July 27th, 2009
Recently, with the economic crisis and the dreaded Kurzarbeit, we have been thinking about whether the US is an option for us again job-wise. There is nothing concrete happening, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder, how will it affect the kids?
I dragged my older girls, then 3 and 5, halfway across the world seven years ago, to a place where they neither spoke the language nor recognized the food. (more…)
Categories: Expat issues, History and culture, Work and employment matters |
Tags: Add new tag, ESL, German schools, kids, long-time expats, moving back, re-expatriation, Sarah | 1 Comment
July 20th, 2009
Baby Stella developing faster in the buff
One of the aspects of German culture which we Americans often find so shocking is the prevalent open attitude towards nudity, otherwise known as naturalism. One of my good German friends is a big sauna goer and explained once to a group of us that her whole family was into it. This raised alarm bells with the other Americans there. “Wait, even your father is naked?” “Where do you look when he’s naked?” “Don’t you feel uncomfortable at all that strangers can see you naked?”
I am not nearly as prudish as many of my countrymen on this issue and have in fact, shed my modesty along with my clothes during a few visits to the sauna. So in the spirit of exploring the culture in which I am currently living further, I think I have found a “naturalism for beginners” course for my baby daughter.
Many mothers and fathers throughout Germany have participated in a weekly activity for babies: the Prager-Eltern-Kind Programm or PEKiP for short. When telling my mother what my younger daughter Stella and I do every Thursday morning, I refer to PEKiP as “naked baby play group.” Basically, we meet weekly with a group of seven other mothers and their babies, born within a month of each other, with a trained instructor for 90 minutes. This group stays together from the beginning (first few months) till age one. (more…)
Categories: Daily life, Expat issues, History and culture, Tips, advice, suggestions |
Tags: babies, baby group, Jane, nudity, PEKiP, raising children in Germany | 2 Comments
July 14th, 2009
I’m a little late with this post because I was on the road this week. I spent a few days in Osnabrück near Hannover. This region is quite unlike the agricultural region where I live. Osnabrück and the surrounding cities are much more modern and integrated into the international economy. As such, they have people from all over the world… if you count North Americans and British people as “all over the world.”
(more…)
Categories: Daily life, Expat issues, History and culture, Tips, advice, suggestions |
Tags: food, Geoff, Indian, Middle Eastern, Osnabrück, spicy | 1 Comment
July 6th, 2009
Germany and I have a long history when it comes to cigarette smoke. Ever since my first visit to Germany — oh those many years ago — I have loved the many differences and unique characteristics of life in Europe as compared to the USA… except for one thing. Smoking.
For many years it was almost impossible for a non-smoker like me to avoid “Qualm” — clouds of cigarette smoke almost everywhere you went. Back in the 1970s and ’80s, just about the only non-smoking zones were on German trains in the “Nichtraucher” cars. (more…)
Categories: Daily life, Expat issues, History and culture, Medical matters |
Tags: cigarettes, Germany, health and fitness, Hitler, Hyde, laws and regulations, Nazis, smoking bans, tobacco | 1 Comment
