Running a family with 4 kids (and a cat) is big task, but moving with them to another continent, another language, another society is a heroic challenge and you did a fantastic job. Congratulations and all the best for you all and your journey ahead.
The best known German corn starch product is Mondamin, now called "Mondamin classic". You can find it in most of the grocery stores. Congratulation for your first year in Germany. You're doing really well, especially under Corona circumstances!
@@isabellabihy8631 - it never was. In fact, "Mondamin" was a god of native americans, a friend of the people who was killed by a crazy chief. Out of Mondamin's body the first corn plants grew and so Mondamin still is the friend of the people, giving them nutrition...
Mondamin Speisestärke (food starch) is made of corn, but highly overpriced. At rewe you can buy the store brand Speisestärke (corn starch) for half of the price. Nearly every Speisestärke (food starch) you can buy at the grocery store is made of corn. I have trouble to find potato starch
As always a great video! I always think, when watching your videos, that it is an honour for us Germans that you have chosen Germany where you want to live! Have a nice sunny Sonntag in Bayern 🙂
I'm British & have lived in Spain & France, but I was single. With no responsibilities apart from looking after myself, it was an exciting, fun time. I can't imagine doing it with 4 young children. I think you're both incredibly brave. I'm not been sarcastic or patronising, I'm simply full of admiration. You've given your children an incredible gift, though, a good knowledge of 2 languages & 2 homes. They now know that they can move anywhere in the world because they've seen their parents do it. You've also given them a safer life, no worries about dealing with school shootings. You've given them a freedom that's not seen in the US.
EIn kleiner Tip: corn starch= Maisstärke! Gibt es in jedem größeren Supermarkt! Ein Hersteller ist die Firma Ruf (stellt alle möglichen Backzutaten her!)
As DM is your favourite store you will find organic cornstarch there. It is their own brand and called dmBio Speisestärke. In your local supermarket you will find "Mondamin Feine Speisestärke" or "Maizena".
If you add everything up (household, looking after children, learning German, learning laws, learning bureaucracy, etc., Sara = taking care of the RUclips channel, Kevin = going to work, etc.), your day must have had at least 26 hours. I hope that you can get by with 24 hours from now on. 😉 (🇺🇸🇩🇪🇺🇦)
Love the way you put that, Michael! It’s true - I think we had 36 hours in every 24. And now, yes! We can relax a lot more. We feel much more comfortable here.
Thank you, Sara, for stating it clearly. You are immigrants, and you are expats. And neither is a bad word in my vocabulary. It has only been during recent years that there seemed to be a need to distinguish between immigrant and expat, as if either one was more positive than the other. For me, I welcome immigrants for many reasons. A question for Sara, if I may: did your residency permit issues get resolved by now? Basically, in Germany, you usually can stay home, no matter if kid or adult, for three days in a row before you need to show a doctor's slip. On the third day you should try to send a doctor's slip either to the HR or the school so they know when to expect the person back. Pure corn starch is a bit difficult to find in Germany. It is usually in a product called "Soßenbinder", a sauce binder. In most cases it is a modified starch, but often it is derived from potato starch instead of corn starch. Please check out if you can find "Mondamin Feine Speisestärke" in your supermarket in the powdered sauce aisle, or in the herbs and spices aisle. In that case you can be pretty certain that is corn starch. But usually the packaging size will be much much smaller than in the USA. Paying bills is much easier with an 'Einzugsermächtigung', a legal direct debit authorization from your Girokonto, your checking bank account. Obviously you have to trust the company enough to set up such a direct debit authorization. But with most large companies here in Germany such an authorization does not pose a risk. In that case the company deducts the correct billing amount from your bank account each month when it occurs, such as for your electricity bills. Another way to automate such transfers is with a Dauerüberweisung, a regular money transfer, another service your bank usually offers. If you have regular bills of the same amount to the same recipient, like your landlord, you can set up this regular money transfer to cover your rent automatically. Sure, you have to check your bank account regularly so you don't overspend, but that's what a Bankauszug, or a Kontoauszug, a bank or account statement is for. In most cases banks in Germany offer pretty secure online banking options with double security features before any kind of transfer or change is made to your account. I say 'pretty secure' because NO system is completely unhackable. But double safety and validation measures like an optical TAN generator PLUS an SMS to your personal phone validating your identity makes hacking highly unlikely. Even then, within 14 days ANY online transfer is legally refundable if done erroneously or under fraudulent pretenses. With online banking you can do most of your money transfers from home, at any time of the day, even on Sundays, if necessary. Kevin casually throwing in the comment of "measuring by mass rather than by volume" was the perfect dad-geek-engineer talking. Love it! That's pretty much the reason why most of the world uses that system. Volumes can generate quite different masses depending on the substance used, even in such simple instances as using different types of flour. This can result in wildly different end-products if not observed correctly. That explanation of fluid ounces to milliliters and pound-ounces to grams was another perfect reason. The possibility of using the wrong ounces is inherent for people unused to the Imperial system. Now that you mention it: yepp, Germany's postal service has mostly given up on separate post office buildings and have dropped their service points literally ANYWHERE they could find even a small spot. There are a few central post office buildings in large cities but they have become exceedingly rare. Most are such small service points in local supermarkets that deal with the everyday postal service. Heck, yes, get Sara insured under Kevin's German public insurance plan as soon as possible IF possible (assuming Kevin is insured with a German insurance company). That is going to save you soooo much money. A private health insurance plan in Germany is only for freelancers or for the very wealthy. You should earn at least 58050€ a year for that person to even consider a private health insurance plan. You should also have no pre-existing conditions. German private health insurance companies are at least as ridiculously overpriced as the US ones. But at least once you are insured you won't have to pay for anything at the point-of-service anymore. The only thing will be your 5-10€ co-pay for pharmaceutical prescription drugs in the Apotheke, the pharmacy. Taxes. Especially GERMAN taxes.... aaaaaarrgh... no, no, no... eeek, argh, ummf.... Doing TWO tax declarations... uuurgh, noooooo.... Nuff said.😁😁 Once Germans do get to know you from some repeat visits they ease up on the unspoken 'no-small-talk' rules. So it can happen that you will get all the newest juicy gossip from across the butcher's counter at your local supermarket, or hear about the newest village/Dorf development plans at your bakery. Heck, the gossip at playground visits among parents in a small village could probably fill whole parental self-help-books. But the larger the city, and the greater the 'unknown' percentage of people the more the no-small-talk comes into effect again. Thanks again that you decided to move here. You are such an enriching addition to Germany and to your subscribers. I do hope that you will continue having great experiences here. And hopefully, eventually, this pandemic will be over and you get to experience Germany without all of these restrictions. All the best for all of you.
Immigrants or Expats are official words for foreigners who wanna live and work in different countries on this planet Thats it I dont see any discussion necessary to complain about it. But its matter how local people say it or how they use it. Fertig
I'm so happy that you kept fighting for your Chance living in germany as you are do now. You are such a wonderful family and following you and your journey here in this country with all those weird things to explore ~ while everything for us is just sooo normal. 😅 I just try to imagine how hard this would have been if you moved to germany before the Internet era. 🤯
and even more so the days before airplanes and telephone, when emigration meant that all you woudl ever hear and see from your loved ones who stayed behind was letters at best.
While I've moved to 8+ countries internationally for work, I'm absolutely amazed that you managed this with 4 kids and a cat. Not only to a foreign country, but to a village in Bavaria. Good on you
This is so great🙏, that you integrated so well🥰 there are so many channels about ppl from the US moving to Germany, but I must say YOU ARE THE BEST AND MOST ENJOYING CHANNEL❤💯🫂 Schönen Sonntag an Euch🌞🌹🌻
I think you did a great job in cutting all the things that needed to be done to get settled here into manageable portions! You can really be proud of yourselves and your family, including the cat, of course 😀
Congratulations to your First year in GERMANY.....I think you have been very successful so far in respect to integrating in this country as a whole family!!! To move over here under Corona conditions was very courageous....and you did so great !! You are living in a beautiful house in a tiny village in Bavaria and made a lot of friends already.....that is awesome !! And despite hard times in between you kept your Humor and optimism.... .I really admire you for that.....and that you both as a couple supplement each other very well obviously........I really like following you.... .
I must say making friend when having children is easier as they have a lot of contacts to other people and through them you meet other parents. Many business people will ask you about the kids at least in small towns.
I wasn't sure to even mention it, but since you went through the various language variants of Prost, I thought I would: In Germany, many people actually don't say Prost when drinking wine, champagne, etc. Prost is seen as a bit "ordinary". Fine for beer and soft drinks, but with wine, people often try to be more "classy" and use "zum Wohl" instead of Prost. Of course Prost is fine too, but I just wanted to mention the subtle difference.
Try next time: "Nicht lang schnacken, Kopf in 'n Nacken" translate roughly to "Shut yourtrap, down the hatch!" You know like classy people who drink champagne. 🤭
Ich finde es immer wieder angenehm zu sehen und zu hören wie positiv und offen ihr an die Dinge des Lebens herangeht und wie bereit Ihr seid euch in eine neue Kultur einzufügen und neue Sachen auszuprobieren. Ich glaube ihr seid ganz liebenswerte Menschen mit offenem Herzen und Verstand. Schade dass ihr nicht meine Nachbarn seid :-) Wünsche euch weiterhin alles Gute und viel Glück.
