A West Coast girl’s first East Coast bagel

On 23 February, 201723 April, 2019 By Alison HaywoodIn City Life, Culture, Life Abroad3 Comments

The last time I was in Berlin, a friend from Connecticut took me to a proper New York style bagel place. My life was changed.

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The surprisingly slack standards of food safety in Germany

On 11 November, 201511 November, 2015 By Alison HaywoodIn CultureLeave a comment

In the U.S., food workers are required to wash their hands multiple times a shift. Photo: Kelly Thomas

For a country known for its bloated bureaucracy and strict regulations, Germany has comparatively lax food safety laws – at least in comparison to Washington state.

To get my Washington food worker’s card, I had to watch a little video online about various food-related rules and answer simple questions related to them afterwards.

In Germany, I showed up one evening at a repurposed furniture store, sat in a crowded room, and watched a video on an ill-fated food worker who got a bad case of food poisoning and had to stay home three days from work. Continue reading “The surprisingly slack standards of food safety in Germany” →

Moving to Hamburg and the story of my summer

On 10 October, 201523 April, 2019 By Alison HaywoodIn Arrival, Culture, Night Life, Sightseeing, Summer, TravelLeave a comment

I got into a bit of a blogging slump this summer, so here’s a catch-all post of some of the highlights I’ve neglected to write about: Hamburg Pride, a Germany reunion with my dear friend Edwin, a brief weekend in Berlin, and a visit to Brighton, U.K.

Trying to make the most of the short-lived sunny weather – paddle boating on the Alster with friends. (See below.)

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What I am learning about German culture from working in a supermarket

On 21 July, 201514 March, 2016 By Alison HaywoodIn Culture, work1 Comment

To celebrate my new income, a few days later I got a haircut - badly needed, as you can see in this picture. — To celebrate my new income, a few days later I got a haircut – badly needed, as you can see in this picture.

After a month and a half of tangling with bureaucracy, bellyaching over budgets and nearly driving myself crazy with the amount of free time I had on my hands, I finally got a job.

I work at a supermarket chain collecting items for customers’ online orders and packing them neatly into boxes. I get to carry around a neat little scanner and push around a large shopping cart and learn the location of even the most obscure supermarket products, from Studentenfütter (which literally translates to student food and turns out to be a type of trail mix) to mango-flavored buttermilk (yes, Germans drink plain buttermilk, how gross) to Hüttenkäse (which literally translates to “little hut cheese,” which, as you may have guessed, is cottage cheese in English). Continue reading “What I am learning about German culture from working in a supermarket” →

Copenhagen, as it’s meant to be seen

On 7 April, 201514 March, 2016 By Alison HaywoodIn Erasmus Mundus, Sightseeing, Travel1 Comment

Last weekend I saw Copenhagen as it’s meant to be seen: from a bicycle.

Sadly, this is not the bicycle I was on. But I wish it were.

An excursion to the German embassy to apply for a residence permit turned into a weekend-long trip to Denmark’s capital city. Instead of my usual diary-style narrative, I’m going to write you a “listicle” (list + article) around a topic: Copenhagen on a budget. Continue reading “Copenhagen, as it’s meant to be seen” →