Submitted by Susanne Bacon. Have you ever been to the most Northwestern place in the US? I’m not talking as in Alaska, but here in Western Washington. It’s quite a trip to Cape Flattery, in the end takes a walk all in all a bit over one and a half mile’s distance, and culminates in […]
Across the Fence: Football
Why a game in which a ball is mostly carried and thrown is called football, obviously defies any European’s logic. Football over there is definitely always played by your feet respectively legs only, and any involvement of your hands, even involuntarily, earns you a penalty – unless you are the goalie, of course. Also, football […]
Across the Fence: Calendula
Gray January days are normal in Western Washington. And you could get depressed if it weren’t for Nature dealing with the gray in her own very subtle ways. Such as an incredible array of shades of green. Or … well, have a look into your garden or your neighbor’s. Because I’m pretty sure somewhere there […]
Across the Fence: Disneyland Is Somewhere Else
Only recently we traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, to celebrate my husband’s round birthday. I have been there three times before within the past 12 years, always on business: as a trade show reporter, as the leader of my magazine’s reader’s trip group of 40 persons, and as a business consultant for a trade show […]
Across the Fence: The Carbon River Rain Forest Loop
The beginning of a new year usually seems a bit dreary. It always makes me wonder whether that is because it’s like a book filled with blank pages and a certain anticipation what they might fill with. Or whether it’s the contradiction of cabin fever and the doomed grayness outside. So, let me lure you […]
Across the Fence: The Wild Hunt
Today, I am starting this new column, and I will chat to you in a neighborly fashion across the fence. But I also would like to invite you to hop across your fence to discover and explore all kinds of things and places. Let’s start with something that is as current as it gets. You […]
Home from Home: Auf Wiedersehen!
Another year is reaching its end. To this day, my Friday column “Home from Home” has reached the number of 74 short essays in almost one and a half years of contemplating differences between my native country and my new home country, writing, and sharing it with you. So many of you have reacted in […]
Home from Home: Between the lines
There is a lot of bewilderment for non-native speakers when it comes to talking to Germans in Germany. What should it be? “Du” (pronounce: doo) or “Sie” (pronounce: zee)? And when do you use first names and when last names? And when do you say “Frau” (pronounce: frouw, i.e. Mrs.) and when “Fraeulein” (pronounce: froy-line, […]
Home from Home: Christstollen
These days, stores in the area which have been carrying German Christmas treats are pretty much sold out, I guess. One of the most traditional baked goods – and I have to admit definitely not my favorite one – is Christstollen (pronounce: ‘chreest-shtoll-lan). But that’s because I’m not one for sweet yeast doughs at all. […]