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Covid-19

Immigrant (Poem)

July 31, 2020 by Cornelia Leave a Comment

Immigrant

(A Poem by Nina Crecia)

The atoms of my soul
feel torn
between
two places.

The old familiar melodies
of almost forgotten lyrics
linger
like a whisper
on my lips.

Memories of traditions
and little things that are different,
and me
feeling different
in this place,
too.

[Read more…] about Immigrant (Poem)

Filed Under: Life in California, News Tagged With: Covid-19, Expat, far away from home, German, immigrant, memories, poem, Traditions

Traveling in Times of Covid-19: Regulations & more

June 12, 2020 by Cornelia Leave a Comment

Are you unsure if you can travel to Germany this summer? What about your partner, a US citizen? Can he/she enter Germany? What about quarantine? How about leaving the USA if one is a non-immigrant visa holder? Can I return to the US after visiting family in Germany?

Questions and more questions. Covid-19 has for sure much impacted our lives these days. Apart from social distancing and shelter in place orders, it has also greatly impacted travel!

We have invited Petra Korn from pKorn Law, who has offices in Berlin and Los Angeles, to give us some advice as well as clarify some immigration issues regarding naturalization and green card applications that have been put on hold during the Covid-19 shutdown.

Find out what you should know about traveling in terms of visa issues and immigration, and much more in our video. 


If you have any additional immigration questions or would like to see a completely different topic discussed here, please contact us and let us know!

Notes: Expired green card holders, in the process of naturalization, are still legally in the country and their permanent resident status is still in place as long as they stay in the US!

Helpful Links: USCIS Response to COVID-19 https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/uscis-response-covid-19 (Naturalization notices & other important facts); Special Situation Page https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/special-situations ; USCIS Field Offices https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/uscis-office-closings ; Germany- Federal Foreign Office-Traveler advice https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/einreiseundaufenthalt/coronavirus ; Tool to find information on relevant public health office in Germany to inquire regarding 2-week quarantine https://tools.rki.de/plztool/ ;

BMI – Information for Germany https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/faqs/EN/topics/civil-protection/coronavirus/coronavirus-faqs.html Auswärtiges Amt /Federal Foreign Office has additional infos:   https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/einreiseundaufenthalt/coronavirus;  U.S. Department of State – Information about Coronavirus:  https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/presidential-proclamation-coronavirus.html  ;   

Link for US citizens returning from or transiting through Europe: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel.html and https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/presidential-proclamation–travel-from-europe.html ; 

Travelers with dual nationality: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/travelers-with-special-considerations/Dual-Nationality-Travelers.html;   

General travel/Coronavirus information: https://faq.coronavirus.gov/travel/#should-i-cancel-my-international-trip;   

Screening & Quarantine upon returning to the US (Department of Homeland Security): https://www.dhs.gov/news/2020/03/17/fact-sheet-dhs-notice-arrival-restrictions-china-iran-and-certain-countries-europe CDC Coronavirus information:https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/map-and-travel-notices.html

 

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The information on this website, within this article and within the video is for general information purposes and entertainment only. Nothing on this site, article, or video should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. Readers of this website should contact their attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular legal matter. Any links to other third-party websites are only for the convenience of the reader, and user of the website.

Image: Pixabay

Filed Under: News, Travel Tagged With: Covid-19, Europe, Germany, Immigration, Quarantine, summer, Travel, travel regulations

My Life During the Covid-19 Pandemic

May 9, 2020 by Cornelia Leave a Comment

In times of Social Distancing & Sheltering in Place!

How have you been holding up during these weeks of sheltering in place?

I have to admit, it wasn’t such an easy transition for me at first, even though I thought I had the least of changes compared to anyone else in my family. Finally, after a few weeks in, I realized that what was slowly getting to me was the lack of a routine that would keep me sane and rooted. 

At the start of the Covid-19 restrictions around the second week of March when sheltering in place became the new normal, I found myself in the kitchen almost 24/7. It was overwhelming perhaps also frustrating, but someone in my family was almost always on the edge of starvation!

