Stories from my life and travels as an American immigrant in Germany!
Reverse culture shock is the experience of returning to your home country after living abroad for years, and feeling as though you no longer belong. In March, I finally went back to the USA to visit my family and friends. It had been over three years since the last time I’d been in America; so, needless to say, this trip…Continue Reading
German comedy has a bad reputation. Even Germans, self-deprecating people that they are, will often say that German comedy just isn’t very good. Is that true, though? First, I have to be honest and add a little disclaimer that I haven’t seen many German comedies. That may be because the first few I watched were awful, which made me reluctant…Continue Reading
Biden won. Trump has been defeated. We love to see it, folks. I’m so relieved. At the same time, though, I don’t think America is completely out of the woods just yet. Trump has stacked the courts in his favor. He has sycophants at his side who may yet help him cheat the American people out of their president-elect. Republicans…Continue Reading
Next week marks the 3 year anniversary of my arrival in Germany. They say life goes by quicker as you get older, but for me, it seems like time has slowed down. I feel like I’ve been here for six years, not three. During that time, I’ve written a few posts about the cultural differences I’ve noticed between Germany and…Continue Reading
Germany is widely believed to be one of the few countries with the Coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis under control. In contrast, the world has watched how America has handled the Coronavirus crisis and collectively cringed. Of course, not all American states have responded to the pandemic in the same way. Governor Gretchen Whitmer of my home state of Michigan has shown strong…Continue Reading
As the world tackles the Coronavirus crisis, the healthcare systems of many countries are under higher scrutiny than ever before. Fortunately, I can’t tell you what it’s like being treated for COVID-19 in Germany. I can, however, tell you what the healthcare system in Germany is like in general; in particular, in comparison to the USA. Disclaimer: this goes without…Continue Reading
Teaching English to adults in Germany is a fun, rewarding experience. I know that I’ve personally enjoyed my time here as an EFL (English as a foreign language) teacher. But is it right for everyone? A lot of English teachers share the positives of teaching English to adults in Germany while glossing over the negatives, which I feel does a…Continue Reading
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 a lot of results saying…Continue Reading
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 three points turned out to…Continue Reading
This post was originally supposed to be a counterpoint to last week’s Top 10 Things Germany Does Better than the USA. Was. After my husband asked me, “what will you put on there?” I realized I only had a list of four; a real problem when you need six more items to make a top 10 list.