I'm Low-German and I lived in Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Germany and now I live in Canada. I had to learn a new language every few years, but I took me about a year to learn a new language. now I can switch between 4 different languages and that "almost" without an accent. here in Canada, the Company I work at and the City Live in, there are so many German(s) and Russian(s) speaker. so it was much easier for me to integrate.... my Language skills not only helped me but we have many Ukrainian refugees, so the Company I work at asked me to translate for them. so just the knowledge of the German Language will help you a lot in life, but especially the Low-German language. I don't know if there is a country without a Low-German, especially Countries like Russia, Central Asia, Paraguay, Germany, Canada and even the US. when I came to Canada from Germany I just knew Yes and NO. so the best advice I can give you is to your Point #16 don't be afraid and talk to every day people. nobody is perfect but the willingness to learn new things and be Open-Minded will makes you perfect.
So funny! I could relate to all of this. I moved from Germany to Norway 13 years ago. Looking back I would say: one year in a new country is a very short time. 💗
Yes, Germans do make smalltalk. This is pretty much a difference between big city life and life in a village/rural area in Germany. In a small place you will know your neighbours and meet the same people every day. So it's common to say hello to everybody that you meet and even make some smalltalk with them. When places are bigger, than chances to see familiar faces every day is getting lower. People don't say hello to everyone they meet anymore and rarely meet someone that familar to actually make smalltalk every time. When visitors form abroad come to Germany, they usually end up in big places, cities, due to them offering tourist attractions or better employment chances. There they will meet less small-talky Germans, of course. But it is actually true, that Germans do have a higher threshold to start making smalltalk with someone "new", compared to Americans, who randomly start making smalltalk even with strangers.
Living in Cologne I can’t fully agree. In my part of the city it feels like a village, I know the people in our local bakery, the supermarket, some restaurants and the ice cream shop by name. We greet each other on the street as well and have some small talk when we have the time to do so.
That isn't small talk most Americans are talking about. Germans don't do small talk with complete and utter strangers. We talk with people who we will never see again.
@@jennyh4025 As in a little village, it needs several months or even years to get so familiar in the "Veedel" you live in, and a lot of city parts are very anonymous..
@@wolfgangsimons9183 in my part, it only took me a few months, maybe a year. In my hometown on the other hand… there was one part, where you wouldn’t have been accepted, unless at least your parents already grew up there.
Had to think of you yesterday when driving past the Traunstein/Siegsdorf exit on the A8 in a traffic jam. Nice that you have settled in well in Germany. Have a sunny, relaxed Sunday in South Bavaria☀️🌸🌸🌸
Proper post offices in smaller towns existed when it was a state company. Since privatization most of them closed and other businesses do it on the side. Even larger cities often don't have a dedicated post office unless it's a node in the shipping/sorting infrastructure.
The first year is always the hardest to get settled in a different country. I moved from Germany to the USA, but without a family, which is much easier. Now I live 65 years in the USA and trying not to forget the German language.
Hi 👋 from Knoxville again. So fun and inspirational to watch you all during this last year. I have learned so much about Germany in such delightful ways. Looking forward to more adventures! Thanks!
I have been watching your journey for a little over a year now and I always look forward to Sunday mornings with a new video from you guys. When I moved abroad to the US I was 25 with no husband or kids and it was clear from the beginning that it would be for only a set amount of time. Still, it was full of challenges. Kudos to you for doing all that with a whole family. I am amazed when I see and hear about people moving here and how they view my home country. Somehow I always think noone knows about Germany, wants to live here or even speak the language. It's so much fun seeing people like you falling in love with our beautiful country. Congratulations on your first year here and to many more!
We like doing these videos to show Americans there are other great countries out there to consider! And we’re so glad to hear our videos are part of our Sunday morning routine. 😍 Thank you for your support and kindness!
Just a quick side note: the video's sound seems to be a bit off 😅 At least at my end. Otherwise great video as always! Thank you for your insights and experiences - it's always fascinating to get another perspective =)
Yeah it was messed up - I worked for hours to try and fix it! I had the microphone settings all wrong! I got a new camera and new microphones and it took some getting used to. In the next video it’s fixed.
Es freut mich so sehr zu sehen, dass eine Amerikanische Familie den Mut hat, ihr eigenes Land zu verlassen, nen neue Sprache zu lernen, ein neues Leben zu bauen! Wie seltsam, aber wie schön!
Ihr habt meinen größten Respekt für eure Mühen, ich weiß wie kompliziert es unser Land Neuankömmlingen macht.😉 Ich hoffe, dass ihr hier eine tolle Zeit habt
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife You will probably laugh at me when I say this but you will not be the first. In California I am a Driver a messenger for 27 years now. And driving all these years you get board in the car where listening to music just doesn't cut it any more. So what do I do. I started making myself laugh silly to funny things that happend in my laugh to a point where people from other cars start looking at me like this guy is alone in the car and who is he laughing with. And now the catcher. I extend my hand to the radio knob and that is when people from other cars realise well daaaa he is listening to the radio and something funny is being said. While all along I wasn't listening to a radio.😂 Sooo ya I do know a thing or two about Sence of Humor myself.
As always I enjoyed this video 😃. As I've said before I love Saras fun and bubbly personality, she so compliment Kevin's more serious personality. Your "team" is fantastisk 😃. Hope you'll consider living permanently in Germany/Europe. It's more fun living here, in my opinion.
My respect for what you have achieved! I can only imagine it because I haven't experienced it myself. What I particularly liked about your lists was that you mentioned that the Germans are able to have small talk! Thank you! Just like you, I live in a small village (Dorf) and don't know it any differently. We say sorry if we want to pass someone, say hello, ask how things are going and so on. After all the RUclipsrs who claim the opposite, it is very gratifying to hear that there is another way. All the best. I look forward to a new video from you every Sunday morning.
Precisely, many people might not understand difficulties regarding the simple things like, finding where to go for shopping/products, hairdresser, dentist and so on. Simple everyday things that you take for granted. Good vlog, thank you.
Germany without "Wertstoff-Hof" ? Unthinkable 🤣🤣🤣 ! I don`t remember, what we did before we got a "Wertstoff-Hof". In the past 30 years, I spent a lot of hours (and days 🤔😄?) at the "Wertstoff-Hof" and had some interesting conversations about sorting and separating our trash and garbage. God bless the "Wertstoff-Hof" 👍 !
Post offices were largely removed in the 90s already. I really misse the ones run by Deutsche Post themselves. They got rid of the costs and transformed / outsourced them to private agents.
i worked in a petfood store in Sondernheim in the 90s. We also had the local post office. Stamps, shipping stuff, etc. all while selling sows ears as chew toys. :)
Wow what a great summary of your life and times in Germany so far! So much to do and figure out! And...during Covid! You made it! Best of luck for another successful year! We'll be here to watch and cheer you on!
Here in Austria corn starch is called „Maizena“- or maisstärke. It might be the same where you are! I loved this video. Very relatable, honest content. You can truly be proud of all that you accomplished. And I agree the fact that you have so many friends is surely the most impressive feat! ❤️
Sara, did you know that there is a "voluntary" tier of the mandatory health care system? You get the exact same benefits as in the mandatory tier for employees, but you have to pay the 14.6% of your income all by yourself whereas employees have to pay only half of the 14.6% and the employer pays the other half. You qualify as you a) never lived in Germany and were never subject of the mandatory tier of health care and b) you are self-employed and are still not subject of the mandatory tier. I would highly recommend you asking any of the statutory health care providers about the "voluntary" health care plan ("Freiwillige Krankenversicherung")!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Many Germans do not know this, and the clerks at the statutory health insurance companies might also reject your application at first, since it is a relatively rarely used option to insure yourself, which is why you should explicitly ask about the voluntary level.
The problem is that she is now somehow stuck with the private insurance and it is very difficult to go back to the mandatory health insurance. Pity nobody told her in the beginning that she can chose mandatory health insurance voluntarily. She can only go back when she starts to be an employee and gives up on her business or does her business only as a side business (certain requierements on what counts as side-business ). It's a complex thing but her tax adviser should be able to explain it to her. But I am afraid as long as she doesn't want to change something in her work life there is no chance for voluntarily mandatory health insurance for now.
The ‚easiest‘ way to get into the state health insurance system at this stage would be to find a job, take it, get the health insurance and quit again. Literally, if you find a friend who owns a company and is willing to do you the favour and all the paperwork to employ you for one day, you are good. But it is worth talking to your tax advisor and a Krankenkasse first, which part of your income would form the basis for your voluntary membership sndbhow much you would pay. In my experience, the health insurance who has the most experience with families moving from the US - with a dedicated team - is Pronova BKK. TK is also good if you speak to the right people. Good luck!
@@chrissiesbuchcocktail They did try, I think. It had something to do with the duration of her Aufenthaltsgenehmigung. Also, I‘m not sure, if the gesetzliche Krankenkasse is actually the best option for free lancers. Financially the best option would be to get a part time job for around 15 h. She would get public health insurance for a low price. The freelancing would be covered by the insurance as long as you spend less time on it than the part time job. (I‘ve done this model myself). It doesn‘t matter what job pays more.