When I wasn’t cooking, I was ‘hunting’ for food and toilet paper (!) at the local stores – an activity that could easily cause mere anxiety given the feeling of scarcity it emitted when looking at empty shelves that used to be full of pasta, rice, beans, flour and more. It was a picture I had never imagined I would encounter in the United States.

Back at home, apart from being the cook on call, I also turned into the family hairstylist, accidental school counselor, and I tried my luck at Ayurvedic cooking, since the family decided that vegan is the way to go now.

And…at the end of the day, I just longed for the now seemingly simple days of pre-Covid-19 that had regular hours for work and school and daily school drop off and pick up times were planned for ahead of time. Even spending hours at soccer training and driving to all kinds of other school events, and the fact of never really being home just sounded so inviting now!

Battling to turn into a somewhat exhausted, tense superwoman overnight, I realized I needed to reclaim some balance in my life. So I implemented some changes to bring order into this whole new chaos and the benefits and results have been rewarding, not only for myself but for the whole family.

Now my new routine includes daily yoga sessions, happening online, that even induce my husband sometimes to participate, although reluctantly. Meditation practice is as much part of the new routine as some scheduled family time, where we all try to meet up together once a day after working, learning, and socializing on Zoom all day long. (You need to give these eyes a break sometimes!). And, I managed that everyone in the family understood that the restaurant called “kitchen” is not always open. That was challenging!  

But, what can I say, I’ve started to like my new day’s schedule now. I see new possibilities in situations that before just made me feel stressed out. Therefore, our family is more relaxed and laughter finds its way even into some tense situations.

Needless to say… the sudden change of lifestyle introduced by the Covid-19 pandemic had been a bit more challenging than I initially anticipated. In fact, I am still in the midst of fully comprehending and coming to terms with how the world around us has changed so suddenly from one day to the other.

However, this new situation has also opened up a path of immense appreciation, of witnessing life around me with much more gratitude. It opened up paths for positive changes in my life that I was too busy to see before or felt I had no time to implement.

Well, now there is plenty of time! For contemplation, self-reflection, working on future dreams, and generally becoming a better human being.

I hope we all find a way to embrace the changes that these unprecedented times have brought upon us; changes not only among our families, and communities but also to humanity as a whole. 

If nothing at all, I wish for us to have become more tolerant and hope that- as we are experiencing and living through this pandemic together as one humankind – we internalize that “we are all in this together”, no matter what skin color, religion or what country we are from. 

To celebrate life, human diversity, and our beautiful planet earth that stands up for us every day, I invite you to get inspired by the incredibly beautiful and meditative footage of the movie “BARAKA”, a movie that has a special place in our home.

Enjoy. Stay healthy! We are all in this together!

(Video of the trailer below or try https://documentarylovers.com/film/baraka/ )

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZs0gQed9tMTIRxubXYPy-eDlvWQBKo-d

Images: ©CaliforniaGermans – grocery store, ©Pixabay – Yoga image, Calm image

Filed Under: Life in California, News Tagged With: Covid-19, Expatlife, Expats, Germans in California, Life in California, Pandemic, shelter in place, social distancing

Engage your Kids with Learning German during Covid-19

May 5, 2020 by Cornelia Leave a Comment

Usually, we love hearing the words “School is out!”,… but at the start of summer. This year is different. School has been out for quite a while now and summer hasn’t even started yet. It’s been some challenging weeks for children and parents alike.

While having (more) free time sounded very appealing at first, many kids now actually yearn for some academic challenges and guided intellectual interaction during this ongoing pandemic with its shelter-at-home restrictions.

To keep your children engaged, GASA (German American School Association) is starting Online German Classes geared towards children 4 years & older. A minimum of 8 students per class is required, so grab a bunch of your children’s friends and form your own virtual German learning group with the help of GASA.

