T̶w̶o̶ One p̶e̶r̶p̶e̶t̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶a̶t̶s̶ immigrant settling into home country number five.
After months of turmoil, my new computer has arrived. It’s a shiny new MacBook. I’ve gone back to my roots – no more Windows for me! In the process of migration, I have managed once again to lose track of which emails belong in my “reply to” folder. If you have written to me recently … Read more
English words are adapted for use in German all the time. It’s not uncommon to hear a sentence in which half the words are English, especially if the speaker is young and hip. To a much lesser extent, the Italians do this, too. Often the meaning of the word stays the same, or at least … Read more
While Germany was busy swooning over our new president, we were out enjoying Germany. We squeezed in one last sledding trip with the Rendenii (which is where we spotted this guy); rang in the beginning of asparagus season in a beer garden on the lake; and then got the balcony garden started.
Somehow I doubt an ad like this would fly in the US, especially as a billboard in a location frequented by children.
In London over the weekend, we came across a large demonstration snaking through the city. Unlike the protests expected this week during the G-20 meetings, the one we saw was quite peaceful and orderly, and was even followed up by a crew of street sweepers to erase any mess that might have been made by … Read more
After a long, drawn-out illness that had appeared this week to be in remission, Jul’s computer died suddenly this morning. Emergency surgery was performed, but it was too late. The computer is survived by Jul’s Eee PC which will have to serve as Jul’s only contact to the interwebs until an appropriate mule can be … Read more
Finally we’ve made it to that time of year again – time for a beer festival in Munich. Starkbierfest is a lot like Oktoberfest, with a few key differences: Different beer (duh). Starkbier is very strong and so sweet it’s practically undrinkable. No smoking! Smokers have to go outside. Your throat will still hurt from … Read more
By now you have probably heard about Obama Fingers, the tasty new frozen chicken snack food* available in Germany. Although much ado has been made over the possible racist overtones of the convenience food’s name, personally I doubt that those behind the name intended offense. I’m guessing the only reason the fried chicken strips are … Read more
Hey Jul: I see that you have lived in some of the most difficult countries in Europe to obtain citizenship (Switzerland and Germany). Are you planning on making your stay permanent or are you planning on coming back States side? – TomD I really don’t know if we’ll ever move back to the US. We … Read more
I’d almost forgotten how much fun sledding is. I’m happy to report that the Bavarian version is almost as good as the Swiss. Wallberg is on the Tegernsee, about an hour’s drive outside of Munich. A quick 5-10 minute ride up on the gondola is followed by at about a half hour of flying downhill … Read more