20:40 The "Germans don't do smalltalk" is because when germans talk to someone it's not just to be polite but it's because they want to talk to you. (Same goes for Austrians, even more for the people living in Vienna)
You are the best family on youtube I ever see 👍🏻 Thumps up, great content. I wish you best luck here in germany, a lot of fun and all the best also for your kids 😚. I‘m happy to see more videos in the future 😇
It's so nice to see how well your first year has been, even under Covid restrictions. Hope for several more years to come! My whole sunday routine relies on that!;)
Cornstarch = "Maisstärke" look at the grocery at the flour shelves for packages labeled either "Maizena" or "Mondamin" those 2 branches provide "cornstarch/Maisstärke" and every grocery should have either the one or the other. And "please" don´t buy Spätzle....make it yourself the dough is done within few minutes and believe me when I say the difference in taste and texture is crucial in comparision to "bought ones"...all you need is flour, water or milk (try both out and then choose which one you like more = I personally prefer milk) and egg a bit salt and pepper - you´ll find uncountable Spätzle videos on YT and you will see how easy and quick those are done/variations with additional adding herbs to the dough like chives or parsley or even spinach are then next level Spätzle.
Watching a video of yours has become a morning ritual for me these days :) I grew up in India (18 years), then lived in California (18 years), moved back to India where I've felt like a total foreigner, and am now moving to Germany in a couple of months ... so your videos have been very helpful, as I anticipate facing very similar challenges to yours (except those involving kids).
Thank you for sharing your gains and struggles. After almost four years here, I can laugh at my beginning struggles 😅. In Wildemann our Post is in the tourist center. The trash is still an issue for Mike and me. We purchased our home in 2020 and agreed to allow the previous owner to leave all of her belongings since she was going into care. We are still trying to sort through items in the basement, the attic, and the workshop. It has been crazy. I am determined this summer to have everything sorted and sent to recycling. Looking back, I am fortunate that my husband is German and knew what to do when we moved from Oklahoma. I am so thankful that I didn't have to go to driving school. I would have been a hot mess. Driving is not difficult, but I have read some stories of bad experiences with driving instructors here in Germany. I still get my hair products from Amazon since I use Paul Mitchell products. I think half the fun of exploring a new culture is discovering new products. DM and Rossman are my favorites. I have joined a few expat groups. Speaking German is getting easier for me. I too, had to just go for it and practice. Thank you for sharing your journey. If you happen to visit the Upper Harz, perhaps we can meet for coffee in Goslar.
Toll, dass das alles geklappt hat. Ich wünsche Euch noch ganz viel Spaß in der nun nicht mehr so neuen Umgebung. Es ist schön, dass es Euch trotz des ganzen Streßes gefällt.
You really have no idea what it means to us Germans that you chose our country and be so happy here. Our country has always been treated very negletfully and therfore it is such a pleasure to have you here in Germany and on RUclips. ❤
Ich freue mich, dass es euch gut geht. Ein Jahr vergeht so schnell und ihr habt viel erlebt. Durch meine Arbeit hatte ich mit ausländischen Mitbürgern zu tun. Das war für mich mit viel Freude verbunden, wenn ich merkte, dass sie sich bei uns sicher fühlten. Gerade in dieser augenblicklichen Situation ist es wichtig, dass jeder ein zu Hause findet und gute Menschen um sich hat.
Ihr seid eine wunderbare Familie und ich wünschte Euch eine gute Zeit in Deutschland. Ich hatte eine wunderschöne Zeit in England / Essex als Austausch Schüler,ist aber schon 55 Jahre her.
Ja.. the school , the kindergarten, the birocracy, the paperwork.., the new recipes, the school gears ( i was from asean country..😅😅) ...same here -i cannot find the corn starch tooo . Listening to your video - make me feels i am not alone facing all this stuffs moving with family of 6 to germany. Thanks so much.
Awwww! That video was both interesting and somehow the two of you are so lovely in the video (alcohol helps maybe 😂). I am glad you guys are settled here and enjoy the experience.
You guys are sooooooo adorable.... 😍😍😍 The fire and spark between you both is beautiful and breathtaking.. I enjoyed every moment of this video.. And I started with a short.. Now I subscribed.. Beautiful
Ihr habt in eurem ersten Jahr gelernt...*wie der Hase läuft*! The next years in Germany 4 u should be very relaxing! Great family...luv ur vids...carry on!
Hallo! "Gasthof Alte Post": I am pretty sure, that this is NOT an old Post Office, but a former Post Station. A Stop for the "Postkutsche" (Stage coach). You may still find stables for the horses, which were switched there. And it was an inn and boardinghouse as well. You will find Restaurants with the name "Post", "Poste" (France) or similar in all Europe.
in Germany you do find lots of small talk in the villages, but its very rare in bigger towns or cities. Do people greet each other on the street in your place? I loved it so much moving from a town to a village in Bavaria and all people saying "Hello" to me. And my feeling is that this is also a lot more sincere small talk than in the US
Yes! Everyone says “morgen” or “servus” when they pass you on the streets. I love that - it helped so much at the beginning when we knew no one. I’d see the same people and it helped us to not feel so alone.
Can empathise with so much of this. But here's a take on the cooking and baking angle from 06:24 🤣I really had to laugh at the engineer dotting the I's and crossing the T's about converting ounces for cooking. Not mockingly (because I've worked with engineers from all over the world for decades) but in sympathy with you both. I grew up with both the UK imperial system (not the US customary units) and the metric system (because my mother was French and we used the metric system at school from the mid 1960s in science). While ounces as mass units can be converted to grams, yes, volumetric fluid ounces are a minefield. Brits have different fluid ounce sizes to USians, so fl.oz., gills, half-pints, pints, quarts and gallons are not the same on either side of the pond. When my sister used to live in the USA back in the 1980s and send me recipes, I always had to convert them either to UK imperial or to metric measures. None of that seemed to work. Even after she sent me a set of US measuring cups and spoons, I only ever use them for US recipes from US cookbooks or websites as they don't correspond to any other measures. My French mother had trouble enough converting French recipes to UK measurements. Since the 1980s I've lived in Germany and Spain and have collected cookbooks from everywhere I've been (US included). A cup is not a cup is not a cup - size matters. And a teaspoon and a tablespoon are not the same size in different countries or even within the same country - oh no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no. And just wait until you get to the extremely precise measurements of a "pinch" or a Messerspitze (knife point) of anything. It all works according to Augenmaß (eye measure), Milchmädchenrechnung (milkmaid reckoning, based how much milk your cows were producing and roughly how much milk, cream, whey or cheese you could get out of that), Pi mal Daumen (pi times the length of your thumb) or having "le compas dans l'oeil" in French (a pair of [mathematical] compasses in your eye, i.e. good spatial estimation capabilities). All of which amounts to "rough and ready" or being reasonably good at guessimating weights and measures and their outcome or product which will work for whatever you want to do that doesn't require meticulous accuracy. Any cook moving to another country knows that the first batch of a familiar dish made in another country with different ingredients and approximate weights and measures is going to be either a disaster or an unexpected new culinary adventure. The ingredients will never taste the same or have the same texture because they were produced in different soils in different climates at different latitudes and altitudes under different sanitary and phytosanitary regulations. So your only option for cooking is to get creative....
one thing about the car dealership and follow up repairs /maintainace. If you bought your car from a offical VW dealer, it will charge you lots of money when it comes to repairs or maintainance.. a small "freie Werkstatt" a indipendent garage will mostly be way cheaper. Always ask for a "kostenvoranschlag" (estimate costs/quotation) when you need something fixed.
So you dear McFall family are the most adorable thing I've seen on social media in a long time. You are there with so much heart, passion and urge to discover that it is a real pleasure. It's nice that you're getting used to it more and better and that you're enjoying the time. If you really want to live in another country, one year should be the minimum and then you get a general idea of how things are going. I wish you a nice holiday, relax well, best regards. Cheers and all the best, hopefully many more years to come with us in Germany, Austria and Europe. 🍾🥂🥂🍻🍻🎂🐞🍀 Amazing to hear that you make difference experience with Germans at a store or somewhere else. And of nobody likes taxes.🤪
Hey Robert! Thank you so much. Your support this past year has been wonderful! We do appreciate your very kind and thoughtful comments. You’ve made us feel so much more welcome.
Hi Sarah and family new subscriber here, and love to have you guys here in Germany you will love it more, it’s difficult at the beginning but years later you will love it.
It is often ridiculous when you hear a special kind of Americans badmouthing European countries and complaining about the supposed "astronomical taxes", when it is in fact the US tax system that causes this problem. Also when you take a look at the additional costs Americans consider "taxes" like social security insurances (healthcare, retirement funds etc) or insurances in general ... the costs in the US are massive compared to Europe, even without deductibles, co-pays and OOP. But as long as it is not the government they pay it seems ok tho pay more to get some corporate executives a high bonus. would nice if you do a video comparing insurance costs 😉
And isn't it interesting that in Germany the government sees absolutely zero cents from our insurance money? It is always paid into a fund pot for all public insurances that the government has absolutely no access to. So in essence, nope, that is not a tax, but an insurance fee. Only in the case of unemployed will the government pay INTO the insurance pot, but can't take anything OUT of the insurance fund. Funny, ain't it?
