*The Follow-Up Q&A Video is out now!* 😊ruclips.net/video/FwPSxq2CSS0/видео.html This video took me down memory lane! It's crazy that I've already lived here for over 6 years now... 😅 Do you have any follow-up questions? Let me know in the comments! 👇
So cool to hear other people’s stories. I went to the US as an exchange student in 2016 as well (but I was just 16 and did a Highschool exchange). I met my now husband there and went back and forth until I finally got my fiancé visa in 2019. Now I finally have my Green-card, and hearing you talk about all the paperwork/appointments really brought back all the dreadful memories of climbing over this endless mountain of papers. 😅😓 P.S. I’m from Berlin 🇩🇪 😊
Good to hear such a detailed recounting! I still think we (the US) got the better part of this deal! Thrilled to have you stateside, doing what you do. Hope Ben isn't too upset about the Bengals! Have a great week, Feli--another great video!
I enjoyed this confident free-spirited video. Not planning anything is the best way to live in my opinion. Leaving the comfort zone always opens doors, builds confidence, and leads to some of the most amazing adventures in life. I've hired many exchange students and helped them get their H1B, Green Card, and some have become US citizens. All of them have amazing stories that brought them to the US.
I saw the video of you introducing your boyfriend. You two all but devoured each other with your eyes. It was so heartening to see true love again blooming and beaming from the two of you. Hoch sollt ihr leben!
Thanks for the details Feli. I'm an American living in Tbilisi Georgia. I've been here 4 years now and I'll be doing a four year report soon, and your video gave me some new ideas of what kind of information to include.
Feli filled in the space I had left open in Ohio. I came from Columbus to Germany for my year after college; that was 1986. Now I have two sons and a daughter, all adults who grew up over here. And that developed for me more or less the way she tells her story -- it was the never the master plan, it's just that one thing leads to another. Moin aus Hamburg!
Hallo Feli, ich spiele schon seit Jahren mit dem Gedanken in die USA auszuwandern. Jetzt ist der Gedanke wieder sehr akut, ich bin über deine Videos zur Green Card Lotterie auf deinen Kanal aufmerksam geworden. Auch ich möchte es über die Lotterie versuchen, auch wenn das natürlich ein Glücksspiel ist. Ich bin immer so ambivalent bzgl USA, einerseits geht es einem in Deutschland sehr gut, in der Not wird man aufgefangen. Das hat man im dem Ausmaß drüben ja nicht. Ich habe wirklich Respekt vor dieser Umstellung, auch das Thema Gesundheitsversorgung. Andererseits will ich im Alter nicht sagen müssen "hättest du es mal probiert"... irgendwie habe ich schon immer im Gefühl gehabt, woanders leben zu wollen. Ich glaube, ich werde es dieses Jahr auch mal in der Lotterie versuchen. Ich habe ja nichts zu verlieren 😊
Feli, I get it when you say that your transition from Germany to the US was less part of a plan and more of something that just kind of "happened". I am much older than you and I have lived my entire life in just such a manner and I don't regret any part of it. If and/or when you should decide to move back to Germany, promise us that you will still produce and post these wonderful videos that are both entertaining and informative.
Ohhhh, I remember taking ETS tests when I was in college becoming a teacher. I once saw a young woman start going through a test before the proctor said we could begin and he took her test and said, "Buh-bye!" to her while she began to cry. A story I make sure I relate every year before state testing.
I too moved to the US when I was 22... and ended up in Cincinnati as well! Thanks for sharing your story. If you're ever in the mood to visit Cincinnati Museum Center, let me know and I'll hook you up!
Hi Feli, so fröhlich, wie du dieses Video präsentiert hast, scheint es, dass dein Bauchgefühl dich bisher immer gut beraten hat. Mach' so weiter, ich wünsche Dir alles Gute und freue mich auf deine kommenden Videos.
That's quite and interesting journey you've had! I appreciate your chipper attitude and your willingness to try new things. Not everyone does that and I think they miss out because of it. Thanks for sharing your story with us!
Cool story. I was an exchange student to Argentina in 1975. years later in 1995 I went to work there on a mining project because I'm a geologist. when I was in high school we had to choose a language and take two years of it we could choose from Spanish, German, Russian or French. I chose Spanish but I've always been interested in Germany because half my ancestors came from there and Holland. I traveled around Europe for a year after my first year of college. I spent some time in Germany around Berchtesgaden. I like the episode about movies with German speakers in them like Inglorious Basterds and different war movies. I always thought how difficult it would be to speak a new language without an accent. congratulations to Felicia. I wish her lots of luck. I think she has a bright future.
Does Feli speak without an accent in English? I'm not American and to me she sounds as if she has a fully American accent, I can barely hear a German accent. However, I can't hear the difference between Canadian and most American accents, so sure I'm missing something.
@@FelifromGermany I think your English is excellent. I've only heard you say a few things different from a native English speaker. Once you said "teached" instead of "taught" in the video about how you came to America and as part of your scholarship requirements you taught German at the college. I wish my Spanish was as good as your English. You're fun to listen to.
I played at 75% speed to relax and catch everything, with SO much info in 27 minutes! ❤ your grin and “Why not try it?” outlook. Best to you both as you look ahead while enjoying today.
