Season 6, Episode 2. You know her from her TikToks about being a Canadian in Germany, but how did Hannah Teslin become this confident expat? When Hannah moved abroad in college, it was to study abroad in Cologne - but really, she was studying there to be near a guy she'd met while traveling who lived in Hamburg. It was all too easy to slip into his world, his friendships, his activities, to depend on him to organize the logistics of their life together. Somehow, she became less of herself. Now, ...
Oct 07, 2021•46 min•Ep. 150
Season 6, Episode 1. Welcome back for Season 6! We're kicking it off with a deeper look into how Vanessa of Wander Onwards got to become the financial guru, world traveler, and awesome expat she is. From a brief stint as an undocumented person in China to meeting her husband at a beer pong tournament, Vanessa's got some crazy stories to share. She also explains how and why she got serious about paying off her over $100,000 in debt - including personal finance tips you can implement right away - ...
Sep 30, 2021•42 min•Ep. 149
Season 5, Episode 25. Cheers to 3 years of The Expat Cast, 125 episodes, 5 seasons! This season finale, we're marking the occasion by diving into a touchy topic: I collected your stories of times German people of authority have made you cry. It happened at the foreigner's office, in banks, in doctor's offices, at the customs office, on the train. It happened, surprisingly, far more in bigger cities and towns than smaller towns and villages. It happened even to people who speak fluent German. We ...
Jun 24, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 148
Season 5, Episode 24. Steph is a fellow expat podcaster, host of the great show Transcontinental Overload. She was born and raised in Germany, but her love for and comfort with the English language made her certain she'd one day move to London. She did, and the classic thing happened: one year abroad turned into a lifetime. After years in England, Steph moved to Silicon Valley in California, USA. She was ready to return to her heart's home of England, but life had other plans, and it was off to ...
Jun 17, 2021•37 min•Ep. 147
Season 5, Episode 23. Steffi actually went by Stephanie until she moved from the UK to a small town in Bavarian almost two years ago. Her name isn't the only thing that has changed - Germany has made her ditch her high heels, embrace jeans for every occasion, and improve her ability to stay on top of paperwork. Steffi is a hilarious breath of fresh air, who some might know from her blog Adventures of Steffi. We talk about why she loves her small town in Bavaria so much, despite career challenges...
Jun 10, 2021•40 min•Ep. 146
Season 5, Episode 22. Psychologist Gabriela Encina is here to talk to us about the unique effects life in Coronavirus Pandemic era has had on expats all over the world. We've all experienced Covid fatigue, languishing, and zoom burnout. Expats have also faced family separation, social isolation, and a harsh interruption to their integration process. Now, as numbers start to go down and many countries start to open up, it may feel like it's all sparkles and rainbows from here - and maybe it will ...
Jun 03, 2021•42 min•Ep. 145
Season 5, Episode 21. Just about every expat in Germany can tell you a story of a time an interaction with a person of authority made them cry. While many if not most interactions go good or even well, there are unfortunately times when relating across cultures and languages goes awry and leaves you feeling disempowered, helpless, and demeaned. At worst, this might mean you don't get the medical help or the visa you need. At best, it's a negative experience that leaves you afraid of future inter...
May 27, 2021•42 min•Ep. 144
Season 5, Episode 20. In the Travel Germany series, different places across Germany are featured in interviews with expats who relocated there. Today, we learn about Bamberg, a small city in upper Franconia in Bavaria. Within 2-3 hours from Munich, Berlin, and Prague, Bamberg is an ideal stop along the way. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site full of beautiful buildings, charming riverside nooks, and the famous smoke beer. Ana's love of beer brought her to Germany, and she tells us why Bamberg is ...
May 20, 2021•32 min•Ep. 143
Season 5, Episode 19. Applying for jobs in a new country is difficult, not just because it follows completely different processes than your home country but also because of all the ways the job-hunt process is ripe with opportunity for cultural clashes. Jana is here to talk us through some of the most culture-clashy aspects of it: resume writing, interviewing, and contract negotiations. She gives concrete tips on how to navigate the process and how to prepare for unexpectedly challenging moments...
May 13, 2021•41 min•Ep. 142
Season 5, Episode 18. When she was in her early 20s, Gabi, from Hannover, Germany answered a newspaper ad to become an au pair in Georgia, USA. There, she met and married and had three kids. She made a conscious choice to raise her kids as American children. While they kept up some German traditions, the language and culture were always secondary to English and American culture. Her daughter, Elana, always had a curiosity about her German roots. When she was in her 20s, she moved to Germany to s...
