Expat Chatter

Jan 19 2025 135 ep. 8 mins 1

Expat Chatter Podcast artwork

It's true. Even after years of living in Munich, Germany, I find funny stuff to talk about. Language gaffes, cultural confrontations, and life abroad. It's an ongoing adventure!

History Society & Culture Comedy

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Better than bread: Krapfen are the best excuse to fatten up

Jan 19 2025 8 mins

The Krapfen is the best thing since sliced bread - or in Bavaria, since the monks began brewing beer. During Carnival season or Fasching, the bakeries explode with these delicious pastries. But there's an interesting history behind them, too.Support the showwww.expatchatter.net Brenda Arnold

Blasting our way into the New Year

Dec 29 2024 6 mins

Germans are so careful about maintaining their cars and they build their houses so well that they are practically airtight. But on New Year’s Eve, their sense of caution quite literally vanishes into thin air.Support the showwww.expatchatter.net Brenda Arnold

'Twas the Night Before Weihnachten

Dec 22 2024 4 mins

On a trip to the Christmas market in Munich, I was inspired by the holiday cheer and the number of foreign tourists and was especially impressed by their boisterous enthusiasm for holiday wares.Support the showwww.expatchatter.net Brenda Arnold

Christmas cookies: Good, better, German

Dec 15 2024 8 mins

I loved Christmas cookies growing up and thought they were pretty good, but have since discovered that German holiday confectionary is in a league of its own – the premier league.Support the showwww.expatchatter.net Brenda Arnold

The 37 Days of Christmas

Dec 08 2024 6 mins

Germans don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but they celebrate Christmas half the winter. Starting at the end of November with the first of Advent, it culminates on January 6th, Heilige Drei Könige, Three Kings’ Day, or Epiphany, which is the Eastern Orthodox Christmas, but Germans figured it’s another holiday—we’ll take it. Support the showwww.expatchatter.net Brenda Arnold

What happened to my pumpkin pie?

Nov 24 2024 8 mins

I have cherished memories of holiday meals from my childhood. Certain foods were always on the table for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it just wasn’t a festive spread without them. Pumpkin pie for dessert was a must. But that was many years ago and 8,000 kilometers across the Atlantic Ocean and the pie I bake today is quite different from the one my mother made. Pumpkins origin

Germans put the fun in fungi

Nov 17 2024 8 mins

My experience with mushrooms was confined to cans as a kid. In Germany, collecting them is a cherished hobby – but don’t bother asking anybody where to find them because they aren’t telling.Support the showwww.expatchatter.net Brenda Arnold

Celebrating St. Martin from the couch

Nov 10 2024 8 mins

Americans celebrate fall with Halloween, but Germans have St. Martin. Children carry lit lanterns in processions through the dark, singing. It sounds so lovely, until you’re the one out there battling the cold wind to keep the lantern lit. This is a festival best enjoyed indoors.Support the showwww.expatchatter.net Brenda Arnold

Halloween Goes Global

Oct 30 2024 9 mins

Halloween used to be unknown in Germany. That has changed and there are now pumpkins for sale on every street corner and sometimes kids go trick-or-treating too.Support the showwww.expatchatter.net Brenda Arnold

Three cheers for the English language: Concise, neutral, to the point.

Oct 20 2024 9 mins

The English language has its downsides. But when you compare it to German, French and Spanish it suddenly looks surprisingly efficient and user-friendly.Support the showwww.expatchatter.net Brenda Arnold