Corona’s surprising effect on an evening at the theater My favorite small theater has reopened after months of lockdown and we are attending a two-woman show called Primacomedy. I return here with mixed feelings. Would it be full? How will they deal with the social distancing inside the theater? I…

One of my favorite writers, the humorist David Sedaris, related a story about the exhilarating joy he experienced when he finally scraped together the courage to ask for a second ice cream sundae on his first-class flight, the ticket for which cost several thousand dollars. I was reminded of this…

Read by the author One of my favorite writers, the humorist David Sedaris, related a story about the exhilarating joy he experienced when he finally scraped together the courage to ask for a second ice cream sundae on his first-class flight, the ticket for which cost several thousand dollars. I…

Read by the author On my first visit to Germany at age 18, my German was almost nonexistent. But I did know that the word “Strasse” meant “street.” I was visiting my sister, who was living in the city of Karlsruhe, a moderately-sized city of 300,000. While she was at…

Read by the author Germany has the reputation of being a socialist state, or at least what is referred to as such in American media, which is just having social policies. …

Listen to “Expat Chatter” on Apple podcasts / google podcasts / Spotify One of the first things I did after arriving in Germany was to get a local driver’s license. All I needed to do at the time was to present my Virginia driver’s license and they issued me a…

Listen on Apple podcasts / google podcasts / Spotify Now that China has ended its zero covid policy, the virus is exploding, prompting the EU to require testing Chinese passengers before boarding a plane to Europe. In other words, it’s back to the good old days. Not the early days…

List to the audio version on Apple podcasts / google podcasts / Spotify People ask me occasionally if I would ever move back to the U.S. I pause to ponder. I do miss my family, the humor, and particularly the buckwheat pancakes at IHOP which I still haven’t managed to…

Read by the author Bang, bang, bang! In the U.S., this noise usually means guns and maybe even another mass shooting. Fortunately for us here in Germany, it just means that it’s that time of year again: December 31st. New Year’s Eve in Germany means elaborate fireworks displays. But in…