I wanted to write this post about the small city we live in because, albeit not the usual expat destination in Germany, Jena does get its fair share of international residents. So to those who may be planning to move to Jena and would like to know what the town is like, I hope this is insightful.

          When we first asked about the city, we were told things like "Jena is a nice small town with lots of people." "25% of the population is students so there is a lot happening." "It's very international." "There are plenty of English speakers so you don't have to worry." I would say all of those statements are more complimentary than accurate. We felt very differently when we moved here.

          As an Asian-American traveler, something I've been frequently asked is, "Is traveling​ to an Asian​​ country and dressing in their traditional clothing also cultural appropriation or ​ethically wrong?" Generally, I think there is a difference between traveling to a country, learning about their culture, and trying on their traditional clothing in a respectful manner VS wearing it elsewhere as a "fun​, exotic​ costume" or defacing it by creating "sexualized versions."

          BUT there are other aspects you ​should consider from country to country like colonization history​, the impact of western imperialist violence,​and the cultural meaning behind ​the clothing. True appreciation entails some level of understanding and respect. If you have the ability to travel to another country and try on the local clothing, you have access to google. It's so easy to do a simple search on the clothing or the impact of western imperialism in a country. If you can't dedicate such a small amount of time towards educating yourself on something you'd like to be involved in, are you truly respecting the culture?

Some things to make sure:

>> Do your research. Will the locals have an issue with you wearing their traditional clothing? Does the item have religious significance?
>> Rent/purchase from local businesses
>> Wear the clothing properly! Something as simple as draping one side over the other can be significant.

Example of something that is OK:

>> Traveling to Korea, learning about our traditional wear, renting a real hanbok from a local Korean business, and taking photos IN Korea WITHOUT racist posing (no 'slant eyes,' no weird praying pose, no chopsticks in hair, etc)

Examples that are NOT ok:

>> Wearing a hanbok and calling it a kimono - Asia is the biggest continent and made up of 48 different countries; it is ridiculous to lump us all in together and assume all Asian countries the same
>> Wearing a "sexualized" qipao/kimono/any other traditional clothing ANYWHERE - fetishizing and hypersexualizing Asian women/culture is already a gross, rampant issue; let's not perpetuate and participate in it
>> Wearing traditional clothing for parties, Halloween, raves, etc - our culture is not a toy; especially not something for someone to mock with cheap knockoffs, racist poses, and fake, inaccurate accessories
>> Dressing up as a geisha - Westerners glorifying geisha culture when many geishas were forced into prostitution due to Western occupation is weird




          And PLEASE don't wear it back at home! POC immigrants around the world are mocked for how we dress, talk, eat, etc and often criticized for not "assimilating." But when a non-POC tries foreign clothing on, they're praised for being trendy, unique, and "cultured." You can see how insulting it may be to the immigrants who have to witness the double standard.


          Well I hope this perspective from an Asian-American has enlightened some travelers! Never hesitate to ask me a question.

        Thanks to the wonders of Google Translate, it's no longer as intimidating to move to another country. So we assumed the groceries would be a breeze for Google Translate after pages of rental agreements, insurance documents, etc, right?  W R O N G!
        Navigating kitchen staples have actually been harder because some items translate literally instead of to the German equivalent. And there are some things just unique to Germany/Europe overall. So here's everything we've picked up over the year that should make your first time way easier~

Allergens

Allergies/Food restrictions have actually been amazingly easy to navigate in Germany. All common allergens are required to be bolded on food labels and the spectrum for common allergens is larger than in the US for more reassurance. So if you have some dietary restrictions, you no longer have to spend all day nit picking every food label~ It has been a godsend with my husband's Celiacs.

