Expat Chatter

Many Americans think their sports are “all American” but football and baseball have long been a popular export. Millions of people across the world watch the Super Bowl. As an American raising my kids in Germany, I did my best to include basic sports knowledge and felt I had succeeded, at least until my daughter actually attended a baseball game and experienced the real thing.

Support the show

www.expatchatter.net  

Brenda Arnold

Germany has the reputation of having generous social programs, with vivid descriptions such as "cradle-to-grave" care. This makes it sound as if the state holds your hand and guides you gently through a carefree life. At the very latest when you try to navigate the German school system, comes a much different, sobering reality. At its core, the school system dates to the late 19th century and it shows. 

Mothers are tasked with filling in the many gaps left by the schools to try to shepherd their children through the system.

This constitutes hidden discrimination against women, as the burden is so great that many are forced to reduce to part-time work or quit altogether.  Children from lower-income families whose mothers cannot afford to stop working usually fare much worse in school than classmates who are better off. 

Until Germany modernizes its school system, there is no hope of creating real equal opportunity for women.

Support the show

www.expatchatter.net  

Brenda Arnold

The press and social media are still abuzz with deniers of the U.S. elections in 2020, despite the lack of proof. Yet across the ocean – in Germany of all places, that paragon of efficiency – Berlin stands out as the shining star of inefficiency, corruption, and slothful administration. Enjoying favored status since WWII, it was deluged with subsidies to keep it a viable city. Over 30 years later, it still has not overcome a mentality of handouts and graft. Its new airport will forever serve as a monolith to ineptitude, and in a few days it must repeat elections in 2021 that were botched so badly they were declared invalid.

Support the show

www.expatchatter.net  

Brenda Arnold

January is when Germans confront the fact that Christmas is over but winter is just getting underway. They console themselves by getting an early start celebrating carnival, which involves consuming large quantities of a special pastry, called Krapfen, to prepare for a period of fasting for Lent. True, hardly anybody fasts anymore, but no matter – Krapfen are delicious. Not only are these pastries popular, but their numbers also keep growing and more varieties are created every year. 

Support the show

www.expatchatter.net  

Brenda Arnold

For years, I suffered from the lousy picture I had taken for my German license, not knowing I would have this document for decades. Trying to rent a car, get into a night club or bar, or even just have breakfast in a government building in Washington turned into an embarrassing experience when I had to show my picture ID. But in the end, this old-fashioned, pink cardboard license had some unexpected positive side effects.

Support the show

www.expatchatter.net  

Brenda Arnold

The coronavirus isn’t the first disease that jumped from animals to humans. This is historically the way that many of the communicable diseases that plague humankind have spread, beginning with the plague. It was when humans became sedentary and first figured out how to domesticate animals, confining them to small spaces – and often living with them in the same quarters – that veritable breeding grounds for germs were created. The Wuhan market is just one in a long line of such incidents.

Support the show

www.expatchatter.net  

Brenda Arnold

Long gone are the days when you could walk down to the local five-and-dime store to buy anything. These days, no matter what you want to buy, you’re going to have to drive.

Support the show

www.expatchatter.net  

Brenda Arnold

Germans are so careful about maintaining their cars and build their houses so well that they are practically airtight. But on New Year’s Eve, their sense of caution quite literally vanishes into thin air.

Support the show

www.expatchatter.net  

Brenda Arnold

I loved Christmas cookies growing up and thought they were pretty good, but have since discovered that German holiday confectionary is in a league of its own – the premier league.

Support the show

www.expatchatter.net  

Brenda Arnold

The news is all abuzz about the World Cup games in Qatar, but the coolest action is taking place outside the stadiums.

Support the show

www.expatchatter.net  

Brenda Arnold