Classes start already next week, with Session 1, May 11th through June 6th. Session 2 is scheduled for June 8th through July 4th.

Check out the flyer below for more information. Bis bald!

Image: Chuck Underwood from Pixabay

Filed Under: Education, Life in California, News Tagged With: coronavirus, Covid-19, Culture, GASA German American School Association, German, German language, Online Course, shelter at home, summer course

FREE Live Concert Celebrates Transatlantic Partnership & Solid Friendship During this Pandemic – April 30th

April 29, 2020 by Cornelia Leave a Comment

Bremerhaven – New York: “Voice Over Piano” plays in the ‘Grand Central Terminal’ 

Live – Online concert from the “Grand Central Terminal” at German Emigration Center Bremerhaven with Sara Dähn and Band on Thursday, April 30th, 2020, at 12 p.m. EST on Facebook and Instagram 

Something that seemed impossible these days suddenly becomes reality: The band Voice Over Piano with lead singer Sara Dähn and pianist and entertainer Thomas Blaeschke presents songs by Frank Sinatra, QUEEN, and their own original material. The concert takes place in ‘New York’s Grand Central Terminal’ at the German Emigration Center in Bremerhaven, which hosts the exact replica of NY Grand Central Terminal at their exhibition space.

The two musicians have been transmitting a concert once a week from various locations in Bremen, a city in Northern Germany, via their “Voice Over Piano” account on Facebook and Instagram reaching thousands of viewers – not only in Germany, where the Band is based in Hamburg and Berlin but also in the USA. 

“Be it rock, pop, funk & soul, chanson or musical, we blend together all of these genres in one performance on our world wide concerts bringing together people from all different backgrounds, colors, ethnicities, and belief, and even more so during the time of the CORONAVIRUS pandemic,” explain Thomas and Sara their mission and vision for these online concerts. 

The German Emigration Center in Bremerhaven

The German Emigration Center is situated on a historic site in the New Harbor, which opened in 1852 and was the departure point for approximately 1.2 million emigrants to the New World by 1890. 

Along with Bremerhaven’s Mayor Torsten Neuhoff and members of the City Council and Bremerhaven Tourism (BIS) it was decided that the world known Emigration Center would be the most perfect location for a unique concert celebrating Transatlantic partnership and solid friendship during this pandemic. “We are thinking very often of our dear friends and colleagues in New York, still the American epicenter of this pandemic, hoping the best for them and are very pleased that Governor Andrew Cuomo, is doing whatever is needed to overcome this terrible situation.”

“Ultimately, it’s about friendship across borders, encouragement to continue and stay healthy and above all to thank the first responders, the nurses, doctors, police officers, firemen and – women, everyone who puts her or his life on the line to help us survive. Thank you and we are proud to sing and play music to all of you,” says Thomas. 

The show can be followed live by everyone on Facebook and Instagram or viewed again on Facebook and YouTube sometime later. 

The broadcast will take place on Thursday, April 30, 2020, from 12 p.m. EST 

Live:
Facebook: “Voice Over Piano” – Instagram: “VoiceOverPiano” 

Media library:
Facebook: “Voice Over Piano” and “Thomas Blaeschke” YouTube: “Thomas Blaeschke / VoiceOverPiano” Instagram: IGTV “VoiceOverPiano” 

Information at http://www.VoiceOverPiano.com 

At Sommerfest Federal Chancellery Berlin

The Voice Over Piano contributors are: 

Sara Dähn – vocals and moderation, Thomas Blaeschke – piano, band leader and moderation, Stephan Werner – electric bass, Mark Wetjen – drums, Frederic Drobnjak -electric guitar

Text and Images: ©VoiceOverPiano

Filed Under: Attractions & Events, Life in California, News Tagged With: art, Bremerhaven, CaliforniaGermans, Covid-19, Emigration Center Bremerhaven, Expatlife, Germany, Live Concert, music, Pandemic, Transatlantic Partnership, Voice over Piano

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