The Expat Cast

Season 3, Episode 11. After using and loving the WunderTax tool for expats in Germany to file German taxes, Nicole was so impressed that she invited them on the show. Fellow expat in Germany, Agnese, works with WunderTax, and she tell us everything we need to know to file our taxes on time, accurately, and painlessly.

The episode focuses on general insights into filing taxes in Germany. For more about filing taxes in Germany, check out this blog post.

FIND WUNDERTAX

On their website

Their expat-specific page

On Facebook @GermanTaxes

On Instagram @GermanTaxes.de

On YouTube @Wundertax

On LinkedIn @wundertax-gmbh

On Xing @WunderTax

 Find out who is obligated to file taxes in Germany

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Season 3, Episode 10. It's the episode no one wanted, that no one needed - yet here it is! It's Snacks & Toilets!

In the first half of the episode, we discuss snacks - the snacks we love and hate in Germany, and the snacks we miss most from home.

Then comes part two: toilets. Have you encountered the elusive German toilet phenomenon, the poop shelf? We dish out the pros and cons of the strange design, then we give some well-deserved hate to our home country, USA, for having public bathroom doors that have cracks large enough to see people through.

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Season 3, Episode 9. Moving abroad throws so many things into question - your sense of home, your relationships, your career, your comfort zone. In fact, all of these things are also typically thrown into question during another life period: your 20s.

 Olivia is 26. She is half-Irish, half-Austrian and has lived in Australia and Sweden. Suffice it to say, she's had her fair share of opportunities to ask these tough questions! In our conversation, we discuss what it was like growing up split between two countries and cultures, family relations as an expat, and the push and pull between settling down and exploring.

FIND OLIVIA

On her podcast at Quarter Life Living

On Instagram @QuarterLifeLivingPodcast

Via her business, Say It Right

On LinkedIn @OliviaScheibelreiter

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Season 3, Episode 8. Look out - a wild podcast has escaped the cage of the basement studio and emerged into the real world! The Expat Cast went LIVE!

In honor of International Podcast Day, we hosted an event at the Carl Schurz Haus, the German-American center in Freiburg. Following a quick crash course on podcasting, the audience enjoyed a panel discussion between The Expat Cast and local Freiburg podcast Jung & Freudlos about all things podcasting - how we make our shows, why we make the shows, for whom we make the shows, and who we are as hosts versus as normal people. Though that part wasn't recorded, take my word: it was a blast.

Following a quick popcorn break, the audience reassembled for a live recording of The Expat Cast! We chatted with James from the Freiburg craft beer company Braukollektiv about why and how his family of four moved to Freiburg, and what it's like starting a small business in Germany. That episode is presented to you this week exactly as it was recorded - no editing, no tweaking, just raw.

Hope you enjoy this glimpse into our podcasting process, and hope you all had a great International Podcast Day!

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Season 3, Episode 7. It's time to get to know your host! This episode, there's no guest - just me, Nicole, the lady behind the podcast. I tell my expat story, from my first experience abroad to today. I discuss how I left my heart in Italy, my long-distance relationship, my career as a librarian, and how I made the move to Germany in terms of career, visa, and cultural adjustment.

RESOURCES

Long-Distance Relationships

The First Few Months

Prepping for a Job Hunt in Germany

Information about Bundesfreiwilligendienst

Adam Fletcher writes hilarious and helpful books about being a foreigner in Germany

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Season 3, Episode 6. Today, the expats in Germany podcast worlds collide - because Shaun from The Germany Experience is a guest on The Expat Cast!

Shaun moved to Germany from South Africa years ago with his wife, in search of adventure and new experiences. They now have German citizenship and are raising two - soon to be three! - kiddos in their rural German village.

Their oldest son has a special need called SYNGAP-1, and Shaun shares with us how they've navigated the situation as foreigners and second-language German speakers. From doctor's visits to learning what resources are out there for kids like their son, it's been a whirlwind that's left them more in love with life in Germany than ever.

FIND SHAUN

Online at thegermanyexperience.de

On Instagram @the.germany.experience

On Twitter @GermanyXP

More information on what his son has here  

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Season 3, Episode 5. Linda Kerr grew up as a Third Culture Kid and is now a "trailing spouse" or expat partner. That means she's experienced living abroad during various stages of life - but now, she's doing something totally new. She is living abroad in Germany with her husband and their two teenagers.

Linda explains how she's made moving to Europe work with a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old. Although it's not always easy, Linda's family has embraced their 3-year stay in Germany as a chance to make history come to life by visiting the cities that their kids are learning about in history class.

FIND LINDA

On her blog Travel Teening

On Instagram @travelteening

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Season 3, Episode 4. "For us, the number 1 priority was that they would thrive academically, that they would thrive socially, and that this experience would build them up, not suppress them and make them feel like introverts just because they're outsiders."

When Lauren moved from the Jersey Shore in New Jersey, USA to Barcelona, Spain with her husband and three small children, she did her research and decided that international school was the right choice for her kids' schooling. She explains to me what that means, what varieties there are within international schools, and what it's like to be a part of one. We also bicker about American football team allegiances and pigs in a blanket.

FACEBOOK GROUPS FOR EXPATS IN BARCELONA

Barcelona Babies & Kids  

American Expats in Spain   

Barcelona Kids Play   

Barcelona Expat Families   

Barcelona Expats - International BCN 

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Season 3, Episode 3. Folks, we've got our first New Zealand expat in Germany on the show!

Having lived in England during the Brexit vote, Fraser became keenly aware of how some foreigners are referred to as expats while others are immigrants. Expats are often seen in a positive light whereas immigrants are too often seen negatively. Not so coincidentally, "immigrants" are often people of color.

We dig into this topic, including considering the German phrase "Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund," or "people with a background of migration." While more politically correct, the phrase is bulky and challenging for German learners. Is this a pattern in German integration practices: well intentioned, technically good, but still clunky and not user friendly? We discuss!

RESOURCES

The GrünGürtel in Frankfurt

LGBT sports club in Frankfurt: FVV

LGBT Meetup in Frankfurt via Meetup.com

FIND FRASER

On Instagram @fraseralfred  

On Twitter @fraseralfred

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Season 3, Episode 2. "Expat" is short for expatriation, or living in a country other than one's native country, and "repat" is short for repatriation, or living back in one's native country after living abroad. Put them together, and you get Expat Repat, the name of Lindsey McLean's podcast.

Lindsey herself is a repat, living back in the USA after years of life abroad in Switzerland. In the years since she's moved back, she's struggled but succeeded at building a life that she's happy with. We dive deeper into Lindsey's story - how she moved abroad, why she loved the life she built in Zurich, Switzerland, and what made her decide to move back to the US and leave her fairy tale Swiss live behind.

FIND LINDSEY

Her podcast The Expat Repat Podcast  

Her blog Swiss Lark  

On Instagram @SwissLark

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