Hallo Feli! Ich möchte nur mal Danke für die tollen Videos sagen! Ich komme aus der Nähe von Köln und höre Dich teilweise über Stunden auf der Arbeit und verstehe mittlerweile fast alles. Mach weiter so! Liebe Grüße! Achim Kretz
Another European (British, in his case) who appreciates Midwestern life is Laurence Brown, who moved to Indiana with his American wife whom he married in England. His channel, called Lost in the Pond, like your channel, discusses cultural differences between his former environment and his current one. In fact, both channels are what I call "expat channels" which are quite common on RUclips. I have to say that yours is one of the better ones, in content and production.
@@kenhenderson1762 Yup. He's recently done two videos about it: one to show viewers around the house, another to show quirky things about the house that he had never seen before.
Very interesting story. Sounds like you had a bit of luck the way things just kind of fell into place. I really enjoy your channel and when you & Josh do Understanding Train Station
Thank you so much for sharing your inspiring story 🥰 Speaking of sports: it must have been hard to experience the loss of the Bengals in the last year's Super Bowl and this year's AFC Championship Game 😢
I'm an American and have family married to foreign nationals (Mexico; Brazil; and Germany). All the spouses are fluent in English, but their accents have varied from none to very heavy. I know you've addressed the topic in a previous post, but I'm still left wondering if you had much of a German accent when you arrived in Cincinnati either as a student or as a German language teacher? Did you have a talent for English pronunciation as you learned the language, or did you make a conscious effort to lose all trace of your first language? Also, did you have the choice of learning English with the British pronunciation and word spellings vs. that of the U.S.?
As a Brazilian, speaking for the Brazilian spouse: most Brazilians have very poor access to good, quality English language education, so their accents tend to be heavy and weird. I constantly hope that mine is less weird than the Brazilian accents that I usually hear... So maybe the heavy accents are a consequence of socioeconomic status at home or overall availability of proper English language education in their home countries. (I feel that in the Brazilian case even affluent people have no idea what proper English language is and there is no incentive for English language education to rise to a higher standard in Brazil). I also once heard a hypothesis by a Brazilian friend with a very unnoticeable accent: the Brazilians with no accent are those who are ashamed of being Brazilian and who went out of their way to study English a lot, focusing on not sounding Brazilian.
@@COl-rn5th Some accents aren't great but most American men find a woman with a Brazillian accent to be desirable. I speak Spanish so I was shocked at how fast the language changed from Argentina to Brazil.
@@SharpAssKnittingNeedles Well of course. That's my point the whole continent except Brazil speaks Spanish but to go from a place I could get along well to going to Portuguese where I had no Idea. Although some of the words and grammar are similar.
Enjoyed the video, you do a great ad for Cincinatti! 😉 I fell in love with Germany when visiting my daughter who was studying abroad there. I'd totally move there in a heartbeat, so I was really interested to hear what made you want to stay here. I love that you're just trusting your gut and doing what brings you joy! Everybody does not have to love the same things or places, and there is no utopia, there will always be trade offs, though I still think western Germany around the Mosel is pretty close to perfect!❤
Really enjoy your stories..my grandfather & grandmother were both from Germany though I never knew much about it...I understand my grandfather came to the US to avoid being drafted by the Russians, so he was a draft dodger (good) not sure about my grandma... I'm from Cleveland, extremely north of Cincy, but there is a very large presence German presence here also...keep up these great cultural stories!
Feli, Super cool that American culture brought out a part of you that you like. Great to hear. Congrats on all the hard work. All the best in the future. Schau ma mal ! 🇺🇸🇩🇪 Also, great to hear a good word about the Midwest- it is what you make it! Tschüss!!
Nothing wrong with Cincy, (except skyline chili) i live in Illinois and the company i worked at had a plant in Cincy so i was there every once in awhile, nice city with a beautiful downtown and river front, i am actually thinking of going to watch my cardinals beat on the reds this summer and check out the ballpark. As far as living in the usa goes the midwest is not a bad choice there are good and bad things about every region, so live where you are happy and comfortable!
Wow. This was fascinating. I did a similar-but-different thing as a young-20s adult: moved to Berlin to study/work, with the goal of learning German as deeply as I could. I ended up staying for two years, teaching English mostly at the Volkshochschule. This was the longest of your videos that I’ve watched, I think, and I confess that while watching, I’m constantly distracted by the following: I simply cannot detect almost ANY trace of a German accent whatsoever, nor any Germanisms or non-idiomatic usages. The closest I heard in this one was an occasional “houssing” (hard S) for “housing”, but that was it. I have never heard anyone with so much American English fluency who didn’t in fact grow up in a bilingual family. So kudos.
I am a life time Cincinnatian partially because my Bavarian "Wemding" Grandfather came here when he was 18. He came through Ellis Island and had to have a sponsor and a job. He worked as a machine tool operator at the Cincinnati Milicron that was located off of Ridge Ave near the Target and Meier.
It's sad but true that many people suffer from upper East Coast snobbishness. They view New York and Los Angeles as the only important cities in the U S. All that stuff in the middle is merely "the flyover" [ the boring stuff you have to suffer through to get to the other sparkling, prestigious city on the other coast ] They willfully ignore the fact that there are many fancy cities with lots of good restaurants, prestigious cultural institutions , and populations of more than a million people. The U S does have towns that consist of 500 people and 500 farm animals but they are not that common.
