Adventures of an Expat in Deutschland

Ein herzliches Willkommen aus Hamburg, Deutschland!

A warm welcome from Hamburg, Germany!

These are the chronicles of my adventures as an expat in Germany. Please join me on this amazing journey!

A little background: in 2022, my husband Clarke and I were living in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. At that time, the United States Supreme Court had just overturned the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade. We saw the writing on the wall and knew that it would only be a matter of time before they started revisiting other cases, such as the one which made our marriage legal (Obergefell v. Hodges). Knowing that Texas still had laws on the books that could be enforced if the Court overturned Obergefell, we felt it was necessary to look for a new, safe place to live.

We had kicked around the idea of living abroad prior to this, and decided we would start researching our options. We landed on Uruguay for a number of reasons: climate, constitutional protection of our marriage, economy, etc. However, we also had three large dogs at the time, so an immediate move abroad was not practical.

The next best option, Plan B, was to move to a safer state within the US. After a significant amount of research and prayer, we decided to move to Baltimore, Maryland, which happened in June 2023. Sadly, by that time, two of our three dogs had passed away, so we only had the one fur baby left for the move. We figured we would live in Baltimore for several years, and settled into our new life there. We never anticipated that the Former Guy would get re-elected. Living in deep blue Maryland no longer seemed to be safe enough from what we expected would come of this new regime.

So we dusted off the research we had done for moving abroad (our last dog passed away in February 2024). While we still liked the idea of living in Uruguay (we both had been studying Spanish for the last couple of years), it seemed like it was a bit too far away from everyone, and we didn’t know anyone in South America. Coincidentally, we had spent several weeks in the summer of 2024 with Clarke’s German “sister” Claudia, and we began toying with the idea of moving to Germany instead.

Naturally, we did a lot of research which involved multiple spreadsheets (we never make big decisions without a spreadsheet 😁), along with watching dozens (hundreds?) of videos of expats who were living in Germany, or of native Germans who share what life is like in Germany. We made the decision to uproot ourselves once more, and began the process of fixing up our house for resale and giving away 95% of our stuff.

Deciding to relocate to Germany was easy compared to the logistics of actually pulling it off. Unlike moving from one state to another in the US, moving to another country is challenging, if not downright frustrating. Clarke was able to obtain an Opportunity Visa without too much trouble, which would allow him to live in Germany and look for work. Germany desperately needs more laborers, especially those with certain skills, such as educators. On the other hand, since I am retired and don’t intend to work, they really have no need for me here. 😔

Clarke came over here in June so he would be able to network with educators before school let out for the summer. I stayed behind to finish the work on the house and to sell it. The house sold in the middle of August, and I was technically free to leave the country.

However, just because Clarke has a visa to live and work here doesn’t automatically give me a pass to join him. I tried obtaining a Family Reunion visa which would allow me to legally live here as his spouse (he would still need to obtain permanent residency by getting a qualifying job). However, the German Embassy in Washington DC would not accept my application without having a certificate of language proficiency at the A1 level (basic conversational ability). I tried demonstrating that I had been studying German for over a year and was enrolled in an online course, but that didn’t seem to matter to them.

Since the only thing holding me back was my German studies, I figured it would make more sense to learn German in Germany than Baltimore. So I packed up what wouldn’t fit in my suitcases, shipped it all to Hamburg (4 boxes of keepsakes, some household items, and clothing we wanted to hold on to), and hopped on a plane to Germany. I left Baltimore exactly three months after Clarke left, the longest time we have ever been apart. I am currently here on a tourist visa, and will be allowed to stay until November 26, unless we figure out a way for me to stay permanently.

So that’s how I ended up sitting here in our apartment on a cloudy Sunday afternoon, starting a blog of my expat adventures. From this point forward, I will attempt to regale you with all the fun, amazing, curious, and frustrating aspects of living in this new world that I now call home. Until next time,

Passen Sie auf sich auf und bleiben Sie gesund!

Take care and be safe!

David