Expat Chatter
It's true. Even after years of living in Munich, Germany, I find funny stuff to talk about. Language gaffes, cultural confrontations, and life abroad. It's an ongoing adventure!
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 8 minutes
- Episodes
- 162
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
Ukraine on the train - from a military to a cultural conflict
Taking the train home from Berlin, some Ukrainians boarded the train. Watching their interactions with the conductor reminded me of my first experience taking German trains and other cultural mishap…
Juggling work and family, German minister drops the ball
German minister for the family Anne Spiegel recently resigned after major errors of judgment. Did her family responsibilities overwhelm her, like they do so many women - still?
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Bring out the Easter eggs, the kids are coming home
Just as I was getting used to not being a mother, my COVID-harassed daughters came home - left - and came home repeatedly. Their pre-Easter visit has made me once again resurrect my mother persona.
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The ladies, the rest home, and the bombs
The oldest residents of a rest home suddenly developed mild illnesses. They all shared a trauma from the distant past that had suddenly been revived overnight.
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B…
Aren't you glad you bought that orange car after all?
The sky was suddenly a muddy orange, but what was causing it. I had an idea, but the thought was too scary to consider.
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Brenda Arnold
That map might just quash your travel plans - so focus on fun instead
Germans are usually so logical, it’s hard to believe how that can make such planning errors when they visit the U.S. Kind of gratifying, though.
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Brenda Arnold
The distant agony of past wars is suddenly revived by the attack on Ukraine
The five German cities I visited on a college tour with my daughter were all steeped in the history from WWII or the Cold War – or both. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered the largest influx…
The two dots that will make or break you
Speaking a foreign language can be tricky. Sometimes it can also get you into trouble - serious trouble. German umlauts - those two dots on some vowels. are often the culprit
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You think your vacation was spectacular. Don't make me yawn
Germans, the travel experts. If you want to know something about your own country, just ask a German. They probably know it better than you.
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Brenda Arnold
Canada oh Canada, what have you done?
Canada and New Zealand were bastions of rationality until the trucker protests broke out. Should we turn to bonobo monkeys for better behavior advice?
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Brenda Arn…
Get that rotten banana peel out of the plastic recycling
California may have Silicon Valley, Hollywood and even Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Germany is way ahead of them in the recycling game. Being the land of engineers, they have taken recycling to a highe…
AI may be cutting edge but it still ain't perfect
AI has come a long way in helping make work easier, but it still makes mistakes. Sometimes some very funny mistakes.
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Brenda Arnold
The queen turns out to be a football
The strangest things happen when words make the transition from one language to another. They might retain their original meaning, but often enough they take on entirely new lives of their own, somet…
800 years of history found their way into my bike lock
I thought using historic dates to remember my lock combinations was a great idea. But if you're a history buff, this can go seriously awry. Which is more important, the Magna Carta or the Spanish Ar…
The 10 kilometers that triggered Acute License Plate Trauma
Moving just 10 km beyond the Munich city borders put us in the suburbs, but the small town of Zorneding has some surprising secrets, even for big city dwellers.
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Br…
Can your dog help you improve communication? Yip!
One-third of women indicated in a survey cited by Adam Grant that they thought their pets were better listeners than their partners. A good reason to take a look at what dogs are doing better!
How to beat the virus in 2022
There is probably a whole slew of new virus variants in 2022. So let's just do what Sleeping Beauty did and sleep through it.
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Brenda Arnold
Four child-rearing tricks for four ages - Fun, simple and powerful
The only consistent thing about raising children is that it is constantly changing. As soon as you think you have it figured out, they’re a year older and you’re back at square one. A little creativ…
I tried to escape the Oktoberfest. I failed.
Munich cancelled the Oktoberfest for the second year in a row, but people celebrated anyway. Little did I suspect that on a trip to Berlin, I would find people getting in on the fun - but not exactly…
The Library, the Monk and the Sandals
This stunning Baroque library tucked away in a monastery in a Bavarian village is the unlikely site of any kind of drama. That is, until the year 1802. Napoleon’s conquest of Europe had profound eff…