Helped Me---- You have helped me some much in my ability to understand the mistakes we made when we visited Germany fifteen time over a period of five years. Our son married a Germany girl and they had three children while they were in Germany. Many American soldiers do marry German girls and it is a learning experience for the mans parents. Our son was in Schweinfurt for six years. Our son and his wife divorced about nine years later. This wife and three children moved back to Germany.
Great show. So many great memories studying in Frankfurt Germany, taking Pan Am Clipper across the Atlantic all the time, moving to LA to start a new life in my computer job. It was a great time, I did not even know how great back then :)
Would love to see/hear more of your media work in Germany when you were in college. Which begs the question: do you do any media work in German for Germans today?
One of my biggest regrets was not doing an exchange abroad when I was in high school. Of course I would have chosen (West) Germany. Yes, it was West Germany when I was in high school.
Glad you like Cincy. I lived there from 1970-77, graduated 1974 from UC-CCM with a B.M.E. Been living now since 1977 in Switzerland outside of Basel. Came to Basel for one year to study externally at the Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel, then got a job there, met my wife there and am now retired. Became Swiss in 2004. Greener pastures and all, gell?
I love your story! Both the US and certain places in Europe are like home for me in different ways because I grew up in the Netherlands (3-12yrs old) and Austria (12-19yrs old) but my family is American. My husband and I are thinking about moving to Germany but not certain how long or when that would happen.
2nd time viewer here from Buffalo , NY ( near Niagara Falls & Canada !) . Just subscribed. This British reaction channel brought me here. Waaay cool. Happy to have found you !! You maaay like 30 something , Chelsea Callahan’s videos here . Realistic NYC vlogger originally from Oregon. And . 30 sumthing , Vera, in the Netherlands at : Simple Happy Zen ! I’m not at all affiliated with them; just a tireless natural promoter of soul enriching stuff !! Love yer upbeat vibe ! Liz
Very genuine, open and honest! Very helpful advice that will be useful for so many people. Love your natural flow. Your story reminds me a bit of mine since my first Visa was a J1 almost 16 years ago straight from Morocco 😊 (Germany had denied my visa a few years earlier, but hey, we never know what life has in store for us).
Speaking of private universities in the US, thanks to generous donations (and tax exemptions) there are plenty of scholarships to qualify for. In MIT, a third of students don't pay tuition fees and the average debt of its bachelors at graduation is lower than national average. For Harvard it depends and the tuition fee calculator is available on their web site. Out of curiosity I entered my country as Canada and family income as $40K. My fee was around $5K so it depends on many factors. I can't deny there are issues. Tuition fees climbed about twice the rate of inflation.
Started watching your channel in may of 2020. I was starting to date a German girl at the time. We were having a lot of miscommunications in the beginning, so I had to google “dating German women” 😂.. long story short. It didn’t last. Our issue was going to be deciding which country to live in permanently. Traveling back and fourth not getting to be near your friends and family gets old after awhile… I’m glad it’s working out well with you and Ben though!! Best of luck with everything.
The big question for Feli: would you want become an American citizen since you’re already a permanent foreign national? Its the most awesome privilege in the world snd I became a US citizen when I turned 18 and I haven’t looked back.
@@tecumseh4095 you might not like the USA but facts are on the side of the person you commented on. The beautiful thing about USA is you can hate it all you want but it’s your freedom to do so and the safety nets are ridiculous for people coming here even more so than actual citizens! I wish more people thought like you and stop trying to illegally come here cause we have our own problems without taking in half of the world not including those who try to come illegally
I wanted to move to the us too when i was young, like 19-20 years old, and applyed for green card and everything, but now at age 36... Not interested anymore, the whole work life balance kind of sucks big time compared to germany and the high living cost... I prefer to stay in germany and visit the us as a tourist. Maybe Australia one day, where my sister lives, that seems to be kind of a middle thing between the us and europe :D
Are you still in regular contact with the family that hosted you when you first came over in high school, as well as your room mates and fellow alumni from your second visit?
If you move back to Germany, sounds like you can take the advantage of the pay leave they offer. And work life balance, I feel it’s better there. I am glad you like living in the US.
Most great US schools have huge amounts of financial aid. Harvard, Univ. of VA (my alma mater) and many other schools charge very little if your family makes under ~$100K. For example, after my dad lost his job, the Univ. of VA financial aid office gave me a special grant to cover the shortage. With a part-time job, I graduated in Computer Science/AI, owing just $1,300, which I paid off in 6 weeks.
Its definitely doable to pay through college with scholarships and grants. Scholarships you can get if your grades are good enough and you can get a lot of money from grants if you come from a poor family.
Your enthusiasm is great and inspiring. Your English is better than many born Americans 😄 I think some come here from European and other countries as the bureaucracy to set up and run a business is much easier. Less restrictive access to higher education (college/university). More flexible as to working/employment. In some parts of the USA (like your Cincy) one can afford to own a home. Less 'class' status issues.
I’m pretty good at guessing foreign languages and accents when I hear them - and I must say I can only BARELY pick up your original language is German and not American English! (But I could!) - Have you yet had the experience either here on or in Germany especially where they hear you speaking English and then you switch to German and they ask How did you learn to speak German so well? That happened with me with my brother once in a taxi where the cab driver asked that my brother, who has lived in Austria most of adult life after going there for a college year, how he learned to speak English so well!
