Hi fellow FT'rs

I am an American consultant who travels quite a bit for my job. I recently found out I will be transferring to our German offices in Rot, Germany (right by Walldorf) for a total of one year.

I am not going for another 4 months and so I have some time to prepare. I have a few questions:

1. What would be the best way to learn German?
So far I have the list of the following books/cds:
Books: German for Dummies and Fodor's German for Travelers
CD's: Living Language:Ultimate German
I've also heard Rosetta Stone is very good, but is very pricey. (~$300 i think)
Also, would it be good to take classes while in Germany to learn the language? I've heard in general the language is difficult to learn.

2. I also need to find a place to live. I will have some help from my work friends and our department that deals with transferring, but I thought I'd ask here for more of a personal outlook. To give you some background: I'm 23 years old, single (and looking, haha) and am very social, so I would be looking to stay somewhere that fits my profile. Heidelberg is very close and apparently there is a large university there. I've heard of a few other cities/towns around the Rot/Walldorf but Heidelberg seemed like it would be the best fit. If anyone has any ideas I would appreciate the feedback!!

3. Travel "gadgets" - other than an iPhone, any suggestions on some cool gadgets that work in Europe I could ask for when I travel Europe? My job will entail a lot of traveling in Europe as well as the personal travel I plan on doing.

Thanks in advance for your help/suggestions!!