The GW Expat Blog

All Posts

Grocery Culture

by | Feb 6, 2012 | , , | 5 Comments

There I was on Saturday morning at the grocery store, my cart full, hastily putting my items on the checkout band. I sent two parties ahead of me to the cashier, knowing I would need a little extra time; my weekly groceries still filled the cart and my attempts to organize the checkout band for efficient packing were consuming precious seconds. The people behind me began to move closer, although I hadn’t moved forward an inch. Someone sighed loudly from farther back in line. And I began to sweat.

Finally, my groceries all lined up in perfect order on the checkout band, I proceeded to the cashier, who began her rapid-fire process of scanning and piling them for me to place back in the cart. I wasn’t fast enough, she dumped things in for me to speed things up. Desperate to keep up, I was of course unable to pack things in the cart in the order I had planned while placing them on the band. The heavy things were on top, the eggs near the bottom, and the potatoes just got dumped on top of the yogurt. Eager to end the transaction, I paid (with my debit card, which wasn’t possible just a few years ago!) and made my way to the car, where I again packed the groceries, this time at my leisure and in the order I preferred, into the reusable bags waiting in my car.

Whew. Grocery shopping culture here is so different. read more…

Tricks of the trade for the metrically challenged

by | Jan 23, 2012 | , , , | 2 Comments


In an earlier article I wrote about the many little differences in daily culture that can sometimes frustrate expats in German-speaking Europe. I listed 15 “Kleinigkeiten” that may or may not be minor matters – from traffic signal placement to the bare kitchen. But today we’ll discuss a different sort of pesky cultural difference, and how to cope with it.

Updated for 2024.

This almost exclusively concerns US-Amerikaner (as the Germans so accurately say). We US Americans are the last of a dying breed: people who do not use the metric system. The United States of America is one of the few places left on earth where average people still measure things in feet and inches or yards and miles. Americans are also left out in the cold when it comes to measuring temperatures. Almost no one else uses degrees Fahrenheit any more. Even the British have moved on to the Celsius system, although in their muddling way road signs are still in miles and you can still order a pint of beer. Metricizing (metricising) has its limits in the UK.

Fruit stand - kilograms

Buying groceries in Europe means dealing with the metric system.
PHOTO: Hyde Flippo

Metric measure is not a problem for non-Americans moving to Austria, Germany or Switzerland. Even the Canadians went metric back in the 1970s. (It is only commercial and cultural ties to the US that keeps some vestiges of non-metric alive in Canada.) Because metrication never really caught on in the US, we Americans are handicapped when we leave our familiar shores. read more…

You went to Davos and didn’t ski?

by | Jan 18, 2012 | , , | 0 Comments

I have often joked that Switzerland may be the only place on earth where gyms are completely deserted during the month of January. I remember going for the ubiquitous January 2nd workout last year, anticipating the typical hordes of resolution bandwagoners, but I ended up having the place all to myself.  The reason for this phenomenon of course, is that everyone is skiing!  Why would anyone workout during winter holidays when the Alps are right there?

Skiing is as Swiss as cheese and chocolate, and the Swiss people take all such enjoyable things very seriously. I should note here that the idea of health and wellness in Switzerland is much more geared toward just that, health and wellness. It is quite a different mentality from the North American obsession with fat burning and muscle pumping.  Many Swiss believe that if fitness can be found within some of the most beautiful outdoor settings in the world, then the Elliptical machine can take a hike.  In searching for outdoor activity, there is no better place to find heart-healthy fresh air and challenging winter adventures than in Europe’s highest city, Davos.

read more…

Homesick?

by | Jan 9, 2012 | , , | 2 Comments

As I write this, I am dazed with jet lag. In this haze, the thoughts I had on the airplane for this blog post are distant and somewhat difficult to grasp. The moment we arrived back in Europe, it was as if the trip had never happened. Three weeks of the Great Northwest, soaking in all the local culture, enjoying family and friends and giant parking spaces, all just a dream. I feel homesick for it already.

I love going home, and I love coming back to my home in Germany. One of the strange things that happens when you live in a different culture is that you have selective memory about your home culture. While I am here, I notice all the things that are substandard compared to my home culture; the tight parking spaces, the lack of convenience, the gruff public face so many locals prefer to wear. read more…

Some R&R for German Mothers

by | Jan 1, 2012 | , , , , , | 0 Comments

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 maintain perfect nap conditions for him while containing two energetic preschoolers in our one-story house, I’ve felt more like the ringmaster of a three-ring circus. In other words, I have felt like a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. read more…

The German Past raises its ugly head

by | Dec 26, 2011 | , | 1 Comment

A couple of days ago I opened my local newspaper here in Reno and turned to the “Nation & World” section. Wow! A huge headline jumped out at me: “Germany links serial killings to neo-Nazi sympathizers: Turks are outraged by slow action.” The Reno Gazette-Journal rarely contains any news from Germany, but there it was – in bold print and with color photos!

I had been following this story in the German media for some time, but I was really surprised to see it so prominently displayed in an American newspaper, much less in my local paper, covering almost half the page. Labeled “Special for USA TODAY,” with a byline for Ruby Russell, the story began: “BERLIN – The first to die was Enver Simsek, 38, a flower vendor shot in the face in Nuremberg in 2000. The last was Halit Yozgat, 21, shot in the head in the Internet café he ran in Kassel, six years later.” read more…

Expat Hospitality

by | Dec 19, 2011 | , , | 0 Comments

As I have mentioned before, my husband is a professional hockey player, now playing here in Switzerland.  We spend nine exciting months of each year in Europe, then three whirlwind months in Canada. As much as we adore our time overseas, it always requires some adjustment, spending holidays with people we’ve just met; new teammates and friends who become temporary family during special occasions. We also have had to learn to face life’s many ups and downs over Skype with mom, texts with friends, and via outlets like this blog. As an expat living in Germany and Switzerland however (some of the most popular destination countries in Europe), my husband and I have also been very fortunate to host many of our family and friends in our various overseas homes.

We have hosted friends looking to discover the European nightlife, parents coming to make sure we have a proper Christmas, cousins coming to celebrate New Years Eve on the slopes, and friends of friends backpacking through. Each visitor has been very different and each visit has been uniquely memorable.

read more…

Don’t be Stuffy

by | Dec 12, 2011 | , , , , | 3 Comments

A few years ago, a building contractor told me a story that scared me enough to change my habits:

“I worked with a young couple recently who fully remodeled an old house. They both worked full-time. Every morning, they both got up, took showers, got dressed and left for work, to return again late in the evening. Within three months, mold had taken over in multiple rooms of their house and they spent a fortune to have the problem fixed. Not once in those three months did they air out after taking a shower, and all the moisture just built up in there.”

After hearing this story, you can bet I open the windows and air out the bathroom after a shower! And for good air quality in your house, to prevent mold, and to increase heating efficiency in the winter, you should also air out (lüften) your home regularly. read more…