Terri Doerrzapf – Communications Entrepreneur in Edenkoben

by Adrianne George

Terri Doerrzapf is a successful entrepreneur in Edenkoben, Germany. She provides language, translation, and localization services through her company Comunikey – www.comunikey.com. A Houston, Texas native, Terri studied at Johannes Gutenberg University FASK in Germersheim, and Texas Tech University, receiving a degree in translation studies.

It’s now or never

In the true spirit of cultural exchange Terri made her first trip to Europe by accepting an invitation to visit the Netherlands. That invitation was extended by a German soldier Terri met at university. She thought, “it’s now or never…who knows when an opportunity like this will come again.” Terri invested in a Passport and her friend made good on his invitation and sent her a round trip ticket. Excitedly Terri packed a backpack, suitcase and gathered $200. She flew to Amsterdam not knowing what to expect:

“I thought I’d have some fun and then go back to the States having lived out a dream that few turn into reality. This will be something you will be able to tell your kids and grandchildren about was the last thing I thought when the plane took off headed over the big pond. When I got to Amsterdam it was daytime and I was pretty jetlagged, but I couldn’t sleep, because the trip in the car was just as exciting as the plane ride. Everything looked completely different. The cars looked different, the highway was different and the landscape was completely different. We went sightseeing nearly every day and I think I even saw my first castle on the way to Budel (a small town in the Netherlands)”.

Marktbrunnen fountain, full view of the Gaestehaus (inn) in Edenkoben

Epiphany – Treated like an American

Since Terri had never been any place where she needed a Passport, she also didn’t know what to expect as far as the local’s reaction to her visit. However she was pleasantly surprised when everyone she was introduced to was very friendly and sincerely interested in her. They were interested in meeting and talking with Terri, the American. She says, “I never felt more like an American than I did on my first trip to Europe. And it was elation, after all of the negative experiences of not being treated like a true American in the US”. This was an epiphany for Terri who knew then that the only way to find out who she truly is was to move to Europe. Since moving to Europe Terri has graduated from a German university and successfully carved out her career. However Terri knows that racism is still very much alive and prominent in Europe. She observes that some Germans can be awful at times and even blatantly racist, especially when it comes to Blacks and other foreigners with darker skin. “Discrimination against foreigners is very common here”, she admits.

Edenkoben's location shown on Rhineland/Palatinate region (green) and Germany maps

Customized experience

Terri has adopted the German customs of punctuality, enjoying Carnival and eating good food from the Palatinate region. But she misses church in Texas, Thanksgiving dinner and Sunday Night (American) Football. Fluent in German, she feels it is essential for all expats to learn the local language of their new country if they plan to live there longer than a year. Her fluency has helped her husband and his family introduce her to new friends as well as made it easier to make friends while she was at university and through her profession. Yet Terri writes emails and calls her family and friends in the US whenever she gets a chance because, “family and friends are very important to me, especially those from home”.

View of an Edenkoben vineyard in the autumn

OK, this is for real

Since living in Germany the Texas native has graduated from university, started a business gotten married and started a family. She has become more tolerant of secular views. And she and her husband purchased a house. This despite that fact that Terri believes that finding a good place to live in Germany might not be the easiest thing to do regardless of skin tone. She thinks Germans are very picky about who they rent to, if the place is of premium quality. “They can be very snooty in this respect”, she explains. However Terri became a permanent expatriate after buying a house with her husband. “It was a very big financial investment we made here in Germany and not in the States”, she reflects.

Terri's home and office is one of Edenkoben's historic art nouveau buildings

Living and Spending in Edenkoben

City Crest

At the end of this section you will find a global Currency Converter to calculate costs.

Monthly rent:

EUR 600.00 for 90 sq. m.

Cost for meals:

Average about EUR 12.00 per person

Transportation costs:

Extremely expensive - Gas costs EUR 1.39 per liter (about 8 dollars a gallon)

Compared to your home country are most things cheap/same/expensive?

Period houses

Food is cheaper here, but clothes are really expensive.

Recommended monthly living budget:

At least EUR 2,000.00

How modern are basic amenities/infrastructure?

The most modern infrastructures.

Any legal hurdles all foreigners have to face to live there?

Yes, work permits are very hard to get. It has gotten better though, because now foreigners who have completed their studies in Germany are now eligible to work like EU citizens (although the foreigners office doesn’t like for people to know this and disagrees to some points).

Top 3 things you would recommend someone to bring when they come:

Pancake syrup, peanut butter and warm clothes.

Top 3 things you would recommend for someone visiting or living here to do:

Go sightseeing. Germany has excellent places to go sightseeing, especially the castle ruins scattered all over the place.