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...
The GW Expat Blog
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Tips, advice, suggestions
Expatriates and the cost of living in A, D, CH
Expatriates don't always have a choice of where they're assigned to work, but they definitely need to know the cost of living in their assignment location. If your salary is paid by a US company, for example, that salary might put you at a huge disadvantage if you are...
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (final)
Today we'll finish my list of expat likes (the good), dislikes (the bad) and major gripes (the ugly). We are now in Part 2 of the "good" things. In Part 1 I began with "the bad," but my "good" list turned out to be even longer! So long in fact, that I needed to split...
Dealing with the Germans
This topic has the potential to be divisive and insulting. I will tread lightly. A year ago, a friend of mine celebrated her last few days of singledom with a bachelorette party in France. Unable to attend, I sent along an “Instruction Guide to a German Husband”, a...
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Part 2a)
Today I'm continuing my list of expat likes (the good), dislikes (the bad) and major gripes (the ugly) – all related to living in Germany. In Part 1 I began with "the bad," but my "good" list has turned out to be even longer! So long in fact, that I need to split my...
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...
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...
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Part 1)
No, I'm not going to discuss Spaghetti Westerns today. I'm going to list some of my expat likes (the good), dislikes (the bad) and major gripes (the ugly) related to living in Germany. Although I'm going to start with "the bad," you should know that my "good" list is...
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...
Berlin’s desk revolution
"It's like being interviewed for a shared flat," my German friend, the freelance TV producer, says to me one Wednesday morning over one of those pungent Berlin coffees. Having left our laptops gently purring on our dining table desks, we are now sitting outside a...
A German Education
I am going to attempt to explain the German education system in the simplest terms possible. For those with further education who can handle the exceptions, I have listed them at the end. When a child is born in Germany, it has the right to a place in a daycare from...
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...
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...
Good Night, Sleep Tight, Watch out for the Crack!
Maybe you have visited Germany on a trip and noticed that the hotel beds were a little funny. Large, generously proportioned, down pillows, down comforters. But strangely, when you sink into the middle of the bed you find, well, it's lacking. There’s a crack down the...
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...
Germans: We don’t need no stinkin’ apartment numbers
It never really dawned on me that the Germans don't use apartment numbers – until I lived in a German apartment house. The only way the postal carrier (Postbote/Postbotin) can deliver mail to the correct apartment in even a large apartment complex is by the surname on...
Dealing with Differences in a Multi-Culti Family
Not long ago, a German friend gave me a stern warning that I was in danger of teaching my children that all things German are bad. I was perplexed at this perspective, for it certainly doesn’t reflect how I feel. “If you tell them negative things about Germany, you...
Foods that are hard to find in Germany
I'm inviting readers (Americans especially) to help me compile a list. It's a list that grows shorter by the year, but is still fairly lengthy: Foods that are hard to find in Germany. It really wasn't that long ago that an American living in Germany had difficulty...
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...
Getting in with the In Crowd
Recently some fellow Americans moved in down the street. We figured this out before we talked to them, as there were some telltale expat signs around the house. One day I stopped the new neighbor while he was out walking his dog and we had a brief chat, marveling at...
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