Internationally Engaged

is a place for thoughts on culture from the perspective of one U.S. American living abroad.

Mostly it’s about travel. Places I go, things I see. Sight-seeing tips about places all over Germany and Europe. Click on Travelogue in the menu to see an interactive map. There you can click on the pins to see posts about different places I’ve been. Alternatively, you can select Destinations in Germany or Destinations in Europe or Around Munich for a running feed of all the posts in these categories.

Under the tab Germany for Internationals, you’ll also find posts that provide resources and stories about my experience with travel, immigration, bureaucracy and other practical information. I hope by telling my story, this blog is also a resource for those traveling in, moving to or living in Germany.

And when I have more time to write, this is also a blog about being immersed within a local culture and being an outside observer at the same time. It is about navigating a way between cultures: adopting, blending and retaining. It is about intercultural relationships and communication. Read posts about my stories, experiences and reflections on culture and life as an Ausländer in Germany under Engaging Culture.

The Back Story

I went to Munich to study abroad for a year beginning in fall of 2012. I didn’t know anyone there; I was studying theology in a language that isn’t my first; my arms and my mind were open to experience it all. I blogged throughout that year abroad, and if you were following along, you know that while I was there, I fell in love… not just with Germany, but also with a German.

Fast forward to the fall of 2014. I spent the a year in the U.S. finishing my master’s degree and also blogged about that. I moved back to Germany to be with that German, who happens to be my husband now.

This blog is also home to all of the journal-style posts from life before this international story began, which you can read about in the Life Lately category and under the 2010-2012 archives.