Decades From Home - A Podcast About Germany

With Dili away this week, Producer Simon wants to talk about the Rugby World Cup, while Nic would rather talk about something else, anything else in fact. Luckily a listener comes to Nic’s rescue with an important correction that leaves Simon feeling more than a little goofy.Language is our main theme this week as your hosts discuss their less than straightforward paths towards improving their German. With so many ways to learn, the lads go through the various challenges of taking courses at the Volkshochschule, and the curious approaches some teachers have to motivate older students. Of course, language learning doesn’t always have to happen in the classroom, and your hosts review the apps that have helped and sometimes hindered their progress.Continuing the theme, Simon brings the knowledge after a Sunday spent reading about the minority languages of Germany, and why some variations of German are making a comeback in French schools. For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees currently fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal Save the ChildrenÄrzte ohne GrenzenTheme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß

After a week off, Dili returns to the pod and just in time for some very important admin. With us approaching episode 150, it means that Dili has been co-hosting for nearly a year, which means only one thing: it’s annual review time!! Despite Nic’s best attempts to keep things professional, Dili & Producer Simon are determined to derail his efforts.With the beleaguered German government hoping to regain the initiative after months of disappointing polls and local elections, we look at the change in direction occurring in Berlin. The first step in this new approach seems to be tightening immigration laws and stricter regulation of refugees. We discuss the logic of this new strategy and whether it will actually have the impact coalition government are hoping for.A lovely listener email concerning the quality of German radio sparks a discussion between your hosts over whether German radio is really so terrible, and why it often feels like every radio station sounds exactly the same.For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees currently fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal Save the ChildrenÄrzte ohne GrenzenTheme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß

Despite Dili being out sick this week we have the fortune of being able to welcome the wonderful Kate Mueser to the show to talk about her debut novel The Girl with Twenty Fingers, as well as a variety of other topics! Of course, before we get to the details of her new book, Nic is contractually obliged to go through the less than positive results from the weekend’s state election in Bavaria. We break down the details and consider what it means for the rest of Germany.Thankfully, Kate & Nic are able to distract themselves in the best way possible, by talking about Kate’s time in Las Vegas, and why she chose to leave Germany, and also why Kate decided to return to Germany to raise her children. With the release of her new book, Kate tells Nic about the catharsis of writing about her experiences of living in Germany, her love of Mozart, and why finding home isn’t always a linear process.To get your hands on Kate’s book, The Girl with Twenty Fingers, check out the links below: Bookshop.orgblackwaterpress.comwww.amazon.delesezeichen.bizFor those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees currently fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal Save the ChildrenÄrzte ohne GrenzenTheme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß

Always willing to make sacrifices for the podcast, Nic takes the gallant decision to miss his beloved Newcastle United’s first home Champions League game for 20 years in order to sit down with Dili for this week’s record. Of course, he blames Dili for everything, but thankfully he doesn’t go on about it…For her part, Dili has come prepared with questions about Halloween, which like Christmas, seems to be begin earlier and earlier every year. We discuss possible plans, acceptable costumes, and why left handers are clearly evil.It’s not often we get to talk about the wonders of Sri Lankan food, but another trip to Nürnberg gives your hosts a chance to celebrate some of the finest food in the world, and promote the best restaurant in Bavaria. We also find time to discuss Tag der Deutschen Einheit or German Unity Day and why the celebrations in Hamburg were perhaps less unified than you might expect. Finally, we finish on the opening of the lottery for Euro 2024 tickets. With the tournament being hosted in Germany, can Nic convince Dili to join him if he wins his full allocation of tickets?For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees currently fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal Save the ChildrenÄrzte ohne GrenzenTheme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß

After months of fruit based chat, Nic finally takes Dili to task on her fruit obsession. Perhaps talking about kiwi and peaches makes sense, as it does prevent Nic from worrying about bald men driving Porsches. Dili explains how to punish unruly schoolchildren, and we ask the most important question facing educators: does a leather jacket and motorbike equal cool or midlife crisis?A Saturday trip to Augsburg leads to a surprise confrontation with a controversial Bavarian politician, and we ponder whether booing political speeches is the moral thing to do. We also discuss the surprise defeat of the AfD in a mayoral election.As Oktoberfest rumbles on, we discuss Harry Kane’s fantastic set of Lederhosen, whether it’s time Nic bought a pair himself, and whether Dili fancies getting herself a Dirndl. We finish things off with some exciting news about a record-breaking castle. For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees currently fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal Save the ChildrenÄrzte ohne GrenzenTheme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß

