I walked into the grocery store last week to discover the seasons are changing once again. The proof? A colorful display of Kürbis (pumpkin and assorted squash). I welcome the change as this really is my favorite season, and the bouts of intense sweaty heat this...
The GW Expat Blog
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grocery shopping
How the Pandemic Has Changed Germany (Forever?)
Looking at my last few blog posts, it is no surprise that there is little else on my mind than the ongoing pandemic. Even as restrictions begin to ease, there is an uneasy expectation that life may never be the same. It is worth debating whether this is actually a...
10 things I find weird and wonderful about Germany
The week between Christmas and the new year beginning is often a 'no man's land'. No one knows what day it is or what to do as normal service is out of sync. It's not helped when you're driving between different locations, unpacking one day and re-packing the next....
Visitor Observations of Germany
My parents are visiting us in Berlin for their...sixth time? We are lucky that they have visited so many times and come to (grudgingly) love our city and our place in it. But even after all of these visits, there are still things that throw them off. There are still...
Turkish Markets in Germany
Berlin’s grocery stores can be a chaotic introduction to life in Germany. Discounters like Aldi and Lidl skimp on presentation for bargain-basement prices. Fancier chains like Rewe and Edeka have recently upped their games with fancy salad bars, fresh sushi, and even...
Don’t throw away your cash: How the Pfand system works
When a group of foreigners get together in Germany there are a few topics of conversation that you can practically guarantee will come up. The top ten frustrations and annoyances will almost always include the topic of recycling. The systems can be overwhelming and...
German Salad
When you think of German cuisine, you usually think of Wurst (sausage), mountains of Kartoffeln (potatoes), and liters of Bier (I mean, c'mon. "beer"). Rightfully so. Those things are delicious and make up a good portion of the German diet. But that's not all... The...
The Great German Bake Off
Before coming to Germany I thought I was a fairly good at baking. Lemon drizzle cake, raspberry muffins, carrot cake, treacle tart, no problem. I'm not claiming to be Mary Berry (British baking legend), but I could confidently walk in to the office knowing my baked...
Why Don’t Germans Refrigerate Their Eggs?
Two Different Egg-Handling Philosophies After writing about German tea in my last post, my mind has been on food in Germany and how different it can be than food in the USA. Like the eggs I have stored in my pantry. That's right, my unrefrigerated pantry. I've talked...
Things You Won’t Find in Germany
Things We Miss (or Not) in Germany Updated: February 2020 There are many things that expats miss when they leave Germany. I wrote about that in 10 Things Expats Miss After They Leave Germany. But today we want to focus on the reverse: things you won't find, or rarely...
An Expat Thanksgiving in Germany
It's that time of year again. If you were in the United States right now, you wouldn't miss a beat in knowing what I was talking about. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Although this great American tradition is not celebrated in Germany, expats and their...
Schäl Sick: Life on the Wrong Side of the Rhine
Here in Cologne, people tend to scrunch up their faces a bit when I tell them I live on the "other" side of the Rhine. And not in Deutz, close to the river and the city, but Kalk, deep into the hinterlands of the Falsche Seite. Kalk is a neighborhood with a reputation...
It’s not quite cheese, it’s not quite yoghurt
I first heard of quark (such a wonderfully German name) 7 years ago in the "exotic" dairy section of a high-end UK supermarket in London. I was with my German husband. "Oooh" he exclaimed, with tangible excitement, "Look, quark - shall we get some?" I didn't have a...
Foods that are hard to find in Germany, part 2
Hyde wrote a blog about this topic last year, but here are my thoughts... I have been living in Germany most of my adult life, and for the most part, I have learned to move past the few foods that I really miss from the US and just simply live without them. I moved...
Culture shocks go both ways
As I write this, I am two weeks into a holiday with the children in my hometown of Hull, in Yorkshire, North England. Beyond it being wonderful to catch up with family and old friends, it has provided interesting opportunity to reflect on a few cultural and social...
Not Käsespätzle again please …
The night we moved to Berlin we drove around in a snowstorm desperately trying to find a restaurant with a kitchen still open at 10pm on a Tuesday evening. Not knowing the neighbourhood, we dashed into the first warmly lit place we saw, hoping not to slip on the thick...
Incorporating a New Worldview, Into Your Old Life
It’s fairly common to feel like an alien at times, while living in a foreign country. But now, when I come home to Canada for my regular summer visits, I often feel like a bit of an alien here too. In recent conversations with family and friends at home, I am finding...
Luisa Weiss’ Advice for the Expat in Germany
It's Monday, but I got to talk to the creator and author behind the popular food blog The Wednesday Chef, Luisa Weiss, last week. She's also the author of the best-selling memoir, My Berlin Kitchen which came out late last year, and as you may have guessed, she lives...
German Grocery Stores Are No Visual Feast
One aspect that I have always loved about living in Europe compared to the US is the overall higher quality of food. Tomatoes taste like sweet sunshine and smaller Old World apples are crispier and sweeter than their mammoth American cousins. Then there are those...
Dealing with the Germans
This topic has the potential to be divisive and insulting. I will tread lightly. A year ago, a friend of mine celebrated her last few days of singledom with a bachelorette party in France. Unable to attend, I sent along an “Instruction Guide to a German Husband”, a...
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