The Germany Experience

Since COVID-19 in Germany got "real" on Friday 13th March, I felt I had to discuss it. And who better than to discuss it with than two other podcasters: Nicole from The Expat Cast and Steph from Geopats.

We cover our personal situations, fake news, coping with the heaviness of a pandemic, how people should stay home, and just our general feelings about what is happening.

Things are changing pretty fast right now, so this discussion was recorded just before Germany ordered a lot of institutions to shut down.

Stay home and wash your hands!

Find Nicole on Instagram and Twitter.
Find Steph at https://www.stephfuccio.com/, on Instagram and on Twitter.

Links to more The Germany Experience episodes, my newsletter, and my social media: thegermanyexperience.de/subscribe

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website.

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

What is it that makes someone who has lived in Germany for over a decade decide that it's time to go back "home"? Natalie is originally from the UK, and is now making the decision to leave Germany after 11 years. She explains how she got to this point.

She also discusses the importance of using meetups to learn German and meet people, the things she won't miss, why people have to give way to the right on the roads here in Germany, and...jousting.

Natalie is Prattilicious (!!!) on Instagram and Eat With Your Belly on Facebook. Read her old blog posts on Eat With Your Belly.

Coronavirus: Edeka has a survival pack and an ice cream dealer in Munich has a novel new flavor.

Links to episodes, my newsletter, and my social media: thegermanyexperience.de/subscribe

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website.
 

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

Steph is from Bavaria, and moved to the UK when she was in her 20s before ending up in Austin, Texas. She learned to speak English at a native-speaker level, and found that it just suited her.

Because she's got a fantastic command of both German and English, she has a lot of insights about being bilingual and about expressing one's self in different languages. In my chat with her, we discuss how it's possible to have different personalities in the different languages we speak, how German isn't as harsh as many people think it is, and how moving abroad influences our identity.

Steph has also just launched a podcast based on her blog Transcontinental Overload: https://transcontinentaloverload.com/podcast/

The blog post that we discuss in our chat: Multiple Languages - Multiple Personalities?


Links to episodes, my newsletter, and my social media: thegermanyexperience.de/subscribe

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website.

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

Klaus was born in Brazil before spending the first 12 years of his life in Germany. After returning to Brazil, he remained in touch with the German language and the culture.

By the time he decided to move back to Germany in his early 40s, he was still fluent in German and understood what made the Germans tick. He thought this would make integration easy, but in fact, it did not. Klaus discusses finding a job in Germany, photoshopping CV photos, losing a job, why you should avoid German sensationalist media, and experiencing loneliness.

You can connect with Klaus on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Give me a 5-star review to balance out the angry 1-star review: The Germany Experience on Apple Podcasts

Links to episodes, my newsletter, and my social media: thegermanyexperience.de/subscribe

Listen to my guest appearance on The Expat Experience podcast.

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website.

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

While recording the episode about Carnival in Germany, Nina told a story about the time she had to deal with the same office that foreigners know all too well: the Auslanderbehörde Amt (foreigner's office).

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Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

It's the middle of Carnival (also known as Fasching or Fastnacht, depending on where in Germany you are). I am not a big fan of it, and so I got a real live German who IS a fan of it to come on the show and explain to me why she loves it.

We brush up on the origins of Carnival, we discuss some of the traditions around it, and Nina tells me of her memories of Carnival. Oh, and I rant about why I hate Carnival so much...

You'll also probably want to stick around for Nina's Döner story...

Here is Nina's Snow Queen outfit from her childhood.

The article about Fasching we referenced: What is Fasching?
An article from Deutsche Welle: The Historical Roots of Carnival in Germany

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

Amy is the host of The Expat Experience podcast. She has landed up in Germany after spending time in Vietnam and China, and in our interview she discusses how she's learning German, what it's like making German friends, and if she regards Germany as her final destination.

The Elbphilharmonie building in Hamburg: https://www.elbphilharmonie.de/de/

Find Amy on Instagram and Facebook. Visit her website: https://www.theexpatexperience.org/

Vlad's Romanian expat podast: Diasporacast

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website.

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

(This is the podcast previously known as Expat Life Germany.

In the first few years in Germany, things weren't always easy for Sindy from Hong Kong. As is the experience of many foreigners living abroad, she faced painful and difficult moments. And it was exactly these moments that drove her to not only adapt and learn the language, but also to thrive.

Sindy's Blog: My Life In Germany
Find her on: 

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official The Germany Experience website.

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

The podcast will have a new name from 1 February 2020! Not much is going to change other than the name, so it'll still be the same show you subscribed to. Here's the announcement about why I'm renaming, and what the show will be focusing on in the future.

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran

You can learn a lot about a culture by watching its movies, which is why I've decided to start watching some classic German movies. I'll discuss why the movie I have chosen is important to German culture, whether it's a good movie for learning German from, and whether or not it's worth your time.

The first movie I am covering is Loriot's Pappa Ante Portas. Loriot was a cartoonist, a sketch comedian, and a movie maker, and he was a giant in German comedy. 

Show notes:

• Dominik's history podcast (Deutsch): Ach? 
• The 40 Percent German blog post: The German Society of Auto-Correction
• Wikipedia entry for Loriot: Loriot
• Wikipedia entry for the movie: Pappa Ante Portas
• A few of my favorite YouTube sketches from Loriot that I have seen: 
  • Sie Haben Da Was
  • Kosakenzipfel mit Zitronencremebällchen
  • Loriot: Eheberatung, Paartherapie 
• The movie on Netflix: Pappa Ante Portas

Have you watched the movie? Let me know your thoughts on my Facebook group:

JOIN THE EXPAT LIFE GERMANY FACEBOOK GROUP

Visit the official Expat Life Germany website.

Instagram: the.germany.experience
Official podcast website: https://thegermanyexperience.de
YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/thegermanyexperience
Contact me: [email protected]

Podcast Intro Music by: Adrian Bran