Yes you’re exactly right! The cost of living is much higher in the US, especially when it comes to food and healthcare - two very basic and important things. And what Americans get with their tax money is a LOT less valuable than what Germans get with their tax money.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Btw ... are you still searching for Corn Starch ? in German it's called "Maisstärke". I checked my EDEKA today, they have several options available incl. one of their "gut & günstig" house brand for 0.59€
You can use „Mondamin (hell oder dunkel)“ or „Speisestärke“ for cornstarch. Mondamin offers „helles or dunkel“ (light or dark). For a roast you need the dark (dunkel) Mondamin. For vegetables sauce like a Béchamel you use the „helles Mondamin“.
congrats on your first year - you've done extremely well. the last time we moved abroad, to the US, the only thing we knew after a year was that we want to move back to Europe as soon as possible.
That was a really good summary of these obstacles and issues for (US) foreigners to know before moving here. Yes, dealing with German Behörden and Steuern is a special task, but for Germans too 😅. I saw your kids playing in that small river, here is my advice since our kids used to play in these kind of small rivers near Pfronten and Füssen as well: get info beforehand whether there is a floodgate ( Schleuse) nearby. Sometimes they open them up without warning and suddenly the small river gets flooded.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife yes, it was also a little worrying for me as soon as I knew it. But it's better to know.. And I meant Halblech, not Pfronten 🤦♀️
That small river is either the "rote Traun" or the "weiße Traun" - and as far as I know none of them has floodgates in that area. I've spend numerous vacations for hiking in Inzell, a neighboring village.
I understand you very much about the post office. During my first holidays in the USA (1991) with some friends, we searched for a post office, until we located a building with the big letters on it: POST. So I took all our postcards and entered the building. I expected to look different to a German post office, but not so different. I was looking around and watched the people inside for quite a while. Then I started laughing out loud about my mistake. I was still laughing when I reached our car and my friends. The building I entered was a local newspaper. I still smile when I think about that.
Lidl started carrying vanilla extract recently - pretty small little plastic bottles. If you need brown sugar - korean stores tend to carry it Mondamin is corn starch as a branded version, which is pretty cheap
I watched a video for making brown sugar. I haven't tried it yet. Light brown sugar One cup of regular white sugar and 1tablespoon of molasses. Mix until incorporated. Dark brown sugar One cup of regular sugar and 2 tablespoons of molasses. Mix until incorporated.
Das Beste ist der Aufbau der IKEA Möbel. :-) Das Problem kennt jeder hier. Ich habe für den Zusammenbau eines IKEA Doppelbettes fürs Gästezimmer inclusive Lattenroste fünf lange Stunden gebraucht. Meiner Frau hatte ich angekündigt, dass ich höchstens eine Stunde dazu brauche. Aber die Beschreibung um das Bett aufzubauen, ist etwas sagen wir spartanisch und ausserdem fehlten einigen Schrauben. Das mache ich nicht mehr. Ich fahre nach Rosenheim zum WEKO, nur als Beispiel, und lasse mir die Möbel dann zuhause vom WEKO Schreiner zusammen bauen. Das kostet zwar etwas, aber es spart Nerven, Zeit und das Möbelstück steht gerade und passt.
Apropos : "Cornstarch" , wenn Ihr Laden "Maizena" oder "Mondamin" führt, dann ist das Maisstärke, ansonsten kann man es natürlich auch bei Amazon bestellen :) Sie können sich gar nicht vorstellen wie verrückt ich im Ausland auf Schwarzbrot und Mettwürstchen war, und wie ich Tempotaschentücher vermisst habe, Kleenex ist einfach nicht dasselbe. Apropos : "Kippfenster" I just watched you opening the window "auf Kipp" , do you know that that is a death trap for cats, when they try to exit via it? They fall into the V , get stuck, and crush their kidneys.
LOL, the post office, yeah...... I am old enough to remember the times when a post office was a REAL one. With the yellow post horn sign on the outside and doing nothing but post stuff and post banking. Then, one day, they started to save money by outsourcing their services to shop owners and nowadays even me as a German have sometimes problems to find one when I am in a foreign town or city. :) And yes, you can truly be proud, you indeed did an awesome good job!
45 years ago I went to England. I was alone. We had no google or I-phone. My English was not existing. And I had only one friend, who had to work in a different company. I think, I can understand, what you are through. But today, when I am going to England, its like comming home. And the whole experience was absolutely life changing. I didn`t lose my country by leaving. I won a new country. Like you. This will change your life and the life of your children in a better way forever. All the best!
Oh I love your comment so much! You didn’t lose your country, you gained another one. That’s the thing about true love - it doesn’t exclude you from loving other things. You just expand your heart even more. Living abroad is so powerful - the empathy and compassion it teaches us can make the world a better place!!
Sara, if you love essential oils, you'll also adore "Primavera" products. Maybe they have already been recommended to you, but if not, maybe you'd like to check them out😁
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I guess, you were/are buying from a person advocating Young Living. Switching to a German company, like Primavera (there are others, too), you will not buy them from a person, but you might find them in your DM. That's important for two reasons: Companies like Young Living put a lot of labels and certificats on their stuff which are not recognized by any institute and are therfore basically meaningless. The other reason is that a lot of the sellers will exaggerate the health benefits of their products. Young living has been sued for that before, so the company officially does not condone these claims anymore, but will still train the sellers to claim health benefits in private. This way of selling product with health claims is highly illegal in Germany, as we have very high standards for medicine and scientific studies have not shown any benefit beyond the placebo effect. Please stay safe
Running a family with 4 kids (and a cat) is big task, but moving with them to another continent, another language, another society is a heroic challenge and you did a fantastic job. Congratulations and all the best for you all and your journey ahead.
Thank you so very much! 💕
and a Hamster
Moving in the middle of a plague…
Yes to this! (Also a shout out to the hamster 🐹) 🥰
YOU OPEN CHRISTMAS PRESENTS AT CHRISTMAS EVE,IN GERMANY ,YOU GUYS DOING GREAT🎄🇩🇪🇺🇸👍
Ich könnte euch stundenlang zuhören. Ihr seid eine tolle und bewundernswerte Familie. Respekt für alles was ihr bis jetzt gemeistert habt.
Vielen dank! 💕
Diese Familie ist eine Bereicherung fuer Deutschland.mehr davon bitte.
The best known German corn starch product is Mondamin, now called "Mondamin classic". You can find it in most of the grocery stores. Congratulation for your first year in Germany. You're doing really well, especially under Corona circumstances!
And where you don't find "Mondamin", you'll find "Maizena".
Thank you SO much - I've been ordering Maizena via Amazon all this time!
To my knowledge Mondamin is potato starch.
@@isabellabihy8631 - it never was. In fact, "Mondamin" was a god of native americans, a friend of the people who was killed by a crazy chief. Out of Mondamin's body the first corn plants grew and so Mondamin still is the friend of the people, giving them nutrition...
Mondamin Speisestärke (food starch) is made of corn, but highly overpriced. At rewe you can buy the store brand Speisestärke (corn starch) for half of the price. Nearly every Speisestärke (food starch) you can buy at the grocery store is made of corn. I have trouble to find potato starch
As always a great video! I always think, when watching your videos, that it is an honour for us Germans that you have chosen Germany where you want to live! Have a nice sunny Sonntag in Bayern 🙂
Hi Peter! Thanks so much. We are so happy we chose Germany, too!
I'm British & have lived in Spain & France, but I was single. With no responsibilities apart from looking after myself, it was an exciting, fun time. I can't imagine doing it with 4 young children. I think you're both incredibly brave. I'm not been sarcastic or patronising, I'm simply full of admiration. You've given your children an incredible gift, though, a good knowledge of 2 languages & 2 homes. They now know that they can move anywhere in the world because they've seen their parents do it. You've also given them a safer life, no worries about dealing with school shootings. You've given them a freedom that's not seen in the US.
EIn kleiner Tip: corn starch= Maisstärke! Gibt es in jedem größeren Supermarkt! Ein Hersteller ist die Firma Ruf (stellt alle möglichen Backzutaten her!)
As DM is your favourite store you will find organic cornstarch there. It is their own brand and called dmBio Speisestärke. In your local supermarket you will find "Mondamin Feine Speisestärke" or "Maizena".
Hi 👋 Charlotte, how are you?
If you add everything up (household, looking after children, learning German, learning laws, learning bureaucracy, etc., Sara = taking care of the RUclips channel, Kevin = going to work, etc.), your day must have had at least 26 hours.
I hope that you can get by with 24 hours from now on. 😉 (🇺🇸🇩🇪🇺🇦)
Love the way you put that, Michael! It’s true - I think we had 36 hours in every 24. And now, yes! We can relax a lot more. We feel much more comfortable here.
I could listen to / watch you talking for hours.
Thanks again for this one. I appreciate the hours of effort that go into this.
Thank you so much! 💕
Thank you, Sara, for stating it clearly. You are immigrants, and you are expats. And neither is a bad word in my vocabulary.
It has only been during recent years that there seemed to be a need to distinguish between immigrant and expat, as if either one was more positive than the other.
For me, I welcome immigrants for many reasons.
A question for Sara, if I may: did your residency permit issues get resolved by now?
Basically, in Germany, you usually can stay home, no matter if kid or adult, for three days in a row before you need to show a doctor's slip. On the third day you should try to send a doctor's slip either to the HR or the school so they know when to expect the person back.
