You've heard the rumors about European women's uncanny ability to stay slim even while eating buttered croissants for breakfast (France), sausage and beer for lunch (Germany), or deep fried seafood for dinner (Spain). Perhaps you've even done research in the form of spending a week in Paris, ogling the lank...

In the early summer months, the big news in garbage was Naples: the demand for garbage disposal had overwhelmed the city's resources, and mountains of garbage were rotting on city streets. Before I left for my vacation in Naples in July, I heard several snide garbage-related comments from my friends....

I have been told that I bear a vague resemblance to Carrie Bradshaw, of Sex and the City fame. Not in appearance, perhaps, but in manner. So now I would like to claim my Carrie Bradshaw moment, and ask the world this well-worn question: Can men and women really be...

Today I found myself in one of those conversations where people argue about whether it's better to live in Europe or the States. The discussion was spurred by my saying that I will probably move back to America next year (I currently live in Germany). The response in the room...

If you're like me, perhaps you don't think of yourself as having a certifiable phobia of flying, yet you spend a good portion of every flight contemplating your own death.

If you're feeling particularly vulnerable, you may even imagine your way into possible death scenarios: What would it feel...

When I decided to move to Germany last year, a number of people in my life -- particularly Jewish people of an older generation -- reacted with something like paranoia. "Germany? Why would you want to do that?" one friend in her late-40s asked. Another, a middle-aged literature professor,...

It's good for a city girl to get her hands dirty. To kneel for hours in the grass, yanking out weeds with sore hands and a garden hoe. To come up with a handful of dirt and find that she's holding a writhing earthworm. To work all day in the...