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Tag: traditions

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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What July 4th Means to Me as an American Not Even Living in America

What July 4th Means to Me as an American Not Even Living in America

For the first several years of living abroad, I didn’t really think about the 4th of July much. It comes at a time of year when most are preoccupied with planning for summer and wrapping up tasks before said fun begins. Not to mention that in every other country, obviously, this holiday is not a thing at all. Germany has their Reunification Day on October 3rd, which could be considered the equivalent, yet has no traditions surrounding the day other…

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8 Tips for Acclimating & Adjusting to a New Culture and Life Abroad

8 Tips for Acclimating & Adjusting to a New Culture and Life Abroad

Adjusting to living abroad is a process, not unlike dating, if you think about it! First, you look at your options, then make a decision to try an option out. It is exciting at first, everything is new and you try new things. Then the honeymoon phase wears off and you realize the strange or annoying habits, and then comes the critical point: are the pros worth the cons? Is your heart in it? If the answer is yes, then…

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Let’s Decorate the Easter Tree and Blending Cultural Traditions

Let’s Decorate the Easter Tree and Blending Cultural Traditions

There’s one German tradition that I actually thought was a joke or just done ironically, and that is this: Hanging eggs on trees, bushes, plants, etc. at Easter time. It still kinda seems a bit silly to me from an outsider’s perspective, like What, you have to decorate at Easter too? Is this like equal rights for all? Like closure for the Xmas tree? What does it mean/symbolize, anyway? Is the Easter bunny expected to hang eggs in trees, with…

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