Alisa Jordan Writes

Paying the restaurant bill in Germany

“Zusammen oder getrennt?” Together or separate asks the waiter/ess as you finish a meal with friends and request to pay the bill. If you’re wondering what is meant by this, in Germany you are literally asked if you want to split the bill between the table or if one individual will be covering everyone. Honestly, I think…

Being a woman of colour in Frankfurt

After being asked about what it’s like to be a woman of colour in Frankfurt, specifically a black woman, and if I have experienced any racism, I’ve decided to share my experiences with you. I always start by saying that I don’t work in a strictly German environment, in fact, due to the nature of…

Frankfurt: a convenient city

No long commutes and no overcrowding are the two main things I love about living in Frankfurt. Life here is a bit slower than in my home city London, which does of course has many specialities, but I love I no longer feeling like a sardine when I walk around the city and I never…

Apartments don’t come with kitchens in Germany

“What!? How can an apartment not come with a kitchen?” Is the exact reaction I had when I first found out that German apartments do not necessarily come with a kitchen. I mean, really, how is that even possible? It’s like the bathroom coming without a bath/ shower or like a friend of mine said,…

Celebrating your birthday away from home

I love celebrating my birthday and even when I try to make it as small as possible, it always turns into a big celebration! I see my birthday not only as an opportunity to celebrate another year, but to bring friends together and enjoy the time with those closest to me. I’ve been living abroad…

The German obsession with cake & ice-cream

Imagine being hungry, like really hungry and instead of offering you a nice, filling, savoury meal, someone asks you if you want slice of cake. Noooo, I don’t want cake, I’m starving, I want real food! I recently went to a cafe with a group of friends (German and non-German) and given that it was…

Struggling with German in Frankfurt

I definitely had an advantage when I moved to Germany. In hindsight being able to speak German before I got here was actually a huge advantage and I wasn’t quite aware of how much my German language skills contributed to the ease of settling in in Frankfurt. Yes, there were times when I needed to look…

How to keep fit without getting tied into a long-term gym contract

If you aren’t too sure how long you’ll be staying in your new expat home, then you probably won’t want to commit to a one or two-year gym contract just to keep fit and you’d rather go with something short-term. It’s easy to let exercise slip when monthly gym payments aren’t being debited from your…

The pros and cons of travelling with friends from home once you’ve moved abroad

I moved from London to Frankfurt in August 2016 and although it’s only a one-hour flight away, I tried my best, especially during my first year, to make sure I built a life for myself in Frankfurt without allowing myself to feel like I still live in London. I did this by having very few…

Self-reflection & progression: the best way to keep a diary

I randomly wrote a list of things that I wanted to work on and named this list “Aims, Goals & Aspirations.” My list consisted of long term-goals to work towards and short-term goals that I could meet in the next few months. My “aims, goals and aspirations” consisted of anything where I felt there was…

Sick leave in Germany

Being sick is a weak excuse in the London office. Unless everyone can see that you have dragged yourself to work that morning, are looking extra rough, tried to act as if you’re not ill, but still ended up nearly fainting at your desk, you’re either completely faking it, exaggerating or running out of annual…

When life abroad becomes home and home becomes life abroad

Spending some time back home after living abroad for nearly two years (and hardly visiting London) has made me realise that life abroad doesn’t always feel foreign. At some point the tables start to turn… It wasn’t Christmas, it wasn’t my birthday, it was just the first ‘normal’ week I’d spent working in London since…

Cuba

The original plan was to fly from Frankfurt via Toronto, where I’d meet a friend from London and then take the last flight that day to Havana. Whilst we don’t like to plan out trips too much and prefer to see how it goes once we’re there, missing our flight to Havana and having to…

How to prepare for long haul flights and layovers

I’m writing this whilst sat in Toronto airport for a 6 hour lay over after an 8 hour flight from Frankfurt before getting a 3 hour flight to Havana. Sounds like this journey is taking forever but the time isn’t going too slowly so I thought I’d share how I best prepare for a 17…

The lack of customer service in Germany

Essential organisation is required for the brutal 3 minute procedure of having your food practically chucked at you after being scanned, whilst you’re expected to pack, swipe your points card, sign after using your debit card (because apparently a PIN just isn’t good enough) and then maybe you’ll get a “tschüß” if you’re lucky as…

Struggling to accept that ‘small talk’ and ‘awkward’ situations don’t exist in German

Germans are so direct that the term ‘small talk’ doesn’t even exist in their language. Why? It’s just not something they do. Regardless of whether it’s a touchy subject or not, Germans jump straight to the point in conversation, rather than beating around the bush and facing confrontation as indirectly as possible, as do the…