Pets are becoming more and more a part of the family. They live in our homes, sleep in our beds, and the lucky ones even join us on vacations. So when considering relocation to another country many pet owners would never dream of leaving their furry family members behind. Thankfully for us pet-people, German-speaking countries welcome pets, especially dogs. While moving with your pet to Austria, Germany, or Switzerland may be far less complicated than say to the UK where quarantine rules apply, these countries do require three very important things: a valid rabies vaccination with proof, an identifying microchip, and some additional paperwork. Switzerland, Austria and Germany currently require the standard EU veterinary certificate, formally called Form 988, which your North American vet will likely be familiar with and may have copies available in their office. There is a fee to have this form filled out. In the past this form has required an endorsement stamp from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency or The United States Drug Administration. Currently the form only asks for your vet’s stamp. Be sure to check each time you are to travel as I have found these requirements change time to time. Form 988 can be ordered online or downloaded through various websites, for example:
Posts tagged Austria
Gambling and other sins
When I first moved to Nevada (the year shall remain vague) the Silver State still had pretty much of a gambling and quickie divorce monopoly – and a reputation as a rather sinful place. Today almost every US state has casinos and/or a lottery. Getting a divorce has become so easy these days, there’s really no need for a Reno or Las Vegas divorce. “Sin City” is now about as sinful as Disneyland.
Nevadans were once proud of their “sinful” status, but now about the only exclusive “sinful” thing Nevada has left is legal prostitution. Even that may be doomed if US Senator Harry Reid has his way (although one Nevada lawmaker has proposed a new tax on prostitution to help solve the state’s budget crisis). Of course the fact that prostitution is illegal in the other 49 states doesn’t mean there’s no prostitution there.
Yes, I DO have a Germany-related point here.
I recently wrote an article about casinos and gambling in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Among other things I learned in my research: Switzerland didn’t even have casinos until after 2000; while most European countries have gambling casinos, the real money (for the tax man) comes from lotteries. READ MORE »
The German/Austrian-Hawaii Connection
I’m currently in Hawaii. As usual, I’m on the outlook for Germanic connections, and even here, so far away from Europe, there are many. First, I wanted to see if there were any direct historic ties between the Sandwich Islands (now better known as Hawai’i) and the German-speaking countries. I didn’t have to look very far. Aboard the Resolution, the ship that took Capt. James Cook to his discovery of the Hawaiian archipelago in 1778, were a German-Swiss artist and three German sailors.
Since Cook’s discovery, Hawaii has been influenced – positively and negatively – by other haoles (outsiders), including Americans, British, French, Portuguese and Asians. It turns out that people from the German-speaking parts of Europe have played some key roles in Hawaiian history. If you study Hawaii’s past, you’ll run across many German names: Hackfeld, Hillebrand, Isenberg, von Chamisso, Lemke, Pflueger, Scheffer, Spreckels, and Zimmermann. At one time, the island of Kauai in particular had a sizeable German population. The island’s main town, Lihue, was nicknamed “German Town.” There were German Lutheran churches and schools in Lihue and Honolulu (Oahu).
World War I pretty much put an end to the German presence in Hawaii, but I want to concentrate on two enduring legacies: one German and over a century ago, the other Austrian and much more recent. READ MORE »
The downside of English as the universal language
Why is it that many Anglophones seriously consider going to Germany to work when they have zero German skills? A German would never for an instant think that he/she could go to Britain or the United States to work without knowing English well. So why would it be OK for English-speakers to live and work in Germany with minimal German skills?
Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? After all, isn’t English the universal language? Don’t many global companies in Germany use English as their “official” language? Everyone in Germany speaks English, right? — Well, the answer is a definite jein (German for “maybe” or “yes and no”).
If you don’t know that English has become the de facto universal language (Weltsprache in German), what cave have you been living in? English dominates academia and the world of international business, especially in Europe. A 2008 survey found that 90 percent of European students study English at some stage of their education. (“Study” does not always mean “learn.” French and German are the most popular but distant runners-up.) A recent article in The Economist states that about 60 percent of young Europeans speak English “well” or “very well.” (Note that it does not say 60 percent of “all” Europeans, just those in the 15-24 range, and even that figure should be taken with a grain of salt, since it includes young native speakers of English.) Even in China, nearly 60 percent of primary school children now get English lessons!
The Economist article also mentions that READ MORE »
Teaching English in German-Speaking Europe
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?
November 9th in German history
This coming Sunday will mark the ninth day of November. In most parts of the world November 9 is just another day, pretty much like any other. But if you’re German, the date has a lot of historical significance — some positive, some negative — and is sometimes called Germany’s “fateful date” (Schicksalstag). READ MORE »
November: The mourning month
All Souls Day and Mainz’s Newweling candles
Today, November 2, is All Souls Day (Allerseelen). In Germany, most of Europe, and all over the world where the western Christian church is dominant, this is a day devoted to remembering and praying for the “faithful departed.” Indeed, the Latin (Roman Catholic) name for this day is In Commemoratione Omnium Fidelium Defunctorum (“commemoration of all the faithful departed”).
As history (and two world wars) would have it, November in the western world has become a month for commemorating the dead — whether fallen in war or otherwise. Since the 14th century, the Roman Catholic church has dedicated the month of November to the dead, and in the United States, November 11 is Veterans Day, a time to remember and honor those who fought and died, originally in the Great War ended by the armistice that took effect at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, on November 11, 1918. (In fact, the date was known as Armistice Day prior to World War II.) This day, known as Remembrance Day or Poppy Day in some other Allied nations, is also a holiday in France and Belgium. READ MORE »
Of blood pressure and other medical matters
While I was living in Berlin for about ten months, I had cause to go to two German physicians — both women. Fortunately, my medical matters turned out to be minor, although my eye scare had me concerned for a while. Besides the Augenärztin (ophthalmologist), I also saw a general practitioner lady MD, to whom I was referred by an Apotheker when I had my U.S. prescription problem (a long story for later). Between the two doctors, I visited their offices over a dozen times over a period of months.
I could write a book about the entire German medical thing compared to the U.S., but the one thing I want to discuss now is Blutdruck. Not once in all my times at the doctor — not the first visit, in between, or the last — did either doctor ever measure my blood pressure. Not a single time. In the U.S., you can’t get out of a doctor’s office without this blood-pressure ritual. READ MORE »
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