Freak'in Frankfurt

YOU can wing in, you can bus in or you could motor yourself down! At a pinch, you can come in from Koblenz by river, (very picturesque) or you can glide in on some of Europe's best trains. But however you come, the place is easy to reach and great to arrive at. Flughaven Frankfurt is one of the biggest airports in continental Europe, and used to be at one time the only entry point for any international traveller. It is convenient; you can catch a shuttle train to the city or a mainline train to any other city in Germany or Europe.

You can take the airport bus service or a taxi to the centre of the city that you can reach in less than 20 minutes if the traffic is right.

The train will reach you to the main city station (Hauptbahnhof) in 11 minutes, and as this is bang in the middle of town, where the main street (Kaiser Strasse) leads away from, you'll soon find yourself in the thick of things before you can take a deep breath. The place, when you get off the train, seems like any other old European city, but your view will change when you see huge skyscrapers juxtaposed with quaint, timbered houses on cobbled streets.

There has been much grinding of teeth by people over this, but even the most ardent detractor of these modern eyesores will admit that modernity has its conveniences!

Das Kapital

The place has always been the financial hub of Europe. When Germany was divided into many principalities, Frankfurt was where the commerce of the region was carried out. It was a `Free City' fiercely proud of that epithet.

Subsequently, German emperors were crowned here, and it remained the most prosperous town in the country.

As the headquarters of the European Central Bank and the German Central bank, and being home to the world's fourth largest stock exchange, one would expect the place to be the size of London, New York or Tokyo.

Actually its population is less than a million (nearly 700,000), which includes around 230,000 non-Germans! For all these statistics, it has the German virtues of punctuality, efficiency and behavioural correctness. It is quite easily the only German city with a sizeable foreign population and English is widely spoken.

Kost of Living

While Frankfurt is not cheap by Indian standards, one can get by with a lot less than one needs in London or New York. There are two kinds of expatriate workers in this city, the kind that has been invited with all the trimmings, accommodation, children's schooling, home travel, paid vacations and other paradisiacal joys. The other kind is mostly like us, who are welcomed warmly by a boss who'll look at you as if your worth lies in your ability to work for peanuts and spend nights on the park bench! Actually, it isn't so bad.

You'll never starve, and life can be worth living! Living in Frankfurt can get a little expensive, so the answer is to strike out into the villages surrounding the city. Townlets like Langen or Buchschlag offer great living with costs that are eminently affordable.

The rentals are `kalt' or `cold', which mean that it does not include furniture and other charges and `warm' which include all the charges.

When the IT boom was at its peak, accommodation cost was at a peak, now landlords are looking around to have a nice expat to house! The distance from these places to the city centre at Frankfurt takes minutes by train (either the U-Bahn or the S- bahn) and a few more by the autobahn.

The costs of commuting are reasonable and the best thing is that a single ticket on the system is valid for the underground, the rail and the bus service should you need to change to get to your destination! The ticket vending machines are smart, telling you how much you need to pay, the best route to get to your address, and the changes you may need to make.

All this in a variety of languages including English! At bus stops you will see a timetable. They look non-committal, but unlike such notices at home, they are not on the Fiction Bestseller list, as German transport is never late! Always on time, sometimes inhumanly so! Taxis are available and one from the airport to the city centre will cost you about 20 Euros, cheap, at the price.

Talking about prices, the Germans themselves are rather narked ?? about the switch over to the Euro on the first of January this year.

They feel that vendors used the opportunity to revise all their prices upwards. This may be true, but its no good arguing about it, it's a fact of life. Bus/Bahn fares around the city vary between one and two Euros for a timed period.

A three-course meal for two with wine or beer will cost about 25 Euros. If you decide to do your own cooking then life is a little cheaper, but messier. Choose a `warm hire' flat where all the utilities are paid for in the rent (this includes telephone, gas and electricity). Don't be surprised if your landlord decides to have a meal with you to check you out to see if you are a worthy tenant.

You will have to pay a deposit on the house, anything up to three months rent, but this is refunded at the end of the lease period with interest less the cost of any damage you may have caused. When signing your lease, carry a magnifying glass to look for damages and have them noted down and signed by the landlord or agent!

Freaky Furt

The city takes itself too seriously. The people beaver about industriously no matter what they are doing. They are focussed, single-minded in whatever they do, and they are better at doing most things than most people of other countries. Efficiency is a byword, which explains their affinity with Japan. They even take leisure seriously. They have boisterous fun and make certain that everybody around know that they are having it! They are very correct in all forms of etiquette, but there are instances on the side streets leading off Kaiser Strasse where all this punctilious correctness gets the go-by oftener than not.

Frankfurt is one of those environmental dream towns because of its city forest, which is a world by itself. The Stadtwald as it is called, is a haven of peace amidst the hubbub of the crazy commerce of the city. The contrasts in this town make it interesting.A time of extreme availability is during the famous Frankfurt Fair when the whole world descends on the hapless town en masse, its therefore a great time to go home on your annual vacation.

Vondervoll Volk!

The people you work with will, most of them, be expatriates like yourself. The Germans are helpful but have a tendency to keep you at a distance unless they discover that you are making an effort to conform to their way of life and are making an attempt to learn their language. Then they enfold you to their hearts and wont let you go! They may even decide that you're good enough to marry! Too bad if you already are! The maximum concentration of foreigners stay in Bahnofsviertel, which is rather more famous for the more seedy activities of life. I wonder if that's why they congregate there!

Left to myself, I would probably have lived out my retirement in or around Frankfurt. I discovered it to be the only commercial capital in the world that is also a beautiful place, a nice place to work and a nice place to relax. Life is fast, but there is time to stop and stare too!

S. RAMANUJACHARYA

professor1@sify.com