Dairy

Milk

Milk might be an overwhelming item for your first grocery trip 😂 In the US, it's usually just different levels of fat and then brands. But in Germany, there are also several levels of pasteurization to provide you with an overwhelming amount of options.
          Rohmilch - raw milk; only found on farms
          Vorzugsmilch - filtered raw milk that has not been heated or homogenized
          Frischmilch - pasteurized milk; closest to milk in America
          ESL Milch (Laenger-Frisch Milch) - longer-lasting fresh milk; should last about a month refrigerated
          H-Milch - long life milk; unopened, can last 6 months at room temp
Once you've decided which milk you'd prefer, you can narrow it down to the usual level of fat you prefer.
               Landmilch - country milk; no fat removed
               Vollmilch - whole milk; minimum 3.5% fat
               Fettarme milch - lowfat milk
               Magermilch - skimmed milk

Condensed Milk

This one will trick you! Germany has something called 'Kondensmilch' which is actually unsweetened evaporated milk and not the traditional sweetened condensed milk you think of in the US. To get the right thing, look nearby for 'Nestlé Milchmädchen' or a Russian/Turkish can label that translates into condensed milk.

Sour Cream

Another tricky item that Google will translate to Saure Sahne, but what you're actually looking for is Schmand. In the US, sour cream contains at least 18% fat so you'll want to select the Schmand accordingly. I've found Saure Sahne to be closer to Mexican crema.

Cheese

          Quark - a very popular dairy product in Germany; the texture/taste is if cream cheese and sour cream had a baby
          Emmental - what Americans call 'swiss cheese'
          Butterkäse - a mild, semi-soft cheese with a creamy buttery taste
          Tilsiter - a mild, semi-hard cheese with many small irregular holes
          Körniger Frischkäse - cottage cheese; don't listen to google translate, it's not hüttenkäse
          Edelpilzkäse - blue cheese
          Frischkäse - cream cheese; you may find the texture slightly different as Germans like it particularly spreadable and gelatinous

Baking

Brown Sugar

German brown sugar is closer to sugar in the raw and dry instead of moist like in the US. If this will interfere with your American recipes, you can find some brown sugar or molasses on Amazon.

Flour

Flour is numbered in Germany rather than labeled terms such as “all purpose." The lower the number, the more processed the flour is. The higher the number, the more whole grain. Here's a list of the equivalent terms:

Type 405 – all-purpose white flour
Type 550 – baking flour
Type 812 – bread flour
Type 1015 – bread flour, darker bread
Type 1050 – white, whole wheat
Type 1600 – bread flour, whole grain

This past holiday, I made sure to check out all of the drinks at the German Christmas Markets - just for y'all 😉🍷 So to my new expats, bookmark this post so you won't struggle to understand what's what when the Christmas Markets come back around!

     When we first arrived in Germany, we were so busy trying to figure out the paperwork and finances that I didn't even think social etiquette may be an issue. You may be thinking, is there really such a cultural difference in Germany? Yes, yes there is. I've come across so many expats who struggle socializing with Germans here, and sadly, I had found myself in the same boat. So what follows is my list of social oddities discovered as an American expat living in small town East Germany.

Cultural differences between an American and a German

1. Making Friends

     Back home in the States, it's totally normal to ask a few questions to get to know somebody - what they do for work, where they live, relationship status, and so on. But that's not the case here in Germany! Apparently these are personal questions and to ask them right away can be seen as invasive or nosy. It’s simply too much information for your first meeting. Germans tend to be more reserved and aren't so "personal" right away.
     So if these questions are too personal, what do you talk about when first meeting a German? Apparently hobbies are a good first topic. Trying to find common activities or interests are your best bet. If it turns out you have nothing in common, prepare for silence! Rather than filling in the gaps with small talk, many Germans are perfectly comfortable with sitting in silence.
     Another social oddity is to ask, "How are you?" In the US, this is just a light customary practice that can be asked of anybody, but the casualness baffles Germans. Why would you ask me how I'm doing if you don't really want to know? Why would you want to know about my life if we barely know each other? Are you just nosy or really strange? 😂 I can kind of see their point. I think another blogger put it perfectly when they said,

"I think Germans are like coconuts; cold and hard on the outside — soft and sweet on the inside. Americans are more like peaches; soft and sweet on the outside, but inside we’re cold, hard and full of cyanide."

