Billy Wilder (1906-2002), the noted Austrian-American film director (Double Indemnity, Stalag 17, Some Like It Hot), as famous as he was, used to complain about how he was frequently misidentified as German. Americans often get Austria and Germany mixed up. Sometimes...
The GW Expat Blog
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History and culture
German Toilets
There are two kinds of toilets in Germany: (1) the old-fashioned shelf or platform type (Flachspüler) and (2) the newer non-shelf types (Tiefspüler). In older homes and flats you are more likely to encounter the shelf type. In newer residences or places that have been...
It’s not all about the fireworks – 4 other New Year’s traditions in Germany
I’ve written about the German obsession at New Year’s with pyrotechnics for this blog before. This year Berlin was the same as always - air thick with smoke, sky alight with brilliant explosions of colour, and our ears filled with the constant cracking of bangers....
Martin Luther King, Jr. in Berlin – East and West!
I'm still stunned. How could I never have heard of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s visit to Berlin? He even outdid JFK and Reagan by not only going to West Berlin in 1964, but crossing the Berlin Wall into East Berlin – where he gave not one, but two sermons! Do you...
Housewarming Traditions in Germany
After all my complaining about finding an apartment in Berlin, it seems like everyone is moving into their home. We moved into our new place - complete with a room for our girl - almost exactly a year ago. While we were away in the States we missed two of our friend's...
You Know You’re a Real Expat in Germany When…
A while back, someone in our Expat Forum posted a clever "You know you're in Germany when..." I happened to run across that list again recently and thought I'd use it as inspiration for today's blog entry. These brief "You know you're not in Kansas any more when..."...
3 Ways I Embarrassed Myself at the German Sauna
Don't worry guys, I brought a towel to sit (and sweat) on in the sauna, and didn't try to wear my swimsuit into the nude areas. I'm not a German sauna newbie. I've been once before. That one time was at touristy Tropical Island. I highly recommend it if you are also a...
VPNs and Netflix – or What German TV You Should Be Watching
Prelude: I was all prepared to write something light - yet close to my heart - about TV. That was the topic of my first German Way post and pertinent as recent changes with Netflix have made watching American TV in Germany much more difficult (details to follow). But...
My First Karneval: On the Verge
Before Hyde sends me a message to “gently” remind me that my blog post is due today, I figured that I should get something up here. It isn’t my preferred style to just throw something up here, half-baked or half-thought through, but I realised that I'm on the "verge"...
US Women Destroy Germany’s World Cup Dreams
The headline in today's Bild online says it all: US-Girls zerstören unseren WM-Traum. In a contest between the top two teams in the world last night, the United States came out on top 2-0 in a surprisingly dominant performance, outlasting a loaded German side in the...
Mahlzeit!
For the first time since we moved to Berlin over five years ago, I am required to go (most days, at least) to an office with lots of German people. Up until a few months ago, I'd either worked from home or from a small co-working space. But now, from behind computer...
Babysitting in Germany
It was not that long ago that the concept of babysitting (das Babysitten/Babysitting; Kinderhüten is the old-fashioned term) was little-known in the German-speaking world. When it did happen, it was usually Oma, a neighbor, or one of the older children watching over...
12 Cities, 12 Fates: Germany Looks Back on the Eve of the 70th Anniversary of World War Two
Horror on an unprecedented scale engulfed Europe in the 1940s, but it was only after the smoke had cleared that the true scope of the brutality came into focus. Millions across the continent were dead, tens of millions displaced, and whole nations found themselves on...
Is Santa Chinese? On the Trail of Santa Claus and der Weihnachtsmann
I've written about it before, but this Christmastide I'm delving a little deeper into the traditions of the season of giving and its central figure: Santa Claus, Weihnachtsmann, Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), Père Noël, Sinterklaas, Father Christmas, Babbo Natale,...
Racing in the Right (or Wrong) Direction
This post came about because I happened to see a photograph of a German horse race, similar to the photo below. It reminded me that horses usually gallop around a German race track in a clockwise direction, while in the United States they run counterclockwise. It made...
Tag der Deutschen Einheit: a view of Berlin 24 years on
As I sat looking out over the tourist boats on the Spree, drinking up the soft autumn sunshine, I had a flickering insight that this moment encapsulated much of modern Berlin. How fitting, I thought, for the occasion, and returned my mind to the conversation. This was...
Don’t Mention the War. Read About It.
One facet of German culture that continues to impress me is how they have dealt with their WWII history. German authors have written extensively about it from the "inside" of German perspective, although I have yet to delve into their works. As an outsider, it is...
A German Epic
Of the many cultural highlights I enjoyed while living in Germany, an Abo (subscription) to the local Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra was definitely one of my favorites. We regularly attended concerts featuring world-class musicians at the Liederhalle in Stuttgart,...
Green Sauce
The origins of Frankfurter Grüne Sosse (green sauce) are not entirely clear. It is largely believed that the Romans brought it from the Near East. But the route the recipe followed from Italy to Hessen (where it is today a celebrated local speciality) is disputed....
(In-) Convenient
A few years ago while chatting with a friend who, like me, has a German spouse, I had a mini-revelation: "There is no German word for convenient," I said. After a pause, my friend the English teacher says, "Well, that explains a hell of a lot." Both fluent German...
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