After being out sick last week, Dili is back among the podcast microphones to share her adventures in German healthcare. We also learn how to start a pigeon wellness hotel, which only requires some vinegar and a spare bottle of shampoo, and discover why crows aren’t scaring anyone.While one half of the pod was focused on bird healthcare, Nic was in solitary confinement in his daughter’s Kindergarten. Why was he imprisoned for hours on end, and how does this actually help children adjust to preschool?Oktoberfest is in full flow, meaning Munich’s quota of leather clad drunks is more than fulfilled. Does anything about the annual Bavarian pissup appeal to anyone but Nic, and what would it take to get Dili to drink a litre of beer and queue for hours for the toilet? A trip into Augsburg reminds Nic that the election in Bayern is coming ever closer, while cynical political maneuvers in Thuringia continue to degrade the supposed “firewall” setup against the right-wing. We finish on a recent study into how video games can be used in German classrooms, and ponder whether Super Mario is really going to help children improve their maths skills.For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees currently fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal Save the ChildrenÄrzte ohne GrenzenTheme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß

Sadly Dili is out sick this week, so we once again call upon the sonorous tones of Producer Simon to step up to the mic and join Nic for a discussion on apocalyptic weather and why talking about the weather might have more purpose than simply meaningless small talk.Swiftly moving on from biblical storms, Nic has found a new way to buy cheese, although it does require climbing mountains in order to get it. We talk about cow bells and the best way to teach children about electric fences. With Dili away, it means Producer Simon and Nic can indulge in a discussion about sport, which is convenient given Germany’s success at the basketball world cup. We discuss the popularity of basketball, why it doesn’t get much respect, and whether Germany is capable of enjoying success without also needing a large helping of disaster. For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees currently fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal Save the ChildrenÄrzte ohne GrenzenTheme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß

It’s a race against time to record the podcast this week as Nic’s access to the internet could be shut-off at any moment by some well meaning, but rather strange rules dictated by the owners of a Bavarian guest house he’s staying in. No matter, at least the full DfH gang are back together again after last week’s episode. Just in time too, since Dili has some important updates on her adopted pigeon family that’s been living on her balcony. Can she be the mother of pigeons even if birds terrify her? Having survived another Sealed Knot battle reenactment, Nic takes us through his adventures in a field in Wales, and explains why drinking port is a terrible idea, how a 17th century army should make an entrance, and why Wales should be top of every German’s list of holiday destinations.With the fun stuff out of the way, we turn to the recent anti-Semitism scandal engulfing the Bavarian government and wonder why Bavarian voters seem so attracted to de-nothing politicians and mediocre leaders. We also ask whether we should punish people for the terrible things they did at school.Not wishing to leave our lovely listeners on a sour note, we discuss Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s new eye patch and why having a pirate take charge of the Bundestag is an excellent idea.For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees currently fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal Save the ChildrenÄrzte ohne GrenzenTheme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß

Nic is absent this week, so for a change of pace, Dili has chosen to have a conversation with Producer Simon, the podcast’s mystery microphone man. Ostensibly a discussion about their individual and collective experiences of moving to Germany, unsurprisingly it heads in other directions too; when the cat’s away, the mice will play!Producer Simon explains how he came to be in Germany, and what it was like changing countries during the Pandemic. Dili also recounts her “moving-to-Germany” story, then details her area of postgraduate study, Sri Lankan English.With Nic out of town, Dili delights in an extended “Dili’s Fruit Corner”, and finds in Producer Simon, a genuine fruit enthusiast. Producer Simon even suggests he may have once taken a job based on the abundance of a certain type of fruit in a particular country.Dili wants to know what had the biggest impact on Producer Simon when he left his native New Zealand and the answer has everything to do with New Zealand being in the Southern Hemisphere.Dili and Simon share their experiences of interacting in Germany with the diasporas of both Sri Lanka and New Zealand, and finally they ponder where they might move to next if they had to leave Germany.For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees currently fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal Save the ChildrenÄrzte ohne GrenzenTheme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß

Germany’s late summer heatwave weighs heavily on our hosts, but the mood immediately lifts as Nic details his involvement in another “The Sealed Knot” battle reenactment, but Dili seems more interested in how Nic will pass a pike through airport security. Politics is heating up again after a quiet few weeks, with the topics of cannabis reform and the Self-Identification Law rising to the fore. Dili is also anticipating Germany’s proposed Dual Nationality Law getting the green light by the coalition government. Trigger Warnings are coming to German television, and both Dili and Nic view this as preferable to banning or sanitising older content, but is everything worthy of a second viewing? Finally, it’s that time of the year again as the candidates for Germany’s Youth Word of the Year are presented, leading to the usual hand-wringing about the unstoppable creep of English into the daily German lexicon.For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees currently fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal Save the ChildrenÄrzte ohne GrenzenTheme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß