Author Archives: Anne-Kathrin

You May Have Your Cake, But You Can’t Always Eat It

Posted on August 2, 2017 | 2 comments

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YOU MAY HAVE YOUR CAKE, BUT YOU CAN’T ALWAYS EAT IT

Dear Readers,

I know it’s been a while. Unfortunately, it’s been way too long, and I do feel bad. I missed writing and taking the time to be creative. But, as all of us know, life happens. My life has been extremely busy these past couple months. I am not complaining as I love being busy, I just deeply regret that I didn’t have time to sit down, be inspired, and write.

The thing is I probably could have produced somewhat of an article each week- but it would have felt more as a chore than something that I truly enjoy. Busting out an article because you have to instead of because you want to produces (obviously) different results. But I am finally able to slowly get back into the swing of things.

As I have mentioned in one of my last pieces, I started working with dogs, and I love it! Being with animals is such a stress reliever, and I met so many wonderful people through it as well. But besides this opportunity, I also started working as a coordinator for a baker. One of my friends was doing the job before, but since she started a full time job she was unable to continue the work and recommended me.

The position sounded really great as I was able to work remotely, so it perfectly fit in with my schedule. But, as this happens a lot in life as well, things came different at some point than discussed. In theory, my duties consisted of handling e-mail customer inquiries, a fun and easy task. Of course, it took me a little in the beginning until I got the hang of it, but I eventually was able to spend less than one hour a day working from my computer.

Things started to change about a couple weeks into my job. I knew that my friend handled some of the pastry and cake deliveries in the past as she was living less than five minutes away from the bakery. I, on the other hand, live about an hour away from Redondo Beach, where the shop is located. So I became a little skeptical when my boss started asking me to do deliveries as well.

I might not have minded it that much if it wouldn’t have been on a weekend, but to ask me to come out two days in a row to deliver cakes just didn’t sound too appealing to me, especially since one of the locations included Compton, which I thankfully turned down. As a compromise though and since I didn’t want to seem entitled, I agreed to accomplish the delivery of an ice cake to Marina Del Rey.

The whole way from Redondo Beach to its final destination I felt like I was on my way to Siberia. Since it was an ice cake, I had to put the air conditioning in my car on full blast. Even though I ended up with a cold I am happy to report that the cake made it to the party without any harm.

From that day on, my boss figured she could sign me up for more deliveries. Without even asking me, she concluded that I was in charge of spending one precious Saturday in April driving up to the Malibu Canyons to deliver a wedding cake. If that didn’t already sound bad enough, let me tell you that the notorious cake was only supposed to be used for photography purposes and not to be eaten. Anyways, since my boss was supposed to go out of town that weekend, she told me that I have to do this delivery.

I wasn’t very happy, to say the least, especially since it was my friend’s birthday and I would be missing half of the celebrations. But what was I supposed to do when my boss tells me to do it, even though deliveries were not part of my job description in the first place? I know, I know, I sound like a whiner and unappreciative. Well, you might feel me a little more after I tell you the whole tale of that one fateful day.

It was a warm and sunny Saturday morning. I had come to terms with the fact that I was about to drive the 160 miles round trip to deliver a simple twelve piece cake into the middle of nowhere while my boss was basking in the Palm Springs sun.

To my surprise though, she was still working on the masterpiece when I arrived at the bakery in Redondo Beach. She told me that she had to cancel her girls’ trip since she still had a couple orders to finish. I instantly felt bad and selfish, and I swore to myself to bury any feelings of irritation about my interrupted weekend plans.

We ended up sharing some bonding conversation while she was finishing up the wedding cake. Looking at the clock, I got a little nervous considering that the cake was supposed to arrive in Malibu at 11 a.m. and it was already past nine. Luckily though, she was almost done.

Since I am a pretty clumsy person, I didn’t decline her offer to securely transport the cake to my car. She put it in a carton box and carried it over to my passenger seat, where she positioned it in a way to make it easy for me to pick it up and switch it onto the cake board once I arrived at the destination.

