One year ago Jen moved to Frankfurt from the Midwestern United States. Photo (cc) flickr user batigolix

Today marks my first anniversary in Germany. I am seriously in awe of how fast this year has flown. In some ways, I feel like I was just on that airplane on the flight over here. I even keep the little Lufthansa ticket stub in my wallet as a reminder of the significance of this move.

I’ve had a life-changing year here, taking the time to explore how it is to live in this culture. I want to stay for a long time. I feel like it just “fits” here, that most everything I’ve ever wanted the last several years has come to fruition. I met a really great and sweet guy and it changed my life. The Mann has been so strongly by my side – I consider myself very blessed.

Google Street View cars ready to begin filming. Photo (cc) flickr user Stuck in Customs

You’ve probably heard about Google Street View – after all, it has already gone live in 20 countries. In Germany, however, Google’s latest addition to Google maps has caused more controversy than jubilation as hundreds of thousands of Germany’s inhabitants choose to “opt out” and have their home pixilated out of recognition.

People in the city of Oberstaufen aren’t concerned, however, and it is this enthusiastic city that debuted in the Google Street View preview for Germany that went live last week. There, according to Google’s blog LatLong, the mayor and the board of tourism courted Google for the exposure, and then celebrated the event with a street festival and a cake reading “Street View Wilkommen in Oberstaufen.”

Maisalon Dallashi at a concert in Munich, Germany

Maisalon Dallashi comes to Germany as a Herbert Quandt-Stiftung scholarship winner under the “Trialog of Cultures” program for 2010 in partnership with I’lam – a media center for the Arab Palestinian community in Israel. The program includes a six month scholarship with three months of German language studies and another three months of training in a German publishing house, as well as workshops around politics, media and culture.

Maisalon is an Arab Palestinian woman living in Israel. She graduated from Tel Aviv University with a Bachelor’s degree in sociology and gender studies, making her especially attuned to identity issues and the situation of women around the world, especially Arab women.

The center of Hamburg in the summer sun (Flickr photo: Mark Max Henckel)

Apart from its reputation for beautiful blond Nordic girls and debauched nightlife, one of the main reasons I moved to Hamburg is the fact that it is, in my view, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. And I’m not alone in holding that opinion, as any visitor to Hamburg will soon realize simply by turning on the radio: all local radio stations greet listeners with something akin to the following phrase: “Wir senden live aus Hamburg, schönster Stadt der Welt!” – We’re broadcasting live from Hamburg, the most beautiful city in the world!”

Now, I think you probably have to actually have been born in Hamburg to go quite as far as to claim it is the most attractive urban settlement on the entire planet. I mean, come on guys, ever heard of St. Petersburg? Stockholm? Venice?

A typical WG hallway – used for drying laundry and storing stolen neon-backlit beer advertisments

For many of us non-Germans in the 20-30 age bracket, one of the best things about living here is, well, how easy it is to live here. By that, I mean: how easy it is to find somewhere to live.

Even Germany’s most overcrowded cities like Munich and Stuttgart are a long way off from London and Paris when it comes to finding a flat, and some of Germany’s coolest cities – like Berlin – are also among its emptiest. A major part of this is the huge extent of flatsharing amongst young people, providing cheap rental space until they are ready to settle into their own flats.

One thing newcomers have got to learn about Germany is the importance of regional identities: That’s why I posted on state elections in Germany just last week. Especially for Brits, the sheer variation between different parts of this country is astonishing; Germany is far more American than British inasmuch as the capital city is not the be-all-and-end-all of everything – and every city has its own identity markers of which it is exceptionally proud.

So just as each American city has a nickname (Chi-Town, the Big Apple, etc) and a baseball team, no German city would be complete without a major football team, a regular episode of the long-running who-dunnit legend Tatort, and a trademark item of baked goods. Germany is, after all, well known for its penchant for baking, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Playing music on the streets of Germany can get complicated. Photo (cc) flickr user Phil Dragash

Music on the street on a sunny spring day: I enjoy it when I pass it by on my walk to the farmer’s market or while sitting in the park.  But I had never attempted it myself.

Germany is a country that regulates everything from television and radio ownership to pets—if you own the former you are expected to pay a yearly fee to the GEZ and if you own the later you need to both register and (at least this is the case for dogs) pay “dog tax.”  Playing music on the street, in most cities, is no different.