7 signs that your boyfriend/husband is coming down with a cold
Sunday, 29 October 2017
The fist signs started appearing about two weeks ago. From there, it just got worse. And within a couple of days, it all turned into a disaster: my usually very-fun-to-live-with boyfriend turned into a whiny mess of complaint and exaggeration. His diagnosis? Probable death in the next two hours. My analysis? Yep, you guessed right (and the title of this post kind of gave me away, too): a cold.
The pros and cons of living abroad
Sunday, 22 October 2017
There is studying abroad - a very fun and rewarding experience where you get to know a foreign culture and make tons of new friends - and then there is moving abroad for good, which is a whole other experience. I have done both, and while studying in France and the UK has altogether made for some amazing memories, moving to France and working here for the past three years has had many ups and downs that I did not anticipate.
1. You experience the foreign culture in a whole different way
When you study abroad for six month or a year, you're always a tourist in some way. Just knowing that you're only there for a limited amount of time makes you experience everything in a curious, positive way. You get to know new things, but you take them in as an outsider. When you actually live in a new country for a long time, you learn even more and actually get to be part of the culture. But this also means that you need to adapt. Because at some point, people stop looking at you like a visitor and expect you to act in a way that is normal to them. After three years, people at work expect me to master the French language just as well as anyone else - and look at me funny whenever I don't understand a word.
2. You will miss your own country, no matter how many advantages your new home has
No matter how great French cheese and wine is - I got over it after the first few months and have been craving German muesli and potato based meals ever since. This isn't limited to food though - even though French healthcare is so much cheaper than the German one, I still miss all the advantages I used to have when living in Germany (not paying your doctor in cash, for example). And the funny thing is - I know that I would feel the same way if I were to move back to Germany. I would definitely be missing not paying half of my salary for insurance!
3. Family and friends at home won't understand every aspect of your new life
Since German and French cultures are pretty similar, this mostly concerns little things, but they're still pretty noticeable. For example in France, there is a thing called PACS - a sort of marriage, but not as binding and much easier to end. So when Matt and I got PACSed almost two years ago, no one from home really understood what it was, while Matt's family got us gifts and took it very seriously (it was pretty weird to me - but who doesn't like gifts? ;) ).
4. At one point, you'll just start mixing every language you know
...or maybe you won't and that's just me. But ever since I moved to France, I speak French at work, Russian with my parents, German with my friends and watch Netflix or read books in English (because it's pretty difficult to get German books over here). I pretty much don't know any language anymore and Matt and I speak in a horrible mixture of all four. Which is mostly the reason why I'm writing my blog in English - somehow it has become my go-to language for anything not work related...
All in all, living abroad is a great experience, but you have to really want it in order for it to work. It does take some effort, and especially the first few months are truly not a walk in the park (getting a social security number took me 10 months and countless calls and appointments). When I moved to France to live with Matt, I did not at all expect it to be so different from studying here. It has its great moments, a lot of difficult parts, and I still really, really miss German Christmas markets. ;)
5 activities for rainy days
Sunday, 15 October 2017
As soon as we get to mid-September, the temperature starts cooling down and everyone becomes much more inclined to spend time inside rather than going out. Add rain into the mixture and you'll soon be looking for fun ways to spend a cosy day inside your house.
I'm not gonna lie, I love rainy days for cosy and chill activities with friends and family, and I wanted to share my favourite ones with you today.
I'm not gonna lie, I love rainy days for cosy and chill activities with friends and family, and I wanted to share my favourite ones with you today.
Outfit planning for busy days
Sunday, 8 October 2017
We probably all know these days where you have a thousand things to do and feel like you don't have time for anything. And the last thing you want to do is spend hours in front of your closet, wondering what to wear, because you really just want to keep on your pyjamas.
To be honest, this is basically me all the time. Thankfully, I have worked out a little routine when it comes to picking out my clothes in order to prevent minor break downs every single morning. And I would like to share it with you in this post:
Weird British things you need to keep in mind when travelling there
Sunday, 1 October 2017
The day I moved to the UK ended up being a minor catastrophy. All went well until I landed in London Heathrow airport and got on the bus to Oxford. Then, nothing worked for me anymore. No matter how hard I tried, I could not understand what the bus driver was saying to me. I tried cooking, but the stove just wouldn't get hot. My bathroom somehow had a European plug, but my toothbrush wouldn't fit it. And don't even get me started on how hard it was to find my way to and back from classes.
Most of it was just due to me being dumb, or having the worst orientation sense in the world. But some things could have been prevented if I had done my research properly. And that's my reason for making a list of all the things you should keep in mind when visiting the UK for the first time (or moving there, like I did):
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