I shared one fact about Christmas in Germany on my Facebook page for each of the 12 Days of Christmas.  Here you can see the compiled list. Day 1/12 In Germany, especially in the Bavarian region, St. Nicholas Day (the 6th of December) is celebrated with a visit from St Nick.  Children will put their clean shoes out the night before so that old St. Nick can fill them with goodies like gingerbread (lebkuchen) and chocolate.  According to the story, […]

For a €14 ticket you can take the Bavarian regional train from Schweinfurt to Munich and see these things too. Windmills that disappear into the clouds. An altercation between impatient German women and an Italian because of the long bathroom line. Acres of allotment gardens. Hills hiding behind the heavy fog. A cart with drinks and snacks making its way down the train aisle. Aggressive pigeons in the train station. Grumpy German men. Vast fields with bright green grass. Two […]

Life in Germany so far has been interesting.  I’ve got to focus on things that make me happy because otherwise I’m going to lose it over the 5pm sunsets, micro fridge challenges, cleaning lady intrusions, and lack of buffalo sauce.  Fortunately, the list of wonderful things about this country is pretty long. So let’s talk about what makes me happy in my German home. 1.  The blinds are automatic. Pretty much all Germans have roller blinds on the outside of […]

Okay, so “home” might be a bit of a stretch.  We are living in an extended stay hotel.  But we are living here for 13 months, so we’re treating it as our home. I shared a handful of photos here but now you get the full tour! Here is the building, in case you didn’t catch it the first time. The first thing you have to do is walk down Cramerstraße to the parking lot. When you round the corner you […]

It’s now only 12 days until we leave for Germany, and I can’t stop imagining what living there is going to be like.  Of all the differences that I noticed on our short visit there, the one I am most concerned about is the silence.  Immediately after we landed in Frankfurt we departed the plane onto a bus and experienced the eerie quiet.  No one was talking loudly and excitedly to each other or on their phones, no children were […]