Pure corn starch is a bit difficult to find in Germany. It is usually in a product called "Soßenbinder", a sauce binder. In most cases it is a modified starch, but often it is derived from potato starch instead of corn starch. Please check out if you can find "Mondamin Feine Speisestärke" in your supermarket in the powdered sauce aisle, or in the herbs and spices aisle. In that case you can be pretty certain that is corn starch. But usually the packaging size will be much much smaller than in the USA.
Paying bills is much easier with an 'Einzugsermächtigung', a legal direct debit authorization from your Girokonto, your checking bank account. Obviously you have to trust the company enough to set up such a direct debit authorization. But with most large companies here in Germany such an authorization does not pose a risk. In that case the company deducts the correct billing amount from your bank account each month when it occurs, such as for your electricity bills.
Another way to automate such transfers is with a Dauerüberweisung, a regular money transfer, another service your bank usually offers. If you have regular bills of the same amount to the same recipient, like your landlord, you can set up this regular money transfer to cover your rent automatically.
Sure, you have to check your bank account regularly so you don't overspend, but that's what a Bankauszug, or a Kontoauszug, a bank or account statement is for.
In most cases banks in Germany offer pretty secure online banking options with double security features before any kind of transfer or change is made to your account. I say 'pretty secure' because NO system is completely unhackable. But double safety and validation measures like an optical TAN generator PLUS an SMS to your personal phone validating your identity makes hacking highly unlikely. Even then, within 14 days ANY online transfer is legally refundable if done erroneously or under fraudulent pretenses. With online banking you can do most of your money transfers from home, at any time of the day, even on Sundays, if necessary.
Kevin casually throwing in the comment of "measuring by mass rather than by volume" was the perfect dad-geek-engineer talking. Love it!
That's pretty much the reason why most of the world uses that system. Volumes can generate quite different masses depending on the substance used, even in such simple instances as using different types of flour. This can result in wildly different end-products if not observed correctly.
That explanation of fluid ounces to milliliters and pound-ounces to grams was another perfect reason.
The possibility of using the wrong ounces is inherent for people unused to the Imperial system.
Now that you mention it: yepp, Germany's postal service has mostly given up on separate post office buildings and have dropped their service points literally ANYWHERE they could find even a small spot. There are a few central post office buildings in large cities but they have become exceedingly rare. Most are such small service points in local supermarkets that deal with the everyday postal service.
Heck, yes, get Sara insured under Kevin's German public insurance plan as soon as possible IF possible (assuming Kevin is insured with a German insurance company).
That is going to save you soooo much money.
A private health insurance plan in Germany is only for freelancers or for the very wealthy. You should earn at least 58050€ a year for that person to even consider a private health insurance plan. You should also have no pre-existing conditions. German private health insurance companies are at least as ridiculously overpriced as the US ones. But at least once you are insured you won't have to pay for anything at the point-of-service anymore. The only thing will be your 5-10€ co-pay for pharmaceutical prescription drugs in the Apotheke, the pharmacy.
Taxes. Especially GERMAN taxes.... aaaaaarrgh... no, no, no... eeek, argh, ummf.... Doing TWO tax declarations... uuurgh, noooooo.... Nuff said.😁😁
Once Germans do get to know you from some repeat visits they ease up on the unspoken 'no-small-talk' rules. So it can happen that you will get all the newest juicy gossip from across the butcher's counter at your local supermarket, or hear about the newest village/Dorf development plans at your bakery. Heck, the gossip at playground visits among parents in a small village could probably fill whole parental self-help-books. But the larger the city, and the greater the 'unknown' percentage of people the more the no-small-talk comes into effect again.
Thanks again that you decided to move here. You are such an enriching addition to Germany and to your subscribers.
I do hope that you will continue having great experiences here. And hopefully, eventually, this pandemic will be over and you get to experience Germany without all of these restrictions.
All the best for all of you.
Immigrants or Expats are official words for foreigners who wanna live and work in different countries on this planet
Thats it
I dont see any discussion necessary to complain about it.
But its matter how local people say it or how they use it.
Fertig
You guys are hilarious.
Please stay with us forever.
❤
I love how much passion you are investing into getting properly integrated. 🤣
💖💖 thank you!
I'm so happy that you kept fighting for your Chance living in germany as you are do now. You are such a wonderful family and following you and your journey here in this country with all those weird things to explore ~ while everything for us is just sooo normal. 😅
I just try to imagine how hard this would have been if you moved to germany before the Internet era. 🤯
and even more so the days before airplanes and telephone, when emigration meant that all you woudl ever hear and see from your loved ones who stayed behind was letters at best.
While I've moved to 8+ countries internationally for work, I'm absolutely amazed that you managed this with 4 kids and a cat. Not only to a foreign country, but to a village in Bavaria. Good on you
Thank you! It has been super hard, no doubt.
This is so great🙏, that you integrated so well🥰 there are so many channels about ppl from the US moving to Germany, but I must say YOU ARE THE BEST AND MOST ENJOYING CHANNEL❤💯🫂 Schönen Sonntag an Euch🌞🌹🌻
Thank you so much! 💕😍🇩🇪
I think you did a great job in cutting all the things that needed to be done to get settled here into manageable portions! You can really be proud of yourselves and your family, including the cat, of course 😀
Hi 👋 Fraulein, how are you?
Congratulations to your First year in GERMANY.....I think you have been very successful so far in respect to integrating in this country as a whole family!!! To move over here under Corona conditions was very courageous....and you did so great !! You are living in a beautiful house in a tiny village in Bavaria and made a lot of friends already.....that is awesome !! And despite hard times in between you kept your Humor and optimism....
.I really admire you for that.....and that you both as a couple supplement each other very well obviously........I really like following you.... .
Hi 👋 Yvonne, how are you?
I must say making friend when having children is easier as they have a lot of contacts to other people and through them you meet other parents. Many business people will ask you about the kids at least in small towns.
I wasn't sure to even mention it, but since you went through the various language variants of Prost, I thought I would: In Germany, many people actually don't say Prost when drinking wine, champagne, etc. Prost is seen as a bit "ordinary". Fine for beer and soft drinks, but with wine, people often try to be more "classy" and use "zum Wohl" instead of Prost. Of course Prost is fine too, but I just wanted to mention the subtle difference.
I guess it is a bit of a regional thing, here in Hamburg "zum wohl" is a thing old people say, no 35 y/o or younger uses it prost is the usual go to
Oh okay! Good to know! zum Wohl
Try next time: "Nicht lang schnacken, Kopf in 'n Nacken" translate roughly to "Shut yourtrap, down the hatch!" You know like classy people who drink champagne. 🤭
And on the other side of the spectrum (if you’re just in a silly goofy mood), you would say: Zur Mitte, zur Titte, zum Sack, Zack Zack 😂
Stimmt genau. Zum Wohl ist für Wein, Sekt etc.. Prost primär für Bier 🍺.
Ich finde es immer wieder angenehm zu sehen und zu hören wie positiv und offen ihr an die Dinge des Lebens herangeht und wie bereit Ihr seid euch in eine neue Kultur einzufügen und neue Sachen auszuprobieren. Ich glaube ihr seid ganz liebenswerte Menschen mit offenem Herzen und Verstand. Schade dass ihr nicht meine Nachbarn seid :-) Wünsche euch weiterhin alles Gute und viel Glück.
I'm Low-German and I lived in Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Germany and now I live in Canada.
I had to learn a new language every few years, but I took me about a year to learn a new language.
now I can switch between 4 different languages and that "almost" without an accent.
here in Canada, the Company I work at and the City Live in, there are so many German(s) and Russian(s) speaker.
so it was much easier for me to integrate....
my Language skills not only helped me but we have many Ukrainian refugees, so the Company I work at asked me to translate for them.
so just the knowledge of the German Language will help you a lot in life, but especially the Low-German language.
I don't know if there is a country without a Low-German, especially Countries like Russia, Central Asia, Paraguay, Germany, Canada and even the US.
when I came to Canada from Germany I just knew Yes and NO.
so the best advice I can give you is to your Point #16 don't be afraid and talk to every day people.
nobody is perfect but the willingness to learn new things and be Open-Minded will makes you perfect.
You did a great job, all of you and you can be so proud! Very well done. Thank you for the overview! Good luck and happiness on every single day.
Thank you so much, Hildegard!
You guys are amazing! You tackled and managed a ton of hurdles and obstacles. You rock!
Thanks so much! We feel like we have climbed a mountain! Haha but now we are on the other side and everything’s much better.
Hi 👋 Isabelle, how are you?
So funny! I could relate to all of this. I moved from Germany to Norway 13 years ago. Looking back I would say: one year in a new country is a very short time. 💗
Yeah that’s really true. We hardly know anything, but more than we knew last year.
Yes, Germans do make smalltalk. This is pretty much a difference between big city life and life in a village/rural area in Germany. In a small place you will know your neighbours and meet the same people every day. So it's common to say hello to everybody that you meet and even make some smalltalk with them. When places are bigger, than chances to see familiar faces every day is getting lower. People don't say hello to everyone they meet anymore and rarely meet someone that familar to actually make smalltalk every time. When visitors form abroad come to Germany, they usually end up in big places, cities, due to them offering tourist attractions or better employment chances. There they will meet less small-talky Germans, of course.
But it is actually true, that Germans do have a higher threshold to start making smalltalk with someone "new", compared to Americans, who randomly start making smalltalk even with strangers.
