Hug a neo-nazi today

They get a bad press in Germany… but now this clip can exclusively reveal the difficulties neo-nazis experience on a daily basis. Is it time to hug a neo-nazi after all?

“Planet Germany” is reviewed in the Telegraph

This is an exciting moment for me.  My book, Planet Germany, has been reviewed in the Telegraph. (You have to scroll down a bit to find the right bit).
I think I might raise a glass of something bubbly tonight.
Thank you everyone!

Those were the days…

Remember how the Germans used to be portrayed when we were younger? Growing up in the sixties and seventies our perceptions of Germans were entirely oriented around imagery from the second world war - whether it was films like the Dambusters, or series like Colditz and Secret Army, or comedies like ‘Allo ‘Allo or humourous [...]

German cuisine as you’ve never seen it before…

Nobody works harder than ex-pats to keep their national traditions alive. At least, that’s what I always thought, based on observed ex-pat rituals. So it was no surprise to find out that second and third generation German-emigrees are sometimes more German than the Germans… and cherish customers, rituals and recipes which no German would actually [...]

Strange souvenirs and spiders

Does anyone else accumulate odd artefacts which gather dust and cobwebs on your walls?
I’m a flea market addict. I love browsing junk shops and bric-a-brac stalls and picking up old objects which my family of Philistines say just clutter up our home. To add to the dispute, I’m totally and completely useless at housework… and [...]

Learn to speak German in less than a minute

We’re all told that German is a difficult language to learn. Its grammar is grisly, its pronunciation prickly and its cases catastrophic.
Well now I can reveal…exclusively to readers of this blog… that there is an easier way to learn German. It’s effective and quick. Throw away those grammar books and try this method….

Do you speak English?

I think this video could be a metaphor for a phone conversation I had yesterday. It was one of those situations where I understood every single word… but nothing in the sentences made any sense.
Anyone else ever have those days?

A very special circus…

Last week was Project Week at my daughter’s school. The whole school set itself the project of putting on a circus.
Working together with a small circus company the children had a week of learning to be clowns, acrobats, tightrope walkers, fire-breathers, fakirs, dancers, magicians, jugglers, uni-cyclists and trapeze artists.
Together with lots of parent volunteers, they [...]

Beware the flying goose…

One of the things that’s difficult for me about living in Germany is the total absence of spicy food. German cuisine is bland. The best they can think of to spice it up seems to be mustard or possibly a dab of horseradish. As someone who likes curries and chilli dishes this just doesn’t challenge [...]

An excruciatingly German form of advertising

The German postman brought me an invitation to attend the DRUPA today.
For those who don’t have much to do with the media business, the DRUPA is the printing and paper industry’s biggest trade fair. It’s held in Düsseldorf every four years.
For the rest of the population, the DRUPA is the creator and perpetrator of corporate [...]