Great video! You would be perfect for CNN or Deutsche Welle! I unfortunately didn't go to another country (France) as a student. The qualifications were not recognized in the 70th
When you get married you will need to learn to lead your heart, not follow it as your feelings will be and flow. By leading your heart you will stay committed to your husband and during hard times because we are not perfect leading your heart will be an active choice, sometimes on a day by day basis. All the best.
Very interesting to hear about your journey so far. After being stationed in Germany, I might have stayed there if I was on my own. But it would have been too difficult with a wife and two small children.
I’m not too big on Ohio but Midwesterners are very nice. Midwestern nice! While there is Southern hospitality, I think that Midwesterners are generally nicer. (I’m not from either place and there are nice people everywhere but there are more exceptions everywhere)
26:11 "Schau 'ma mal!" I learned something new again... 😏 Similar to my native tongue in Tagalog, "Bahala na", which means exactly the same. Just go with the flow, let's see.
I met my frau thirty six years ago at Venice Beach, CA. We married 2 and half months later and are still together. She loves the US, and CA in particular, for the personal freedom that it offers. Our kids are bilingual and have been back to Duisberg at least 16 times. They know their German side of the family better than the US. We both appreciate both.
Most of us who watch your videos know you first came and have been here "on and off since 2016". My question is how your English is so good. Do you attribute it to your study in Germany, immersion in the US or a combination of both? Your use of certain idioms are obviously experiential, but your syntax and sentence structure put you ahead of probably 80% of American, English speakers. 😆 If it weren't for the accent, you could "pass" as native born 24/7. Kudos! 👏
I did. I also moved from Stuttgart,Germany to the States when i was 22, in 1992 as a young Army wife, was married for 2 years with a 9 month old, our first duty station was in Washington State. My move was smooth, cause the Army took care of everything, the Green Card, the Move, the Housing....
In the USA, the undergraduate "JYA" (Junior Year Abroad) used to be popular at top-tier liberal arts institutions, though I have heard it has waned over the recent "America First" years. In my case, it was a year spent at an English university with suggested grades transmitted to my American college. With a close academic proximity, my Swiss-German partner did a summer internship at my American graduate school, though she was a research assistant and took no classes (after her Swiss licentiate she ended up with a complete paid scholarship and PhD from another American university). So the beginnings of these programs, to paraphrase Confucius, know not their endings.
Hello Feli, I’m so glad you decided to become a permanent resident of Cincinnati! America 🇺🇸 is the great country it is today by folks such as yourself who came as immigrants and visiting students to a new and unfamiliar land but they nevertheless found their way, made invaluable contributions to our society and enriched our culture! I have watched your channel and it is clear you are a hard worker, have an encyclopedic knowledge of both American and German Culture and embody what it means to a well rounded Individual and citizen of the world. You stepped out of your comfort zone and took a chance but it worked out so well for you beyond your wildest dreams! Both countries will always be a part you and you a part of them. God bless America! 🇺🇸 Long live Germany! 🇩🇪
![7 Things I Had Never Seen Before I Came to the US [Pt. 2] | Feli from Germany](/img/1.gif)
*The Follow-Up Q&A Video is out now!* 😊ruclips.net/video/FwPSxq2CSS0/видео.html
This video took me down memory lane! It's crazy that I've already lived here for over 6 years now... 😅 Do you have any follow-up questions? Let me know in the comments! 👇
Does America have more flavors of ice cream than Germany?
Have you tried them all?
Do you like Pastrami pizza?
Are you going to go to Super Nintendo Land (Universal Studios) when it opens?
If so, would you go to the one in Florida or the one in California?
Where did you learn to speak English so well? You speak better English than a good share of Americans.
@@cousinfester4621 . Ditto to that. Also, have you become a citizen yet?
Your story was well told. Now I understand why your channel is so good. Media is your life.
So cool to hear other people’s stories.
I went to the US as an exchange student in 2016 as well (but I was just 16 and did a Highschool exchange). I met my now husband there and went back and forth until I finally got my fiancé visa in 2019. Now I finally have my Green-card, and hearing you talk about all the paperwork/appointments really brought back all the dreadful memories of climbing over this endless mountain of papers. 😅😓
P.S. I’m from Berlin 🇩🇪 😊
Good to hear such a detailed recounting! I still think we (the US) got the better part of this deal! Thrilled to have you stateside, doing what you do. Hope Ben isn't too upset about the Bengals! Have a great week, Feli--another great video!
Bengals suck
I enjoyed this confident free-spirited video. Not planning anything is the best way to live in my opinion. Leaving the comfort zone always opens doors, builds confidence, and leads to some of the most amazing adventures in life. I've hired many exchange students and helped them get their H1B, Green Card, and some have become US citizens. All of them have amazing stories that brought them to the US.
10:43 only known picture in existence of Feli without that big smile on her face
I saw the video of you introducing your boyfriend. You two all but devoured each other with your eyes. It was so heartening to see true love again blooming and beaming from the two of you. Hoch sollt ihr leben!
Thanks for the details Feli. I'm an American living in Tbilisi Georgia. I've been here 4 years now and I'll be doing a four year report soon, and your video gave me some new ideas of what kind of information to include.
