition early. The standard wait for a ZAB Statement of Comparability can be around three months, but a signed German job contract can fast-track it dramatically. Abigail's came back the next business day. The earlier you start, the more options you have when offers arrive.
A small bureaucratic detail she learned the hard way: on German forms, "Vorname" (first name) is often treated as plural. If you have a middle name, list it there along with your first name, not separately.
Converting her Tennessee driver's licence was easier than expected. Because of the reciprocity agreement between her state and Germany, she only has to pass the theory test, no practical lessons required. The catch: the theory test is genuinely hard. Around 1,200 questions to study, compared with the 20-question version some US states use. The depth of the German driving qualification, she notes, is exactly why the Autobahn can run the way it does.
Her Advice: Start Now
When SueJin asked what advice she'd give someone weighing a move, Abigail's answer was the same one we keep hearing on this podcast: start now.
The stress isn't the move itself. The stress comes from a short turnaround. Researching visa timelines, degree recognition, and country requirements early turns a panic into a plan. Her own next steps already point forward: a B1 German course at the local Volkshochschule, and moving into a new apartment set up for an electric car.
It's a quiet kind of success story. Not the postcard version. The version where you find out the country you moved to is actually the one you've been looking for the whole time.
Whether you're just exploring or ready to take the first step, Move2Europe is here to guide you through the entire process, from your first conversation to settling into your new life.
Book a free consultation and let's figure out your path to Germany.