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Holiday explainer special: the history of mince pies! 🥧
It’s an English Christmas staple. Found on pretty much every table during the holiday season, Mince Pies are sweet, fruity (and often boozy!) pies made from shortcrust pastry and something called mincemeat. If you’re not British (or from the US, as we’ll find out later…), then you might have only…
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5 things I love about Germany and 5 things I don’t.
Following on from last week’s post where I highlighted 5 things I love about England and 5 that I don’t love, it’s only fair that I give the same attention to my new home and share the things I love about Germany and the things I don’t love. I’ll preface…
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5 things I love about England and 5 things I don’t.
If you don’t follow me on Instagram (if not, why not? I’m a hoot!) then you will probably be completely unaware that I recently went “home” to England for the first time in two years. The last time I was in the UK was in 2019. I had been living…
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10 wonderful podcasts about the expat experience to wrap your ears around right now
My name is Steffi. And I have a podcast addiction. Going for a walk? Podcast. Cooking dinner? Podcast. Having a bath? Podcast. Taking the bins out? PODCAST. I’m even listening to a podcast as I write this post (Today in Focus by the Guardian, one of my favourite current affairs…
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The truth about Comedy in Germany
“A German joke is no laughing matter” wrote Mark Twain in his famous dual-language essay, ‘The Awful German Language / die schreckliche deutsche Sprache’. Native English speakers have this long-standing belief that Germans have no sense of humour. Of all the stereotypes we have of the Germans, I think this…
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How to be Vegetarian in Germany
“How do you find living in Germany as a vegetarian?” is one of the most common questions I get asked by friends and family back home. Little do they know that since moving to Germany, my vegetarian diet has become a liiiiitle more flexible. Okay look, schnitzel and sausage are…
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CULTURE: Recycling in Germany
I have briefly mentioned the comprehensive recycling system in Germany in a previous Culture Shock post. Here’s a more in-depth look at it! Why so serious? Recycling in Germany is serious business. And in 2021, I think we can all agree that recycling is a good thing, right? Climate change…
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How Germany changed me: I will never wear heels again
I am not a fan of fashion. That is to say, I am not good at fashion. Never have been. But I have seen The Devil Wears Prada enough times to understand that I still very much buy into fashion as a concept and therefore I must, on some level,…
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Culture: Smoking in Germany
Smoking in Germany is still very popular. So popular, in fact, that a study conducted by the RKI in 2017 showed that 20.8% of women and 27% over the age of 18 smoke at least occasionally. There has been a strict smoking ban in public spaces in the UK since…
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Culture: 10 Weird Things About the British
Last week, I jokingly and lovingly, wrote about 10 things Germans do/have that are just super weird to me as a Brit/Expat. But we are not innocent! If anything we are probably the stranger nation. So this week, I present to you 10 weird things about the British. 1. 2…
