Expats helping expats
It’s funny how the Cheerios post has stirred up so much interest, particularly from Iceland. Truth be told, though, expats everywhere miss something from home, and newer expats need advice on how to adapt to their new surroundings, no matter how much they enjoy them.
When I first arrived in Munich, I bought a book which was to become my bible, the name of which I unfortunately forget (I’m hoping Jean will remember). In any event, that book told me all of the things I needed to know as an expat in Munich, including silly things like why the teapot started to rattle after a few uses (Munich’s water has a lot of calcium) and how to adapt US recipes to German products. I guess it wouldn’t have told me where to get Cheerios, since they’re not sold there, but it was awfully helpful. Coming in second to that book was Munich Found, a monthly magazine for expats.
I know Munich Found is still around, and I hope that book is, but I figure the internet should have a host of good resources for expats from anywhere living darn near anywhere. Now that I’m back in the US, I spend a lot of time telling my German clients where to get Weißwurst, Augustiner Edelstoff Bier, and even Quark here in Philadelphia. That stuff has to be online somewhere!
So … why don’t those of you who know of good sources of expat information share them here. Maybe Jean can start by commenting with the name of that darn book, and if we get enough we’ll start a list.
The book Chris is referring to, “Munich in Your Pocket” by Dee Pattee, is unfortunately no longer in print, but there are a few used copies being sold on amazon.com. Even the travel book publishers “Lonely Planet” recommended “Munich in Your Pocket” in 2000, although the book was out of print then, too. An alternative is “Munich at Your Door” by Liz Smith. This book is part of a series called “Culture Shock: Living in the World’s Greatest Cities”. (See book review at http://www.doingbizabroad.com/resources-for-living-abroad-book-review/
That’s a shame – it was a really useful book, but with a really limited market. You’d think it could be made available using on demand printing through amazon or something.