Hi there! I blog anonymously as 'Hockey Wife' at A Day in the Life of a Hockey Wife. I currently live (well, during the hockey season, so about eight months out of the year) in Germany, with my husband and our two sons Linden and Calder.

1. Why did you move abroad?
My husband decided to abandon his NHL dreams and rather set his sights on European hockey. The season is shorter, European-style hockey is easier on his body, and the schedule allows us to spend a lot more time together as a family.  

2. How do you make a living?
During the hockey season I work as a freelance writer, primarily for hockey-related companies and websites. The hours are flexible, I get to put my thinking cap on a bit, and who doesn't like a little additional income … earned while sitting in your jammies? During the off-season I work as a consultant and technical writer within the oil and gas industry.  

3. How often do you communicate with home and how?  
Keeping the lines of communication open isn't easy. There's a nine or ten hour difference between here and home, which makes an already complicated situation even more complicated. When we're getting up, our friends and family are going to bed. When our friends and family are getting up, we're going to bed. A quick hello is usually all we manage to squeeze in. Facebook helps. Skype absolutely saves my sanity.  

4. What's your favorite thing about being an expat in Germany?  
Of course, it's the time and experiences that I share with my family. But it's also the day to day challenges. I believe those challenges are part of the adventure of living abroad; they force me out of my comfort zone and they force me to grow. 

5. What’s the worst thing about being an expat in Germany?
I hate that I miss out on all the goings-on at home. Weddings, babies being born, birthday celebrations. It's hard to not be a part of such significant events in the lives those we care about the most. So that, and there's no Taco Bell.

6. What do you miss most?
Obviously, our family and friends. But I miss Taco Bell too. Like, a lot.

7. What did you do to meet people and integrate in your new home?
Meeting people and integrating is definitely made easier because of the nature of my husband's job. His teammates, management, and their families almost immediately become our friends and our support system while living here. We are lucky in that respect. Insta-friends. I have also made a few mommy-friends through Linden's kindergarten.

8. What custom/ habits do you find most strange about your adopted culture?  
Every other day seems to be a holiday and everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) shuts down. I've become better at remembering the holidays, but it never fails that at least once a season, I forget to get groceries and we spend a day making something out of nothing for dinner. It's a lot different than at home, where even on Christmas, you can find a Starbucks or a Target that are open.

9. What is a myth about your adopted country?
Oh shoot, I don't know.

10. Is the cost of living higher or lower than the last country you lived in and how has that made a difference in your life?
The cost of living here is much, much lower than anywhere else we have lived - especially home.

The great thing about hockey is that the salaries aren't really dependent upon the region or even the country so much as the level or league in which you are playing (i.e. In Germany, salaries in the West tend to be much higher than in the East - but the cost of living is also higher in the West than it is in the East). My husband makes more money playing in Europe than he would at home. Because we live in an area with a low cost of living, we are able to do more with our money and save more.  

11. What advice would you give other expats?
Keep an open mind. And for those who are living abroad temporarily, try to think of your experience as an adventure. The good, the bad … in 10 years, you'll have some great stories to tell!

12. When and why did you start your blog? 
I started my blog, almost out of necessity, in 2009 while living in Italy. It was my first hockey season away from my family and friends and I was beyond lonely. We weren't being treated all that well by the team's management and I needed an outlet - a safe place to think and vent and vent some more. I never expected that A Day in the Life of a Hockey Wife would be seen by anyone but little ol' me, but it grew and grew and grew, and I love that it's touched so many people.  

A Day in the Life of a Hockey Wife

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