We then exchanged our goodbyes, not knowing what unanticipated turn the whole day would take. But more to that story next time.

Image: pixabay.com

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Anne-Kathrin Schulte, is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes on her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She has been living in Southern California since 2011.

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

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Posted in Expat Stories, Life in California, Uncategorized

Tagged Baking, Expat in California, Germans in California, Germans in Los Angeles, Working in the US

My Easter Tradition

Posted on April 12, 2017 | Comments Off

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MY EASTER TRADITION

Back in the days when I was a little kid and living in Germany, Easter was one of my favorite holidays. I loved believing in the Easter bunny, which would come out early in the morning to hide eggs, candy, and toys all around the house and backyard.

My family’s tradition consisted of going to church in the morning, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Once the service was over I remember how excited I usually became, knowing there were lots of surprises waiting at home for my sister and I. My mother was usually the one hiding all the Easter goodies the night before, but when I was little I truly believed that the Easter bunny was doing all the hard work.

At a certain age I knew that my parents were the ones behind everything, but I still didn’t mind hunting for toys and candy. It was such a blast, especially since we had a three story home with a small yard, so there were lots of hiding spots. Once all the surprises were collected, us kids usually inspected everything and tested the new toys.

After the first excitement of the hunt eventually subsided, it was time for brunch. For that, we usually had a big family gathering either at a hotel or restaurant, where a buffet was offered. It was the perfect solution and suited everybody’s taste. Also, since we were a group of about ten people, none of our family members had to stand in the kitchen for hours. My family is actually still holding up that tradition, just nowadays without me since I moved to the United States.

Since I have been living in America, I have been celebrating Easter, if at all, very differently. My first Easter in the states was back in 2012, when I was living with a family that had two young children.

One year, I remember I prepared Easter baskets for them that were filled with chocolates and small toys. I left them on the kitchen table with a note, wishing them a Happy Easter while they were out and about. The next year, I went to a family gathering with them, but it was still not the same as back in my childhood days.

The following years, I wasn’t celebrating the Holiday at all, and if I wouldn’t have seen it marked in my calendar, I would have had no idea what date Easter was that year. It just felt different for me over here, I can’t really explain why, but I didn’t have such a connection as I had back in Europe growing up.

Last year marked the first time in a while where I had an Easter experience somewhat similar to my childhood days. You can describe it as the adult version of what the tradition for us kids looked like. My now-roommate was house sitting at a beautiful home, fully equipped with a pool and hot tub.

Since she introduced a brunch tradition to her friends many years ago, she extended the invite to me, and I was more than happy to accept since I missed the family Easter brunch gatherings.

It was a beautiful Sunday, the sun was shining, and my roommates’ friends and I started arriving at the location one after another. Entering the house, I could already smell eggs, bacon (that was the time I was still eating meat), and pancakes.

We gathered around the backyard, some people hanging out in a hammock, others in the hot tub, pool, and benches all around, while the two dogs of the homeowners kept roaming around us.

We had a great time talking, eating, and enjoying the sun together until it was time for the annual beer hunt. Yes, my roommate upgraded the traditional egg hunt to a fun-filled beer hunt, where all of us participants received a beer carton and had to find as many beers as would fit into it.

All the while knowing how clumsy I am, especially when it comes to handling fragile items such as glass, I entered this content with caution, but finished with no further incidents.

After all beer bottles were found, all participants sat back outside with their precious findings, looking forward to indulge into the liquid goodies. I was sitting in the sun, sipping on my drink when I decided it was getting too hot and wanted to move into the shade, of course not without my cargo.

What I did not consider was that my beer carton, which was soaked up on the bottom with water from the pool, had become a little fragile. I lifted it up, not supporting the bottom with my hands, and sure enough, it made a quick rip and all remaining bottles smashed on the concrete ground.

Everyone was staring very surprised and quietly at the mess I just had created, until some of us were able to digest the shock a little and got up to clean up the glass. Oh well, since I am not a big drinker anyways I wasn’t too upset I wasn’t able to drink more, but I did feel very bad about the broken glass all over the floor.

