Pick-A-Day

March 2024
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Archives

Carry irony in your pocket: the Karl Marx MasterCard

When I moved to the big city, I decided it was time to dump small regional banks and go with a large, substantial, international player – and I’ve been completely happy with that jump, until now.

It’s all because my bank does not offer me the Karl Marx MasterCard, unlike Sparkasse Chemnitz.

It’s almost enough […]

eAT – elektronischer Aufenthaltsitel – Question

In the near-ish future, I will be picking up my eAT – the elektronischer Aufenthaltsitel – that will be permission for me to stay in Germany a bit longer.

The eAT format is a credit-card sized document that includes a chip that contains biometric identification information.

Providing this led the most amusing moment of my […]

Hafengeburtstag Hamburg 2012: Partying like a teenager!

Borkum, German Customs Ship

This past weekend I was Nautical Adam – I popped up to Hamburg to see Mr. Letters Home and his family. Completely by chance, it happened to be the Hafengeburstag weekend.

That is, it was the harbor’s birthday – and I’m not really sure why, because it seems pretty young […]

My favorite German office: the Customs Office

Yes, I know, some members of the expat community are unhappy with the German Customs Office because they weren’t notified that a package was waiting for them: to my friend, Heidelbergerin, I am sympathetic.

I’m annoyed because the German Customs Office seems to have it out for me. Normal mail seems to spend six weeks […]

Happy Blasted New Year!

So I’m back from my trip to the coast for New Year’s Eve.

We (my guests and I) headed to Usedom, an island that is at the north-east corner of Germany, with the eastern bit of the island in Poland. I’d picked the place because there was a technical museum that looks at the history […]

This Love-Hate Relationship with Germany: A Tour de Misery

While Koko was visiting, I took a couple days off of work to join her in visiting Berlin tourist sites and was quickly reminded of how Germany is the perfect place to live if you love to hate where you are, and at the same time love to love where you are.

It’s rather simple, […]

Locks of Love

Hohenzollern Bridge

[…]

Upholding Tradition: the TQEQE 2011 at Maxbar in Köln

I’m back in Berlin recovering from the 2011 Whiney Expatriate Blogger Meet-Up, which was held in Cologne this year.

The 2011 WEBMU was fantastic and I heartily thank our fantastic hosts for putting together a very nice program that included lots of beer, a nice tour of the city, and a lot more beer.

As […]

Munich Cowboys: Playing with the what again?!

This advertising campaign wouldn’t fly in the United States, but this advertisement is for the Munich Cowboys, an American Football team, and it’s made me want to go to an American football game.

Munich Cowboys / via Cowboy Altitude

[…]

10 months onward, I’m still flummoxed by the door to my gym.

More than half the time, I try to pull open the door to the gym and it doesn’t work.

This is because it opens inward and despite having lived in Germany for over seven years and going to this gym for 10 months, I still struggle when I find doors to public facilities that open […]