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Watching the FIFA World Cup in the U.S. Versus Germany

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WATCHING THE FIFA WORLD CUP IN THE U.S. VERSUS GERMANY

After four years of drought, the time has finally come again: The FIFA World Cup is back.  Even though Germany didn’t showcase its best performance in the first game against Mexico, I do have high hopes for the team.

While I was living in Germany, I never was a really big soccer fan, nor did I have a favorite team I rooted for.  But when it was time for the European and World Cup, I did a whole 180 and turned into a soccer maniac– including dressing up with accessories and attending public viewings.

One might think that I am a major bandwagon, and I have no problem to admit that.  But before you judge me, I would love to explain my reasoning behind my transformation: I just love the energy that is going on during a World Cup.  It feels like the whole country becomes a union where everyone is welcomed and we celebrate together as a team.

[Read more…] about Watching the FIFA World Cup in the U.S. Versus Germany

In Love with ‘The Sun’ featured in the Transitions Lenses Commercial

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WHO IS PAROV STELAR?

Do you know that feeling? You are watching a commercial on TV and suddenly you can’t get enough of it.  You are just waiting for this particular commercial to come back on the screen. But not so much because of the commercial but rather for its SONG!

That is what’s happening to me right now when I hear or see the Transitions Lenses Commercial. And, depending on the channel you are watching, you can actually see it quite often these days!

What drew me in to the commercial was the spirit of the song, which is by the way masterfully paired with beautiful images. (Thumbs up for the Transitions’ marketing department here.)

My family doesn’t much watch TV usually, but sometimes in the evenings the TV just seems to be on almost to provide some ‘white background noise’. On one of these days, this particular song lured me out, made me stop whatever I was doing, and beckoned to just listen… [Read more…] about In Love with ‘The Sun’ featured in the Transitions Lenses Commercial

Ilka Sternberger and Tivoli Rainbow Garden Preschool celebrate 10th Anniversary – (Interview)

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Rainbow Garden Preschool in Los Angles celebrated its 10th Anniversary this past weekend. We interviewed Ilka Sternberger on the occasion of this event.

June 2, 2018 marked a special day for Ilka Sternberger. Her preschool Tivoli Rainbow Garden Preschool in L.A. celebrated its 10th anniversary and Ilka herself was honored by her school community. A school community that has become family over the years and has turned parents into friends.

Ilka, a gifted educator, who immigrated to the United States from Wiesbaden 29 years ago, has become indispensable for families of the German community in and around Los Angeles. Parents love her for creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere for their children while being immersed in the German language and learning all about German traditions as well.

That’s why parents wanted to make sure to let her know just how grateful they are for her creating such a wonderful and peaceful learning environment that sparks the imagination of their children every single school day. The 10-year anniversary party this past Saturday was full of surprises. From special speeches to a video full of memorable moments and special dedications.

In our interview, Ilka Sternberger shares with us how she started Rainbow Garden preschool 10 years ago, and what an impact this had not only on her life but on so many others as well. [Read more…] about Ilka Sternberger and Tivoli Rainbow Garden Preschool celebrate 10th Anniversary – (Interview)

A New Look For CaliforniaGermans.com

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We are changing the look and feel of our website!

It was about time for CaliforniaGermans to finally get a ‘facelift’. Well, we are so excited to let you know that we finally did it!!  We will be changing to the new layout over the next few days.

Should you encounter any problems loading our site or not find what you are looking for, please let us know. Send us a quick note via our Contact Page!

With the new design, we hope to make it eventually easier for you to find what you are looking for. It’s a work in progress and even after the design-switch we will still continue making several updates to our site. Please have patience with us!

As always, we welcome your input and suggestions and would love to hear what you think of our new look. Let us know in the comments 🙂

Celebrate with us the new face of CaliforniaGermans!

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Meet Josie Pepper at the Munich International Airport

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FMG,Pepper Roboter,Flughafen München

Embracing the future at Munich International Airport

Should you be on your way to Munich by plane and end up in Terminal 2,  you will meet Lufthansa’s and Munich Airport’s new attraction: Josie Pepper!