May 06, 2021•40 min•Ep. 141
Season 5, Episode 17. If you're in the expat community, you've probably seen the initials TCK pop up in Facebook groups, on Instagram, and more. It stands for Third Culture Kid, and Anna, today's guest, is one of them. She's married to a CCK, a Cross-Culture Kid, and their kids, who've lived in many countries before settling into their passport country, are TCKs. Anna works as an expat coach specializing in TCKs and CCKs. She gives us a crash course on what they are, followed by a deep discussio...
Apr 29, 2021•40 min•Ep. 140
Season 5, Episode 16. The wonderful parts of life abroad are easy to share: photos from a great vacation, an Instagram post of your latest delicious meal. What's harder to talk about is the bad days abroad. But fear not - there's a blog for that! Katherine started this blog while living in Denmark for 10 years. She grew up in Estonia and Switzerland, and after stints in Australia and New Zealand, Denmark was close to home geographically, but something wasn't right for her. Last year, Katherine f...
Apr 22, 2021•40 min•Ep. 139
Season 5, Episode 15. In the Travel Germany series, different places across Germany are featured in interviews with expats who relocated there. Today, we learn about two Berlin neighborhoods: Friedenau and Karlshorst! Marguerite spent most of her life country hopping, but Berlin has captured her attention for 5 years and counting.In fact, it inspired her to start her blog, Berlin and Around , where she shares insider tips about Berlin. She tells us why this metropolis is so unendingly interestin...
Apr 15, 2021•40 min•Ep. 138
Season 5, Episode 14. It's not easy being a mom. It's not easy living abroad. When you combine both things, things can get really, really tricky. Johanna is a doula in Heidelberg, Germany. She's lived outside her home country of the US plenty, but moving abroad as a mom of two changed things for her. She shares her own expat story and explains the German social support systems, from pregnancy to entering school. Plus, she talks to us about Afloat, a non-profit she is the director of that helps p...
Apr 08, 2021•42 min•Ep. 137
Season 5, Episode 13. In December, The Expat Cast went head-to-head with rival podcast The Germany Experience to see who could raise more money for charity. As much as it pains to admit it, The Expat Cast lost. Today, The Germany Experience is here to claim their prize. The Germany Experience is here to take over The Expat Cast for one episode. Shaun uses his prize to ask Nicole about how her experience as a podcast host has changed her, ahem, Germany experience, and he gets her to dish some rid...
Apr 01, 2021•41 min•Ep. 136
Season 5, Episode 12. In the Travel Germany series, different places across Germany are featured in interviews with expats who relocated there. Today, we learn about Aachen! Lawin is from the Philippines. He's a fellow expat in Germany and a fellow podcaster, and he's been living in Aachen for two years now. He tells us all about living in walking distance to the Netherlands and Belgium - spoiler: great access to lots of kinds of beer. To read all of his suggestions and see some great pictures, ...
Mar 25, 2021•34 min•Ep. 135
Season 5, Episode 11. Martina was born in the US to German parents who had most recently been living in Switzerland. When she was a baby, they moved back to Switzerland, then they relocated to the US for Martina's high school and college years. Now, Martina's living in Frankfurt, Germany in her 20s. Even though she's German, this is the first time in her life she's lived in Germany. We discuss what it was like living in the US for such critical life moments and how she's enjoying connecting with...
Mar 18, 2021•39 min•Ep. 134
Season 5, Episode 10. Stacey's had her California driver's license since she was a teenager, but it doesn't get her far in Germany. Once you move to Germany, you have 3 years to convert your license to a German license, or you have to start over from square one. For Nicole, from Pennsylvania, a state with license reciprocity with Germany, it was a one-time visit to city hall and a 35€ fee. For Stacey, from California, a state without reciprocity, it was months of studying, a first aid course, pr...
Mar 11, 2021•41 min•Ep. 133
Season 5, Episode 9. She's lived in Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, the UK, South Africa, Thailand, Zanzibar, Austria, and now, Germany. Tania gets lost keeping track of everywhere she's lived! She craves stability, yet at the same time, she can't imagine not moving again soon. Tania's expat history has made her very resourceful, creative, and flexible - all traits that make her a great entrepreneur. She consults on travel to Kenya, sews and sells African fabrics, has a blog, and more. Yet still, she s...
Mar 04, 2021•41 min•Ep. 132
Season 5, Episode 8. Whether he's living in Belgium, the Netherlands, China, or Germany, Claudio manages to find Italy everywhere he goes. He's from a tiny village in northern Italy that's got more sheep and cows than people, and although he hasn't lived there in decades, it is his heritage. It is his home. Claudio shares why and how he honors his Italian heritage, be it through food or people or something else entirely. Now based in Nuremberg, Germany for two years, it's important to him to bri...
