The Expat Cast

Season 5, Episode 7. Kate is from southwestern Germany and moved to Chicago, around the same time that Nicole moved from Chicago to southwestern Germany. The two connect on Instagram years back, and Kate was one of Nicole's first guests back in season one.

Now, Kate's back to share how her career, life, and family has grown since then. Kate's now a mom, and she and her husband ended up moving back to Germany with their baby in March of 2020, on one of the last flights from the USA to Germany before travel shut down due to Coronavirus. We hear what it was like saying goodbye to Chicago in this crazy moment, and how it's been readjusting to their home country of Germany under these limited circumstances.

FIND KATE

On her website

On Instagram @sharethelove.blog

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This episode is sponsored by EUHabitat. Read more about them on the blog.

Season 5, Episode 6. So many of us move abroad without knowing anyone else who's done a big move like that. We struggle to find expat role models at the beginning, and usually end up with authors, characters, or friends as role models.

Reina was the first female in her tight-knit family to move abroad. It was hard to break the news to her family, and when she was adjusting to life in her new home in New Zealand, she faced serious withdrawal, going from constant family time to being a 26-hour flight away.

But in moving abroad to pursue her dream job in motion pictures, Reina became the role model she didn't have. She inspired others in her family to dream big, just like she had.

FIND REINA

At ComfortEats

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Season 5, Episode 5. In the Travel Germany series, different places across Germany are featured in interviews with expats who relocated there. 

Today, we learn about Dessau! Inna Koblents is from the Ukraine and lived in Italy before relocating to Dessau on a special visa for Jewish immigrants from former Soviet countries. She'd never heard of Dessau before the opportunity came up, but in her two years there, she's found herself feeling quite at home in this former East Germany town.

She's put together a great list of things to do and day trips to or from Dessau, which you can find here.

Read the New Yorker article that had me giggling all week here.

FIND INNA

Her podcast Live and Learn

On Twitter @LivenadLearnPod

On Instagram @LiveandLearn_Podcast

On Facebook @LiveandLearnPodcast

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Season 5, Episode 4. Rachel hosts the Meet the Germans series with Deutsche Welle, where she shares videos about current events and German culture in English through her perspective as a foreigner in Germany. 

Rachel moved from the UK to Germany in her 20s, and now that she's in her early 30s, she's in a much different place in life than she was back when she moved. The German culture encourages things like organization, punctuality, board game nights in with small groups of friends, time in nature, and casual clothing.

So did Rachel start to like these things because she's maturing into them, or is it because she's getting more German?

FIND RACHEL

On Meet the Germans

Watch her videos

On Instagram @dw_meetthegermans

Check out the video featuring the "Fish & Chips or Currywurst" rap

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Season 5, Episode 3. Ever since Nicole arrived in Germany, she kept seeing a book series with cool hipster graphics and titles like "How to Be German in 50 Easy Steps" everywhere in her expat life. They were funny observations about Germans from the views of a British immigrant. As if a cool cover and relatable content wasn't enough, the books were BILINGUAL! Meaning they were also good for practicing your German!

And now, the author himself is here to talk!

Adam Fletcher was bored in his UK hometown when a job opportunity popped up in Leipzig, Germany. He said, "Sure, why not?" When his blog article about Germans went viral, publishers called him up, asking if he'd like to write a book. He said, "Sure, why not?" He got the chance to become a German citizen. He said, "Sure, why not?"

The King of Happy Happenstance is here to share his story of how he went from bored college graduate to bestselling author to certified German and Berliner, with plenty of detours along the way.

Read the blog post about this episode here.

On his website

Read his books

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Season 5, Episode 2. Since the start of 2020, the United States has provided a seemingly endless onslaught of scary and sad news that's continued and gotten even worse in 2021.

From Coronavirus killing hundreds of thousands, to Black Live Matters protests that were met by police violence, to the 2020 presidential election, and now a terrorist mob staging an insurrection in the capital, it has been a lot to cope with.

Nicole, an American in Germany struggling to process the news from afar, sits down with Tara, an Iranian in Germany who has had a couple years' head start on Nicole in terms of processing unrest back home from far away. Tara shares how her view on her home country has evolved over her years away and how she copes with moments of unrest.

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Season 5, Episode 1. It's the season 5 premier!

After a couple months off to recoup, The Expat Cast is back with a new website and a fantastic guest to kick things off: Hannah from Travels by Teslin. The two talked in mid-December 2020 while Hannah was quarantining in her home country of Canada.

Hannah has been living in Hamburg, Germany for 7 years now. Her move was inspired by love, but even when that relationship ended, she had plenty of reasons to stay. She has a thriving career, manages a ton of social meet-up groups, runs fantastic Instagram and TikTok accounts, and even went viral with her Glühwein map of Hamburg!

For more, head on over to the blog.

FIND HANNAH

On her website

On Instagram @hannahteslin

Her TikTok about Culture Shocks

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SEGEPADFO. Happy Christmas! We're celebrating with the launch of SEGEPADFO: the Second Ever Germany Expat Podcasters Donation Face-Off.

This year, Shaun and I are fundraising for Über den Tellerrand. We are thrilled to say that we collectively raised 410€, which was enough to enable Über den Tellerrand to finance the build of their portable kitchen! Which podcast raised the most money? Who raised the least, and what consequences will they have to face? Listen to find out.

MORE INFORMATION

thegermanyexperience.de/charity2020

Donate to the project here (Write in "The Expat Cast" in the "Dein öffentlicher Kommentar" field!)

Learn about Über den Tellerrand

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SEGEPADFO. Happy fourth Advent Sunday! We're celebrating with SEGEPADFO: the Second Ever Germany Expat Podcasters Donation Face-Off.

This year, Shaun and I are fundraising for Über den Tellerrand. In this episode, I give an update on who is in the lead and interview Philippa, a student in Freiburg who started joining the organization's events as a way to get to know new people in town.

MORE INFORMATION

thegermanyexperience.de/charity2020

Donate to the project here (Write in "The Expat Cast" in the "Dein öffentlicher Kommentar" field!)

Learn about Über den Tellerrand

CONNECT

theexpatcast.com

Instagram @theexpatcast 

Twitter @theexpatcast 

SEGEPADFO. Happy third Advent Sunday! We're celebrating with SEGEPADFO: the Second Ever Germany Expat Podcasters Donation Face-Off.

This year, Shaun and I are fundraising for Über den Tellerrand. In this episode, I give an update on who is in the lead, release the brand new SEGEPADFO jingle, written by Shaun and featuring backup vocals from yours truly, and attempt to trash talk using quotes from Conor McGregor.

MORE INFORMATION

thegermanyexperience.de/charity2020

Donate to the project here (Write in "The Expat Cast" in the "Dein öffentlicher Kommentar" field!)

Learn about Über den Tellerrand

CONNECT

theexpatcast.com

Instagram @theexpatcast 

Twitter @theexpatcast