T̶w̶o̶ One p̶e̶r̶p̶e̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶a̶t̶s̶ immigrant settling into home country number five.
Julie After over a month of sleeping in my own bed (for a change), it was time to move around a little bit. So last week I hopped on a train and headed back to Zurich for a quick visit. It’s always strange to go back to a former home city for the first time. It’s … Read more
Finish this phrase: “Gut, besser, ____” (“Good, better, ____”) I’ve always been under the impression that the correct answer was, of course, “Paulaner”. So why is it that I keep seeing these commercials for Gösser, a little-known Austrian beer? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daVpOhEYguM] I was starting to think I was going a bit crazy, but recently a German … Read more
So the other day I was reading this post by Brian in Munich about how he is having to extract elderly Germans from his reserved train seats all the time. And while I found the post amusing, a part of my brain was protesting: surely he doth exaggerate about the frequency of such occurrences. Oder?* … Read more
We would be awfully bummed about moving away from Switzerland in the middle of ski-season… if we hadn’t moved to Munich. The oh-so-conveniently-located Austrian Alps are close enough for easy day-trip skiing. Unfortunately this season hasn’t been as snowy as we would like, but the Austrians seem to be pretty good at filling in the … Read more
The city center inMunichgets a little crazy for the last three days of carnival (Fasching). The locals don costumes and down lots of booze in one big street party (and at lots of littler parties). It’s fun to see an entire city party together. The costumes people were wearing were much more… themed than the … Read more
I almost forgot to tell you guys (although some of you have found it via the link in the sidebar) – a little while ago I started writing for the blog Europe String over at b5media. It’s the perfect outlet for the info I’ve learned after all these years of roaming around this continent (super … Read more
Who the hell convinced the Germans that orange cheese-like-food in a spray can is an essential part of the American diet? This stuff makes an appearance in every single “American Foods” section of every single grocery store in all of Germany. This is not a new thing, either – I remember seeing spray cheese at … Read more
1) Dr. Sara appeals to us all to write our congresspeople about how ridiculously lame we find it that we as Americans abroad are expected to pay taxes in two countries. Pretty much every other government in the world has figured out that this is a lame way to treat expats; hopefully this proposed bill … Read more
Yesterday evening we were honored to be guests at a traditional Scottish Burns Night, the essential ingredients for which are haggis, whisky (are you Scots out there appreciating my spelling?), and a little poetry. The men in kilts were just an added bonus. We learned a lot about Scottish culture while sipping on the delicious, … Read more
We live so close to a brewery that our neighborhood actually smells like brewing beer most days. It’s really a pleasant smell, but I’m still glad it doesn’t seem to reach all the way to our apartment. Right Said Fred is currently featured in a German commercial, performing I’m Too Sexy while shilling for Meister … Read more