My roommate did invite me again to this year’s Easter brunch/ beer hunt, but luckily I will be up in LA this time, hopefully not breaking anything. However all of you who are celebrating or not celebrating the Holiday, I wish you a very Happy Easter!

Image: pixabay.com

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Anne-Kathrin Schulte, is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes on her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She has been living in Southern California since 2011.

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

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Helau and Alaaf – Carnival Tradition in Germany

Posted on February 22, 2017 | Comments Off

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HELAU AND ALAAF – CARNIVAL TRADITION IN GERMANY

This upcoming Thursday, certain cities in Germany, including my hometown Dusseldorf, are going to be crowded with thousands of people – adults as well as children – dressed up in costumes. Welcome to the yearly tradition of Carnival. For those of you who have never heard of this festivity before, I would describe it as a mixture of Halloween (minus the scary costumes) plus Mardi Gras.

Due to the fact that I grew up in a so-called Carnival central city, I basically was born into the tradition. Today I can gladly say that I don’t miss it one bit, but back when I was living in Europe I did feel obligated to participate. So what does Carnival consist of?

This time of the year, which is also named the 5^th season, actually starts in November on 11-11 at 11:11 a.m., but the peak of the tradition happens around late February/ beginning of March on a Thursday. That day called “Altweiber” (old women), it is common at work for women to cut off the men’s ties with scissors and then celebrate on the streets and at bars till late at night.

The highlight of the Carnival celebration is held on Monday with the Rose Monday parades, which are very popular in the cities of Dusseldorf, Cologne, and Mainz. The 5^th season usually ends that following Wednesday, called Ash Wednesday.

To sum it up, Carnival is one of the biggest events celebrated in Germany with parades, costume balls, and street parties. There are two popular cries that you would be hearing a lot during this time: Helau in Dusseldorf and Mainz, and Alaaf in Cologne, Bonn, and Aachen.

I personally enjoyed this celebration more when I was a little kid in kindergarten and elementary school. I mean, what kid doesn’t like to dress up. My favorite costume of all time used to be a cat. Cats were my favorite animal back then, so luckily for my parents they could recycle my costume every year and didn’t have to get a new one.

Being an adult, I never found it too appealing to put on a costume and get drunk on the streets, even though I participated a couple times.

What changed my perception a little bit was when I actually joined a show dance group that performed during masquerade balls. I received this opportunity when I was living with my sister in a very small town in the mountains.

A friend of a friend happened to be one of the dancers, and since I loved dancing and had been doing it throughout my entire life, I saw the chance to become part of the group through that connection since they were in need of an additional performer.

For two years I was a member of this group. And what can I say, I loved it. I loved rehearsing for the show, performing on stage, and participating in tournaments. But I still wasn’t too fond about everything else that included Carnival.

Once it was clear that I would be moving to the United Stands, I obviously had to end my time with this group. It was a fun two years, but I am not missing it much nowadays. But for everyone else who is a great fan of Carnival, have fun out there these next couple of days!

Image: pixabay.com

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Anne-Kathrin Schulte, is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes on her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She has been living in Southern California since 2011.

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

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Posted in Expat Stories, Life in California, Uncategorized

Tagged Anne-Kathrin Schulte, Carnival, Carnival in Germany Switzerland and Austria, Fasching, Faschings season, Germans in California, Germans in Orange County

New Year, New Career?

Posted on January 25, 2017 | Comments Off

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NEW YEAR, NEW CAREER?

To say life has been a rollercoaster lately would be a total understatement. These last couple months have been very challenging, and I needed to take a break from writing for a bit, even though I claim it is a kind of therapy for me. But, as we all know, life happens, and we do have to prioritize certain things.

