Korean American in Germany

 After all my venting and complaining during my adjustment process there are some things I do like about Germany.  I guess the longer one lives here some things you get used to and enjoy! Nature:  I love the beautiful forests in Germany.  I heard and read that Bavaria is very green and has tons of forests everywhere.  It is easy to get to a wooded area in 10 to 15 minutes by car or sometimes quite close to the cities.  We now live in Kraftshof, a small farming village, and the forest is literally 10 minute walk from my house.  I love exploring and wandering around and literally getting lost in the amazing forests.  Momo absolutely loves her long walks in them.  She is always super excited to be in the forest especially when she can meet some wild pigs and other critters!   Public Transportation:  I love the different types of public transportation around here, especially in Nuremberg.  There are subways, street cars, buses...

 I started my German integration and language  class in February of 2020. It was an interesting class and I met some lovely new people.  Some of them are still friends and I am grateful to have new friendships here. We finally completed the language test and the Living in Germany orientation test in October and November of 2020.  It was a long and time consuming process especially due to the pandemic lockdown but I am glad I finally completed it.  But I am still very far from fluent and acculturated! One thing I particularly enjoyed about the class was that there were so many foreigner students.  They came from India, Bangladesh, Romania, Poland, Philippines, Brazil, Cuba, Egypt, Russia, Iraq, Ukraine and Syria.  It was one of the few places where I interacted with different people from all over the world on a daily basis. We were definitely in our international/foreign bubble but so what, and at least for me, I felt totally comfortable in my diverse U...

  The B word in Germ any! What is the B word? Bureaucracy, in this case.  I had no idea bureaucracy ruled every aspect of life here!  This was my short post I wrote on Facebook in September of 2019, two months after I moved to Erlangen, Germany.  I was running around to different Amts, or government offices to apply for my residence card, enroll for integration courses, obtain a drivers license, etc.   " German bureaucracy is no joke....and I am learning to be patient which is not easy for me, coming from the US and being Korean! Today I accomplished one major task, to apply for government permission to finally take a German integration course... A program manager from the community college/school helped me enroll for the course and ruled out that I am not a foreign worker, temporary visitor or refugee/political asylum seeker. I was just a foreigner with a German spouse and an official residency card! She helped me submit a form to the Federal Office for Mi...

 Reinventing My Professional Identity and Job \Hunting in Germany Marc started his job in November of 2018 at a German company and it was a positive career move for him. It has been not as easy for me to find a new job or try to find some part time work while living here the past year and a half.  I talked to other international friends here as well as my foreign classmates from German class about this topic frequently.  They all had similar challenges. One Indian friend finally found a job that was similar to what she was doing in the US after submitting over 70 resumes!  She was concerned that this job was few hours away by car and she would have to  get an apartment for the week and commute on the weekends back to see her family in Erlangen.  However she finally got a job offer and took it.  She said she was desperate to get a job here. 😢😢😢 A few classmates from my language class said they were working hard to find a totally new job in a new fiel...

 First time in a German hospital! A bit scary, confusing and different...! We are still dealing with the Pandemic in 2021. I can’t believe it is March already. Marc and teens  are still working and learning online, and I am still adjusting, and becoming more familiar with German life. A lot has happened since I wrote back in May 2020. I will definitely have to share about some past experiences and recount all the funny, sometimes annoying and culturally interesting stories. But first, let me tell you about my very first hospital stay in Germany!   It was a scheduled procedure at least 4 to 5 months back so I did not think much of this when it was close to the appointment date.  After all I thought it was a simple outpatient procedure.   Technically, it is and in the US I went through it one year after Nicolas was born.  At that time I was sicker and doctors were trying to figure out my condition.  I received excellent care with no cultural is...

Our biggest adventure ever!  Cross Atlantic move to Erlangen, Germany, Franconia Region, State of Bavaria from Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA! We have already been here for 10 months!  Wow, time sure flies and we have had quite a rollercoaster ride here in Erlangen, Germany.  Life has been unpredictable at times but also interesting especially since we had to deal with the Corona virus pandemic since February of this year.   We packed up our numerous boxes and belongings last summer and arrived in Germany on July 8th of 2019. Marc started his new job in Nurnberg at Schaeffler Company in November of 2018, so we were living apart for almost 8 months.  It was one of the most difficult times of my life while managing the teenagers and our dog Momo.  Momo was definitely not the problem!  The teens were definitely also stressed and trying to see if they could test my nerves while Marc was in Germany.  It was a lonely and difficult process to go thro...