There is an interesting anniversary being marked here in Germany right now that means something to me. It's one of those events that leads you to think about all of the parallel lives you could have led: "What would my life have been like if my parents had never moved...
The GW Expat Blog
Author
Jane
Luisa Weiss’ Advice for the Expat in Germany
It's Monday, but I got to talk to the creator and author behind the popular food blog The Wednesday Chef, Luisa Weiss, last week. She's also the author of the best-selling memoir, My Berlin Kitchen which came out late last year, and as you may have guessed, she lives...
German Workers’ Councils Demystified
I’m taking on a lofty goal by trying to spell out what German Workers’ Councils or Betriebsräte are in 500 words or less, a concept that is often abstract to those of us from countries without them. If you are employed somewhere with a Betriebsrat, you should know who...
Gun Laws in Germany
I've shed a tear nearly every morning since the massacre took place at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut on the 14th of December. Any time I look at a newspaper or scroll through my Facebook feed or hear a clip on German or English language radio, there...
German Grocery Stores Are No Visual Feast
One aspect that I have always loved about living in Europe compared to the US is the overall higher quality of food. Tomatoes taste like sweet sunshine and smaller Old World apples are crispier and sweeter than their mammoth American cousins. Then there are those...
Das Berliner Modell
Now that we are back in Germany, my third child is now attending the same daycare or Kindertagestaette (KITA) as my first two children. This boy from day one has never been sensitive about being left with new people. He was at an in-home daycare in California from age...
Winning the Recycling Game
You'll have to accept my apology for the delay in this post, but I have been busy sorting my rubbish. As those of you know, thanks to previous posts by Hyde and Ruth, this is serious business here in Germany. I am reacquainting myself with what goes in the Gelber...
Re-expatriating
We've returned to the Fatherland after the grueling process of packing up and moving a household of a family of five. We drove six hours from San Diego to Las Vegas listening to Die Zaueberfloete non-stop. We saturated in ueber-Americana for three days on The Strip....
Moving Back to Germany
I have an announcement to make. We are moving back to Germany next month. The timing of the move was a bit of a surprise, but it was always in the realm of possibility. We were away for two years, and as I've started the arduous process of organizing another overseas...
Meet Freude: More Korean Food in Leipzig
NOTE: Updated for 2024. I know that you've waited over a month for this follow-up post on Korean food in Leipzig so let's jump right in. The family and I went to Meet Freude in the Südvorstadt neighborhood of Leipzig. This part of town is a quick Strassenbahn ride or...
Korean Food in Leipzig
NOTE: Updated for 2024. In pursuit of finding decent food in Germany, my family and I tried out two of the three Korean restaurants in Leipzig during a visit to the city. It is a high risk undertaking to try a Korean restaurant in Germany as it can be very hit or...
Losing Language
It was inevitable. Our German was bound to get worse upon departure. The first year, mine seemed to remain intact. I was still feeling pretty German, and I spoke German almost daily with our German preschool teachers, with other German-speaking parents, and with our...
Are German Parents as Superior as French Parents?
The Wall Street Journal published another provocative piece on one certain "ethnic" parenting style superior than the American one. I put ethnic in quotes as I refer first to the Tiger parenting style written and described by Amy Chua early last year. Chua talked...
Some R&R for German Mothers
I have a confession. This might not come as a surprise to some of you, but it’s been tough being a mother to three children under the age of five. Especially in the last few months as my baby has become more sensitive to noise and light, and as I’ve had to try to...
German Cuisine: a Comforting Constant
One of the small things that charmed me about our San Diego neighborhood when I first visited it, was the presence of a small, independent used cookbook store. Sadly, it's closing this Christmas. The owner explained to me that she can make more money working less...
“Almanya” in San Diego
San Diego kicked off its first German Film Festival, German Currents in 2011. It seemed to be a long time coming considering that there are an estimated 100,000 Germans living in the San Diego metro area and Orange County. The festival opened with the screening of...
Finding Childcare in Germany
I mentioned in my previous post that spending the first year of baby's life with him or her at home is common and expected in Germany, at least in the west. On the other hand, it isn't so easy to go back to work within the first year or before age three because of the...
The First Twelve Months
I've been enjoying getting to know my new baby during these first three months of his life. I organized a Mommy & Me Yoga/Baby Massage class at our local yoga studio here in San Diego to give myself that regular undistracted one-on-one time with baby Lenny. During...
Enjoy the Silence
It used to annoy me that I couldn’t do any shopping on Sundays and that our Saturdays were so hectic racing from one shop to the next when I first moved to Germany. Like anything in life, I got used to it. In fact, I started to like the fact that there was some time...
A German Sense of Order Restored
As I've recently blogged, I've been pregnant for the last nine months in America. It was a miserable pregnancy. While I was fortunate to not have any complications such as gestational diabetes or preeclampsia, I was debilitated by the discomforts of being so large and...
Recent Comments