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Expatriates and the cost of living in A, D, CH

by | Nov 29, 2012 | , , , , | 0 Comments

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 working and living in Tokyo, Japan, which happens to be the most expensive city in the world for expats. (The news for Germany is much better.)

Companies with employees assigned to overseas locations usually offer some sort of cost-of-living allowance to supplement the increased costs. So even if you are going to an overseas location by your own choice, without company support, you need to know how the cost of living there compares to your current or home location. But how do you get that information? One excellent source is the xpatulator.com website, from which we derived the rankings discussed here.

It may surprise you to learn that, except for New York City, Honolulu, Anchorage, San Jose and San Francisco, most cities in the United States of America have a far lower cost of living than places in Asia, Europe, Africa, South America – and even Canada! My own hometown of Reno, Nevada ranks 455th out of 780. Most places in the southern states of the US rank much lower than that. read more…

German Grocery Stores Are No Visual Feast

by | Nov 26, 2012 | , , | 0 Comments

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 products that are special to Germany such as the bread and sausages which we expats or former expats have written or talked about ad nauseum. That’s why I was surprised to once hear that Germans, compared to their EU neighbors, spend amongst the least amount of money on food per capita. read more…

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (final)

by | Nov 19, 2012 | , , , | 1 Comment

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 my “good” list in two. (See Part 2a for the first half of the “good” list.) – Also see my “ugly” list at the end of today’s blog.

My list is not prioritized! That’s why the items are not numbered. Okay, here we go with more of the good.

THE GOOD (2): More things I like about expat life in Germany

  • The social contract. In Germany there is more of an attitude that there is a social contract. This view is in sharp contrast to the Wild West, “every man for himself” attitude often seen in the U.S. Rather than viewing it as the enemy, Germans think that government’s purpose is to make society better. As a result, Germany’s citizens are more willing to pay taxes in exchange for public services, education, health care and good roads. Germany has read more…

Laternenfest – Lantern Festival

by | Nov 17, 2012 | , , | 1 Comment

It was during our second winter in Berlin that I first became aware of Laternenfeste (lantern festivals). We had little twin babies and, despite early heavy snows, I spent much of my time traipsing icy streets pushing the pram whilst they slept. There was a period in early winter when afternoon after afternoon I saw lines of young children – pre-school age – muffled up against the cold, swinging pretty coloured lanterns and singing in shrill juvenile voices. I was intrigued, but not enough to find out what it all meant. My reaction was more one of ‘oh, that’s ever so sweet, it must be some sort of German tradition’ and then to forget all about it, as you do when you can’t imagine your own booty-wearing, rattle-shaking babes ever being old enough or robust enough to march the streets wearing boots and singing songs.

Martinszug mit Laternen

A traditional evening St Martin’s procession with lanterns. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons

But since then, the unimaginable has happened and our children are now old enough and robust enough for their own winter boots and to attend a local nursery pre-school (KiTa). And last week, for the first time, they too joined the lines of young children piping out songs about lanterns and swinging their own homemade contributions. Off we trudged on an almost chilly November afternoon in the gathering gloom, through the streets, round the park and up to the top of a nearby hill, to find a big bonfire waiting and cups of warming Glühwein (mulled wine). Once there, we sang more songs about lanterns, watched sparks leap from the fire, and ran around in the dark until our hands were too cold and it was time to go home. read more…

How being an Expat has made me a better . . . Brit?

by | Nov 5, 2012 | , | 1 Comment

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 UK, nor Ireland, and would never presuppose to be an expert on either place, so this may all sound a bit whacky. But bear with me as I explain how being an expat in German-speaking Europe has helped me to really discover my Irish and English roots.

Growing up in a multicultural country like Canada, we are taught from a young age to appreciate our own unique ethnic backgrounds. There were “Multicultural Day” festivals at school where students were asked to come wearing clothes that represented their families’ ethnic heritage.  Amongst the beautiful traditional Chinese, Aboriginal, Ukrainian, East Indian etc. outfits, I recall going to school on that day wearing a plastic green cap that came as a free gift with a case of beer on St. Patrick’s Day. That was about as close to being “authentically” Irish as my family really was, or so I thought for many years.

read more…

Dealing with the Germans

by | Nov 2, 2012 | , , , , , | 2 Comments

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 somewhat tongue-in-cheek list of Do’s and Don’ts for foreign wives of German husbands.

And sitting down to write about how to deal with Germans, I find myself thinking: 11 years of marriage to a German, countless hours and festivities with German in-laws, 11 years of living in the country and speaking the language… do I really know how to deal with Germans? Only sometimes. I think I’ve got things figured out and then some Amt throws a spanner in the works, or I attend a party where I’m the only foreigner and come away feeling fresh off the boat, a complete outsider. read more…

Das Berliner Modell

by | Oct 22, 2012 | , , | 0 Comments

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 one, where he hardly ever cried when we parted and he always had a great time. In fact, before he started at this daycare, I emailed the caregiver, Amanda, and asked how we should schedule his first week. Could we perhaps do what I did with my first two kids: that I stay with him the first day for most of the morning and leave him for an hour to see how he gets on? Then we would slowly increase the increments that he would be left on his own and how long he would stay at the daycare? She politely wrote back that it would probably be easier if we just spoke on the phone. read more…

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Part 2a)

by | Oct 15, 2012 | , , | 0 Comments

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 “good” list in two. You can read the second half of the list in my next installment.

To reiterate: Germany is no more monolithic than the USA. Conservative Munich is not really anything like free-wheeling Berlin. But I have tried to list things that generally apply, and note those things that may be more regional in nature. Everyone’s good and bad list will be unique, but there are many cultural things that all expats in Germany can relate to. And, as I pointed out in my first section, I could make a similar list for life in the US. In fact, this German list is also a commentary in reverse on life in the US.

If you want a more neutral comparison of US and German culture, see our six German Way cultural comparison charts, starting with Driving.

My list is not prioritized! Since my “good” list has now grown to over 20 items, it would be even more difficult to rank them. For that reason, items in the list are not numbered. Okay, here we go, this time with the good… read more…