This non-American Life

Being boring

This blog seems to be on summer vacation along with the rest of Europe. I still have some old trips to tell you about, and I have a pile of Ask the Expat questions to get to (most about Oktoberfest), but as far as stuff going on right now I got nothin’. I’ve slept in my own bed for two whole months straight – can you imagine? I prefer to do my traveling in the shoulder seasons or off season, when prices are lower, crowds are smaller, and the sun isn’t so brutal.

In fact, our next trip might not be until mid-September, when we join a bunch of expat bloggers from around Germany for WEBMU 2010: Bloggers take Hamburg (OK, I just made that name up, but it will be in Hamburg). If you are an expat blogger in Germany, go sign up for the message board and join in the conversation. It’s (for the most part) a friendly group of bloggers. New folks welcome. Last year’s meet-up was in Munich and it was tons of fun.

In other news, I recently start up a new art blog, Flogging the Muse, where you can peek at my recent painting experiments. Come by and say hi. I’ve also been making improvements here at This non-American Life – how do you like the new header images? A new one should come up every time you load the page. There are about 50 photos from our travels in rotation right now (only one of which features dirndl boobs).

Is there anything in particular you’d like to see me blog about? Leave your suggestions in the comments. Or just tell me about all the fun you’re having this summer.

Tags: bloggers and the people who love them

Munich: So many bloggers

Whew, what a weekend. We Munich bloggers had the honor of hosting this year’s Whiny Expat Blogger Meet-Up. Bloggers from the far corners of Germany descended upon us for a weekend of eating, drinking, wandering around, and lots and lots of conversation. We tried to give everyone a glimpse of our city with some unexpected twists.

One stop on our walking tour involved watching the famous Eisbach surfers. Urban surfing at its best.

Another fun stop was the Anglia English Bookshop (Schellingstraße 3, near the Universität Ubahn stop), which has a nice selection and reasonable prices compared to what you’ll find at other English bookshops in Germany.

While we were tempted to require everyone to consume Bavarian food (washed down with liters of beer) for every single meal, in the end we opted for a delicious Ethiopian dinner at Blue Nile on one evening. This was a nice break for those who are not so skilled at peeling Weißwurst.

Dinner was followed by That Queer Expatriate’s Queer Expedition, an annual tradition of sorts. This time it was held at Mylord, an absolutely charming little bar in the middle of the Glockenbachviertel (Munich’s gayborhood). The furnishings are just like those at your grandmother’s house, assuming your grandmother has been a chain smoker for the last 60 years and has a penchant for erotic lesbian art.

Sunday morning started with a stroll through the Theresienwiese to catch a glimpse of the Oktoberfest tents. Looks like they’re almost ready to go.

And as a grand finale, we went on a little pilgrimage to Munich’s very own public shrine to Michael Jackson (to be found on Promenadeplatz), which was skillfully scoped out by the HeidelbergerInnen. Notable features included a creepy drawing of a little boy cowering in a corner and a panda bear humping a mattress spring.

Even though I failed to talk anyone into buying lederhosen, the weekend was a blast. It was such a great group of people who made me laugh harder than I have in a long, long time. Posts from other bloggers about the meet-up:

• That Queer Expatriate’s first impressions of Munich
• Christina G’s favorite photos from the weekend
• Cliff practically begs me to post embarassing photos of him on the internet
• Mandi gives us a WEBMU Saturday play-by-play (minus TQEQE)
• Snooker had fun here, too
• Mausi absolutely loved Munich

Tags: bloggers and the people who love them, Germany, Munich

Expat bloggers to descend on Munich. Wanna come?

I keep forgetting to post about this, but the event is fast approaching. On the weekend of September 4th – 6th, expat bloggers from all around Germany will be coming to Munich to hang out, chat, drink, eat, walk around, and chat some more. I am all kinds of excited to get to see some of my favorite out-of-town bloggers (such as TQE and the Regensbloggers) again, as well as to meet some others (such as Snooker and Mausi and Heidelbergerin) for the first time.

New folks are more than welcome, so if you’re a blogger in Germany (or somewhere nearby) and would like to attend, go sign up on the Expat Bloggers in Germany Website to learn all the dirty little details.

Tags: bloggers and the people who love them, Germany, Munich, news

Regensburg: dults and other diversions

This weekend we hopped on a train up to Regensburg to party with the Regensbloggers. Their housewarming party conveniently coincided with the Regensburger Dult, an adorable little city fair complete with beer tents, disturbing rides, carnies, and strange shopping opportunities. I was surprised to see that it was bigger than the Auer Dult, and almost as big as Munich’s Frühlingsfest. The youth of Regensburg were out en masse, many of them wearing the most colorful tract I’ve ever seen.

