Comments on: Regensburg Expat Dinner – February 17

By: John Castle

John Castle — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:56:59 +0000

Thanks for putting on the dinner. I had fun. See ya’ll at the next one.

By: andrea

andrea — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:41:45 +0000

hi I spoke to Cynthia. She is coming along with her husband Stephan and 3 year old daughter Lucille. Ok see you tomorrow. An

By: Christina G

Christina G — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:38:58 +0000

I can indeed play Doppelkopf, but I haven’t played in about 4 years, so I’ll be a little rusty at first.

By: Tammy

Tammy — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 10:37:45 +0000

Christina, you can play doppelkopf?!! Matthias and I play with his high school friends every time we go up north to visit. We’ll have to invite you guys for a game! I can’t promise that I will remember all of the rules, but I can usually figure things out enough to play. I often accuse Matthias of making up the rules because new ones seem to pop up every game, but I recently read them all on Wikipedia, and apparently he didn’t make them up.

By: Christina G

Christina G — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 08:54:40 +0000

In addition to Tammy and Cliff’s comments, there’s a couple of things I have to add. First, our expat dinners are attended by not only Americans, but also Australians, Irish, Italians and quite a few German spouses. Second, from my experience, people who don’t integrate don’t seem all that interested hanging out with the folks who do, so they don’t come to expat dinners. Third, I don’t think you’ve read my blog at all if you think I don’t try to integrate (like Tammy, I’m not much into being assimilated). From my German husband, my German-Ami kid, my German dog, to living in a tiny Bavarian village where no one speaks Hochdeutsch, I think my contacts with Germans have been much more varied than even the average German. From happily hanging out daily with unemployed “Sozi”s, to dinners with professors and politicians. And finally, when we lived in North Carolina, I accompanied Rainer EVERY WEEK to a German expat Doppelkopf group. So, yeah, I don’t think Germans living in Ausland behave any differently than we do here. Cheers!

By: Tammy

Tammy — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:17:36 +0000

Klaus, I’ve got to back Cliff up on this one. Between my German husband, his family, our friends from work, and other German friends (some of whom we actually met in the U.S.), I’d say my integration into Germany is going quite well. I don’t think I will, however, be assimilated by any culture, not even the American one. I was never very good as assimilation – a bit to Borg like for me.

By: cliff1976

cliff1976 — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 06:46:02 +0000

Sweeping generalizations aside Klaus, do you really think that we only hang out with just other Americans here in Germany? Or even just other foreigners?

I am sure most of us get plenty of German culture in our jobs, through our neighbors, by casual random public interaction on the bus or at the market, etc. I have not yet met an American in Germany who only hangs out on a military base for years on end, because they would never venture off base to interact with me.

I personally have never been much of a socialite, but I do find these meetups quite pleasant. I don’t do it every week, or even manage to attend every month, but I like the interaction and experience exchange they offer.

I guess to answer your first question on behalf of myself, the answer is: Unanswerable; invalid preimse.

And the answer to your second one is:Sure we do. And we have. And still are. And none of that precludes learning from each other about how to adjust to daily life over here, whether we have a backstory in common or not.

By: Klaus Dorhmann

Klaus Dorhmann — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 04:46:59 +0000

What I never understand about Amis im Ausland is why they always congregate in groups.
How can you assimilate in another culture if you only hang out with just Amis?
Don’t you want to get know the people in the country you live?

By: Lynda

Lynda — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:45:48 +0000

I wish I could go… I am feeling very ‘whiney’ this week… only a 4 hour short hop to Munich…mmmmmm

By: cliff1976

cliff1976 — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:02:36 +0000

Sarah and I are in.

I recommend the Carbonara and especially the Insalata Piccante (it’s entree-sized).