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Category: culture

5 German Christmas Traditions You Will Want To Try Out This Year

5 German Christmas Traditions You Will Want To Try Out This Year

Living in Germany as an expat, the holidays seem to hit pretty hard. Among all the warm lights and smells of cinnamon, the distance from family can be felt more than ever. Traditions surrounding the holidays are different, foreign, and even clash. Good luck trying to explain the multi-day appearances of the various German Santa-like figures AND Santa himself to a toddler. I’m gonna have to make a chart to keep them straight myself. But anyway… While I do miss…

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Sweets or Something Sour? Our Halloween in Germany

Sweets or Something Sour? Our Halloween in Germany

Now that both of our kids can walk and put up with some degree of shenanigans, we decided to do the full Halloween thing this year. Halloween is a holiday that was non-existent in Germany 20 years ago and has been slowly gaining popularity over the past few years. I’m not sure how it got started here officially, but I’m sure it had something to do with all of the American media (TV and movie) influence here, where Germans watch…

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In the Beginning: Why Germany?

In the Beginning: Why Germany?

So…why did I chose Germany anyway? During my Junior year of college, I participated in a study abroad program in Freiburg, Germany, located in the Black Forest. The city and the location were quite dreamy, to say the least! I not only studied German at the university, but also music performance at the conservatory. I played in a few student orchestras, with rehearsals in the evenings after classes, and also went on a few tours with these orchestras (like to…

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In the Beginning: A Taste of Asia, Europe, and Things to Come

In the Beginning: A Taste of Asia, Europe, and Things to Come

My first time abroad was actually also the first time out of the Midwest, and boy was it a shocker! My family didn’t really go on vacations besides out East to my Aunt’s house in Pennsylvania, so I hadn’t seen a lot besides corn fields and museums during school breaks. While that was a great way to grow up, I had no idea what to even think (or even to think) about anywhere far away. I was and still am…

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