If you’re renting an apartment in Germany, chances are you have neighbors with cats that regularly go outside. While that might seem perfectly normal to your average German, I personally found it to be one of the strangest aspects of life in Germany. In the USA (at least, where I’m from) you only have an… Continue reading Outdoor Lifestyle for Apartment Cats in Germany
If you’re preparing yourself for a move to Germany, or even just a visit, you may have come across complaints about customer service. Or, more accurately, the lack of customer service. I certainly did, which led me to dig a little deeper into the subject before our 2015 visit. Sure enough, googling “customer service in Germany” gets you… Continue reading The Customer Isn’t Always Right
If you’ve done any research into German culture, you’ve likely come across blogs, articles and forum discussions on the subject of German directness. Less politically-correct results may even simply state that Germans are rude. It’s a topic of discussion as old as time; or, at least, as old as the Internet’s mainstream popularity. There is… Continue reading How Rude! Are Germans too Direct?
My husband and I are planning to do a bike tour of Bavaria this Summer. It’s not my first choice for a vacation, but it’s a good compromise since I want to see Bavaria and he wants to cycle. So, I’ve been “training” for at least a half hour every day, with the intention of… Continue reading Whose Bike Path is it Anyway?
As many of you with an interest in Germany already know, privacy is a big concern for most Germans. The first time I added one of my husband’s German friends on Facebook, I didn’t realize he was using a fake name. He had split up his first name, so that it appeared on Facebook as… Continue reading Fakebook: German Privacy Concerns
I try to ride my bike every day, for at least a half hour. Lately, with it being so cold, it’s been hard to find the motivation. Usually, the “motivation” finds me in that I have an errand to run and my bike is my only means of transport. For my first six months in… Continue reading Lemme Give You that Beep Beep: Getting a German Driver’s License
I’ve had access to a computer and the Internet since about age nine. If you’re young, that probably doesn’t seem like a big deal. I’m 30-years-old, though; not many of my fellow Americans were going online in the mid-90’s. From day one, I was obsessed. While other kids were sneaking out of the house, I… Continue reading Chaos Communication Congress in Leipzig, Germany
The CELTA has a reputation of being very difficult. While I was doing my research into the course, I read and watched blog posts and youtube videos from former students who all said the same thing: It’s really hard… and you won’t have time for anything else… but you will learn a lot. For me, all… Continue reading Taking the CELTA in Berlin: Initial Thoughts
Since moving to Germany, my goal has been to publish a post at least once per week. For the most part, I’ve been able to keep up with the goal I’ve set. However, you might have noticed that the blog has been suspiciously inactive for a few weeks now. This is because I’m currently taking the CELTA… Continue reading One Month Hiatus
Are you considering a long-term move to Germany? If your spouse is German, and you are from an English-speaking country, this guide is for you. Here, I will detail the steps needed for Aufenthaltserlaubnis (temporary residency), which will allow you to live and work for three years in Germany. At first, getting all of the paperwork in… Continue reading Immigrating to Germany: Getting Your Temporary Residency
