School Holidays

             Who doesn't love the holidays? Relaxing at home, doing nothing and recovering from the stress of day to day life. In the United States, everyone has the same holidays. *Summer is always from June to the day after Labor Day, spring break is always a week in April, etc. However, in Germany, every state has different dates for their holidays. The Christmas and Easter breaks only vary by a few days, but the Fall and Summer breaks can vary by weeks. Why is that? The German system is set up like that in order to prevent an overload of students on break. As traveling in Germany is a lot easier compared to in the US, people will often travel during school breaks. A lot will travel abroad but most will probably travel within Germany. Since Germany is so small, it would be a huge overload if every student traveled at the same time. So instead, the school breaks are staggered to avoid complications from arising. Since the United States is so large, there isn't the high risk that everyone will travel to the same place during a break. I hope this was helpful for you guys! Please comment below and tell me what to post next!

Tschüss Leute!
-Vany

Does Starbucks exist in Germany?

Yes, Starbucks does exist in Germany. However, it is of course, more complicated than that. Starbucks might be a decent price in America, but in Germany, it is extremely overpriced. Starbucks in Germany also has a slightly different taste and menu than Starbucks in the USA. Starbucks can't even be found in most German cities. You can only find them in large cities such as Berlin, and Hannover. Due to these many setbacks, it is better to rely on local cafes instead. One good Coffee chain in Germany is Balzac Coffee, Their coffee is very good and they have a pretty good selection of food. Another good coffee place is Tchibo, which doubles as a coffee place and clothing store. They also sell coffee that is good and considerably cheaper than Starbucks coffee. In the end, instead of relying on Starbucks, when in Germany, one should try out other coffee places instead. I hope this helped you guys! I am sorry that I didn't post on time this week or last week but I had a lot of things to do. Comment below and tell me what to talk about next!

Tschüss Leute!

-Vany

Are There Sephoras in Germany?

A lot of people in the US have been asking me whether or not Sophora exists in Germany. The short answer is no, there are no Sephoras in Germany. The long answer: It's complicated.

There are no actual Sephora stores in Germany. There is a similar store called Douglas that sells similar brands along with several perfumes. However, you cannot buy Too Faced, Becca, Tarte, Kat von D, Makeup Forever, or Nars at Douglas. These brands do sometimes come up in TJ Max or as it is called here in Germany, TK Max. When they do turn up, they are usually much cheaper than they would be in the US. The one problem is that these brands are not always available in TJ Max so you could have to wait and see if the products are even available. There is the third option of ordering makeup from directly from Sephora online, but the shipping is expensive and it will take a long time for your product to get to where ever you are staying in Germany. There is always the option of ordering online from Amazon but that is very risky and you could end up with counterfeit makeup products. I hope this was helpful for all of you! I am very happy that I was able to post on time this week. Please comment below on what I should talk about next!

Tschüss Leute

-Vany

Christmas Markets

Christmas is always a big deal in Germany. There are Advents calendars everywhere, Christmas lights throughout the city, and of course the Christmas or Weinachts Markt. Almost every town has a Christmas market of some sort. Whether it is open for a weekend or for the entire month of December, there is absolutely no reason to not go to a Christmas market. In larger cities, there is often two markets. One in the center of the city, and another in front of the main train station. Inside of a Christmas market, you can always buy potato pancakes (kartoffeln puffer), spiced wine (gluh wein), and roasted nuts. Aside from these staples, you can also find an assortment of local Christmas decorations or items in general. Going to a Christmas market is a good way to see traditional German living, as almost everyone goes to the Christmas market. There are certain cities that have famous Christmas markets such as Munich, Dresden, Berlin, and Hamburg. However, I think that all of the Christmas markets are enchanting, whether they are in a large city or in a small village. They are definitely a place to go when you are in Germany during December. I hope this was helpful for you guys! Comment below on what you want to know next! 

Tschüss Leute!

-Vany

St. Martins

St. Martins is a pretty big holiday in Germany. It always happens on November eleventh and it is a sort of German version of Halloween. Children go through the streets with their parents following a man on a hose that they call St. Martin. As they follow him around the city, the children carry lanterns and sing carols in German. Afterwards, the children go to peoples' houses and sing in order to earn candy. It is a wonderful thing to experience. I walked with my friend Erin through the streets while following St. Martin. It was very fun to listen to the traditional carols, and eventually we started to sing along. If you are spending a year in Germany, I would definitely recommend participating in the St. Martin walk. I hope this gave you guys a good idea of St. Martins! Comment below!

Tschüss Leute!

-Vany

Sundays

Sundays in Germany are very different from Sundays in the USA. In the US, a Sunday is basically the same as any other day. The only difference, some people go to church. In Germany, almost everything is closed on Sunday. Some movie theaters, certain restaurants and some grocery stores are open. This does, of course, vary from city to city and state to state. However, as a general rule, you can assume that nothing will be open on Sunday. There are certain Sundays in which shops are open until five pm. Those days are normally festival days. However, those days are few and far in between. When in Germany, you can think of Sundays as your days of rest. You can catch up on homework, get ahead at work, or just laze around all day. The buses and trains also run at different times on Sundays. So if you have to take the bus or train on a Sunday, make sure you check the bus or train schedule. Overall, I would recommend just staying home on a Sunday and just getting al of your shopping done on Friday or Saturday to avoid the most stress. I hope that this was helpful for you guys! I'm sorry that I didn't post this on Friday, it was St. Martins and I went out with my friend Erin on the Lantern Walk. I will do a post on that later this week. Comment on what you want to know next!

Tschüss Leute!

-Vany