I usually start to slow down during the winter months for a bit, not being able to be as active as during spring or summer. Piled on top of this was my career situation. I did start an internship in August, which I unfortunately had to terminate in November. I had such a great time at Tricoast Worldwide, and it really wasn’t easy to leave. I learned so much and had wonderful coworkers who made work feel like fun. I loved the family environment so much more than working for big corporations like I did before.

But, as another saying tells, if one door closes, another one opens, which I did not see at first. As not many of you might know, I do work as an independent contractor for an app that provides dog walking, boarding, and sitting. I started doing this job on the side when I was still at Tricoast, but it became my full-time position once I quit. I am a huge dog lover and have to confess that I was actually a little excited, yet also scared, to take on this career shift.

I personally rather am with animals than sitting at a desk all day, staring at a computer screen. I also wasn’t ready to start writing applications for PR jobs again, after it took so much effort to eventually land an unpaid position- yeah, no thanks. I told myself to take it easy over the holidays, and once New Year’s hit, I would feel refreshed and ready to give applying another go.

But you know what? It didn’t happen like that. Yes, I did take it easy over the holidays and got some much needed rest. But I wasn’t feeling refreshed and ready to write applications. All I wanted was to work with dogs. I know that probably sounds ridiculous to many people, especially in expensive California.

But I am happy. I am truly happy to have a job that doesn’t feel like a job to me. It never feels like work for me, and every day is different. This, I believe, is what your dream job has to feel like. And, since I have put a couple of these in this post already, here is another smart saying by Mark Twain that sums it up perfectly: “Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

I do am aware that I will not be able to perform this job forever. At the end of each day, I can always feel every muscle in my legs from being on my feet all day. Also, there are no benefits, and I have to work rain or shine in order to make ends meet. But I see this position as my ground base.

I would love to be able to combine my degree in communications with working with animals at some point. But I am not stressing out about it at the moment. I rather enjoy what I do, be able to save up some fundamentals, and then start taking the next step of the career ladder. And also find the time to write more again.

Image: pixabay.com

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Anne-Kathrin Schulte, is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes on her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She has been living in Southern California since 2011.

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

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Posted in Life in California, Uncategorized

Tagged Anne-Kathrin Schulte, career, Expat Stories, Life in California, New Year, Southern California

Thanksgiving

Posted on November 23, 2016 | Comments Off

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THANKSGIVING

One of my favorite holidays since living in the U.S. has definitely been Thanksgiving. I love getting together with friends to cook, chat, eat, and just have a great time. We do have Thanksgiving in Germany as well, but it’s not being celebrated the way the Americans do, at least when I was still living there.

When I was a child in elementary school, I remember that our class hosted a play for the parents at a farm in the forest on the actual Thanksgiving Day. The families gathered at the school in the morning before everyone, including teachers, kids, and parents participated in the approximately 20-minute walk towards the forest.

Once we reached the destination, the entertainment part started. I don’t remember many specific details except all of us singing songs together and the kids performing a play for the parents, praising all the great things the earth provided us with. That was pretty much all we did for Thanksgiving.

Coming over here, I really started seeing Thanksgiving more as a holiday and opened up to celebrating it. I mean, I moved all the way over here to get used to a different culture, might as well indulge in the American customs. I have celebrated in Texas a couple years and in California. Sometimes, my friends put together a Friendsgiving a couple days before the actual Thanksgiving Day, so I got to celebrate it twice in one year.

This year will be the first year where I won’t be celebrating on the actual day. Fortunately, my dear friend Katy (name changed due to privacy) put on a wonderful Friendsgiving celebration this past Saturday. It had an interesting twist giving the fact that my friend is vegan. I personally don’t eat meat myself and am pretty open to different diets and loved the various dishes.

Another Thanksgiving “tradition” I had to get used to as well was Black Friday. It is so crazy to me how people are lining up in front of stores for hours just to get a great bargain, when Thanksgiving should actually be all about being thankful for what we have. I love that there are certain stores that advertise the importance of being with family instead of shopping and keep their doors closed.

But however all of you are spending your Thanksgiving, I hope you are having a wonderful time.

Happy Holidays!