Submitted by Susanne Bacon A little while ago, I had a wonderful reading event at a yarn store near Lakewood Town Center. I was reading a chapter from one of my novels to a group of lovely, witty, and very sophisticated listeners. That chapter contained the story of one of my novel characters, including a […]
Home from Home
Home from Home: Kaffeeklatsch
Submitted by Susanne Bacon The German term “Kaffeeklatsch” (pronounce ‘kuffah-klutsh, meaning gossiping over coffee) has made it into the American language. It is usually a thing of the afternoon hours, and it’s something you enjoy at a private home as well as at a café. Unfortunately, the classic café is becoming more and more a […]
Home from Home: Casinos
Submitted by Susanne Bacon Germany is famous for its stylish casinos in Baden-Baden, Wiesbaden, and a few other cities. They used to be part of the Grand Tour rich Americans afforded their children to get a wider knowledge of the Old World in the 1800s and early 1900s. For Europeans who want to experience the […]
Home from Home: Vacations
Germany is the world champion in traveling and has been so for ages. No matter how legendary Japanese traveling groups are around the world, snatching photos of everything, Germans have been there and done that before. Whether individually or in organized groups, whether high-fangled luxury trips to exotic places or eco-friendly social excursions, there’s something […]
Home from Home: Beaches
Submitted by Susanne Bacon The very first vacation I remember was when I was barely four. My family took a long train trip from Stuttgart to the Baltic Sea. I will never forget the sensual experience of that first seaside vacation, and maybe it has triggered my love for all things maritime. You can imagine […]
Home from Home: White Asparagus
Submitted by Susanne Bacon What is it with German-Americans and their love for white asparagus? We keep craving it especially during spring time. We do a dance of joy as soon as we spot some in a supermarket. We talk about it on Facebook when we have found some, and all our German-American friends go […]
Home from Home: May Day
Submitted by Susanne Bacon If on April 30 you find any of your German co-workers or friends a little restless, it might be because it’s that time of the year. In Germany, they are celebrating Walpurgisnacht (pronounce vul-‘poor-geese-nuht) and May Day big time … and here there is none of this. Unless you are living […]
Home from Home: National and Nature Parks
Submitted by Susanne Bacon As a teenager I laughed when I read in a book by Paul Watzlawick that Americans visiting my mother country allegedly ask whether the Black Forest was open on Sundays. It never occurred to me that it could not be open. Or that people might expect to have to pay an […]
Home from Home: Cast-offs
Submitted by Susanne Bacon Estate sales are something that I have never been to in my German past. Not that Germany didn’t have its number of those – they are usually announced in papers in specific advertising pages. Germany also has thrift shops like Oxfam or Christian organizations’ ones. It’s just that our family never […]