Living in Cologne I can’t fully agree. In my part of the city it feels like a village, I know the people in our local bakery, the supermarket, some restaurants and the ice cream shop by name. We greet each other on the street as well and have some small talk when we have the time to do so.
Reasons like this make us happy we moved to a small town! It has also forced us to integrate more and make more German friends.
That isn't small talk most Americans are talking about. Germans don't do small talk with complete and utter strangers. We talk with people who we will never see again.
@@jennyh4025 As in a little village, it needs several months or even years to get so familiar in the "Veedel" you live in, and a lot of city parts are very anonymous..
@@wolfgangsimons9183 in my part, it only took me a few months, maybe a year. In my hometown on the other hand… there was one part, where you wouldn’t have been accepted, unless at least your parents already grew up there.
Had to think of you yesterday when driving past the Traunstein/Siegsdorf exit on the A8 in a traffic jam. Nice that you have settled in well in Germany. Have a sunny, relaxed Sunday in South Bavaria☀️🌸🌸🌸
So funny - we saw that traffic jam while driving here to Austria! Perhaps we drove right past you!
Proper post offices in smaller towns existed when it was a state company. Since privatization most of them closed and other businesses do it on the side. Even larger cities often don't have a dedicated post office unless it's a node in the shipping/sorting infrastructure.
LOL, the self given golden buzzer at the start for the simplest of all auditions ! 😁
The first year is always the hardest to get settled in a different country. I moved from Germany to the USA, but without a family, which is much easier. Now I live 65 years in the USA and trying not to forget the German language.
Hi 👋 from Knoxville again. So fun and inspirational to watch you all during this last year. I have learned so much about Germany in such delightful ways. Looking forward to more adventures! Thanks!
Hi Beverly from Knoxville! Thank you so much!
Hi 👋 Beverly, how are you?
I have been watching your journey for a little over a year now and I always look forward to Sunday mornings with a new video from you guys. When I moved abroad to the US I was 25 with no husband or kids and it was clear from the beginning that it would be for only a set amount of time. Still, it was full of challenges. Kudos to you for doing all that with a whole family.
I am amazed when I see and hear about people moving here and how they view my home country. Somehow I always think noone knows about Germany, wants to live here or even speak the language. It's so much fun seeing people like you falling in love with our beautiful country.
Congratulations on your first year here and to many more!
We like doing these videos to show Americans there are other great countries out there to consider! And we’re so glad to hear our videos are part of our Sunday morning routine. 😍 Thank you for your support and kindness!
Just a quick side note: the video's sound seems to be a bit off 😅 At least at my end.
Otherwise great video as always! Thank you for your insights and experiences - it's always fascinating to get another perspective =)
The video is, as always delightful with you and the content, but yes, the sound was a bit grainy.
Yeah it was messed up - I worked for hours to try and fix it! I had the microphone settings all wrong! I got a new camera and new microphones and it took some getting used to. In the next video it’s fixed.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Yes, somtimes it is a bit off. But fitting perfectly to your rollicking mood, that nice bottle and the celebrating!
Glückwunsch. Ich freue mich für euch, dass ihr im ersten Jahr, trotz Corona, so viel erreicht habt. Weiterhin alles Gute.
Es freut mich so sehr zu sehen, dass eine Amerikanische Familie den Mut hat, ihr eigenes Land zu verlassen, nen neue Sprache zu lernen, ein neues Leben zu bauen! Wie seltsam, aber wie schön!
Hi, I've been living in Germany since 1971 and have never regreted IT. Came here as a soldier, fell in love with my now wife and love living here.
Ihr habt meinen größten Respekt für eure Mühen, ich weiß wie kompliziert es unser Land Neuankömmlingen macht.😉 Ich hoffe, dass ihr hier eine tolle Zeit habt
Vielen dank! ❤️❤️
Congratulations to your success moving to Germany 🇩🇪. I happy for you that you like enjoying living in Germany.
What got you both through the first year is your beautiful "Sense of Humor".
Thank you! It really did.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife You will probably laugh at me when I say this but you will not be the first. In California I am a Driver a messenger for 27 years now. And driving all these years you get board in the car where listening to music just doesn't cut it any more. So what do I do. I started making myself laugh silly to funny things that happend in my laugh to a point where people from other cars start looking at me like this guy is alone in the car and who is he laughing with. And now the catcher. I extend my hand to the radio knob and that is when people from other cars realise well daaaa he is listening to the radio and something funny is being said. While all along I wasn't listening to a radio.😂
Sooo ya I do know a thing or two about Sence of Humor myself.
TBH, you got moving extra difficult with the pandemic, which means you basically played the "Moving Game" on hardcore mode.
Yes that’s true! The pandemic made it much harder.
My daughter (15) is an exchange student in Germany this year and she said the same. it's the hardest thing she's done but she's glad she's doing it.
Hi 👋 Stephanie, how are you?
As always I enjoyed this video 😃. As I've said before I love Saras fun and bubbly personality, she so compliment Kevin's more serious personality. Your "team" is fantastisk 😃. Hope you'll consider living permanently in Germany/Europe. It's more fun living here, in my opinion.
Thank you so much! 💕 I do think we will be staying here a long time. We really love living here.
You are an inspiration, thanks for the snapshot into the adventure.
My respect for what you have achieved! I can only imagine it because I haven't experienced it myself. What I particularly liked about your lists was that you mentioned that the Germans are able to have small talk! Thank you! Just like you, I live in a small village (Dorf) and don't know it any differently. We say sorry if we want to pass someone, say hello, ask how things are going and so on. After all the RUclipsrs who claim the opposite, it is very gratifying to hear that there is another way. All the best. I look forward to a new video from you every Sunday morning.
Sounds like we should do a video on this - Germans do small talk in small towns. We really love that about small town life!
Hi 👋 Dolores, how are you?
Precisely, many people might not understand difficulties regarding the simple things like, finding where to go for shopping/products, hairdresser, dentist and so on. Simple everyday things that you take for granted. Good vlog, thank you.
That’s right! It’s all of the little everyday differences, done in a new language, that are so hard at first.
Getting the kids settled makes such a big difference!
Germany without "Wertstoff-Hof" ? Unthinkable 🤣🤣🤣 !
I don`t remember, what we did before we got a "Wertstoff-Hof". In the past 30 years, I spent a lot of hours (and days 🤔😄?) at the "Wertstoff-Hof" and had some interesting conversations about sorting and separating our trash and garbage. God bless the "Wertstoff-Hof" 👍 !
😂😂😂
Post offices were largely removed in the 90s already.
I really misse the ones run by Deutsche Post themselves.
They got rid of the costs and transformed / outsourced them to private agents.
i worked in a petfood store in Sondernheim in the 90s. We also had the local post office. Stamps, shipping stuff, etc. all while selling sows ears as chew toys. :)
Wow what a great summary of your life and times in Germany so far! So much to do and figure out! And...during Covid! You made it! Best of luck for another successful year! We'll be here to watch and cheer you on!
Hi 👋 Gillian, how are you?
Thank you so much!
This was one of my favorite videos you’ve done. II really enjoyed it 😃 I can totally relate!
Oh thank you!
Hi 👋 Anita, how are you?
@@anitaanita7162 Hi Anita, where are you texting from?
Here in Austria corn starch is called „Maizena“- or maisstärke. It might be the same where you are!
I loved this video. Very relatable, honest content. You can truly be proud of all that you accomplished. And I agree the fact that you have so many friends is surely the most impressive feat! ❤️
moinmoin ... maizena = mondamin = maisstärke = corn starch - also in northern germany
You can get Maizena also in Germany.
Sara, did you know that there is a "voluntary" tier of the mandatory health care system? You get the exact same benefits as in the mandatory tier for employees, but you have to pay the 14.6% of your income all by yourself whereas employees have to pay only half of the 14.6% and the employer pays the other half. You qualify as you a) never lived in Germany and were never subject of the mandatory tier of health care and b) you are self-employed and are still not subject of the mandatory tier. I would highly recommend you asking any of the statutory health care providers about the "voluntary" health care plan ("Freiwillige Krankenversicherung")!
Okay great! Thanks so much for the tip. We can check that out. We always learn so much from you guys!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Many Germans do not know this, and the clerks at the statutory health insurance companies might also reject your application at first, since it is a relatively rarely used option to insure yourself, which is why you should explicitly ask about the voluntary level.
The problem is that she is now somehow stuck with the private insurance and it is very difficult to go back to the mandatory health insurance. Pity nobody told her in the beginning that she can chose mandatory health insurance voluntarily. She can only go back when she starts to be an employee and gives up on her business or does her business only as a side business (certain requierements on what counts as side-business ). It's a complex thing but her tax adviser should be able to explain it to her.
But I am afraid as long as she doesn't want to change something in her work life there is no chance for voluntarily mandatory health insurance for now.
The ‚easiest‘ way to get into the state health insurance system at this stage would be to find a job, take it, get the health insurance and quit again. Literally, if you find a friend who owns a company and is willing to do you the favour and all the paperwork to employ you for one day, you are good. But it is worth talking to your tax advisor and a Krankenkasse first, which part of your income would form the basis for your voluntary membership sndbhow much you would pay. In my experience, the health insurance who has the most experience with families moving from the US - with a dedicated team - is Pronova BKK. TK is also good if you speak to the right people. Good luck!
