Moving abroad to Berlin was a momentous life choice if ever there was one. The three years I spent abroad opened my eyes wide to new ways of living and being, challenging everything I’d grown up to believe. Moving away to the opposite side of the world was also the hardest thing I’ve ever done – it violently spat me out of every comfort zone I knew. I’ll be forever grateful for the experience of living overseas, but there came a point when I started to ache to return to Australia, to come home again. At the beginning of the year, we moved back home to Melbourne and, despite actually spending more time travelling than being home this year, man it feels good to be back. Why? You guys, Germany tires you out after a while! These 25 things make me ridiculously happy to be home.
Why I’m happy to be home in Australia:
1. Doing normal things like going to the bank or post office is not unpleasant anymore. I don’t go there always expecting there to be a problem.
2. I walk around the supermarket in awe. There is so much variety! I can get everything from Kewpie mayonnaise to Thai green curry paste from my local Coles up the road. I no longer have to hit up three or four stores to get the ingredients I need for dinner.
3. It’s a real challenge to find a bad coffee.
4. The air is so clean and clear down under. Even in the cities.
5. The sun is warm here even on the coldest winter days.
6. I’m greeted with a smile (yes, an actual smile!) when I walk into a shop and I’m made to feel like I’m welcome.
7. The variety of food is freaking amazing. Within 100 metres of my apartment alone, I can get seriously good Japanese, Vietnamese, American BBQ, Korean, Greek, French, Mexican, Italian food and more.
8. I don’t have to tip for crappy service anymore! (Okay, mostly I never tipped in Germany out of protest for bad service. You gotta earn it, people!)
9. Shops are open on Sundays.
10. Brunch is a thing.
11. I don’t have to send an official letter by snail mail to cancel a membership or service months ahead. A quick phone call, email, or hell, even Facebook message does the trick.
12. I don’t have to breathe in secondary smoke in bars anymore because, you know, that’s a health risk and illegal.
13. Our families and friends are all within 30 minutes drive of where we live.
14. I’m no longer being ripped off by exorbitantly overpriced, compulsory health insurance.
15. The proximity to the beach. The ocean just feels like home.
16. There is a tropical paradise like this within a couple of hours flight.
17. I understand all the mail I get in the post.
18. I don’t get calc buildup in my shower, washing machine, kettle, etc. anymore.
19. Shopping at the supermarket is no longer an intensely stressful experience. My groceries aren’t scanned and carelessly thrown down, most likely bruised, for me to pack myself (never fast enough).
20. Food is actually spicy again.
21. I don’t get yelled at for breaking the rules anymore, like crossing the lights before the little green man starts flashing.
22. The customer always comes first. Yep, that’s a thing again.
23. Queuing is an orderly process once again. Most Australians understand the process of lining up and waiting your turn.
24. There’s air-conditioning.
25. Vegemite.
Related:
- Why I’m Leaving Berlin (And What it Means for the Future)
- 10 Quotes about Expat Life
- Expats Share: The Best Thing about Being an Expat
Hi Rachel,
Sorry to say this as I love this blog and most of the posts, but I found this to be very unpleasant and quite rude. I’m half German, have never lived there but live in Europe, and take offence to some of your comments. It’s great to celebrate where you’re from and what you love about living there but not at the expense of other countries and cultures! Loved the references to food diversity, the ocean, and the regional proximity to holiday spots - but saying that nobody in German shops greets you with a smile? Or that going to the bank or post office is unpleasant, and that service is always crappy? Most of these are unfounded, and generalizing!
Hi Kristina, thanks so much for taking the time to comment – I totally expect that not everyone will agree with everything on The Department of Wandering and that’s cool! Every point in this post is based on real, honest experiences I had in Berlin over quite a long period of time, so actually none of it is unfounded. Of course, not every single person in Berlin gives crappy customer service for example, but this was unfortunately something that stood out to me constantly in my day to day life (sorry!). Having said that, moving to Berlin was still one of the best decisions I ever made and I wouldn’t change the experience for the world. There are lots of amazing things about Berlin too! I just think it’s important to write posts like this that express how complex the expat experience actually is. Thanks again for your post 🙂
I’m actually German and what you’re describing here is basically the reason why I moved to Norway 2 years ago 😀 German bureaucracy is awful and I also think that a great majority of people are stressed and appear rude most of the time. The German way of living just seemed so exhausting in comparison with the Scandic way so I made the move up north. This is not to say that Norwegians can’t be rude and bureaucratic too but overall I get to enjoy a slower pace of life here and have way more freedom at work. Oh and luckily you don’t have to tip in Norway either. I’ve gotten so used to it that I forgot to tip at a restaurant last time I was in Hamburg and the waiter was so pissed off that he didn’t even replied to our goodbye and totally ignored us when we left. It’s so weird! I do however totally miss German food and supermarket variety! If you think that you don’t have much of a variety in Germany, you should definitely not move to Northern Norway - it’s so much worse here 😀
Oh. so good to hear that Germans also find the bureaucracy tricky and not just clueless expats! Haha! Wow, living in Norway must be absolutely beautiful. I never made it up there (the closest I got was Copenhagen) , but can imagine how the lifestyle would be different. The tipping thing is funny, isn’t it! I’m totally fine with tipping for good service like in the States, but not when the service genuinely sucks and you’ve already asked for the bill three times 😉 I guess the further north you go, the more limited the variety of food is and northern Norway is pretty remote! Totally makes coming home all that much better doesn’t it? Thanks for your comment!
You are making me miss home!!! We used to live in Papua New Guinea and when we would go back to Oz we would go crazy in the supermarket, simply wandering around in awe of everything. 🙂 And now, living in Argentina, we crave the ease of dealing with things like banks and bureaucracy!
Sorry!! Haha! Banks and bureaucracy – I feel your pain! At least the food in Argentina would be amaaaazing. Always a tradeoff I guess 😉 Hope you’re having a great time over there!
Haha - this made me smile. I get junk mail every other day, I completely agree tips should be earned in a restaurant and health insurance in the states is an abomination. I’m being robbed. Glad you’re happy to be back (when you’re there!).
Yes, yes, yes! Don’t worry – I could write a whole post on things that make me frustrated living in Australia too but overall it’s pretty great. It’s funny though, even though I ‘live’ in Australia, I feel like I’m never there! Haha