(De)cipher your Kurzarbeitergeld

Kurzarbeitergeld (wage for reduced working hours) or KUG wouldn’t be a new word for many employed in Germany during these turbulent economic times. Even though it is scary, I guess people who are receiving KUG should consider themselves lucky – that they still have a job in hand.  Many undergoing Kurzarbeit would be waiting for the payslip (Brutto-Netto-Abrechnung) [...]

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Aftermath of the "Final Solution"

Germany has its history written all over it, most of which every German would like to forget (or rather, not think about it anymore). But at times, the history sends its messages as gentle reminders of the pain the country and its people went through.  Yesterday, some workers at a construction site, about 4kms from [...]

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It’s only a flat tyre after all

I was at Karlsruhe Zoo during Easter weekend with my family.  What amazed my 3 year old son the most was not the monkeys at the zoo, but the bus undergoing repair in front of the zoo. It blew me away too, to see a pick-up truck and a van at the spot, engaged in [...]

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Really delicious!

A s my collection of DVDs (especially, the Thomas & Friends and Noddy favorites of my little mouse) grew, I was finding it extremely difficult to catalog them. A spreadsheet would have been a good solution some years back. But I don’t think I could manage the time anymore to type down all the inventory details [...]

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