@@chrissiesbuchcocktail They did try, I think. It had something to do with the duration of her Aufenthaltsgenehmigung. Also, I‘m not sure, if the gesetzliche Krankenkasse is actually the best option for free lancers.
Financially the best option would be to get a part time job for around 15 h. She would get public health insurance for a low price. The freelancing would be covered by the insurance as long as you spend less time on it than the part time job. (I‘ve done this model myself). It doesn‘t matter what job pays more.
You both are so sweet! ❤❤
Again: _Welcome to Germany!_
20:40 The "Germans don't do smalltalk" is because when germans talk to someone it's not just to be polite but it's because they want to talk to you. (Same goes for Austrians, even more for the people living in Vienna)
Ja, Sie werden Ihr weiteres Leben hier schon meistern! So positiv und fröhlich wie Sie sind! In einem Jahr, oder sogar früher lachen Sie darüber! 💖
Vielen dank!
Dear McFall family, you‘ve really won our ♥️♥️♥️
❤️❤️ And you guys have our hearts, too. 😍
Your positive attitude and open mindedness towards every problem you encounter, solves the problem already by at least 50%.
You are the best family on youtube I ever see 👍🏻 Thumps up, great content. I wish you best luck here in germany, a lot of fun and all the best also for your kids 😚.
I‘m happy to see more videos in the future 😇
Thank you, Helge! Such nice things to say.
It's so nice to see how well your first year has been, even under Covid restrictions.
Hope for several more years to come! My whole sunday routine relies on that!;)
Thank you so much!
Cornstarch = "Maisstärke" look at the grocery at the flour shelves for packages labeled either "Maizena" or "Mondamin" those 2 branches provide "cornstarch/Maisstärke" and every grocery should have either the one or the other.
And "please" don´t buy Spätzle....make it yourself the dough is done within few minutes and believe me when I say the difference in taste and texture is crucial in comparision to "bought ones"...all you need is flour, water or milk (try both out and then choose which one you like more = I personally prefer milk) and egg a bit salt and pepper - you´ll find uncountable Spätzle videos on YT and you will see how easy and quick those are done/variations with additional adding herbs to the dough like chives or parsley or even spinach are then next level Spätzle.
Watching a video of yours has become a morning ritual for me these days :)
I grew up in India (18 years), then lived in California (18 years), moved back to India where I've felt like a total foreigner, and am now moving to Germany in a couple of months ... so your videos have been very helpful, as I anticipate facing very similar challenges to yours (except those involving kids).
Thanks so much for watching our videos! I do hope they will help ease your transition.
Kevin is the coolest guy on earth. Thank you guys so much for doing this :)
It's so nice to hear that you're doing well.
Thank you for sharing your gains and struggles. After almost four years here, I can laugh at my beginning struggles 😅. In Wildemann our Post is in the tourist center. The trash is still an issue for Mike and me. We purchased our home in 2020 and agreed to allow the previous owner to leave all of her belongings since she was going into care. We are still trying to sort through items in the basement, the attic, and the workshop. It has been crazy. I am determined this summer to have everything sorted and sent to recycling. Looking back, I am fortunate that my husband is German and knew what to do when we moved from Oklahoma. I am so thankful that I didn't have to go to driving school. I would have been a hot mess. Driving is not difficult, but I have read some stories of bad experiences with driving instructors here in Germany. I still get my hair products from Amazon since I use Paul Mitchell products. I think half the fun of exploring a new culture is discovering new products. DM and Rossman are my favorites. I have joined a few expat groups. Speaking German is getting easier for me. I too, had to just go for it and practice. Thank you for sharing your journey. If you happen to visit the Upper Harz, perhaps we can meet for coffee in Goslar.
Toll, dass das alles geklappt hat. Ich wünsche Euch noch ganz viel Spaß in der nun nicht mehr so neuen Umgebung. Es ist schön, dass es Euch trotz des ganzen Streßes gefällt.
Your German is fine. What a great family - glad you're here. ♥ Sahra, Kevin + kids + cat + hamster ; ) Always fun to watch your vids!
Thank you!
You really have no idea what it means to us Germans that you chose our country and be so happy here. Our country has always been treated very negletfully and therfore it is such a pleasure to have you here in Germany and on RUclips. ❤
Ich freue mich, dass es euch gut geht. Ein Jahr vergeht so schnell und ihr habt viel erlebt.
Durch meine Arbeit hatte ich mit ausländischen Mitbürgern zu tun. Das war für mich mit viel Freude verbunden, wenn ich merkte, dass sie sich bei uns sicher fühlten.
Gerade in dieser augenblicklichen Situation ist es wichtig, dass jeder ein zu Hause findet und gute Menschen um sich hat.
Ihr seid eine wunderbare Familie und ich wünschte Euch eine gute Zeit in Deutschland. Ich hatte eine wunderschöne Zeit in England / Essex als Austausch Schüler,ist aber schon 55 Jahre her.
♡lichen Glückwunsch zu eurem 1. Jahr hier in Deutschland.
I guess at least part of why you got through all that is that you two are such a strong team.
I hope so, thank you.
Corn starch is sold under the term "Speisestärke". You can find it in any grocery store.
Corn starch is Mais Stärke. You can get it in any supermarket. Don't use Mondamin unless it is for brown gravy.
Ja.. the school , the kindergarten, the birocracy, the paperwork.., the new recipes, the school gears ( i was from asean country..😅😅) ...same here -i cannot find the corn starch tooo . Listening to your video - make me feels i am not alone facing all this stuffs moving with family of 6 to germany. Thanks so much.
Oh I love that it helps you to not feel so alone. Us foreigners are in this together!
I just love your videos !!! You are one of the reasons I started learning German. thank you so much!!
Thank you!
Hi 👋 Susan, how are you?
Awwww! That video was both interesting and somehow the two of you are so lovely in the video (alcohol helps maybe 😂). I am glad you guys are settled here and enjoy the experience.
Oh yes we were more lively in this video because of the alcohol! 😂
You guys are sooooooo adorable.... 😍😍😍 The fire and spark between you both is beautiful and breathtaking.. I enjoyed every moment of this video.. And I started with a short.. Now I subscribed.. Beautiful
Oh cool to know you started with a short! I sometimes wonder I how well those are working. Thanks for telling us and supporting our channel!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife If it wasn't for the Short I don't think I would've found you guys.. So it's working fine 😊💐 Blessed love, take care 😇
Ihr habt in eurem ersten Jahr gelernt...*wie der Hase läuft*!
The next years in Germany 4 u should be very relaxing!
Great family...luv ur vids...carry on!
That’s right! It’ll be so much easier now!
Hallo!
"Gasthof Alte Post": I am pretty sure, that this is NOT an old Post Office, but a former Post Station. A Stop for the "Postkutsche" (Stage coach). You may still find stables for the horses, which were switched there. And it was an inn and boardinghouse as well. You will find Restaurants with the name "Post", "Poste" (France) or similar in all Europe.
Ah very cool!!
in Germany you do find lots of small talk in the villages, but its very rare in bigger towns or cities. Do people greet each other on the street in your place? I loved it so much moving from a town to a village in Bavaria and all people saying "Hello" to me. And my feeling is that this is also a lot more sincere small talk than in the US
Yes! Everyone says “morgen” or “servus” when they pass you on the streets. I love that - it helped so much at the beginning when we knew no one. I’d see the same people and it helped us to not feel so alone.
half way into the video.. 5:20 look for Speisestärke when you need cornstarch
Yesss, bis ZUM nächsten Mal 😀 ich freue mich drauf, ihr seid toll !!!
As a French living in Germany, I can confirm you that the French for "Prost" is "Santé" which means "Health".
"Salut" is "Hallo" ;)
They were confused....
Yeah it’s embarassing that we messed that up! We lived in France for two years and said Santé every weekend! 😂😉🍷🍸🍹🥂
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife but I met several british people being confused with these two words too! You're not alone!!! 😆
Can empathise with so much of this. But here's a take on the cooking and baking angle from 06:24
🤣I really had to laugh at the engineer dotting the I's and crossing the T's about converting ounces for cooking. Not mockingly (because I've worked with engineers from all over the world for decades) but in sympathy with you both.
I grew up with both the UK imperial system (not the US customary units) and the metric system (because my mother was French and we used the metric system at school from the mid 1960s in science). While ounces as mass units can be converted to grams, yes, volumetric fluid ounces are a minefield.
Brits have different fluid ounce sizes to USians, so fl.oz., gills, half-pints, pints, quarts and gallons are not the same on either side of the pond. When my sister used to live in the USA back in the 1980s and send me recipes, I always had to convert them either to UK imperial or to metric measures. None of that seemed to work. Even after she sent me a set of US measuring cups and spoons, I only ever use them for US recipes from US cookbooks or websites as they don't correspond to any other measures.
My French mother had trouble enough converting French recipes to UK measurements. Since the 1980s I've lived in Germany and Spain and have collected cookbooks from everywhere I've been (US included).
A cup is not a cup is not a cup - size matters. And a teaspoon and a tablespoon are not the same size in different countries or even within the same country - oh no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no. And just wait until you get to the extremely precise measurements of a "pinch" or a Messerspitze (knife point) of anything.
