March 15th, 2010
Who’s left holding the (grocery) bag?
One definition of culture shock: The first time an American goes through the checkout lane at a German grocery store. The first shock is seeing the cashier/checker comfortably seated rather than standing. The second comes as the purchased items come zipping across the laser scanner — and you, the customer, discover that you are also the bagger (Einpacker). And you are under pressure from the person behind you when the checker starts scanning his/her groceries, barely a split second after you have paid. (The third shock comes if you don’t have your own bag.)
German entrepreneur Martin Lettenmeier wants to change that. At least the bagging part. He has founded a company in Fürstenfeldbruck, Bavaria with a typically “German” name: Friendly Service. (He probably chose the English name because the concept barely exists in German.) Based on his experience in the USA, Lettenmeier wants to spread the idea of the friendly grocery bagger in Germany. (”Profis stehen den Kunden beim Einpacken bei.”) (more…)
Categories: Daily life, Expat issues, Work and employment matters |
Tags: baggers, economy, Einpackhilfe, Friendly Service, Germany, grocery stores, Hyde, Lettenmeier, null-euro-jobs, shopping, supermarkets, tips, Trinkgeld, zero-hour-jobs | 2 Comments
February 25th, 2010
Whenever I am stuck for a topic to write about, I can always get myself fired up by just reading the newspaper. Today was no exception. Guido Westerwelle, in particular, is a great topic whether in a blog or at the pub.
Mr Westerwelle is currently the head of the junior coalition partner in the government. The Freie Demokratische Partei or FDP as it usually referred to. They are viewed as a combination pro-business and pro-civil rights party. That would be somewhat analogous to what Americans usually refer to as fiscal libertarianism.
(more…)
Categories: History and culture, The euro and money matters, Work and employment matters |
Tags: CDU, elections, FDP, Geoff, Guido Westerwelle, politics | No Comments
February 9th, 2010
It seems every post I write has to do with kids, but that is how my life looks right now! At the moment, both of my little ones are in the midst of the Eingewöhnung process in their respective nursery schools (Kindergärten). My youngest is starting Krippe (loosely translated as daycare) and his sister is starting nursery school. When I signed them up, I was told to prepare to be available during the acclimitization process. Little did I know, they have it down to a science. (more…)
Categories: Daily life, Expat issues, Tips, advice, suggestions, Work and employment matters |
Tags: Berliner Modell, Daycare, Eingewöhnung, expat, Germany, kindergarten, Krippe, Sarah | 1 Comment
December 29th, 2009
Oh my goodness… I always knew there was more than a little bit of European in me; but my conversion to the German Way was more subtle and insidious than I could have imagined.
I, unlike most other red blooded, consumer oriented, individualistic Americans was actually cheering at the German Supreme Court’s ruling prohibiting allowing businesses to stay open regularly on Sundays in Berlin. I don’t even live in Berlin.
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Categories: Daily life, Expat issues, History and culture, Red tape and bureaucracy, Work and employment matters |
Tags: Geoff, Germany, lifestyle, Quality of Life, Sundays | No Comments
October 6th, 2009
The national elections have passed. It is big, though not exciting news. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) have enough votes to form a coalition government. The American press is representing this as evidence of a trend of European politics moving to the Center-Right portion of the political spectrum, I am not so convinced.
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Categories: Miscellaneous, The euro and money matters, Work and employment matters |
Tags: CDU, economy, FDP, Geoff, Germany, politics, SDP | No Comments
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
June 8th, 2009
The traditional Baedeker guidebook, like this
1911 English-language edition, sports a red
hardcover with a golden embossed title.
In both German and English, the term “Baedeker” (BAY-day-ker) is synonymous with “travel guidebook” (Reiseführer). Although the German Karl Baedeker (1801-1859) did not invent the travel guidebook, he certainly perfected it. After publishing his first travel guide (Rheinreise/Journey along the Rhine) in 1838, Baedeker went on to refine his product by being meticulous about the facts and information he included (with carefully detailed maps), and inventing the “star” ranking system for outstanding attractions (1846). The German word Erbsenzähler (bean counter, nitpicker) is said to have originated with his method of counting the exact number of stair steps in a cathedral tower by leaving a dried pea on every 20th stair as he went up, and collecting/counting them on his way back down.
Kings and governments may err, but never Mr. Baedeker.
- A.P. Herbert, in his 1929 English libretto for J. Offenbach’s operetta La Vie Parisienne (1)
The red Baedeker books (2) are still published today, and still have a reputation for sober factualness and lack of embellishment, especially compared to most contemporary travel books. And it is the Baedeker and other tourist guides that bring us to my main topic: German Reiselust (love of travel). (more…)
Categories: Daily life, Expat issues, Work and employment matters |
Tags: Baedeker, Erbsenzähler, Fernweh, Germany, Hyde, paid vacation, Reiseführer, Reiselust, travel, vacation days, Wanderlust | No Comments
June 1st, 2009
Today is another public holiday here in Germany, Pentecost Monday, or Whitsuntide. May and June are good months for public holidays, what with May Day, Ascension Day, and Pentecost. Unlike public holidays in the US, where sometimes it seems that only the post office and bank are closed, in Germany pretty much everything is closed, just as it is on Sundays. There is usually one bakery in smaller towns that is open for 8-11 so no one is without their fresh bread, but other than that, you better break out your bicycle or go for a walk like everyone else if you don’t want to be cooped up in the house all day.
All of these days off is another one of those benefits of living here. Only a few months of the year have NO holidays whatsoever. December and January are packed with them, what with Christmas and Boxing Day and New Year’s and the one I like to call “We Three Kings” (January 6). February has none, March or April have Easter, which of course also includes Easter Monday and Good Friday (again in contrast to the US, where there is no such thing as Easter Monday). The list below is for the state of Baden-Württemberg, which, with 13, has more public holidays than some of the other states. Nordrhein-Westphalia, for example, only has nine. (more…)
Categories: Expat issues, History and culture, Tips, advice, suggestions, Work and employment matters |
Tags: 3, church and state, church holidays, gesetzliche feiertage, pentecost, religion and schools, Sarah | No Comments
November 15th, 2008
So you think you want to teach English in Germany (or Austria, Switzerland)… Well, you’re certainly not the first American (or Brit, etc.) to come up with that idea. The good news: There is a demand for qualified native speakers of English to teach the language in German-speaking countries. The bad news: The pay and working conditions are often poor. Do you know the questions you should be asking (and answering) before you accept a job teaching English in Germany?
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Categories: Expat issues, Tips, advice, suggestions, Work and employment matters |
Tags: Austria, Berlin, Berlitz, EFL, employment, English as a foreign language, ESL, Frankfurt, freelance, Germany, Hamburg, language schools, Munich, private schools, residence permit, Stuttgart, Switzerland, teaching English, teaching jobs, TEFL, TESOL, Ulm, university, visas, Volkshochschule, working in Germany | 1 Comment
