Ha, my depression era Grandparents would be proud :D

I know for a fact it helps that I am NOT in a big city. I am in a good sized town in North Rhine Westphalia an area that values frugality more than I do. Not like those fancypants in Frankfurt or Hamburg, or g-d forbid Munich! Seriously, I live in the most unpretentious part of Germany and so there is no competition to keep up.

I do splurge in small ways, I have the most sublime cafe about a 3 minute walk from my apartment 3.50 for a soya milch cappuccino and another euro for biscotti! The area I live in is actually known throughout the area for being "cool" so like I said, REALLY lucked out on finding this place. I visited my local bakery this morning, nutella croissant and coffee, 2.50 Euro. I do have a big picture window in every room, it's just my picture is probably very different from everyone else- there is a small garden outside my front window so I'm off of the street (and it's not a busy street) by about 3.5 meters. The view from my bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and office is the back garden. The apartment is sorta L shaped if you can imagine, with the long side on the back garden. I do have to air it daily in the summer to keep it from getting damp, but it's still not as damp or mildewy as my brand new apartment in s'pore was.

I've been overseas for nearly 9 years now and have always saved a good portion of my income, even when I was only making 250,000 yen a month in Tokyo teaching English. I've also enjoyed my life, gone to restaurants and cafe's, traveled and bought new things-- I just think a lot before I purchase something and it's nearly always on sale. I worried before I moved here that the salary wasn't going to be enough, but I've found it to be more then plentiful. I do feel for people with kids, it's just plain difficult to find apartments large enough for families with children--most Germans move to houses and the suburbs when they have children, something an int'l teacher on a short term contract probably wouldn't consider.

I got really lucky with the flat. It's in a great area and included a kitchen (btw, many apartments you have to install a kitchen, which can be a huge investment or as little as 300 Euro). The reason my flat is so cheap is because it's a daylight basement apartment and most German's love their natural lighting. I could care less, I get enough light for me and it's dark at 4 p.m. 50% of the year.

My initial flat I had here was fully furnished and 500 Euro a month. I'd say for a single teacher even in a big city like Berlin or Dusseldorf you could find something similar. A friend of mine just got a flat right next to Dusseldorf HBF for $420 warm, 46 square meters. BTW, warm means heating/water included. Berlin (and all of the former East Germany) is known for having a really low cost of living.

About schools in Germany:

Well lets be honest unless you are at one of the big trust schools Bonn, Dusseldorf, JFK, etc. you are likely working for a for-profit organization and I suppose it depends on you personally if this is acceptable to you. Most of your students will be German speakers. Perhaps many of your students did not "fit" into the German school system so they are looking for at escape. If you have a special needs background it will be helpful, or a lot of patience at a minimum.

Private schools are a really new concept in Germany and many of them are popping up as "International Schools" choose wisely and do your research.

I think one of the most difficult things to deal with is how different International Schools work from the German system. In every school I had worked in previously I was paid significantly more than teachers in the local system. In Germany, my friend who is a primary teacher not only makes more money then me, but also gets home at 1 p.m. most days! I work 8 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m., we do have shorter days on Wednesdays for meetings and I can get personal things done during this time too if needed.

All in all I am very happy with my move and plan on staying here for a while. I literally took a 50% cut in take home pay, but I really disliked my former placement (Singapore) so I find it's been worth it. Also, after 7 years in Asia I really enjoy the anonymity of Germany. It took me a while to realize--hey I look like everyone else here! There is an expectation that you learn German here though and occasionally you will be treated poorly if you do not speak German. I just ignore it, though I am trying to learn. Really anyone under 40 speaks some ok English so you can get help when necessary, they just might not be so kind about it.

I work at a school in Germany. Not a big one, but a school. I would call my school untiered. We've only been open since August 2010 and I think we've got a great thing going on. We'll never be a big powerhouse though and pay and benefits reflect that. Still you can have a very comfortable living in Germany for not a lot of cash.

After taxes, which are huge I make a little over 2,000 Euro a month.
My expenses:
370, warm for 65 square meter flat
65, electricity
45, train pass
35, internet
30, mobile- unlimited data and texting, 1 hour of call time.
200, food, I'm a vegetarian so I rarely spend this much. This is my eating out budget too, which I do 1 or 2x a week.
200, Stuff- I'm not a huge fan of buying stuff!

It probably helps that I'm a miser, but I usually save 1000+ Euro a month and have as much fun as I possibly could have. Even one of my German friends calls Germany a good value for money. The quality of life here is really good.

I thinks some people get scared off by the cost of living in Europe, but the salaries actually are liveable. Even the low ones.

The pollution does not seem bad, but I had many ENT problems the year I was there.

Many of the international schools are at one end of the city, which was at least an hours drive into the actual city. Things may have changed as now the international airport is in a completely different location and closer to that end. So maybe there's been a build up of things to do. India changes fast!

For me there wasn't much to do. I had a hard time making local friends and I prefer not to hang out with other expats if I can keep from it. You couldn't be really independent at the time in Bangalore--always had to get transport and who knew when you'd be able to get a taxi or auto (sometimes they'd come right away and sometimes hours later) so it was hard to plan activities, again all of this may have changed as now there is some sort of metro in Bangalore and even better bus lines.

Cost of living is not as cheap as you'd think it would be. I saved, but not much.

I lived there for 1 year...wow, nearly 4 years ago! I just wasn't that into Bangalore, but they hired me a first year teacher (though I'd been an assistant teacher at ASIJ so that got me bonus points). There is one quite good school Stonehill, the rest are all 3rd tier or less, from recent news out of Trio--much, much less.

Again depending on the school you possibly will be working with a majority of Indian nationals who have very different educational theories than you. If are teaching nursery-about grade 6 most of the students were expats, after middle school the ratio changed and many students were Indian or returnees.

I really disliked living in Bangalore and it was a combination of the school and the living situation that made me leave. The classroom was my "Happy Place" great kids!

After visiting these campuses and/or talking to people who worked or had children there I would put these in the top tier for certain.
ASIJ
Seisen
Nishimachi
St. Mary's

YIS, is right next door!

I think having five is quite good...

Up and coming
Tokyo International School (I would absolutely work here in a heartbeat!)
K international school (I've talked to 3 people who have loved working though I've never visited. It sounds like recently things have been difficult).

Spent 4 years living in Tokyo and two at the top school. I would agree there is a pretty high concentration of top schools and some nice up and coming schools too. Still many large Asian cities are starting to become very competitive.

After spending two years in Singapore would avoid it under all circumstances.

Worked at OFS 2 years back for 2 years and also formerly worked in Tokyo. Found Singapore to be a nation of borderline zombies intent on groupthink and no culture to speak of except a 200 meter alley near the mosque

OFS is what it is- a good foot in the door to IB for someone young.
An excellent paypacket (I only had 3 years teaching experience when I started working there) but with dodgy insurance and housing allowance. I found the parents to be amazing, supportive and really appreciative. The students were great too, but with 25 a class and full classes in Elem and KG it was too much, but that is S'pore reality.

I think everyone's experience is different at OFS and I was happy to leave both because of some gossip at work that had really hurt me and that I was quite sick of that little island nation. Still really miss the paypacket though:(