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Dealing with Damage

by | Mar 24, 2014 | , , | 0 Comments

Despite not being military or part of any diplomatic corps, my family and I move frequently. We moved in 2010, and then in 2012 – not counting the two additional moves within the same town from one temporary flat to another and then into the house we bought, and now we are moving again later this year. We’ve been trying to declutter to avoid moving unpacked boxes from one house to the next, but we realized that we had to finally close out and submit our damage claim from our big move in 2012 before we moved again in 2014.

We had delayed submitting the claim because as mentioned before, we had moved several times in 2012 and decided to wait till we had received all of our things from the move from America to Germany to submit one big claim. In retrospect, that probably wasn’t the best idea. In fact, what I took away from the experience is that it is best to submit the claim as soon as possible while you are still feeling incensed that your beloved leather dining sofa has never-before-seen cuts in parts of the leather or a favorite side table now has three legs less.

Broken Nightstand
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When a Brötchen is a Bömmel …

by | Mar 10, 2014 | , | 3 Comments

Schrippe

The definite preference in Germany may be for dense, dark bread made with various combinations of wholewheat, spelt, rye, seeds and nuts (it accounts for over 90% of bread consumption), but the small, white, crusty bread roll does maintain an iconic status – whether presented in a wicker basket to accompany a breakfast spread; ripped up and dipped into your Linseneintopf at lunch; or as a quick snack zwischendurch. Indeed, walk the streets of Berlin late in the afternoon and you’ll barely see a child go by who isn’t gnawing on one.

You’d have thought, then, that buying such a white bread roll is relatively straightforward. But it’s not. Why? Well, it’s not a problem of availability. Every bakery, supermarket and Spätverkauf (after-hours corner shop) will have shelves full of them. Nor is it a matter of price. Even your most expensive bio (organic) bakery will sell you one for less than 50 cents; cheaper outlets will be almost giving them away for less than 20 cents. read more…

Confessions of an Expat TV Addict in Germany

by | Mar 3, 2014 | , , | 6 Comments


This is the most honest way to introduce myself to German-Way readers,

Hello, my name is ebe and I am an expat TV addict.

VPN options for Germany It’s true. Despite living in Germany for several years, I still watch American TV every day. As a writer working from home, I have the freedom to tune into the squabbles of various housewife franchises, observe the zombie apocalypse and evaluate cooking competitions any time I want. And I want.

It’s comforting in this strange life abroad to hear those familiar accents discussing things I understand. Unlike German politics, the best Fleischsalat or how to help the refugees in Oranienplatz, I have opinions on TV. It helps me stay connected to that life I left behind and keeps me in the loop with my stateside community.

On the other hand, my commitment to US television has certainly played a part in the slow pace at which I am learning German. It has been easy, far too easy, for me to live in the dreaded expat bubble, speaking English with my American husband and listening to my American television friends. In a place as metropolitan and expat-filled as Berlin, I am just one example of how easy it is to get by in this city for years – years! – with only basic German skills*. I am legitimately embarrassed, but can’t seem to stop myself from tuning in. Addict isn’t too far off from the truth… read more…

The Famous Swabian Hausfrau

by | Feb 24, 2014 | , , | 0 Comments

I was delighted to find an article in the February 1, 2014 edition of The Economist dedicated to the mindset of the Swabian Hausfrau. The article links the economic mindset of this stereotype from Germany’s Southwest to the economic mindset of Germans within Europe. It is a deftly created argument and the article is surprisingly detailed in its research of the origins of the Swabian mindset. Unfortunately they weren’t as thorough in their research into the origins of Maultaschen, and were duly called on their sloppiness two weeks later in the Letters to the Editor.
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From freelance to Angestellte to Arbeitslos

by | Feb 18, 2014 | , , | 0 Comments

Remember my last post where I talked about my wonderful new job? The one I was excited about after the eight months of freelancing and running around in many directions trying to make a living? Well, one of the perils of working for a start up company is the very flimsiness of it all. They depend on investors and the investors want results. What appeared to be a safe bet for me and the perfect place turned out not to be.

I went in to work at the end of January only to receive a mysterious meeting request from the CEO. I turned to  my direct manager and saw from the look on his face that I could expect bad news. And bad news I got. The company had grown to0 quickly, and documentation people are not the ones who bring in the cash. I was unfortunate enough to still be in the first few months of my probationary period (Probezeit), so I was chosen to be one of the victims. They assured me that they weren’t letting me go for performance reasons, but that doesn’t really make me feel any better, to be honest.

