I pissed off a German today. Such an occurrence is not uncommon. Whether it's my barking dog, my driving skills, or how I maintain my yard, it seems that on a regular basis I am being told that I'm doing something wrong. In a blog post from years ago ("There's a dog...
The GW Expat Blog
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Expat Life and Loneliness
One of the most poignant feelings I have experienced as an expat is loneliness. It was an emotion that I knew very little of before I moved abroad. In some sense, I was probably naive in my adventurousness; I wanted to experience things that were new and different, I...
German Workers’ Councils Demystified
I’m taking on a lofty goal by trying to spell out what German Workers’ Councils or Betriebsräte are in 500 words or less, a concept that is often abstract to those of us from countries without them. If you are employed somewhere with a Betriebsrat, you should know who...
The “Trailing Spouse”
It’s hard to believe that I have been living in Europe for nearly six hockey seasons. Though, when I think back to my first year in Germany, and how much I have changed since then, it feels like it could be much longer. Of course making the nearly-spontaneous decision...
Beware of the “Mexican” Restaurant
Originating from the west coast of the US, Mexican food has long been a staple in my diet. On my first forays into Europe, I made a few optimistic attempts to find suitable restaurants to satisfy my cravings for chips with salsa, fish tacos, over-sized greasy...
Dealing with the Germans
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...
Winning the Recycling Game
You'll have to accept my apology for the delay in this post, but I have been busy sorting my rubbish. As those of you know, thanks to previous posts by Hyde and Ruth, this is serious business here in Germany. I am reacquainting myself with what goes in the Gelber...
Tschüss, Jet Lag!
For many expats, long distance air travel is just a regular part of our lifestyle. Whether you travel “home” sporadically for visits, or if you essentially live between two or more places, overseas travel, and all that comes with it, is just another challenge that we...
Berlin’s desk revolution
"It's like being interviewed for a shared flat," my German friend, the freelance TV producer, says to me one Wednesday morning over one of those pungent Berlin coffees. Having left our laptops gently purring on our dining table desks, we are now sitting outside a...
Meet Freude: More Korean Food in Leipzig
NOTE: Updated for 2024. I know that you've waited over a month for this follow-up post on Korean food in Leipzig so let's jump right in. The family and I went to Meet Freude in the Südvorstadt neighborhood of Leipzig. This part of town is a quick Strassenbahn ride or...
Good Night, Sleep Tight, Watch out for the Crack!
Maybe you have visited Germany on a trip and noticed that the hotel beds were a little funny. Large, generously proportioned, down pillows, down comforters. But strangely, when you sink into the middle of the bed you find, well, it's lacking. There’s a crack down the...
Germans: We don’t need no stinkin’ apartment numbers
It never really dawned on me that the Germans don't use apartment numbers – until I lived in a German apartment house. The only way the postal carrier (Postbote/Postbotin) can deliver mail to the correct apartment in even a large apartment complex is by the surname on...
Foods that are hard to find in Germany
I'm inviting readers (Americans especially) to help me compile a list. It's a list that grows shorter by the year, but is still fairly lengthy: Foods that are hard to find in Germany. It really wasn't that long ago that an American living in Germany had difficulty...
Where the heck is the baking powder?
I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for expat moms who need to bake cupcake after cupcake, cookie after cookie, required by their children for school fundraisers, soccer practices, birthday parties etc. Baking in German-speaking Europe is hard! When I first...
Getting in with the In Crowd
Recently some fellow Americans moved in down the street. We figured this out before we talked to them, as there were some telltale expat signs around the house. One day I stopped the new neighbor while he was out walking his dog and we had a brief chat, marveling at...
The Naked Truth
There was one very significant event that I happened to omit from my last blog, regarding my recent trip to Davos. In truth, I just wasn’t quite ready to talk about it yet. The incident was somewhat traumatizing, or at least severely uncomfortable, and it left me...
Grocery Culture
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...
Tricks of the trade for the metrically challenged
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...
Homesick?
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...
Some R&R for German Mothers
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...
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