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

Politics

Today the entire world found out that Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States. I honestly could not believe it. I am still reeling from the results. I decided that I would take this moment to talk about how Germans view politics. Germany, at this point in time, tends to be more liberal than the United States. The democrats in the United States tend to be viewed as rather conservative compared to the liberal SPD in Germany. Now even though Germany tends to be left-leaning, the AFD (Alternative for Deutschland) has been gaining support leading Angela Merkel to warn Europe that they might be facing a return to nationalism. I would say that as a rule of thumb, don't bring up politics unless someone else brings it up first. Germans also prefer to debate about an issue, versus yelling your opinions and denying everything that the other side says. If you hear something that you don't agree with when it regards politics, don't try to force your opinion down the other person's throat. Try to stay open-minded and listen, even if you don't think their opinion is at all valid. Hilary Clinton did it while she debated Donald Trump, you can do it too.
I hope this was helpful to all of you comment below and let me know what you want to know about next!

Tschüss Leute!
-Vany

Watching TV Shows or Movies Online

Germany is one of the strictest countries when it comes to downloading videos online. You could pay up to 300 euros for just one movie. Streaming is just as iffy. If you stream with a torrent, they can easily catch you because some parts of the video are downloaded as you are watching it. Overall, it is best to try and stick to the legal video streaming services. Today, I'm going to try and help you figure out which service is the best. I will only be talking about Amazon Prime and Netflix, as those are the two that I know are completely legal. 

Which one has a bigger selection?

Amazon Prime has a larger selection of TV shows and movies but, you will have to pay for them on top of your Amazon Prime membership. Netflix has a pretty decent selection of TV shows along with all of their Netflix Original TV shows. The movies on Netflix will not be the newest releases but you won't have to pay for anything on top of your membership fee.

Which one has better video quality?

Both Netflix and Amazon Prime stream in 4k.

Can I watch my shows in English?

Netflix does allow the user to watch the content in it's original language with subtitles in German or English. Amazon Prime will not let you watch the content in the original language but will allow German subtitles.

Are there any extra features?

Netflix is just a streaming service. Amazon Prime will also give you free one  day shipping to Germany and free two day shipping to Austria if you have a Prime account. You would also have access to Amazon Music which is a music streaming service that is free to Prime members.

How much do they cost?

Netflix costs 7.99 euros per month and you can get a free one month trial. Amazon Prime costs 49 euro per year, which breaks down to about 4.83 euros per month. There is also Amazon student which costs 24.50 euros per year or about 2.42 euros per month. Amazon student also comes with a 12 month free trial but, you won't be allowed to watch anything or listen to music.

Which One Should I Choose?

Overall its up to you guys. It all depends on what you want and how much you are willing to pay for it. If you buy a lot of things online, then go with Amazon Prime. If you really just want to watch TV shows and movies then go for Netflix.

I hope this helped you guys! Comment below on what I should talk about next!

Tschüss Leute!

-Vany