Feli filled in the space I had left open in Ohio. I came from Columbus to Germany for my year after college; that was 1986. Now I have two sons and a daughter, all adults who grew up over here. And that developed for me more or less the way she tells her story -- it was the never the master plan, it's just that one thing leads to another. Moin aus Hamburg!
Hallo Feli, ich spiele schon seit Jahren mit dem Gedanken in die USA auszuwandern. Jetzt ist der Gedanke wieder sehr akut, ich bin über deine Videos zur Green Card Lotterie auf deinen Kanal aufmerksam geworden.
Auch ich möchte es über die Lotterie versuchen, auch wenn das natürlich ein Glücksspiel ist. Ich bin immer so ambivalent bzgl USA, einerseits geht es einem in Deutschland sehr gut, in der Not wird man aufgefangen. Das hat man im dem Ausmaß drüben ja nicht. Ich habe wirklich Respekt vor dieser Umstellung, auch das Thema Gesundheitsversorgung. Andererseits will ich im Alter nicht sagen müssen "hättest du es mal probiert"... irgendwie habe ich schon immer im Gefühl gehabt, woanders leben zu wollen.
Ich glaube, ich werde es dieses Jahr auch mal in der Lotterie versuchen. Ich habe ja nichts zu verlieren 😊
Feli, I get it when you say that your transition from Germany to the US was less part of a plan and more of something that just kind of "happened". I am much older than you and I have lived my entire life in just such a manner and I don't regret any part of it. If and/or when you should decide to move back to Germany, promise us that you will still produce and post these wonderful videos that are both entertaining and informative.
Ohhhh, I remember taking ETS tests when I was in college becoming a teacher. I once saw a young woman start going through a test before the proctor said we could begin and he took her test and said, "Buh-bye!" to her while she began to cry. A story I make sure I relate every year before state testing.
I too moved to the US when I was 22... and ended up in Cincinnati as well! Thanks for sharing your story. If you're ever in the mood to visit Cincinnati Museum Center, let me know and I'll hook you up!
I think she's already hooked up.
@@omegamale7880 uhh 😏😆
Du machst mir so Hoffnung ich will nichts mehr als endlich mit meinem Freund aus Dayton,OH zusammen leben❤
Hi Feli, so fröhlich, wie du dieses Video präsentiert hast, scheint es, dass dein Bauchgefühl dich bisher immer gut beraten hat. Mach' so weiter, ich wünsche Dir alles Gute und freue mich auf deine kommenden Videos.
That's quite and interesting journey you've had! I appreciate your chipper attitude and your willingness to try new things. Not everyone does that and I think they miss out because of it. Thanks for sharing your story with us!
Her chipper, bubbly way is so not German though...
I wonder if she was like that before her American experience...
Cool story. I was an exchange student to Argentina in 1975. years later in 1995 I went to work there on a mining project because I'm a geologist. when I was in high school we had to choose a language and take two years of it we could choose from Spanish, German, Russian or French. I chose Spanish but I've always been interested in Germany because half my ancestors came from there and Holland. I traveled around Europe for a year after my first year of college. I spent some time in Germany around Berchtesgaden. I like the episode about movies with German speakers in them like Inglorious Basterds and different war movies. I always thought how difficult it would be to speak a new language without an accent. congratulations to Felicia. I wish her lots of luck. I think she has a bright future.
Does Feli speak without an accent in English? I'm not American and to me she sounds as if she has a fully American accent, I can barely hear a German accent. However, I can't hear the difference between Canadian and most American accents, so sure I'm missing something.
@@kooltom4 yes she sounds very American, but she says Chile in a very German accent!!!! So my ears can tell she's German. I speak German too .
Totally not arguing that I have a German accent but we say Chile very differently in German actually 😅
@@FelifromGermany I think your English is excellent. I've only heard you say a few things different from a native English speaker. Once you said "teached" instead of "taught" in the video about how you came to America and as part of your scholarship requirements you taught German at the college. I wish my Spanish was as good as your English. You're fun to listen to.
I played at 75% speed to relax and catch everything, with SO much info in 27 minutes! ❤ your grin and “Why not try it?” outlook. Best to you both as you look ahead while enjoying today.
Hallo Feli! Ich möchte nur mal Danke für die tollen Videos sagen! Ich komme aus der Nähe von Köln und höre Dich teilweise über Stunden auf der Arbeit und verstehe mittlerweile fast alles.
Mach weiter so! Liebe Grüße! Achim Kretz
Another European (British, in his case) who appreciates Midwestern life is Laurence Brown, who moved to Indiana with his American wife whom he married in England. His channel, called Lost in the Pond, like your channel, discusses cultural differences between his former environment and his current one. In fact, both channels are what I call "expat channels" which are quite common on RUclips. I have to say that yours is one of the better ones, in content and production.
Did you know that Laurence, like Feli, is now a homeowner?
I like his channel too. He is living in illinois i guess, chicago area.
@@kenhenderson1762 Yup. He's recently done two videos about it: one to show viewers around the house, another to show quirky things about the house that he had never seen before.
Very interesting story. Sounds like you had a bit of luck the way things just kind of fell into place. I really enjoy your channel and when you & Josh do Understanding Train Station
You are wise beyond your years!