Who is Josie Pepper?

Josie Pepper speaks English and will “await passengers at the top of the ramp leading to the shuttle connecting the main terminal to the satellite building…” Nothing groundbreaking really about this news…

BUT, Josie Pepper is not your regular airport ground attendant. ‘She’ looks in fact like ‘she’ could be R2D2’s girlfriend. The innovative news about her is that ‘she’ is a humanoid robot about 42 inches tall. While no novelty in Japan and other countries, Josie represents the very first test of a humanoid robot equipped with artificial intelligence at a German airport!

FMG,Pepper Roboter,Flughafen München

Artificial Intelligence in a Testing Phase

When Josie speaks, ‘she’ does not just deliver pre-defined texts. The humanoid robot has the ability to learn and so it answers each question individually.

Josie Pepper’s “brain” contains a high-performance processor with a WLAN internet access. This creates a connection to a cloud service where speech is processed, interpreted and linked to the airport data. Just like a “real” brain, the system becomes steadily better at combining questions with the relevant information to provide more precise replies. (Deutsche Lufthansa AG)

Will we see more of Josie’s kind moving about the Munich Airport in the future? This seems to be up to the passengers. Munich Airport and Deutsche Lufthansa are testing how passengers react to having Josie around. So, be welcoming to Josie Pepper and treat her kindly!

Want to find out more about Josie Pepper and the technic behind ‘her’? Check out this link here.

Images and Information: ©Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Munich Airport

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EUSTORY, an International History Competition for German and French Youth to Reflect on Peace

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Students of a German School in San Diego learn how to write a movie script

About a month ago  German Pacific School San Diego and San Diego French American School collaborated in preparing for an international competition that invites them to reflect on the concept of peace before, during and after WW I.

EUSTORY, an international history competition wants to guide students to a greater understanding of historic events but also engage them in finding relations between today’s events and events in the past, and overall help them become productive citizens of the world.

Both schools decided on choosing film as a medium for their project, and to learn the ‘nuts and bolts’ of scriptwriting they participated in an intercultural scriptwriting seminar. In the following read more about their experience:

German and French students collaborate on international competition

( by Lenni Elbe)
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An excited buzz fills the air as groups of French and German students discuss their ideas. They are preparing for an international history competition, called EUSTORY.

On October 14, students from San Diego French American School and German Pacific School San Diego partook in a seminar run by a professional scriptwriter, Diane Alpaio, to help prepare them for the competition in Spring.

The script writing workshop led students through a pre-written script in order to learn the basic elements of story writing. First, they watched and analyzed a short film. Then, they were split into small groups and wrote their own scenes using those basic elements such as dialogue, conflict, and characters.

The students left with a greater understanding of how movie scripts are written, and with plenty of ideas on how to continue their own EUSTORY project. “Working with the French students was great and I didn’t expect the seminar to be so much fun. It really got everyone excited about the competition” said Jack, a student at GPSSD.

The script writing seminar was just the start. Students will continue to meet on a regular basis throughout the script writing process. Instructors from both schools are guiding the students, including Mr. Baron (SDFAS), Ms. Brouder (SDFAS), and Ms. Elbe (GPSSD).

EUSTORY was started in order to provide students with an opportunity to reflect on the events of World War 1, to work together, and to foster cross-cultural understanding. This year’s theme is: “Peace in War Time, Peace in World War 1.” This initiative is representative of the creative potential in students, and broadens young people’s perspectives, giving them the tools and skills required to become productive citizens of the world.

The short film will premiere this coming spring at an event at SDFAS.
For more information, please visit www.eustory.fr or www.gpssd.org

Images: German Pacific School San Diego – GPSSD

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Halloween, Martin Luther and the Reformation

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Today it’s all about Halloween. At least if you live here in the United States. In Germany, October  31 has been declared a national holiday this year, and that not because of Halloween.