     It's true, American customs can be superficially friendly. Which leads to me something I'm still struggling with here...

2. Smiling!

     Coming from the South, smiling is something expected of everybody - even just strangers walking down the street. Unfortunately, it's expected all the more so from women. So imagine my struggle coming to Europe where smiling at strangers is weird!!! You don't smile at your little old neighbor, your regular bus driver, or even the lady scooping your icecream for you. And don't expect them to ever smile back. If you're smiling at a stranger, they'll assume you're trying to sell them something or you have a loose screw. Or in some instances, that you're flirting! As a married woman, that's the last thing I want 😂 So here I am in Germany, still practicing my 'resting bitch face' as after almost a year here, I still find myself accidentally smiling at everybody in town...

3. Personal Space

     Personal space is definitely a foreign concept to Germans which I never would've expected! For a non-smiling, rule-following, reserved society, you'd expect them to be all about personal bubbles. Nope! My first experience with this was at the grocery store. I had just grabbed a box of something off of the shelf to read the ingredients when somebody passing through chose to squeeze in between me and the shelf instead of going around me. I was so baffled! The rest of the aisle was empty, and as you're probably imagining, I was close to the shelf since I was grabbing stuff right? Well apparently it's enough space for somebody to walk through...

     Imagine yourself standing in line. You usually stand a step back so that you're not breathing down somebody's neck right? Well apparently that small step back is grounds for squeezing in! That little gap of space, the bubble that should always exist between you and another person, is just enough for a German to squeeze in and cut in front of you, as if you weren’t even standing there. So watch out! They're not afraid to rub right up against you...

4. Honesty

     Germans see bluntness as a positive thing. Americans tend to soften their words to avoid offending someone, but Germans think it's more helpful to say the brutal truth than to dance around it. For example, my husband's workplace takes turns baking some form of dessert for birthdays. One colleague made a pudding dessert that didn't turn out too well, and somebody told him that it was terrible and that he shouldn't make it ever again - in front of everybody. You don't really hear that kind of bluntness in the US. 😂 We've also heard some pretty funny flirting/dating stories. For example, if they don't like a gift you got them, they will let you know. Also, if you plan on dating, you won't have to wonder what went wrong in the relationship. Apparently they will let you know what they didn't like about you! (Which I actually think is good point - I appreciate closure).

5. Helping others

     This one's still something that irks us! Germans will NOT help you when they see you struggling unless you explicitly ask for it. They will watch an old lady fall on the bus, and nobody will help her until she asks for help (no joke, we've witnessed this multiple times). One time my husband was struggling to reach the 'stop' button on the tram because it was crowded, and the guy standing right in the front of the button was staring at his struggling hand without a single motion to help press it.
     Our German just isn't good enough to ask for help sometimes so we get frustrated at the lack of what we believe to be common decency. If you see somebody fall, shouldn't you try to help them up or at least ask if they need help? If you see somebody carrying heavy/large boxes trying to open the door, shouldn't you automatically help them open the door? No, they will just stare at you struggle. Some will even get frustrated that you're taking so long...

6. Noisiness

     If you somehow haven't figured it out yet, Americans are loud. We're so much louder than the Germans. You can always pick out the foreigners at a restaurant or bar because they talk so much louder than the Germans do. After several beers, the Germans do catch up, but it's obvious at first. 😂 My father-in-law has definitely received a few dirty looks for talking so loudly in a cafe.
     The Germans appreciate the quiet, and they're very strict about quiet hours. If you're running loud machinery late at night (no more late laundry nights) or on Sundays, you can get fined for disrupting your neighbors. And yes, you read that right - on Sundays! Sundays are days of rest, and excessive noise is not allowed. This means no lawn mowing, hammering nails into the wall/renovating, etc. Even your bbq/grilling time outside is regulated. And if you have young children, some grouchy neighbors may complain that they're playing too loud! Oh boy...