It all works according to Augenmaß (eye measure), Milchmädchenrechnung (milkmaid reckoning, based how much milk your cows were producing and roughly how much milk, cream, whey or cheese you could get out of that), Pi mal Daumen (pi times the length of your thumb) or having "le compas dans l'oeil" in French (a pair of [mathematical] compasses in your eye, i.e. good spatial estimation capabilities). All of which amounts to "rough and ready" or being reasonably good at guessimating weights and measures and their outcome or product which will work for whatever you want to do that doesn't require meticulous accuracy.
Any cook moving to another country knows that the first batch of a familiar dish made in another country with different ingredients and approximate weights and measures is going to be either a disaster or an unexpected new culinary adventure. The ingredients will never taste the same or have the same texture because they were produced in different soils in different climates at different latitudes and altitudes under different sanitary and phytosanitary regulations.
So your only option for cooking is to get creative....
Hi 👋 Alice, how are you?
one thing about the car dealership and follow up repairs /maintainace. If you bought your car from a offical VW dealer, it will charge you lots of money when it comes to repairs or maintainance.. a small "freie Werkstatt" a indipendent garage will mostly be way cheaper. Always ask for a "kostenvoranschlag" (estimate costs/quotation) when you need something fixed.
Okay great tip, thanks for the tip!
Hi 👋 Claudia, how are you?
So you dear McFall family are the most adorable thing I've seen on social media in a long time.
You are there with so much heart, passion and urge to discover that it is a real pleasure.
It's nice that you're getting used to it more and better and that you're enjoying the time. If you really want to live in another country, one year should be the minimum and then you get a general idea of how things are going. I wish you a nice holiday, relax well, best regards. Cheers and all the best, hopefully many more years to come with us in Germany, Austria and Europe. 🍾🥂🥂🍻🍻🎂🐞🍀
Amazing to hear that you make difference experience with Germans at a store or somewhere else.
And of nobody likes taxes.🤪
Hey Robert! Thank you so much. Your support this past year has been wonderful! We do appreciate your very kind and thoughtful comments. You’ve made us feel so much more welcome.
Hi Sarah and family new subscriber here, and love to have you guys here in Germany you will love it more, it’s difficult at the beginning but years later you will love it.
Hi! Looks like you’re also named Sarah? So cool! I’m Sara but without an H, but same name, of course. Thanks for watching!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife yes that’s my name with H at the end 😁
It is often ridiculous when you hear a special kind of Americans badmouthing European countries and complaining about the supposed "astronomical taxes", when it is in fact the US tax system that causes this problem.
Also when you take a look at the additional costs Americans consider "taxes" like social security insurances (healthcare, retirement funds etc) or insurances in general ... the costs in the US are massive compared to Europe, even without deductibles, co-pays and OOP. But as long as it is not the government they pay it seems ok tho pay more to get some corporate executives a high bonus.
would nice if you do a video comparing insurance costs 😉
And isn't it interesting that in Germany the government sees absolutely zero cents from our insurance money? It is always paid into a fund pot for all public insurances that the government has absolutely no access to. So in essence, nope, that is not a tax, but an insurance fee. Only in the case of unemployed will the government pay INTO the insurance pot, but can't take anything OUT of the insurance fund. Funny, ain't it?
The taxes in Germany ARE astronomical.
@@humanbeing1675 far from it.
Yes you’re exactly right! The cost of living is much higher in the US, especially when it comes to food and healthcare - two very basic and important things. And what Americans get with their tax money is a LOT less valuable than what Germans get with their tax money.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Btw ... are you still searching for Corn Starch ? in German it's called "Maisstärke". I checked my EDEKA today, they have several options available incl. one of their "gut & günstig" house brand for 0.59€
I'm happy for your "surviving" your first year in germany!
Btw in the end you should say "Bis zum nächsten Mal". 😉
Thank you!
You can use „Mondamin (hell oder dunkel)“ or „Speisestärke“ for cornstarch. Mondamin offers „helles or dunkel“ (light or dark). For a roast you need the dark (dunkel) Mondamin. For vegetables sauce like a Béchamel you use the „helles Mondamin“.
congrats on your first year - you've done extremely well.
the last time we moved abroad, to the US, the only thing we knew after a year was that we want to move back to Europe as soon as possible.
You learned something very valuable I suppose!
That was a really good summary of these obstacles and issues for (US) foreigners to know before moving here. Yes, dealing with German Behörden and Steuern is a special task, but for Germans too 😅. I saw your kids playing in that small river, here is my advice since our kids used to play in these kind of small rivers near Pfronten and Füssen as well: get info beforehand whether there is a floodgate ( Schleuse) nearby. Sometimes they open them up without warning and suddenly the small river gets flooded.
Oh dear, that’s good to know!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife yes, it was also a little worrying for me as soon as I knew it. But it's better to know.. And I meant Halblech, not Pfronten 🤦♀️
That small river is either the "rote Traun" or the "weiße Traun" - and as far as I know none of them has floodgates in that area. I've spend numerous vacations for hiking in Inzell, a neighboring village.
I understand you very much about the post office.
During my first holidays in the USA (1991) with some friends, we searched for a post office, until we located a building with the big letters on it: POST.
So I took all our postcards and entered the building.
I expected to look different to a German post office, but not so different.
I was looking around and watched the people inside for quite a while.
Then I started laughing out loud about my mistake. I was still laughing when I reached our car and my friends.
The building I entered was a local newspaper.
I still smile when I think about that.
And you can imagine what our friends thought when they went to USA, not knowing more than very basic English and seeing a Gift Shop !
Lidl started carrying vanilla extract recently - pretty small little plastic bottles. If you need brown sugar - korean stores tend to carry it
Mondamin is corn starch as a branded version, which is pretty cheap
I watched a video for making brown sugar. I haven't tried it yet.
Light brown sugar
One cup of regular white sugar and 1tablespoon of molasses. Mix until incorporated.
Dark brown sugar
One cup of regular sugar and 2 tablespoons of molasses. Mix until incorporated.
Bis zum nächsten Mal. Danke!
Das Beste ist der Aufbau der IKEA Möbel. :-) Das Problem kennt jeder hier. Ich habe für den Zusammenbau eines IKEA Doppelbettes fürs Gästezimmer inclusive Lattenroste fünf lange Stunden gebraucht. Meiner Frau hatte ich angekündigt, dass ich höchstens eine Stunde dazu brauche. Aber die Beschreibung um das Bett aufzubauen, ist etwas sagen wir spartanisch und ausserdem fehlten einigen Schrauben. Das mache ich nicht mehr. Ich fahre nach Rosenheim zum WEKO, nur als Beispiel, und lasse mir die Möbel dann zuhause vom WEKO Schreiner zusammen bauen. Das kostet zwar etwas, aber es spart Nerven, Zeit und das Möbelstück steht gerade und passt.
Apropos : "Cornstarch" , wenn Ihr Laden "Maizena" oder "Mondamin" führt, dann ist das Maisstärke, ansonsten kann man es natürlich auch bei Amazon bestellen :) Sie können sich gar nicht vorstellen wie verrückt ich im Ausland auf Schwarzbrot und Mettwürstchen war, und wie ich Tempotaschentücher vermisst habe, Kleenex ist einfach nicht dasselbe.
Apropos : "Kippfenster" I just watched you opening the window "auf Kipp" , do you know that that is a death trap for cats, when they try to exit via it? They fall into the V , get stuck, and crush their kidneys.
Wunderschön, euer Abenteuer 😄 and super entertaining, keep going 👍
LOL, the post office, yeah...... I am old enough to remember the times when a post office was a REAL one. With the yellow post horn sign on the outside and doing nothing but post stuff and post banking. Then, one day, they started to save money by outsourcing their services to shop owners and nowadays even me as a German have sometimes problems to find one when I am in a foreign town or city. :)
And yes, you can truly be proud, you indeed did an awesome good job!
Thank you so much!
45 years ago I went to England. I was alone. We had no google or I-phone. My English was not existing. And I had only one friend, who had to work in a different company. I think, I can understand, what you are through. But today, when I am going to England, its like comming home. And the whole experience was absolutely life changing. I didn`t lose my country by leaving. I won a new country. Like you. This will change your life and the life of your children in a better way forever. All the best!
Oh I love your comment so much! You didn’t lose your country, you gained another one. That’s the thing about true love - it doesn’t exclude you from loving other things. You just expand your heart even more. Living abroad is so powerful - the empathy and compassion it teaches us can make the world a better place!!
Hi, CORN STARCH is in Germany a yellow package, it's called MAIZENA , mais - corn :)
Sara, if you love essential oils, you'll also adore "Primavera" products. Maybe they have already been recommended to you, but if not, maybe you'd like to check them out😁
Okay great! I will check them out. Thanks for the recommendation.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I guess, you were/are buying from a person advocating Young Living. Switching to a German company, like Primavera (there are others, too), you will not buy them from a person, but you might find them in your DM.
That's important for two reasons: Companies like Young Living put a lot of labels and certificats on their stuff which are not recognized by any institute and are therfore basically meaningless. The other reason is that a lot of the sellers will exaggerate the health benefits of their products. Young living has been sued for that before, so the company officially does not condone these claims anymore, but will still train the sellers to claim health benefits in private.
This way of selling product with health claims is highly illegal in Germany, as we have very high standards for medicine and scientific studies have not shown any benefit beyond the placebo effect.
Please stay safe
@@caligo7918 it's an MLM... so, not good. You are right, getting EOs from a shop like DM is much better!