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5 Things I Can Do with a Kid in Germany that I Can’t in the USA

by | Dec 7, 2016 | , , , | 0 Comments

5 Things I Can Do with a Kid in Germany that I Can't in the USA

Baby in a Bar Photo: Erin Porter

I get asked about my experience having a kid and raising her in Germany a lot by my American family and friends. But the truth is, I have nothing to compare it to. Unlike fellow GW contributor Jane, I never had a child in the USA.

However – as an American – I can theorize about some of the differences. The little things that catch me up as a parent, as well as the big things that show how far apart the parenting cultures are. I know that there are at least five things I can do in Germany with a kid that I couldn’t do in the USA.

read more…

How to Dress your Kid for Winter in Germany

by | Nov 30, 2016 | , , | 1 Comment

How to Avoid Getting a Lecture from the Kita Teacher

Photo: Erin Porter

Is this warm enough? PHOTO: Erin Porter

When writing my post on “How to Dress for Winter in Germany”, I felt like I could complete another full post on “How to Dress your Kid for Winter in Germany”. Germans take winter clothing seriously and double down when it comes to the kids.

I tried to cover the basics of kid wear in Germany with Dressing your Kid for German KiTa, but – as I said – winter is a whole new deal. So here is an updated Guide of How to Dress Your Kid for German KiTa – complete with special information for the winter.

How I did it Wrong

When my baby started Krippe, I thought I was ready. We had waded through the paperwork, got the almighty Kita-Gutschein (subsidy) and been accepted to a great KiTa. We had steeled ourselves for our baby spending time away from us for the first time. We thought we had this.

However, suggestions from the Erzieherin started coming in slow and haven’t stopped. read more…

Keeping it clean

by | Nov 23, 2016 | , , , | 2 Comments

kehrwoche

Don’t ignore this sign – Photo Alie C

As a Brit I was brought up with many cultural stereotypes about Germany and its people. Germans are ‘lederhosen wearing, straight talking, rule following, tidy people’ and since I initially landed in Bavaria, I can definitely agree that stereotypes are born out of truths. As with any country though there are also internal stereotypes, what do the Germans think of each other?

Stuttgart is located Swabia, which is a historic territory which now falls within the states of Bavaria and Baden Wurttemberg, its people, the Swabians, are considered to be the most frugal and fastidious about cleaning of all the Germans. I’ve always been impressed with streets magically cleared of snow and leaves before I’ve even dragged myself out of bed in the morning, windows and steps that are polished and shining constantly. In Swabia cleaning is a serious business. Historically this cleanliness came in the form of a law passed in 1492 to try and keep Stuttgart and its streets clean. In a time before indoor plumbing, this was no mean feat. read more…

Picking the Right Äpfel

by | Nov 18, 2016 | , , , | 0 Comments

FoodApples are one of those marvellous foods which fulfil all requirements – at once delicious, nutritious, versatile, and practical in form. Boiled eggs, though slightly more fragile, are similar. It is unsurprising then that apples form and have formed a staple part of my diet since before I can remember. The lunchbox from my school days almost always included at least one apple, at university apples were one of the foods I would buy in bulk and still get through, at work an apple is my afternoon pick-me-up, and my children can be near certain that they’ll find an apple in their lunch box too.

But, for all this good will, the transition between apple eating in England and apple eating in Germany has not been a smooth one. Indeed, over six years ago, in the first months after our move to Berlin, during the peak of apple season, my relationship with apples floundered. The range in the standard supermarkets was very limited. I couldn’t find the sorts I liked from the UK. The apples I could find always disappointed – they didn’t taste good or they lacked an essential crispness. Not content simply to move onto another fruit, I sought expert advice. read more…

Martin Luther King, Jr. in Berlin – East and West!

by | Nov 8, 2016 | | 0 Comments


I’m still stunned. How could I never have heard of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s visit to Berlin? He even outdid JFK and Reagan by not only going to West Berlin in 1964, but crossing the Berlin Wall into East Berlin – where he gave not one, but two sermons!

MLK Berlin 1964

Martin Luther King, Jr. (left) at the Berlin Wall in 1964. PHOTO: Landesarchiv Berlin

Do you remember Barack Obama’s Berlin visit? Why did the US president fail to mention this not so minor detail during his own 2008 Berlin speech at the Siegessäule? A fellow African-American he greatly admires paid a Cold War visit to both East and West Berlin, and Obama not only ignores it, but evokes two white guys by saying: “I know that I don’t look like the Americans who’ve previously spoken in this great city.” No wonder MLK in Berlin is one of the best kept secrets in modern history.

Even with Google, Bing and all that, it took me hours of searching to find any concrete information about King’s Berlin trip – and most of it was in German. That’s even more ironic when you realize that the East German media never uttered a word about King’s historic visit to the GDR. Sure, King fit many things the communist German government liked; hell, even the FBI labeled MLK a commie. But on the other hand, Rev. King kept saying things about democracy, freedom and breaking down barriers. read more…

How to Dress for Winter in Germany

by | Nov 2, 2016 | , , , , , | 0 Comments


It’s hard to tell what the weather will be like day-to-day in Berlin. You can wake up to bright sunshine, leave your Wohnung (apartment) amidst deep fog and return home to an epic downpour. Other places like Freiburg may boast more sunshine than anywhere else in the country, but there is no escape from the cold. Bone-chilling, breath-stealing, icicles-in-your-nostril cold eventually finds its way to every corner of Germany. Sometimes this is only for a day or two, and sometimes this chill feels like it will never end.

