"They've had active social lives (juggling their playdates and birthday party invitations could feel like a full-time job), but I routinely wrestled with the fear that I would misunderstand an important milestone for my kids. My stomach ached thinking about the time I brought a hanging lamp to a lantern festival. "Is this OK?" I'd asked another parent, one who had been in Berlin a year longer than me. She smiled warmly, then said, "They're supposed to be on sticks. For the walk.""
"My three children - now 4, 6 and 9 - have become tiny cultural ambassadors, correcting my German pronunciation and schooling me on how things really work here. "Well, Mom, in Germany..." is a phrase I hear often, like the time my oldest came home one afternoon and said his friends had already gotten their Seahorse badges and that he felt left behind."
A parent has lived in Germany for six years with three children aged 4, 6 and 9. The children assimilated quickly and developed active social lives and cultural confidence. The children correct the parent's German pronunciation and explain local customs and milestones. The parent worries about misreading cultural signals and recounts awkward misunderstandings, such as bringing a hanging lamp to a lantern festival and missing St. Nicholas shoe tradition. The parent feels increasingly behind, needing to look up German customs when asked questions. The parent has taken language classes and a government-sponsored immigrant course called 'Life in Germany' to improve integration.
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