So goes the life of an expat hockey-wife, I am once again preparing to move to a new land. This move is one like no other as it is taking my husband and me to the most foreign place we will have ever lived: Russia. After six years in Germany and Switzerland, I really...
The GW Expat Blog
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JessicaL
Don’t Get Too Comfortable: a cautionary tale
Admittedly, after six years I felt pretty savvy with the whole expat thing. I had lived in two major German cities (Dusseldorf, Hamburg), spent two years living near Zurich, Switzerland, and had travelled to ten other European countries. I even felt comfortable go at...
How being an Expat has made me Weird
First off, I should probably give myself a break, “weird” may be a bit harsh. What I mean to say is that over these six years living in Germany and Switzerland, with intermittent summer visits home to Canada, I have realized that my social skills have become a little...
Incorporating a New Worldview, Into Your Old Life
It’s fairly common to feel like an alien at times, while living in a foreign country. But now, when I come home to Canada for my regular summer visits, I often feel like a bit of an alien here too. In recent conversations with family and friends at home, I am finding...
For the Expat-Pet-People
It seems that I have blogged quite a bit about dogs, here at The German Way Expat Blog (There's a Dog in the Pub and Moving with Max). The reason for this is because my evolution as an expat in German-speaking Europe has coincided with my evolution as a dog owner....
Germans, the notoriously direct
I pissed off a German today. Such an occurrence is not uncommon. Whether it's my barking dog, my driving skills, or how I maintain my yard, it seems that on a regular basis I am being told that I'm doing something wrong. In a blog post from years ago ("There's a dog...
The “Trailing Spouse”
It’s hard to believe that I have been living in Europe for nearly six hockey seasons. Though, when I think back to my first year in Germany, and how much I have changed since then, it feels like it could be much longer. Of course making the nearly-spontaneous decision...
Hookers . . . sorry, prostitutes, in Germany.
My first trip to Hamburg’s famous Reeperbahn was a bit of shock. I think I can more accurately call it culture shock now though, as I look back at my reaction to the “sinful mile”. Having only been in Hamburg for a few days, after spending the summer in Canada and...
How being an Expat has made me a better . . . Brit?
A few posts back I wrote about how being an expat has made me a better Canadian. After thinking about it a bit further, I have actually come to realize that being an expat has also made me a better English and Irishwoman. Now I have to admit, I have never been to the...
Evolution of an Expat
I attended a dinner party the other night, at a comfy apartment in a suburb outside of Hamburg. Guests included Canadian (both French and English-speaking), American, and German teammates from my husband’s hockey team, and their spouses. It was a fun, casual evening...
Tschüss, Jet Lag!
For many expats, long distance air travel is just a regular part of our lifestyle. Whether you travel “home” sporadically for visits, or if you essentially live between two or more places, overseas travel, and all that comes with it, is just another challenge that we...
How being an Expat has made me a Better Canadian
It seems that every year, as I am doing the last minute prepping for our upcoming move back to Europe (Hamburg, Germany this time around), I get that same sad, longing feeling. Over the years of my on-again-off-again expat life, I have grown ever more fond of my home...
These are a few of my favorite things . . .
I have been back in Canada for a few months now, for the usual hockey off-season, and I can't help but continually make comparisons between my two homes. When nearing the end of the season in Europe, I start fantasizing about things at home in Canada: all the foods...
An Expensive Lesson in the Laws of the Land
For most of my first year in Germany I didn’t drive. I come from a small Canadian city with no major highways, and so the thought of the autobahn seriously freaked me out. I was, and remain, very surprised at how easy it was for my husband to simply turn in his...
Online Lifelines
Remember that time not long ago when long-distance phone calls were reserved for special occasions? Your uncle on the other side of the country would get a nice three minute phone call on his birthday, and your grandmother across the ocean could expect a quick "Merry...
Where the heck is the baking powder?
I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for expat moms who need to bake cupcake after cupcake, cookie after cookie, required by their children for school fundraisers, soccer practices, birthday parties etc. Baking in German-speaking Europe is hard! When I first...
The Naked Truth
There was one very significant event that I happened to omit from my last blog, regarding my recent trip to Davos. In truth, I just wasn’t quite ready to talk about it yet. The incident was somewhat traumatizing, or at least severely uncomfortable, and it left me...
You went to Davos and didn’t ski?
I have often joked that Switzerland may be the only place on earth where gyms are completely deserted during the month of January. I remember going for the ubiquitous January 2nd workout last year, anticipating the typical hordes of resolution bandwagoners, but I...
Expat Hospitality
As I have mentioned before, my husband is a professional hockey player, now playing here in Switzerland. We spend nine exciting months of each year in Europe, then three whirlwind months in Canada. As much as we adore our time overseas, it always requires some...
Cheese Please!
When the cool fog starts rolling across Lake Zurich, and the neon green foothills begin showing white frosting on top, my thoughts immediately turn to the tastes of Swiss winter foods. Last fall during my first few months in Switzerland, I started hearing people talk...
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