Thank you so much for sharing your inspiring story 🥰
Speaking of sports: it must have been hard to experience the loss of the Bengals in the last year's Super Bowl and this year's AFC Championship Game 😢
I really enjoyed this story, reminds me of my study abroad days in Europe. Best time of my younger life
I'm an American and have family married to foreign nationals (Mexico; Brazil; and Germany).
All the spouses are fluent in English, but their accents have varied from none to very heavy.
I know you've addressed the topic in a previous post, but I'm still left wondering if you had much of a German accent when you arrived in Cincinnati either as a student or as a German language teacher?
Did you have a talent for English pronunciation as you learned the language, or did you make a conscious effort to lose all trace of your first language?
Also, did you have the choice of learning English with the British pronunciation and word spellings vs. that of the U.S.?
As a Brazilian, speaking for the Brazilian spouse: most Brazilians have very poor access to good, quality English language education, so their accents tend to be heavy and weird. I constantly hope that mine is less weird than the Brazilian accents that I usually hear...
So maybe the heavy accents are a consequence of socioeconomic status at home or overall availability of proper English language education in their home countries. (I feel that in the Brazilian case even affluent people have no idea what proper English language is and there is no incentive for English language education to rise to a higher standard in Brazil).
I also once heard a hypothesis by a Brazilian friend with a very unnoticeable accent: the Brazilians with no accent are those who are ashamed of being Brazilian and who went out of their way to study English a lot, focusing on not sounding Brazilian.
@@COl-rn5th Some accents aren't great but most American men find a woman with a Brazillian accent to be desirable. I speak Spanish so I was shocked at how fast the language changed from Argentina to Brazil.
@@anthonyfuqua6988 😬 the European language in Brazil is Portuguese not Spanish. That might have something to do with it
@@SharpAssKnittingNeedles Well of course. That's my point the whole continent except Brazil speaks Spanish but to go from a place I could get along well to going to Portuguese where I had no Idea. Although some of the words and grammar are similar.
Enjoyed the video, you do a great ad for Cincinatti! 😉 I fell in love with Germany when visiting my daughter who was studying abroad there. I'd totally move there in a heartbeat, so I was really interested to hear what made you want to stay here. I love that you're just trusting your gut and doing what brings you joy! Everybody does not have to love the same things or places, and there is no utopia, there will always be trade offs, though I still think western Germany around the Mosel is pretty close to perfect!❤
Really enjoy your stories..my grandfather & grandmother were both from Germany though I never knew much about it...I understand my grandfather came to the US to avoid being drafted by the Russians, so he was a draft dodger (good) not sure about my grandma... I'm from Cleveland, extremely north of Cincy, but there is a very large presence German presence here also...keep up these great cultural stories!
Feli…you’re always such a fresh breath of air. Thanks for elaborating on your experience. I can’t wait to randomly meet you somewhere.
Feli, Super cool that American culture brought out a part of you that you like. Great to hear. Congrats on all the hard work. All the best in the future. Schau ma mal ! 🇺🇸🇩🇪 Also, great to hear a good word about the Midwest- it is what you make it! Tschüss!!
Nothing wrong with Cincy, (except skyline chili) i live in Illinois and the company i worked at had a plant in Cincy so i was there every once in awhile, nice city with a beautiful downtown and river front, i am actually thinking of going to watch my cardinals beat on the reds this summer and check out the ballpark. As far as living in the usa goes the midwest is not a bad choice there are good and bad things about every region, so live where you are happy and comfortable!
I've really enjoyed watching many hours of Feli these last several days. Always wondering about her degrees. Finally got my answer in this one!
Wow. This was fascinating. I did a similar-but-different thing as a young-20s adult: moved to Berlin to study/work, with the goal of learning German as deeply as I could. I ended up staying for two years, teaching English mostly at the Volkshochschule.
This was the longest of your videos that I’ve watched, I think, and I confess that while watching, I’m constantly distracted by the following: I simply cannot detect almost ANY trace of a German accent whatsoever, nor any Germanisms or non-idiomatic usages. The closest I heard in this one was an occasional “houssing” (hard S) for “housing”, but that was it. I have never heard anyone with so much American English fluency who didn’t in fact grow up in a bilingual family. So kudos.
I did the same exact thing but moved from the USA to France.
This is wild because I think I'd like to move to Munich from Cincinnati
Thanks for describing your journey and why you like Cincinnati.
Thank you Feli for a pleasant, informative video
I am a life time Cincinnatian partially because my Bavarian "Wemding" Grandfather came here when he was 18. He came through Ellis Island and had to have a sponsor and a job. He worked as a machine tool operator at the Cincinnati Milicron that was located off of Ridge Ave near the Target and Meier.
It's sad but true that many people suffer from upper East Coast snobbishness. They view New York and Los Angeles as the only important cities in the U S. All that stuff in the middle is merely "the flyover" [ the boring stuff you have to suffer through to get to the other sparkling, prestigious city on the other coast ]
They willfully ignore the fact that there are many fancy cities with lots of good restaurants, prestigious cultural institutions , and populations of more than a million people.
The U S does have towns that consist of 500 people and 500 farm animals but they are not that common.
Helped Me---- You have helped me some much in my ability to understand the mistakes we made when we visited Germany fifteen time over a period of five years. Our son married a Germany girl and they had three children while they were in Germany. Many American soldiers do marry German girls and it is a learning experience for the mans parents. Our son was in Schweinfurt for six years. Our son and his wife divorced about nine years later. This wife and three children moved back to Germany.
