Episodes
The gender expatriation gap, trailing spouses, and the expat skill pool in Germany (Amaia from Spain)
Feb. 8, 2021
Amaia, originally from Spain but now living in Düsseldorf, Germany, started the Expats and Spouses Monitor with Dr. Carlos Morales. Their goal: it is a research project that aims to understand the living and working conditio…
Cost of living in Germany in 2021 (Jen from Simple Germany)
Feb. 1, 2021
What are the standard costs of living you can expect in Germany? Do you really need so much insurance in Germany? And why pay the Rundfunkbeitrag if you don't watch German TV? Jen is from Guatemala and is the co-founder of S…
SEGEPADFO charity challenge wrap-up, and when The Germany Experience will be back
Dec. 28, 2020
The SEGEPADFO charity challenge, where I went up against Nicole of The Expat Cast to see who could raise the most money for a project by Über den Tellerrand, is over. Who won the challenge, and how much we raised, is all in…
Learning assertiveness from Germans, and growing to love a city (Jenna from Canada)
Dec. 14, 2020
Jenna is from Canada who is living in Düsseldorf. She is the creator of Life in Duesseldorf , has just started the Life in Germany YouTube channel . We discuss why she moved to Germany, her recent bout of COVID-19, and why s…
Coming to Germany during a pandemic (Cassie from Australia)
Dec. 7, 2020
Cassie from Australia wanted to continue her music studies in Germany, and her plans were already underway when the pandemic struck. It put her plans on hold, but Cassie was still able to push through and move to Weimar. I d…
Singing soul in Germany, and BLM from a distance (Alicia from the USA)
Nov. 30, 2020
Alicia is a soul and blues singer currently living in Germany. She moved from Texas, USA to Germany complete her studies just over a year ago. I discuss with Alicia what her mindset is after moving countries in such a turbul…
Advent Charity Challenge Announcement - SEGEPADFO
Nov. 29, 2020
Visit the official SEGEPADFO page for more information! As we did last year, Nicole of The Expat Cast (my sworn rival) and I will be facing off to see who can raise the most money for charity this Advent. SEGEPADFO stands fo…
Antoinette Emily from New Zealand
Nov. 23, 2020
You probably know Antoinette Emily from her YouTube channel. Originally from New Zealand, she moved to Germany to be with her then-boyfriend (now-husband) over 10 years ago. We discuss the story of how she came to Germany, t…
"Germany chose me" (Sneha from India)
Nov. 16, 2020
Sneha from India moved to Germany in 2011. A professional Indian classical dancer, she was expecting something similar to New York, where people knew about the artform of Indian classical dance. Instead, she found herself co…
Teenagers' perspective: Life in Germany & traveling with family (Anna & Alex from the USA)
Nov. 9, 2020
Back in May 2020, I had Linda of the Travelteening blog on the podcast to talk about moving to Germany and traveling around with teenagers . Now, I have the teenagers on! Anna and Alex talk about their move to Germany, their…
Ask a German: Bureaucracy, German pillows, standing in line, and recruitment through fruit (Dominik, Jürgen & Philipp from Ach?)
Nov. 2, 2020
You sent in your questions, and I put them to Germans to get the answers. It's Ask A German time! The three German guests are the always funny and entertaining hosts of the German podcast, Ach ! They answer the questions tha…
Learning about "Mittagsruhe", integrating through a "Kinderladen", and the impact of Brexit (Fiona from the UK)
Oct. 26, 2020
Fiona and her husband are opera singers from the UK who moved to Germany for work. I first met her when she appeared on the episode about Parkrun in Germany, and I wanted to find out more about her path to journey and experi…
Wurst/arsch/schwein idioms, why “Der/Die/Das” is weird, and sitting down to pee in Germany (Ricardo from Brazil & Ivan from Bulgaria)
Oct. 19, 2020
Ricardo from Brazil and Ivan from Bulgaria are the people behind the Can You German? Instagram account. They met by chance in Germany, where they became friends. Later, when Ivan was stuck in Brazil due to COVID-19, they spe…
Things to know before learning German (Elysse from Elysse Speaks)
Oct. 12, 2020
Elysse is the host of Elysse Speaks, a YouTube channel about her experiences learning multiple languages (including sign language). One of the languages she speaks is German, and I invited her on the podcast to talk about Ge…
The attraction of Munich, the versatility of “Doch!”, and environmentalism in Germany (Sarah from Canada)
Oct. 5, 2020
Sarah from Canada came to Munich 4 years ago to get her Masters degree. At first the plan was to stay two years (which at the time she felt was too long). But soon she fell in love with Munich and found many reasons to stay.…
German youth words of 2020 (Nina from Germany)
Sept. 28, 2020
Every year, the Langenscheidt publishing house searches for the youth word of that year. It's happening again, and Nina from Germany (who previously appeared in the Fasching episode back in February) helps me explain the wor…
Germany and climate change (Patrick Niedermayer from Germany)
Sept. 21, 2020
For foreigners living in Germany, you might be thinking that you live in a country that is doing a lot to combat global warming. After all, Germany signed the Paris Agreement, and it put together the Klimapaket (climate pack…
BONUS - Recent German history, and escaping East Berlin by pretending to be a swan (Emma from the USA)
Sept. 18, 2020
In this outtake from my interview with Emma from the USA, we discuss recent German history, and how to win freedom by pretending to be a swan. Follow Emma on Instagram JOIN THE THE GERMANY EXPERIENCE FACEBOOK GROUP Visit the…
Emma dances here (Emma from the USA)
Sept. 14, 2020
Emma is a dancer who moved from New York City to Berlin. Even though Berlin is a big city, she still has to adjust to the slower pace of life here. She also discusses why there is more freedom to be adventurous with your car…
Everything changes all the time: finding your place in Germany (Shaked from Israel)
Sept. 7, 2020
Shaked moved from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Germany to take the next step in her dance career: a move to dance management or production. But does she want to leave the actual dancing aspect behind? And how can she adapt when the …
RERUN: Living abroad teaches us the power of connections (Anna from Canada)
Sept. 1, 2020
Originally released on September 4th, 2019 (episode #14). Anna Noakes Schulze from Canada presented a TEDx talk called “ Living Abroad Teaches Us the Power of Connections ”, and in it she tells her own expat story to demonst…
RERUN: Discussing German stereotypes with Nicole from The Expat Cast
Aug. 24, 2020
Originally released on October 20th, 2019 (episode #20). Are Germans really efficient? Do they like order? Are they as punctual as everyone says they are? Nicole, a US expat living in Germany and the host of The Expat Cast ,…
RERUN: Teaching English, Learning Languages, and Raising Bilingual Children in Germany (Lori from USA)
Aug. 17, 2020
Originally released on July 2nd, 2019 (episode #6). Lori from USA has been teaching English in Germany for almost 40 years, so it’s not surprising that she has a thing or two to say about learning new languages. In fact, her…
An update on my hospital visit, and audio logs from my hospital room
Aug. 12, 2020
I spent two nights in hospital recently, and during my stay, I recorded several audio logs about my experience. You can hear them in this bonus episode. Since I won't be able to edit the podcast while I recover, I will be pu…