Tag Archives: life in germany

Expat Life: Getting Settled

Photo copyright dpa / picture alliance

Everyone settles into life in a new country at a different rate. Some are immediately at home, while others never feel completely comfortable. Homesickness, awkwardness, loneliness: they all are parts of the expat experience to a greater or lesser degree. But fitting in is too. You might surprise yourself.

I have been in Germany for eight years now, but it has only been in the last few years that I have been noticing the telltale signs of “German-ification.” Though I have felt at home in Germany for many years more, it seems my transition into this culture is now complete. How did I know? Well…

You know you’ve been in Germany too long when

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The Week in Germany: Spargel Season, Stuttgart, and Secrets

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Dirndls and beer

Expat blogger “ifs ands and butts” visits a dirndled, beer-filled celebration in Stuttgart. More pictures and words here.

“Want the German beerfest experience without the hellacious task of finding a seat at Oktoberfest? Well, you’re in luck. There is actually another magical land where you people gather in traditional German tracht by the thousands, drink beer out of a Maß, and sing and dance to German party bands; it’s called the Wasen.”

Photo copyright dpa/picture alliance

The Euro blues

Newsflash, not everyone is in love with the euro:

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Grandparenting Bilingual Children in Germany

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Workingberlinmum’s bilingual boy. Photo copyright workingberlinmum

Sarah of workingberlinmum is an expat from the UK who has made Berlin her home. She blogs regularly about what it’s like to raise children abroad and away from family, raising bilingual children, single parenthood, kids crafts and fashions, and more. Today she’s joining us on Young Germany to talk about her experiences raising bilingual children and what that can be like for grandparents who only speak one of the child’s languages. Welcome Sarah!

As the title of this post says, it must be tough being a grandparent to a bilingual child. It of course depends on whether the grandparent speaks the child’s dominant language or not, but if they don’t, they face a lot of challenges communicating with their grandchild.

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The Week in Germany: Castle for Sale

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Photo (cc) flickr user Leo Reynolds

Funding for archaeology cut. Historical documentation to suffer.

“With Roman settlements along the River Rhine and as the region where Neanderthals were discovered, and thus named after, NRW has long been a source of learning about our predecessors.

“But this could soon die out, as the Der Spiegel news magazine reported on Thursday that the state government plans to cut its funding each year until 2015, when there will be nothing left at all. “ You can read the rest of the article here.

Photo (cc) flickr user Leo Reynolds

Why Berlin? That’s why.

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The Week in Germany: Borders, horses, and the Berlin Wall

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Opening the border

Non EU citizens with a vocational skill can now be fast-tracked in the German visa process.

“Until now, only workers with vocational skills from inside the EU had easy access to jobs in Germany, whereas non-EU citizens generally had a hard time getting visas and work permits.

‘The new regulation will throw 40 percent of the old clauses overboard and open the door wide for sought-after, trained employees, who can move the country forward,’ said the minister.”

Read the entire article here.

Photo (cc) flickr user Leo Reynolds

Cascade a copy?

Germany’s song for the 2013 Eurovision contest has, in what seems to be becoming fashionable these days, been accused of plagiarism.

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Expat Life: Bilingual Babies

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Raising a bilingual baby brings along a new set of parenting challenges. Photo (cc) flickr user xopherlance

So we live in Germany. I am American. My husband is German. Watching a little person learn two languages at once is one of the things I have looked most forward to when it comes to baby making and raising. And here we are.

From the very beginning, from Baby Pickles’ very first minute outside of my belly, I spoke English with (to) her. My husband speaks German with (to) her. This is what linguists call the one parent, one language style of bilingualism. Some people do one language at home, one language outside. Some people do one language in one country, one language in another. There are about as many styles to bilingual parenting as there is sugar in Willy Wonka’s candy landscape.

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Expat Life: Hello, Frankfurt

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Frankfurt am Main. Photo (cc) flickr user doistrakh

Frankfurt, Dresden, Frankfurt, Mainz, Frankfurt. It seems I can’t move to another city in Germany without making a stop back in the first German town I ever called home. And now, as of Saturday, here I am calling it home again. Who’d have thought?

My husband certainly hadn’t. I’d always had a soft spot for the city—there were so many gritty, interesting little corners—and after all, Frankfurt ist ein Dorf (Frankfurt is a village). It may be one of Germany’s big cities and its banking capital, but it doesn’t feel like a big city. Particularly not after you’ve been in New York. But that is part of its beauty: it has a small-town feeling with a big-city’s perks. I’ve never understood why so many expat bloggers spend so much time railing on the place. It’s quite charming if you give it a chance, I say, though my husband is yet another who has never been able to see the place through my eyes.

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