What did you learn from her that helped you? What mistakes were made? Did your family accidentally run the daughter-in-law out of town?
Great video and history, Feli. I'm a year late watching it, but that's ok 👍 Really enjoyed it. Keep doing them 🍻
Amazing video, you always boost my energy and motivation
You English fluency never fails to amaze me - great vocabulary and no noticeable accent.
Interesting to hear your story and glad you enjoy your home in Cincinnati.
Great show. So many great memories studying in Frankfurt Germany, taking Pan Am Clipper across the Atlantic all the time, moving to LA to start a new life in my computer job. It was a great time, I did not even know how great back then :)
Would love to see/hear more of your media work in Germany when you were in college. Which begs the question: do you do any media work in German for Germans today?
One of my biggest regrets was not doing an exchange abroad when I was in high school. Of course I would have chosen (West) Germany. Yes, it was West Germany when I was in high school.
Nice to get a video just for this story, and very illuminating. 👍
Congratulations interesting story.
Glad you like Cincy. I lived there from 1970-77, graduated 1974 from UC-CCM with a B.M.E. Been living now since 1977 in Switzerland outside of Basel. Came to Basel for one year to study externally at the Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel, then got a job there, met my wife there and am now retired. Became Swiss in 2004. Greener pastures and all, gell?
I love your story! Both the US and certain places in Europe are like home for me in different ways because I grew up in the Netherlands (3-12yrs old) and Austria (12-19yrs old) but my family is American. My husband and I are thinking about moving to Germany but not certain how long or when that would happen.
Great video! It's been fun following you on your journey. I'm looking forward to many more stories about your American and German adventures.
Everything you experienced was meant for you since the beginning ❤
2nd time viewer here from Buffalo , NY ( near Niagara Falls & Canada !) . Just subscribed. This British reaction channel brought me here. Waaay cool. Happy to have found you !! You maaay like 30 something , Chelsea Callahan’s videos here . Realistic NYC vlogger originally from Oregon. And . 30 sumthing , Vera, in the Netherlands at : Simple Happy Zen ! I’m not at all affiliated with them; just a tireless natural promoter of soul enriching stuff !! Love yer upbeat vibe ! Liz
love it. All of your videos are so happy
Thanks!
Feli aus Deutschland, wir lieben dich!
Great video. I have watched your RUclips since 2019, but had forgotten a lot of your journey. Thank you.
Very genuine, open and honest! Very helpful advice that will be useful for so many people. Love your natural flow. Your story reminds me a bit of mine since my first Visa was a J1 almost 16 years ago straight from Morocco 😊 (Germany had denied my visa a few years earlier, but hey, we never know what life has in store for us).
Loved the old TV clip! Would love to see more of those.
Wow you got lucky with tuition. I bet you would be good in radio for sure. Ok young lady glad to have you in the states.
Speaking of private universities in the US, thanks to generous donations (and tax exemptions) there are plenty of scholarships to qualify for. In MIT, a third of students don't pay tuition fees and the average debt of its bachelors at graduation is lower than national average. For Harvard it depends and the tuition fee calculator is available on their web site. Out of curiosity I entered my country as Canada and family income as $40K. My fee was around $5K so it depends on many factors.
I can't deny there are issues. Tuition fees climbed about twice the rate of inflation.
Schöne Geschichte. Mir gefallen deinen Videos!
Started watching your channel in may of 2020. I was starting to date a German girl at the time. We were having a lot of miscommunications in the beginning, so I had to google “dating German women” 😂.. long story short. It didn’t last. Our issue was going to be deciding which country to live in permanently. Traveling back and fourth not getting to be near your friends and family gets old after awhile… I’m glad it’s working out well with you and Ben though!! Best of luck with everything.
The big question for Feli: would you want become an American citizen since you’re already a permanent foreign national? Its the most awesome privilege in the world snd I became a US citizen when I turned 18 and I haven’t looked back.
“It’s the most awesome privilege in the world” Is that an opinion or fact? If it’s a fact where can i get the data that shows that?
@@tecumseh4095 because the USA takes in over half of the worlds immigrants who will risk death just to come here. Does that help.
@@tecumseh4095 you might not like the USA but facts are on the side of the person you commented on. The beautiful thing about USA is you can hate it all you want but it’s your freedom to do so and the safety nets are ridiculous for people coming here even more so than actual citizens! I wish more people thought like you and stop trying to illegally come here cause we have our own problems without taking in half of the world not including those who try to come illegally
@@Jsodat What??? You are one brainwashed individual if you think that.
Such a wonderful story.
Good luck, may god bless and protect you beautiful dear
I wanted to move to the us too when i was young, like 19-20 years old, and applyed for green card and everything, but now at age 36... Not interested anymore, the whole work life balance kind of sucks big time compared to germany and the high living cost... I prefer to stay in germany and visit the us as a tourist.
Maybe Australia one day, where my sister lives, that seems to be kind of a middle thing between the us and europe :D
Have an amazing day and God bless you Feli.
Hello Feli If you want to go to my American alma mater, the first thing they ask you to do is take the TEFL
Test of English As A Foreign Language
Good for you 🙏 friend
Are you still in regular contact with the family that hosted you when you first came over in high school, as well as your room mates and fellow alumni from your second visit?
