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Working My Way

by | Sep 20, 2010 | , , | 0 Comments

I have just completed my first work week in Ireland, after working in Germany for most of my adult life. My most recent stint was at a large German company that was known for being relaxed and friendly, two qualities that are not always associated with other sorts of German companies. Now I am working at a large American company with an office in Ireland, and the differences are vast and amazing to me.

For a short while in the 90s, I did work in the US at a large automotive company, but for the most part, my working life has been spent in Germany. My first job was at a small publishing company that focused on the exciting world of roofing tiles and ceramics. There were four or five of us Sachbearbeiter, all of whom actually translated, edited and desktop published. When I joined the company, almost everyone used the formal Sie with one another, from the CEO down to the cleaning lady. After two years, my American openness had filtered out a bit and our whole department finally managed to use first names with one another. When I interviewed there, the CEO actually asked me whether I planned to have kids in the near future. Of course this was and continues to be illegal, but what can you do, poor and desperate for a job and fresh out of college? As a fresh-out-of-college feminist, this pushed my buttons. I was astounded that jobs in the newspaper were directed at either men or women. read more…

Living the German Way in San Diego – Part 2

by | Sep 13, 2010 | , , | 3 Comments


The sun is still shining here in San Diego. After 6.5 weeks of being homeless, living in hotels and staying with my parents in Pennsylvania, my family and I are finally installed in our own house, which we now call home in a neighborhood called Kensington. We are gradually settling in to our new lives here.

We’re not in Kansas anymore
Brotdose

But that’s no Brot in the Brotdose! PHOTO: Jane

The Germans in my house, namely my husband and two daughters, are enamored with the ice maker in our refrigerator, insisting on having ice in all of their drinks. My older daughter stares enraptured at the microwave, witnessing cold rice going in and hot rice coming out. We didn’t have a microwave in Germany by choice, and I wouldn’t have bought one here except that they seem to be standard equipment in most houses.

We tried the Bavarian Rye bread, which had been recommended by the German members of the North County deutsche Spielgruppe, from Trader Joe’s. My husband said it wasn’t bad, but I couldn’t eat much of it. I begged him to make me some Kässpätzle this evening. It was a nice treat for someone else to cook, but even though he did an excellent job, the Spätzle just didn’t taste the same. It was because of the eggs. Even though we buy organic, the eggs here taste horribly anemic. We’ll try some eggs from one of the many Farmer’s Market next and have even started joking about getting our own hen. read more…

Levels of Language Proficiency: My Life in Germany

by | Aug 30, 2010 | , , , , | 0 Comments

Beyond Ordering a Beer

Recently I enjoyed reading Julia Child’s My Life in France (with Alex Prud’homme). It’s a great book (and the first one I ever read as a Kindle edition on my iPhone). Anyone who has lived abroad or spent only a brief time in the French capital will appreciate it even more. Julia’s husband Paul worked for the United States Information Service (USIS) in Paris from 1948 to 1954. A remark he made about language learning somehow struck me as profound:

“It’s easy to get the feeling that you know the language just because when you order a beer they don’t bring you oysters.”
– Paul Child, quoted in My Life in France*

Julia goes on to say: “At least he could communicate. The longer I was in Paris, the worse my French seemed to get. I had gotten over my initial astonishment that anyone could understand what I said at all. But I loathed my gauche accent, my impoverished phraseology, my inability to communicate in any but the most rudimentary way. My French ‘u’s were only worse than my ‘o’s.” At a Thanksgiving dinner party, where more than half the guests were French, she felt extremely frustrated when she, a confirmed talker, “could barely say anything interesting at all to them.” That was when she decided that she was “going to learn to speak this language, come hell or high water!” read more…

Dies and Das

by | Aug 23, 2010 | | 0 Comments

Being a foreigner once again here in Ireland, after finally not feeling very foreign in Germany, is a new adventure. I finally learned the little cultural tricks in Germany, like not putting my hand out for change at the bakery, but waiting for them to place it on the little tray on the counter, and even the big ones, like closing doors out of habit in every room in the house. And now it all begins again…

Warning: This blog may be a bit rambly; I’ve spent all day delving through moving boxes, directing people and lugging furniture.

