A few weeks ago I was in a mad rush to catch a train and flew off without something very precious – one of my notebooks. At first I wasn’t sure where I’d left it, and blisters quickly formed on my thumbs as I dashed out a blizzard of texts, SMS, and emails to everyone … Read More →
frohes Neues Jahr and all that jazz. Just a quickie to seal the deal on my commitment I wrote in the ‘ol Moleskin (not to be confused with that jacked up spot on your back). You may have noticed change is already coming round. And it’s high time. This is the year I, you, we … Read More →
Oh December! In earlier chapters of my life this month nearly killed me – quite literally – on so many occasions that I became physically sick with dread of its arrival every year. These days I’m just a kid sickeningly giddy from sugar overload, too infatuated with the rituals I love – Adventskalender, hot cocoa … Read More →
If a power outage happens this week, I’m totally prepared. Why? Because we’re up to our eyeballs in Sankt Martinstag fests and have made enough colourful and bizarrely malformed lanterns to put Burning Man to shame. What? You missed that 11 November was Martinstag? Didn’t you see the special Google Doodle? WARNING: here comes an … Read More →
When it comes to birthdays, I think most people generally fall into one of two camps. You either a) revel in the glorious celebratory commendations showered upon you by everyone you know or b) hide in the closet in a vain and ironic effort to forget how much time you’ve wasted in your life to … Read More →
I just learned the real lyrics to that Big Pun song and briefly thought I should reevaluate the post title, given they are pretty much counter to what I’m trying to say. If I went that route, this post would sit in my drafts folder like the Hanseatic Hamburg and World’s 10 Best Burrito joints … Read More →
Every day is its own journey. Each morning I wake up, I can choose to head further down the same path, or take a new direction. My appreciation of this is largely the mechanism responsible for how I came to live this expat life. It’s not to say I don’t forget sometimes, weighed down by … Read More →
Someone told me I gave the blog too long of a name. I countered that I had actually shortened it from Whatever the F*** I Want to Say Whenever the F*** I Want to Say It, so I think I actually made out pretty swell. Brevity is not my strong suit. I know, I can … Read More →
When I announced to a group of friends my plan to move to a small university town in Germany in the midst of winter 2011, my Swiss friend gravely informed me “German winters are gray and dark and terrible.” Clearly she was skeptical my years on the sunny central coast of California, and hot, hot … Read More →
If you’ve spent even one Silvester in Germany, you are familiar with Dinner for Two, a 1963 Brit comedy sketch where Miss Sophie and her butler, James celebrate her birthday with an inimitable dinner party. The key line of the skit, which you must be prepared to ask and answer come end of year, is “same … Read More →