Married To A German :)

[jundp 191]

Also, in defense of the German thread: they've always been kind and tolerant with me. I posted AGES ago that German isn't my language and that I'm trying. They've responded to me in English when I've posed a question and I've tried to read and pay attention. No one has ever been rude or unkind to me at all.

[Otto 83]

How many of you have been to Germany and where?

I was born/raised there Rheinland-Pfalz (south-western) near a town called Pirmasens - Karin comes from North Rhine - Westphalia (north/central sort of) city of Wuppertal. That's where we're from - we've been all over too.

[cassi9879 20]

Never been to Germany.

[Dr. ZoSo 0]

Hi all,

Great thread

I am the USC, my husband is from Baden-Wuertemberg. I speak very little German as well, though my son from a previous marriage is nearly fluent. Most of my husband's family speak English, with the exception of his Oma. His dad, a physicist, was transferred to the US for about 6 years, so they all had practical experience.

I have picked up quite a bit from listening to them, speaking to them, listening to music, and reading it. When we were still living apart, I tried to write as much in German as I could and I have a pretty good grasp, but not anywhere near even conversational yet.

My wife however has been speaking English far longer than I have been speaking German. I once asked her how her brain works, ie.. "when you think about something what language is it in inside your head"?

She says German and English. I don't believe her!

My husband says the same thing. It depends on what he's thinking about. But he's been speaking English since he was 15 and his MS is Informatiks, which means many of his papers had to be in English.

How many of you have been to Germany and where?

I have been 5 times since 2002. We stay close to my wife's family which is based in villages around Schweinfurt in Bavaria.

[jundp 191]

How many of you have been to Germany and where?

I was born/raised there Rheinland-Pfalz (south-western) near a town called Pirmasens - Karin comes from North Rhine - Westphalia (north/central sort of) city of Wuppertal. That's where we're from - we've been all over too.

Patrick's from Ulm. I've only been to Ulm/Neu-Ulm, Nuernberg, Berlin and Munich. Though we did drive up the Rhein to the Netherlands and back to Ulm.

Just curious as to where people are from/have visited.

[cassi9879 20]

Only time I've been out of the US was to Canada to get to Niagra Falls.

[jundp 191]

Someone further up mentioned being laughed at when they spoke -- I got that a couple times too, but not just with German. I think it gets better the more you speak up, even if you say things wrong. Give yourself a break, though, speaking is always the last to come.

Sometimes when I speak German whilst in Germany my husband's family or friends giggle, but they say it's because I sound "cute." They also tell my husband now that he speaks German with an American accent!

We are playing with the idea of maybe one day moving 'back' to Germany. Not just because it is my home but also because he liked it a lot! What about you guys? Was it always clear that you would want to live in the US together with your fiancés/spouses?

We would both love to live in Germany some day, but not until my daughter (who is 10) is older. She has a great relationship with her father and I would never take her out of the country or so far away from him while she is so young. It's a bonus that my husband's company has several branches in Germany too.

How often does your German other half get home to visit?

We just got married last August. His family came over here for the wedding and his little sister will be coming here in May for my son's graduation. We will be making our first trip to Germany together this August. We'll have a wedding celebration for his family members and friends who didn't attend the American wedding, plus his birthday celebration.

My husband isn't particularly homesick, but he is close to his family and friends. They speak on the phone pretty regularly and they email often as well. We are lucky in that we have the financial stability to fly back as a family to Germany and we have agreed to make this a priority, though likely not every year (maybe every other year) and I'm a teacher so I have summers off.

[Nina+Matt 0]

@dr zoso that is so funny! how small the world can be!! i was born and raised in schweinfurt and always lived there until i moved to the states!!

Edited April 27, 2009 by Nina+Matt

[Melian 0]

How many of you have been to Germany and where?

I've been there twice. Mostly just around Bielefeld & Lippstadt (my fiance's home town, in NRW), but we also made a trip to a conference in Karlsruhe & visited some of his friends in Heidelberg (such a beautiful city!)

[Otto 83]

I've been there twice. Mostly just around Bielefeld & Lippstadt (my fiance's home town, in NRW), but we also made a trip to a conference in Karlsruhe & visited some of his friends in Heidelberg (such a beautiful city!)

Karin has a relative in Bielefeld...

We were in Heidelberg in 2006 - very nice city - when we did the Romantic Road driving tour together...

[panterchen 1]

I am originally from Berlin and my husband has stayed there with me several months.

We also have been all over the place as my dad was really cute and gave us a little graduation/engagement gift last summer. He booked hotels for us and gave us 5 letters. Each letter gave us a ' travel destination' to go to and enjoy 2 days. It really was a lot of fun. We went to Schloss Neuschwanstein (really adorable and romantic), Koblenz, Auf der Loreley, and Berchtesgarden. It was a great trip! For New Years we were spending a few days at the Baltic Sea with my parents and some of their friends. I still really want to go to Hamburg (i was there only once) and Munich with my husband. I think these cities are worth a trip.

We hope to go back to Germany at the end of this year. I am pretty close to my family as well and they help us being able to afford the flights because they miss us a lot!

[Dr. ZoSo 0]

@dr zoso that is so funny! how small the world can be!! i was born and raised in schweinfurt and always lived there until i moved to the states!!

Check this out....

http://wwwherbys.dyndns.org/webcam/webcam....nt&media=ms

[Betti 1]

I am born and raised in Germany as well. I grew up in Oldenburg and lived the last 3 years in Bremen, which is both in the north of Germany. Bremen is about an hour away from Hamburg.

The Americans I meet always seem to have been to the South, nobody ever goes to the North. I wonder why that is...only because Munich is so popular?

The North is pretty flat and the Wadden sea is amazing! It's worth a trip...

We plan to visit next year in summertime and then hopefully every other year or so.

[Aubrey 10]

I am born and raised in Germany as well. I grew up in Oldenburg and lived the last 3 years in Bremen, which is both in the north of Germany. Bremen is about an hour away from Hamburg.

The Americans I meet always seem to have been to the South, nobody ever goes to the North. I wonder why that is...only because Munich is so popular?

The North is pretty flat and the Wadden sea is amazing! It's worth a trip...

We plan to visit next year in summertime and then hopefully every other year or so.

My SO has been living in Bremen for almost 10 years (moving soon). I thought it was a really beautiful, interesting city. I never got to see any of the typical tourist sites around Germany, just Bremen, Bremerhaven, and Cuxhaven. We hope in the future to explore more of Germany and Europe in general, as he hasn't seen as much as he'd like to yet and I've only been there to meet his family and friends. It's funny, he's seen more of the U.S. than Europe now!

[Eveline 9]

Never been to Germany.

Wow...have you ever met his parents though?

It was one of my 'requirements' for my husband to at least meet my parents and I meet his parents before we got engaged.

Do you ever want to go? Is his family still in Germany?