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South Africans in Germany

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Keeping in touch virtually

As an ex-pat, it is essential to keep in touch with family and friends from back home. 
We yearn for news and contact with loved ones, and although we cannot always be physically together, we can at least try to keep in contact virtually.
Here is a list of online events that you can do with your “hartsmense” either here in Germany, where it is easier to organise the delivery of items, or in any other country for example, South Africa.

This is just a short list of some ideas,  you can search online for “online team events” or ” online cooking classes” etc. to find more ideas.

Virtual Events in German

  • Beer tasting – Beer delivered to your home, online tasting with a Sommelier
  • Wine tasting – A selection of wines is sent to your home, online tasting with a Sommelier.
  • Cocktail-making courses. They also do Gin tastings as an online event.
  • Eventbrite – In the kitchen: Virtual food and drink events & classes
  • Organising an online birthday party. You can also put together your own box and send it to everyone, and come together via Zoom, Skype, or other apps. Here are some ideas for making it more fun
  • Teamgeist – Online dating, Beach events, Krimi’s, and many more

Kiyana, who comes from South Africa,  offers traditional Indian cooking classes

Kiyanas Indian Cooking classes

Traditional Indian cuisine is rich and diverse in flavours, originating in India and loved across all continents. Being proudly South African and embracing it in my all, I’ve also grown up in an Indian home with rich cultures and traditions.

Virtual events in English

  • Social Escape Room from your home
  • Online team games, including trivia, murder mysteries, and even a campfire event 🙂
  • Quaraoke –  Online Karaoke
  • Birthday parties –  you can organise a hamper or party box, have it delivered and organise an online meeting or game night. Charades or Pictionary are great cost-effective ideas.
    Here are some hamper ideas

Charades, Pictionary, etc.

Below is a video explaining how you can play Pictionary and charades online. You can use a website like random word generator to generate words for you

Websites with some more suggestions

Video Conferencing apps

Apps like Zoom, Skype, Teams, Google Meet and Cisco Webex can be used for online meetings.

Schedule regular “face time” or group chats to make it more personal.
WhatsApp is also great for group chats, and they now have the option to send video messages

Sending online or physical cards

You can create and send an online card on the following websites

You can also create cards online and have them delivered in South Africa

If you want to send someone in Europe a card, you can create it online and have them delivered. It is a much easier option than sending a card from South Africa to Europe

Group cards are also available via the following website. One person creates the card and the other signs it with a personal message.

Social media

Social media like Facebook and Instagram is a great way of sharing photos and experiences. If you would like more private photo share options look at Google Photos, where you can create and share albums, or Flickr or Dropbox

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Gift services in Gemany

We have a great selection of gift ideas for your loved ones in South Africa, and I thought it would be great to also have a list of places you