Sometimes, a little more perspective helps to do the right thing. A little more knowledge about how things are interconnected. They should teach it in school, to see the big picture. For example: People in my neighborhood are upset about the amount of dog excrements on the sidewalk. They have dogs themselves and do not … Continue reading Put it into perspective
Category: expat life
Cultural stereotypes as assets: ecological awareness
[This post is part of the series on navigating stereotypes that are ascribed to me because of my nationality.] This time I have been both inspired by the newly introduced organic recycling containers in Barcelona, as well as by the following video comparing Germany's recycling affinity with their love for their cars. Apparently yes, we … Continue reading Cultural stereotypes as assets: ecological awareness
Cultural stereotypes as assets: structure
[This post is part of the series on navigating stereotypes that are ascribed to me because of my nationality.] In Spain they call German people “cabezas cuadradas” which means approximately “square head”. We are seen as taking everything serious and being very structured both in our way of thinking and in organizing stuff. Maybe, maybe … Continue reading Cultural stereotypes as assets: structure
Cultural stereotypes as assets: Smiling
Cultural stereotypes as assets: Punctuality
[This post is part of the series I am starting right now on navigating stereotypes that are ascribed to me because of my nationality.] One of the most interesting things about living abroad is that you start discovering things about your self you took for granted. But which in a new setting turn out to … Continue reading Cultural stereotypes as assets: Punctuality
Being officially digitally distinct
I just asked the Online Identity Calculator and now I have a badge: I am officially digitally distinct, meaning that if you search for my name on google you get a high volume of results with overall favorable content. The website dates back to 2007 and apparently was launched together with a related book (if … Continue reading Being officially digitally distinct
Aspects of a quadrilingual life
Last week I had a nice chat with some other foreigners in Barcelona. My friend commented that I should definitely have kids some day, just to see them growing up with four languages and see how it goes. In this case the kid would speak German and Portuguese at home, and Spanish and Catalan in … Continue reading Aspects of a quadrilingual life
“Eco” in Spain II
My last post contained some reflections on how to market eco products in Spain. And while living here, this topic will probably stay high up on my agenda. In Germany and Denmark my interest for ecological sound products never posed a problem, as there is always plenty of choice. However, in Spain it is not … Continue reading “Eco” in Spain II
What I learned through university – navigating culture and myself
This post over at Small Hands - Big Ideas made me recall my university days and how everything came out different than planned. And probably even better. I have been to three different full-time universities, and each one gave me something different, which has shaped very distinctively who I am. I started off in Chemnitz, … Continue reading What I learned through university – navigating culture and myself
Know your inventory – targeting an audience
I work in an online marketing company leading the team responsible for our online advertisement inventory. That means we segment our audience into different channels and try to deliver the best offer to each person. We work both with contextual and behavioral segmentation, which means we analyze what people look at (like google does with … Continue reading Know your inventory – targeting an audience
Minimalist Musings in Mataró 