I’ve managed the driving bit, at least as far as the smaller roads around our little country town are concerned, but I think I will never be able to employ my excellent Autobahn passing skills in this country. First of all, people just don’t drive that fast. Second, I would be read more…

Living the German Way in San Diego – Part 1

by | Aug 16, 2010 | , , | 1 Comment

I admit that I was probably a bit whingey in my last message. I’ve had some time to get over my homesickness for Germany and Europe and embrace San Diego. It’s nothing like Deutschland, but the living is so easy and the weather is as perfect (always in the 20s C/70s F and no humidity) as they say. The people are also extremely friendly and positive. So positive, that it rose my quasi Teutonic suspicions at first.

Instead of sulking back and looking for things to complain about since the weather wasn’t going to hold anymore, I decided to smile back and enjoy the sun! Meanwhile, our relocation agent asked me what was the one thing I missed most since being in San Diego. My answer was my friends and being able to speak German.

I knew that we would encounter more German speaking families once our kids started at Die Rasselbande, the German preschool we found in San Diego. But it would be another six weeks before our older daughter would start there.
read more…

Turning Weakness Into Strength

by | Aug 9, 2010 | , , | 0 Comments

Weakness is often, to mangle a perfectly good cliche, in the eye of a beholder.

People move to Germany for lots of reasons.  Following a loved one who has had a transfer, caring for family, learning experience, new adventures and so on.  It can be a dream come true.   Eventually, though, most of us have to get back to that reality of making a living.  It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that because your German skills and knowledge of German business culture is not fully up to speed that you are at a disadvantage.

 

read more…

Expats All Over Again: 10 Things I’ll Miss (and 10 Things I Won’t) About Germany

by | Jul 26, 2010 | , , | 1 Comment

Like Jane and her husband, we are also on our way out of Germany. Unlike them though, we are becoming expats once again, this time in Ireland. There are so many things I love about living in Germany. This move happened quickly, and it was a choice for us, but it is scary and I can only imagine what I will miss about Germany, even while I look with excitement toward the new experiences that await me and my family in our new country (mit einem lachenden und einem weinenden Augen).

There are things I know I will miss and there are things that I know I won’t miss. For all my moaning about Germany, I know I have it good over here. This becomes especially apparent when friends from the US come to visit. I’ll start with the things I will miss:

1. The bread – I know that there is good Irish soda bread to be had, but I know I will miss the good, crusty, Brötchen and the Vollkornbrot full of nice seeds.

Brot

There’s nothing like German bread and bakeries.
PHOTO: Nick Gray (Wikimedia Commmons)

2. The public transport system – Again I know there are buses and trains in Ireland, but I am sure that they are no way as dependable as the ones here. read more…

German Transplants in California

by | Jul 19, 2010 | | 0 Comments

We’re a long way away from our Swabian village. Here in sunny California, the roads are wide, parking is plentiful and you throw everything away in one place. Welcome to the land of plenty. We’ve been here for one week, and my mind has been in a big jumble sorting out major decisions such as where to live and what cars to buy.

The differences abound and the culture shock is subtly creeping in: translating 2nd floor to 1st, writing dates with the month first, converting ounces and pounds to grams, and bad driving. Here’s a running list of things I’m adjusting to:

  • Buying organic. As Sarah once wrote, bio is pretty mainstream in German and much more affordable. I almost cursed in front of my children when I read how much frozen organic peas were at Vons: more than double the price of half the size we usually got in Deutschland.
  • Turning right on red. We love this one! Unlike in Germany, you are permitted to make right turns at red traffic lights here in California! read more…