I've shed a tear nearly every morning since the massacre took place at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut on the 14th of December. Any time I look at a newspaper or scroll through my Facebook feed or hear a clip on German or English language radio, there...
The GW Expat Blog
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cultural comparisons
A bilingual Christmas
“It's the Christmas Man," my two-and-a-half-year-old son cheered, pointing to the large inflatable red-clad figure bobbing in the wind outside a men's clothes shop. In these first unseasonably barmy days of early December, we were yet to talk about the intricacies of...
Expatriates and the cost of living in A, D, CH
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...
German Grocery Stores Are No Visual Feast
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...
Laternenfest – Lantern Festival
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...
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...
Das Berliner Modell
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...
Expat children
I am struck, watching my two small children grow up in Berlin, how different their childhood is from mine in England's industrial north in the 1980s. We are very integrated here - most of our friends are German. the nursery the children go to is German, and the places...
What Makes You Happy?
About a year ago, I was on a walk in Germany with another expat. We were exchanging experiences and advice on living with the natives and dealing with German spouses, and comparing life in Germany to life elsewhere. Inevitably, the question came up: "Do you think...
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...
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Part 1)
No, I'm not going to discuss Spaghetti Westerns today. I'm going to list some of my expat likes (the good), dislikes (the bad) and major gripes (the ugly) related to living in Germany. Although I'm going to start with "the bad," you should know that my "good" list is...
Homesickness in a Global World
We have now arrived in Toronto and are busy setting up our new house. Like any move, this one has had its share of surprises, including our air freight sitting in Germany for two weeks because the movers forgot about it. Flexibility is key, and a very long fuse… so...
Comparing Germany and France and…
There was a time when I thought certain practices and cultural quirks were uniquely German (or Austrian or Swiss), but as I traveled around Europe more and more, I realized that some "German" things are actually European things. The fear of a draft or breeze, for...
Moving Back to Germany
I have an announcement to make. We are moving back to Germany next month. The timing of the move was a bit of a surprise, but it was always in the realm of possibility. We were away for two years, and as I've started the arduous process of organizing another overseas...
These are a few of my favorite things . . .
I have been back in Canada for a few months now, for the usual hockey off-season, and I can't help but continually make comparisons between my two homes. When nearing the end of the season in Europe, I start fantasizing about things at home in Canada: all the foods...
A German Education
I am going to attempt to explain the German education system in the simplest terms possible. For those with further education who can handle the exceptions, I have listed them at the end. When a child is born in Germany, it has the right to a place in a daycare from...
Spargelzeit
The first whiff of anticipation comes in early April when you notice the odd crate in the supermarket, labelled "from Spain" and extortionately priced. You keep your eye on the incrementally falling price over the following fortnight. And when it hits seven euros a...
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...
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...
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