Winter wear

The author feeling cold in a Berlin winter. PHOTO: Erin Porter

And unlike places like the USA where you run from your well-heated home to your preheated car to your next heated destination, life in Europe refuses to let you hide out through the winter. There will be very cold minutes waiting for the train, the airy flat you loved in summer will turn into an ice box, and the only times you’re warm are when you are sweating through your under layers on the random overheated U-Bahn car.

The only way to fight back is with the proper clothing (Kleidung) and Germans are champion over-dressers. Here is how to dress for winter in Germany.

At Home

You know the usual suspects – pile on the sweats and robes. But there is one ever-present German item you might not know about. Germans take off their shoes in their homes, but need something to protect their feet from their cold, beautiful wood floors.

Enter the Hausschuhe (slippers). Sure you’ve seen slippers before and socks may do, but Hausschuhe are serious business. They come in all shapes and sizes and are a mandatory clothing item for many a German.

The first time my German friend came over with her own Hausschuhe I didn’t know what to think. Was my home too cold? (Yes.) Should I supply guest Hausschuhe? (Yes.) I went downstairs to a knick-knack shop wonderfully called “1000 Dinge” and bought a felt holder with four Hausschuhe for 8 euro. Done. read more…

On your bike

by | Oct 19, 2016 | , , | 0 Comments


I knew a little in advance that I wouldn’t be driving a car in Germany when I arrived, but since I would be living in a city with good transport links and had two perfectly usable feet, I wasn’t overly concerned about being four wheels down. The one thing I was absolutely certain of was that I would not be riding a bike.

Bike parking in Erlangen

Bike parking in Erlangen on an average weekday afternoon. PHOTO: Alie

‘People who ride bikes are either super fit and wear a lot of lycra, or children, and I am neither of these’ were my exact thoughts on the subject.

As a pedestrian I soon found out that I was the lowest of the low in the hierarchy of street users. You learn pretty quickly in Germany to stay out of the bike lane, which a lot of the time can be found sharing the footpath. You’ll also learn some choice insults anytime you get in a bike rider’s way. Important skills as a pedestrian include flattening yourself sufficiently against walls, parked cars and shrubbery to avoid getting whacked by a passing handlebar or elbow and staying ultra aware of those silent two-wheeled speed machines.

Four weeks after I arrived, I was the proud new owner of a more colourful German vocabulary, a worn out pair of shoes (so much walking), and a few bruises – and I was ready to be a little more open-minded about this whole cycling thing. What I hadn’t realised was that I’d landed in the city of bikes. Erlangen, Bavaria has repeatedly topped a poll run by ADFC – Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club e.V. (the German Cyclists’ Federation) of the most bicycle friendly Mittelstadt (medium sized city) in Germany. It has to be up there as one of the best places to have a bike as your primary mode of transportation.

The saying about never forgetting how to ride a bike is probably true, but I was never a very accomplished cyclist. Passing my cycling proficiency test at age 11 on my Raleigh bluebell in a car park of the local college was my peak; I hadn’t even touched a bike in 15 years. Being a pedestrian in a city ruled by bikes however, proved a fantastic motivator. I wanted up that hierarchy. I wanted to be the one ringing the bell, to enjoy the swoosh of passing cars stuck in traffic and get from A to B significantly quicker than my feet could carry me. read more…

A Prussian in Hawaii: Heinrich Berger and the Royal Hawaiian Band

by | Oct 12, 2016 | , | 0 Comments


The story of Heinrich (later Henry) Wilhelm Berger has fascinated me ever since I first learned about the Prussian military musician. Berger traveled all the way from Berlin to Honolulu in 1872 – no simple journey in that day and age. Prussian Emperor (Kaiser) Wilhelm I had sent Berger to Hawaii at the request of King Kamehameha V on what was originally supposed to be a four-year assignment to lead and improve King Kamehameha’s Royal Hawaiian Band. Except for two visits to his homeland and several band tours on the mainland, Berger would remain in Hawaii until he died in 1929. He would head the king’s brass band from 1872 until 1915.

Kawaiahao Church in Honolulu - Heinrich Berger

The historic Kawaiaha’o Church in Honolulu, constructed of coral stone, is the oldest in Hawaii. Henry Berger served as organist here for 14 years. He is buried with his wife and an infant daughter next to this church in the center of the city. Sunday services are still conducted here in Hawaiian. Visitors are welcome. PHOTO: Hyde Flippo

I first wrote about Berger here in our blog in 2010, following a visit to Honolulu that year. During a return trip in June 2012, I learned more about Berger and his band. He arrived in Honolulu Harbor on June 2, 1872, following an arduous journey involving ships and trains. And it is his journey – and his life – that I want to discuss here. read more…