7. Staring

     Man do I hate this one. Apparently Germans aren't taught that staring is rude. Staring is one of my pet peeves so imagine my struggle as an Asian in an old East German town. We live in a neighborhood with what seems mostly elderly so I was constantly stared at when I first arrived. Children are also a problem with their unashamed, big eyes staring up at me. It's completely written on their foreheads, ' Mummy, that lady looks different from us!' 😂 The staring has definitely not helped with assimilating here unfortunately. The worst is when you stare back, and they still don't look away! Quite possibly the most awkward encounters in my life...

8. Following the rules

     Germans are not kidding when they say they enjoy order and rules! Of course this is a generalization and doesn't apply to every single German, but overall, they're pretty "by the book." It will be late at night with no cars in sight, but my neighbors will refuse to cross the street because of the little red man in the light. Don't even think about doing this during the day with children around! They will yell at you for setting a bad example! 😂 We were going to miss our tram one day so we were sprinting across the street, but I felt so guilty listening to people gasp, "In front of the children?!"
     When we first arrived, we were also intrigued by the trust system of public transportation here. You normally have to scan a ticket/metro card to enter the bus/tram back home, but they just trust you to have bought the proper tickets here. We have learned after living here that they do random checks every once in a while, but it's still an overall trustful system. Perhaps it's because the German system relies on contributing to the common good that freeloaders & rule-breakers seem to be heavily discouraged/scorned in German culture?

Anyways! This turned out to be so much longer than I thought it'd be! 😂

Hope you've enjoyed my American perspective on German society. Maybe it'll even help some of you newer expats out there. Get ready for an amazing time here in Germany! 🍻

Yay! You should now have all of your residence paperwork set up (if you've been following my steps so far: obtaining a residence, registering your address with the city, & setting up your appointment for your residence permit). Your next priority is probably setting up your apartment. Here's some information that will help you organize everything you'll need.

Furniture

     I would prioritize furniture first, especially if you're on a tight budget, because IKEA (likely your cheapest option) is usually 2 weeks out for delivery. Maybe if you go to the nicer (far more expensive) furniture stores, they would have faster delivery? We also looked at other companies that can deliver your IKEA purchases, but IKEA's service actually had a shorter wait time which meant we would have a bed sooner. This was important because my ridiculous husband couldn't find an air mattress for the first week so we had been sleeping on the floor (Don't worry, I discovered not long after that Rossman had one all along... Note: don't depend on husbands to find things 😤). We had looked at several other furniture stores in our area & any big brand stores' websites, and I can honestly say IKEA was by far the cheapest. Especially if you'll be needing to install a kitchen.
     I've mentioned before that renting apartments usually mean you'll get an empty shell with a toilet and bath. Literally. They won't even come with lightbulbs, let alone light fixtures. You can specifically look for apartments that are furnished with a full kitchen, but they're usually higher in rent or hard to find. In Jena, the difference seemed enough that we'd make up for having to buy a kitchen in 3 months so it wasn't worth it to pay more in rent. If you're worried about the kitchen, here's what we used to build a very basic and cheap one. Hopefully it can help you get a ballpark amount.

Cabinet Shell to hold your sink/stove/oven: KNOXHULT €117
Cheapest stove that had more than one hot spot: LAGAN HGC3K €100
Cheapest oven (I would advise against this oven, it is so weak): LAGAN OV3 €100
I don't remember which sink we purchased but I believe it was around €100
Fridge: LAGAN Kuhl €200
Washing Machine from Saturn.de on sale (8kg Comfee) €270
A couple of shelves from IKEA: depends on how many you want and what kind
Total = around €1000 for a kitchen

     As usual with IKEA items, you will need to build and install everything on your own. Thankfully my husband is a bit handy and only needed to buy a €30 Jigsaw and basic tools to build the kitchen, but if that's not something you're up for, you can always hire IKEA (or whatever company you purchase from) to do so. It can be expensive though so keep this price in mind as well. We were very conscious about the price since we're only planning on staying for a few years.