If you move back to Germany, sounds like you can take the advantage of the pay leave they offer. And work life balance, I feel it’s better there. I am glad you like living in the US.
Thanks for sharing! You would have been fun to meet in college.
Thanks for sharing your amazing story🙏
I want to live in Germany. Badin Badin. To work on genealogies and see the old countries.
Did you visit any of our National Parks? Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, etc?
Most great US schools have huge amounts of financial aid. Harvard, Univ. of VA (my alma mater) and many other schools charge very little if your family makes under ~$100K. For example, after my dad lost his job, the Univ. of VA financial aid office gave me a special grant to cover the shortage. With a part-time job, I graduated in Computer Science/AI, owing just $1,300, which I paid off in 6 weeks.
Its definitely doable to pay through college with scholarships and grants. Scholarships you can get if your grades are good enough and you can get a lot of money from grants if you come from a poor family.
Your enthusiasm is great and inspiring. Your English is better than many born Americans 😄 I think some come here from European and other countries as the bureaucracy to set up and run a business is much easier. Less restrictive access to higher education (college/university). More flexible as to working/employment. In some parts of the USA (like your Cincy) one can afford to own a home. Less 'class' status issues.
I’m pretty good at guessing foreign languages and accents when I hear them - and I must say I can only BARELY pick up your original language is German and not American English! (But I could!) - Have you yet had the experience either here on or in Germany especially where they hear you speaking English and then you switch to German and they ask How did you learn to speak German so well? That happened with me with my brother once in a taxi where the cab driver asked that my brother, who has lived in Austria most of adult life after going there for a college year, how he learned to speak English so well!
Cincinnati is underrated imo
I didn't care for it back when I visited around 2009 I think, but it has developed a lot since then.
Great video! You would be perfect for CNN or Deutsche Welle! I unfortunately didn't go to another country (France) as a student. The qualifications were not recognized in the 70th
You and Ben should come to Australia!
When you get married you will need to learn to lead your heart, not follow it as your feelings will be and flow. By leading your heart you will stay committed to your husband and during hard times because we are not perfect leading your heart will be an active choice, sometimes on a day by day basis. All the best.
Very interesting to hear about your journey so far. After being stationed in Germany, I might have stayed there if I was on my own. But it would have been too difficult with a wife and two small children.
Great story, well told.
I’m not too big on Ohio but Midwesterners are very nice. Midwestern nice! While there is Southern hospitality, I think that Midwesterners are generally nicer. (I’m not from either place and there are nice people everywhere but there are more exceptions everywhere)
26:11 "Schau 'ma mal!"
I learned something new again... 😏
Similar to my native tongue in Tagalog, "Bahala na", which means exactly the same. Just go with the flow, let's see.
I met my frau thirty six years ago at Venice Beach, CA. We married 2 and half months later and are still together. She loves the US, and CA in particular, for the personal freedom that it offers. Our kids are bilingual and have been back to Duisberg at least 16 times. They know their German side of the family better than the US. We both appreciate both.
I almost spit my coffee all over when you said "It's not like it's this S***hole...". I totally was not expecting that. That really made me laugh!
How do you speak English so well ??!! I’m amazed !❤
Ohio is a good state. The midwest is the best area to live in the USA. People are down to earth and geniune.
Excellent video..........now I know!
Most of us who watch your videos know you first came and have been here "on and off since 2016". My question is how your English is so good. Do you attribute it to your study in Germany, immersion in the US or a combination of both? Your use of certain idioms are obviously experiential, but your syntax and sentence structure put you ahead of probably 80% of American, English speakers. 😆 If it weren't for the accent, you could "pass" as native born 24/7. Kudos! 👏
Pondered this myself, and agreed.
I did. I also moved from Stuttgart,Germany to the States when i was 22, in 1992 as a young Army wife, was married for 2 years with a 9 month old, our first duty station was in Washington State. My move was smooth, cause the Army took care of everything, the Green Card, the Move, the Housing....
I was born and raised in the USA and so we’re my sisters
In the USA, the undergraduate "JYA" (Junior Year Abroad) used to be popular at top-tier liberal arts institutions, though I have heard it has waned over the recent "America First" years. In my case, it was a year spent at an English university with suggested grades transmitted to my American college. With a close academic proximity, my Swiss-German partner did a summer internship at my American graduate school, though she was a research assistant and took no classes (after her Swiss licentiate she ended up with a complete paid scholarship and PhD from another American university). So the beginnings of these programs, to paraphrase Confucius, know not their endings.
Hello Feli, I’m so glad you decided to become a permanent resident of Cincinnati! America 🇺🇸 is the great country it is today by folks such as yourself who came as immigrants and visiting students to a new and unfamiliar land but they nevertheless found their way, made invaluable contributions to our society and enriched our culture! I have watched your channel and it is clear you are a hard worker, have an encyclopedic knowledge of both American and German Culture and embody what it means to a well rounded Individual and citizen of the world. You stepped out of your comfort zone and took a chance but it worked out so well for you beyond your wildest dreams! Both countries will always be a part you and you a part of them. God bless America! 🇺🇸 Long live Germany! 🇩🇪
You are In a great city, welcome!
If America is brighter with your presence, Cincinnati must be aglow.
Thank you so much for your heartfelt support of the USA.