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…
Since I did not move to Germany as a small child, the second I open my mouth everyone can tell I am not from here. Some people are nice enough to say they find my accent charming (really? An American accent?) or amusing, and usually I get asked a series of questions, varying based on how audacious the Asker is feeling. I am always flattered that someone is interested in getting to know me and where I’m from (a privilege…
You’d think a hobby or interest is a hobby or interest no matter where you are, but lest, even these can throw you for a loop of you live abroad! Anyone that really knows me knows I like to garden, in particular growing my own vegetables. This has been a part of my life since literally before I can remember, and here is the proof of it: I had to put gardening on hiatus while I was studying since I…
I don’t consider myself an unlucky person; I know some who do. Everything seems to go wrong that can for them, like Murphy’s Law. Maybe it’s not just luck, but I feel that in general I do plan for the worst but do actually expect the best. Somehow the tide has not turned for the better yet regarding our babysitter search – who would have thought it could be so difficult to get friendly, reliable, reasonable in-home child care? Or…
I had an appointment in Hamburg the other day and since it has been so warm, sunny, and summer-like (yes, 70° and sunny is pretty much borderline spring/summer in Northern Germany, ha) here, I couldn’t resist a mini stay-cation. The kids were at my in-laws’ place for the afternoon and my appointment was over in no time, so I got to have some downtime and enjoy that part of town like a tourist! A very relaxing thing to do –…
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…
I will never forget my first evening in Hamburg. I still have this image burned into my brain: I had booked a room at the youth hostel at the harbor for a night or two around my audition day for the conservatory. The hostel is perched on a little hill directly at Landungsbrücken, the main S-bahn train stop for harbor visitors. As I sat eating my dinner while gazing out over the harbor from the floor-to-ceiling hostel dining room windows,…
Spring has officially sprung this week, the forsythia and plum trees are blooming, bulbs are up, birds are chirping…so what?! Spring has become my favorite season here living in northern Europe for many reasons. People (and birds!) finally can be found doing things outside besides just getting from point A to point B. All that rain finally stops, if even for just a little. All that gray finally turns into green. Thoughts migrate toward plans for summer, vacations, time connecting…
I have never had a managerial position, been a boss, or had to hire anyone before – until now. As a mom at home. We are luckier than some other expats I know who do not have any kind of family nearby; my husband’s parents live within an hour away by car. Since he is their only child and they don’t work (much, anyway), they do have quite a bit of time to help us out when needed and spend…
A lot. Make it yourself, apparently. Like actually cure it yourself. Which requires a few hours of prep and about 10 days to marinate it, according to Google. Which will make it hard to have a traditional St. Patrick’s Day dinner ready for tomorrow like I was planning to do, after having already gotten my husband excited about trying corned beef for the first time. Ooops. How did this happen again? Yep, again. I already had trouble finding what we…