Needless to say, I was absolutely floored and devastated. I managed to get home, called my husband at the airport (he was on his way to Graz) and conveyed the horrible news. Then I went home to start looking for a new job. The company had assured me they would support me in any way they could, with a Zeugnis or by calling people they knew at the software behemoth nearby – my former employer, SAP. However, I have a very specific skill set. I am a technical editor, which is common enough in Germany, but I am not especially keen on writing in German. My German is fluent (written and spoken), but as a word person, I don’t feel comfortable writing less than perfectly in any language, especially when it is for publication. I love the actual writing and editing process and am very picky about language. But most jobs for technical editors are looking for native German speakers. read more…

Playing Monk in Switzerland

by | Feb 10, 2014 | , , | 0 Comments

It’s unusual for me to find that it’s my turn to blog and not have a topic or two that I’m bursting to write about. When that happens, I virtually leaf through Spiegel online and its English section, The Local and Deutsche Welle. My Facebook feed also sometimes triggers some inspiration, so the common piece of news that has led me to today’s topic is Switzerland’s vote to reinstate an immigrant quota.

I’m not actually setting out to discuss this disturbing vote, but I’ll summarize it here: basically, a very narrow majority of Swiss (50.3%), mostly in the rural German parts of the country, have bought in to the fears that Switzerland will become overcrowded if they don’t put a cap on the number of foreigners coming in. That cap has been set to 80,000 immigrants. The short-sighted truth is that these voters succumbed to some scare-mongering thinking that these immigrants were only refugees, migrant workers and benefit-sucking immigrants. Sadly, Switzerland’s history of keeping refugees out is just as disturbing today as it was during the Holocaust. 284,200 Germans currently live in Switzerland. That’s second to Italians. As Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has said, this referendum is going to “cause a lot of problems for Switzerland.” read more…

Das Bombing: Graffiti in Germany and Europe

by | Feb 3, 2014 | , , , | 1 Comment

Graffiti and tagging are a phenomenon seen all over the world, but how they are regarded and dealt with varies widely, depending on the location. A stroll through the streets of Berlin quickly reveals why it is sometimes referred to as “the graffiti capital of Europe.” The very graphic graffiti term “bombing” (das Bombing in German) takes on a whole new meaning in the German capital, which suffered actual massive Allied bombing during World War II, but today seems to be under attack yet again by aggressive taggers and so-called “street artists.”

Oberschule graffiti

This graffiti “gallery” is on the grounds of a Berlin high school (Oberschule). PHOTO: Hyde Flippo

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And the sky became a sea of light – Silvester in the Hauptstadt

by | Jan 27, 2014 | | 2 Comments

A Scary New Year’s Eve in Berlin

We were lucky this year that the Berlin snow waited long enough for Silvester’s detritus to be  cleared away from the streets. In 2009/10 – the winter of the big freeze, when the pavements stayed covered in thick layers of ice and snow for months – the wooden sticks of rockets and the burnt out tubes of firecrackers surfaced in late March as the crocuses began to bloom.

FireworksThe sub-header to an article in the Berliner Morgenpost from 31st December will give you a clue: “An Silvester verwandelt sich der Berliner Nachthimmel in ein Lichtermeer … ” (“On New Year’s Eve  the night sky over Berlin is transformed into a sea of light. Everywhere in the capital fireworks will be set off … “). Ah, fireworks across the city – it sounds rather magical, doesn’t it? And it is, in a way. But it’s also very alarming, especially if you’re not a German native and you grew up with slightly different firework safety standards.

You do find a few firework displays in Britain at New Year. But ‘display’ here is the operative word. People go down to the River Thames in London or to local parks, and watch the brilliant flashes and sparkles of something that someone else has organised. Most people get their own firework fix on the 5th November (Guy Fawkes’ or Bonfire Night), having a few fireworks in the back garden or taking part in bigger local displays. Perhaps you’ll see the odd unruly type setting off a firework in the street, but this is the exception and very much frowned upon at that. And there is a big emphasis on safety – you can’t avoid the masses of adverts on TV, on billboards, in magazines telling you how to “use fireworks safely”. Everyone knows about the ten paces rule, wearing gloves to hold sparklers and not setting off rockets in glass bottles … read more…