A highlight of the weekend was finally getting to meet That Queer Expatriate live and in person. We had a fabulous time chasing a belederhosened emo boy around the dult together (see his blog for pics) and shopping for gingerbread hearts.

Naturally we were overcome with a feeling of deep patriotism upon seeing this ride:

Back at the party, we learned how to make awesome capa capra copu caipirinhas while marveling over the fact that in Germany, bags of ice come with instructions.

Tags: Bavaria, bloggers and the people who love them, day-trips from Munich, Germany, travel

Secret lair of the Germany expat bloggers – revealed!

Organization has begun for this year’s Whiny Expat Bloggers Meet-Up (or NAMBLA WEBMU). To join in on the discussion, go check out the shiny new Expat Bloggers in Germany message board (set up by the lovely and talented Cliff). You’ll have to sign up and be approved by the powers that be, but oh, is it worth it.

Tags: bloggers and the people who love them

Expats and bloggers invade Regensburg

Saturday we headed to Regensburg to spend the day at the expat meet-up organized by Christina. Regensburg is a cheap (on a Bayernpass) and easy 1.5-hour train ride from Munich, so it makes for a good day trip.

After wandering around on our own for a while, we joined the group for a guided tour of the city in the afternoon. It’s been a while since I’ve taken a guided tour of any city, and it was quite fun, even though the overarching theme (Regensburg might not look like much today, but in the past we were super important! really! Oh, and we’re very, very Italian, too!) was a little depressing.

Then it was off to a lovely biergarten for drinks in the shade before our herd of expats headed to dinner at a local Italian restaurant. It was fabulous to meet Cliff and Sarah of Regensblog, Tammy and Matthias of Coffee from a Cardboard Cup, and Tim and Heather from the Sprocket Spot, and several other non-blogging expats, too (it only seems like all of us blog…).

Us big city folk (ie., the four in attendance from Munich) left dinner on the early side hoping to catch a certain train, failed, and ended up watching most of the second half of the Russia-Netherlands game in a sports bar near the station. We were the only ones there over the age of 18, but at least we recognized the 80s music that was playing too loud for our delicate old ears.

Tags: Bavaria, bloggers and the people who love them, day-trips from Munich

Want to whine with the best of them?

This year’s Whiny Expat Bloggers Meet-Up is being planned as I type… hop on over to J’s blog to vote for a location. For a reason I can’t seem to grasp, Wiesbaden is currently in the lead, despite the fact that it has no one to show us around and is apparently overrun with American military types. Nice.

So go vote! I chose Bremen, mainly because 1) I’ve never been there, 2) it sounds more interesting than Wiesbaden, and 3) it appears to be one of few non-Wiesbaden cities that still has a chance of winning.

No matter what city wins, I’m looking forward to attending for the first time. What could be better than whining with fellow expat bloggers?

Tags: bloggers and the people who love them

Europe String and Veggie Chic looking for bloggers

So I’ve decided to give up my professional blogs Europe String and Veggie Chic at the end of May. I’ve enjoyed writing for them, but I feel it’s time for me to move on.

Thought I’d mention it here in case any readers are interested in taking over… b5media is looking for replacement bloggers for both blogs. Europe String is about traveling Europe on a budget, and Veggie Chic is ‘all things vegetarian’. Contact me or leave a comment and I can put you in touch with the right folks.

Tags: bloggers and the people who love them

Save the date: expat fun in Regensburg this summer

I’ve been trying to come up with a good title for Christina, organizer of many a get-together for the Bavarian expat blogger crowd. Social coordinator? Den mother? Cruise director?

Anyway, she’s at it again, this time with a whole weekend full of Regensburg-style fun. There’ll be food, a city tour, baseball(!?!), and if you’re lucky, some beer, too. So if you’ll be in this area, mark your calendars for June 21-22 and join in on all the expat revelry.

Tags: Bavaria, bloggers and the people who love them, Germany

Expat blogger poised to take German TV by storm

This Friday evening, March 14th, Ian in Hamburg will dazzle the German TV audience with his American (well, Canadian posing as American) pizza-baking skills on the Pro7 show Galileo. Groovy, huh?

I read Ian’s account of the taping (parts 1, 2 and 3) with delight, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the finished show compares with his behind-the-scenes stories.

I’m usually not such a fan of the show Galileo, which claims to be a science show while performing such groundbreaking experiments as ‘Who’s really superior, men or women? We put this age-old mystery to the test in our ultimate smackdown to prove once and for all which sex is the best by… timing a man and a woman washing dishes. You won’t believe the stunning results!’ I wish I were making this up. Oh, and at least once a week the show features gratuitous footage of a meat-processing plant.

But all that aside, I’m really looking forward to finding out who wins the ultimate international pizza-baking contest. Then we can finally all stop arguing about it.

Tags: bloggers and the people who love them, German culture