Let’s talk about Martin Luther, the scholar, priest, and unifier.

Germany Celebrates 500 Years of The Reformation 

500 years ago, Martin Luther, a priest and scholar went to a church in Wittenberg to nail his 95 theses on to its doors. That act started a religious revolution and led to the formation of a new religious structure within Christendom: Protestantism. The Reformation was born.

Today Germany and churches around the globe commemorate Martin Luther and this significant event that brought about Protestantism and its many subgroups, like Lutheranism, Baptism, Anglicanism, Methodism and more.

But, What do We Really Know About Martin Luther?

Luther – The Priest who Started the Reformation

Martin Luther hadn’t planned for all this to happen. In fact, all he wanted was to find a way to draw attention to some teachings and practices of the Catholic Church he didn’t agree with. Despite attempts and requests to debate this with church leaders, they chose to ignore him. Luther had to find a different way to make himself heard and found a very effective one. He nailed his 95 theses to the doors of the castle church of Wittenberg. At least, so the legend goes. It is disputed if this actually happened, especially since Luther just wanted to change some grievances and not cause a religious revolution.

Luther – The Scholar, Speaking Out for Free Education for All

Luther, the revolutionary, the priest who started a new religion within Christianity. That’s how many of us know him best. But, did you know that Luther was also a revolutionary in regards to education? In a way, we can thank him for free public education, which is very much still policy in present day Germany. He not only supported that education should be free for all and not a privilege of the rich elite, but also pioneered in making education available for girls!

Luther – The Linguist and Uniter

By translating the Bible from Latin into German, Martin Luther united a people under the umbrella of one common German language. Before the days of the Bible written in German, the German language consisted of many varieties of dialects. Luther, fluent in both, the northern and southern German dialects, wanted all the German people to understand the teachings of the Bible. By taking all dialects into account he created a German language that was understandable to everyone. Credit Luther for the first standardized German, if you will!

Image: Pixabay.com

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German Interview Partners Needed for ARD/ZDF Report on California Wildfires

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Ziri Rideaux is a correspondent for German-TV ARD and ZDF based in Los Angeles. She is looking for interview partners, who got affected by the recent California wildfires. Read on for more information:

“We are considering to do a 30-minutes report on how Germans are experiencing the large fires in Northern California. We are looking for German-speaking individuals or families, who are willing to interview with us, walk with us to a burn-site where they’ve suffered a severe loss and allow us to follow them around for a day or two. We would come to the Santa Rosa area for about 5 days but could drive around in a 100-mile radius). We would interview and film with a variety of victims of the fire. We are interested in their personal experiences and their feelings about/plans for the future.”

If you have any questions or would like to speak with Ziri in person, please contact her at ziri[AT]ziriusfilms.com

Image: Wikimedia.org

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Devastating California Wildfires – Here is how you can help

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Wildfires in California have kept a whole state on edge for the past few weeks.  While many fires have been contained, lots of people directly affected by the fires have to deal with the aftermath: homes and communities destroyed and people displaced.

Following the devastating news on wildfires ravaging particularly in Northern California but also in parts of Southern California, we want to help spread the word on how we all can pitch in and help by either donating money or our time as a volunteer.

List of Fire Relief Crowd funding campaigns and Community Foundations offering help:

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GO-FUND-ME -SPECIAL Page containing all verified campaigns to help with Fire Relief.

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Bay Area Unite for California Fire Relief  

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CNN – ‘Impact Your World ‘ – via Public Good

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Disaster Relief Santa Rosa Fire

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Sonoma County Resilience Fund

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Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund

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FREE CLOTHES give away by San Francisco store Love on Haight 

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VOLUNTEERS – Red Cross is looking for volunteers.

If you live near Sonoma, Napa, Lake, Solano, Marin and Mendocino and are interested in volunteering to support wildfire relief efforts, please Apply Now!

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IN ORANGE COUNTY:

Influence Church is helping with shelter food and support

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Image: Pixabay.com

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