*Bonus - OBI (Germany's Home Depot-same orange and everything lol) now rents power tools at an hourly rate which they didn't before (thanks OBI...) If you don't need anything fancy, IKEA also sells basic power tools at their locations for very cheap.

A kitchen before we installed our washing machine and some wall shelves Everything from IKEA as listed

Electricity/Water

     Now you're probably wondering why we weren't freaking out about our water and electricity first. The system seems to be different here as they don't separate utilities by household. Which means the utilities don't get "cut" when you move out, and electricity/water is already available when you move in. BUT you'll still have to set up a contract with a provider. For us, water was "included" in our rent (up to a certain amount/year). And we had to find an electric company to contract. Your landlord should have a company to recommend or a company they have a partnership with to provide you with a discount.
     All you have to do is take your “Anmeldungbescheinigung” (Address Registration Certificate from the Burger Services), bank information (most payments in Germany are set up through automatic withdrawals), and your rental contract which shows your starting electricity meter numbers. The company will also ask how long you want the contract for and the amount per year. You can do month by month, yearly, etc, but it's cheaper to go for longer contracts. We knew we'd be staying for at least 2 years which is what we decided on. As for the amount, they can show you average usage numbers, and it's not a big deal if you go over a little. They will refund you the amount for any unused electricity.
     We were told the system is this way due to one company controlling all of the city's electricity. The companies you contract then request usage from this "mega company" and take charge of your meter usage. Strange, but it's also how the internet works here. Which we'll talk about next~

Internet/Cell Service

     As I was saying, the system for your household internet is similar to getting electricity. There's a "mega company" which, in this case, is Telekom (aka T-Mobile!). Telekom apparently used to have a monopoly on internet/phone services in Germany so they own all of the wiring/system. Now different companies have to request usage of this system to provide you with their own contract/pricing.
     You can choose to sign up with Telekom (fastest set up) or go with other options. Friends have told me that O2 is the cheapest, but customer service is pretty horrible if you ever run into problems. We ended up going with Vodafone because they provide free EU roaming. As avid travelers, we lit up at the offer. I would say pricing is about the same as AT&T back home which is fine, but the slow set up time can really suck. Your cell service is instant, but it'll take around 3 weeks after you sign up with Vodafone for them to gain access to Telekom's internet services and have a service man sent out to your home. They'll try and make up for it by providing you an extra 10GB of data on your cells, but 10GB can go quick if you want to Netflix/Hulu. We just ended up sitting around cafes for the first few weekends...

TV/Radio Tax

     Now this one's a funny one. Every household in Germany is required to pay a TV/Radio Tax (Rundfunkbeitrag). This tax funds the production and broadcasting of Germany's public channels. Because nowadays every household is likely to have a tv/radio or internet (which can access these channels), it is required to pay unless you are blind/deaf. It'll run you €17.50/month, and thankfully, it's per household, not person. You should automatically receive this letter after registering your address with the city, but if you don't, you will have to contact the Beitrag office to make sure & pay. If you don't, you'll have to pay everything you missed along with some hefty late fees. If you refuse to pay, they will take legal actions so it's best to just comply.

Garden Plots

     This one doesn't really have to do with your apartment, but if you love gardening, Germany is quite the place to be. 'Garden plots' (Schrebergärten) are popular to 'purchase' here if you're interested. You might have already noticed a 'Garden Colony' depending on where you live. They look like fields that are squared off with tiny homes on each square. You can "purchase" a plot from a previous owner, but you wouldn't actually own the land, just everything on the land. This is all determined by a government appraiser down to every little herb (predetermined by goverment standards). Do keep in mind that as much as you can enjoy your own garden, there are many rules to managing your garden plot. It's kind of like having an HOA that tells you what you can/can't grow, what kind of house you can build, and so on. Some garden plots actually have an HOA/Management club.






*This is simply what I learned from my personal experiences/research. Please always make sure to consult with the proper authorities and take this post with a grain of salt.