Feb 25, 2021•40 min•Ep. 131
Season 5, Episode 7. Kate is from southwestern Germany and moved to Chicago, around the same time that Nicole moved from Chicago to southwestern Germany. The two connect on Instagram years back, and Kate was one of Nicole's first guests back in season one . Now, Kate's back to share how her career, life, and family has grown since then. Kate's now a mom, and she and her husband ended up moving back to Germany with their baby in March of 2020, on one of the last flights from the USA to Germany be...
Feb 18, 2021•41 min•Ep. 129
Season 5, Episode 6. So many of us move abroad without knowing anyone else who's done a big move like that. We struggle to find expat role models at the beginning, and usually end up with authors, characters, or friends as role models. Reina was the first female in her tight-knit family to move abroad. It was hard to break the news to her family, and when she was adjusting to life in her new home in New Zealand, she faced serious withdrawal, going from constant family time to being a 26-hour fli...
Feb 11, 2021•35 min•Ep. 128
Season 5, Episode 5. In the Travel Germany series, different places across Germany are featured in interviews with expats who relocated there. Today, we learn about Dessau! Inna Koblents is from the Ukraine and lived in Italy before relocating to Dessau on a special visa for Jewish immigrants from former Soviet countries. She'd never heard of Dessau before the opportunity came up, but in her two years there, she's found herself feeling quite at home in this former East Germany town. She's put to...
Feb 04, 2021•36 min•Ep. 127
Season 5, Episode 4. Rachel hosts the Meet the Germans series with Deutsche Welle, where she shares videos about current events and German culture in English through her perspective as a foreigner in Germany. Rachel moved from the UK to Germany in her 20s, and now that she's in her early 30s, she's in a much different place in life than she was back when she moved. The German culture encourages things like organization, punctuality, board game nights in with small groups of friends, time in natu...
Jan 28, 2021•40 min•Ep. 126
Season 5, Episode 3. Ever since Nicole arrived in Germany, she kept seeing a book series with cool hipster graphics and titles like "How to Be German in 50 Easy Steps" everywhere in her expat life. They were funny observations about Germans from the views of a British immigrant. As if a cool cover and relatable content wasn't enough, the books were BILINGUAL! Meaning they were also good for practicing your German! And now, the author himself is here to talk! Adam Fletcher was bored in his UK hom...
Jan 21, 2021•37 min•Ep. 125
Season 5, Episode 2. Since the start of 2020, the United States has provided a seemingly endless onslaught of scary and sad news that's continued and gotten even worse in 2021. From Coronavirus killing hundreds of thousands, to Black Live Matters protests that were met by police violence, to the 2020 presidential election, and now a terrorist mob staging an insurrection in the capital, it has been a lot to cope with. Nicole, an American in Germany struggling to process the news from afar, sits d...
Jan 14, 2021•42 min•Ep. 124
Season 5, Episode 1. It's the season 5 premier! After a couple months off to recoup, The Expat Cast is back with a new website and a fantastic guest to kick things off: Hannah from Travels by Teslin. The two talked in mid-December 2020 while Hannah was quarantining in her home country of Canada. Hannah has been living in Hamburg, Germany for 7 years now. Her move was inspired by love, but even when that relationship ended, she had plenty of reasons to stay. She has a thriving career, manages a t...
Jan 07, 2021•41 min•Ep. 123
SEGEPADFO. Happy Christmas! We're celebrating with the launch of SEGEPADFO: the Second Ever Germany Expat Podcasters Donation Face-Off. This year, Shaun and I are fundraising for Über den Tellerrand. We are thrilled to say that we collectively raised 410€, which was enough to enable Über den Tellerrand to finance the build of their portable kitchen! Which podcast raised the most money? Who raised the least, and what consequences will they have to face? Listen to find out. MORE INFORMATION theger...
Dec 28, 2020•9 min•Ep. 122
SEGEPADFO. Happy fourth Advent Sunday! We're celebrating with SEGEPADFO: the Second Ever Germany Expat Podcasters Donation Face-Off. This year, Shaun and I are fundraising for Über den Tellerrand. In this episode, I give an update on who is in the lead and interview Philippa, a student in Freiburg who started joining the organization's events as a way to get to know new people in town. MORE INFORMATION thegermanyexperience.de/charity2020 Donate to the project here (Write in "The Expat Cast" in t...
Dec 20, 2020•11 min•Ep. 121
SEGEPADFO. Happy third Advent Sunday! We're celebrating with SEGEPADFO: the Second Ever Germany Expat Podcasters Donation Face-Off. This year, Shaun and I are fundraising for Über den Tellerrand. In this episode, I give an update on who is in the lead, release the brand new SEGEPADFO jingle, written by Shaun and featuring backup vocals from yours truly, and attempt to trash talk using quotes from Conor McGregor. MORE INFORMATION thegermanyexperience.de/charity2020 Donate to the project here (Wri...
Dec 13, 2020•12 min•Ep. 120
