CaliforniaGermans

All Things German In California

XPAT Spotlight

Bavarian Yodeler in Hollywood – Meet Kathrin Jakob, Bringing Authentic Oktoberfest Vibes to California

by Leave a Comment

What’s Oktoberfest Time without some real Yodeling?!

Welcome to a new edition of our XPAT Spotlight Interviews. Today we’ve invited Kathrin Jakob, a real “Müncher Kindel” by birth and ‘Yodel Star in Hollywood’ to share with us not only her story but also some Oktoberfest vibes. Born in Munich, Kathrin grew up in Lower Bavaria, in a village called “Wallersdorf”. She now lives in South Pasadena, CA. 

What inspired you to move to California?

Before I moved here I studied Vocal and Piano at a vocational school for music in Regensburg, Germany. Some of my teachers there had studied music in the US and that planted the seed in me that I could do something similar. I graduated with a degree but didn’t feel “finished” in any way and I started researching music colleges in the US. I visited Los Angeles to tour two schools with my mom and immediately fell in love with the city, the weather, and the people. That same year I moved to LA to continue my studies at the Los Angeles College of Music in Pasadena.

[Read more…] about Bavarian Yodeler in Hollywood – Meet Kathrin Jakob, Bringing Authentic Oktoberfest Vibes to California

Finding Her Muse in the City of Angels – Maria Loewenstein, Austrian born Artist & Author (Interview)

by Leave a Comment

This month’s XPAT Spotlight Interview features multitalented artist Maria Loewenstein, who was born into the household of two music and art lovers in Vienna, Austria. After her parents built a house on a property they had bought in Klosterneuburg, the family of six exchanged busy city life for a quieter one in the outskirts of Vienna. Appreciation for art in all its forms and variations established then has remained an integral part of her life since childhood. Little did she know then, that she would become a multimedia artist in a city that’s full of inspiration: Los Angeles.

Maria, how has your childhood in Austria impacted your life, now far away from your original home?

Being raised in a suburb always left me wanting more, even though there was no lack of culture and diversity in our lives. Every weekend our parents bribed us with a promised McDonalds happy meal, which included a toy, to join them for Sunday mass followed by an art exhibit in Vienna and the occasional classical concert or play for children. It goes without saying that this might have been the main reason that turned the four of us into artists/musicians and awakened our adventurous side. [Read more…] about Finding Her Muse in the City of Angels – Maria Loewenstein, Austrian born Artist & Author (Interview)

Bringing the Purity of German Sausage Making to California – Carina & David of YouBite (Interview)

by Leave a Comment

XPAT Spotlight interview with Carina and David Mohr, owners of the German butcher shop YouBite in Camarillo. Their traditional German Bratwursts and a variety of smoked products are all handcrafted and made according to German family recipes. Produced with the help of German machinery, which they imported to the USA – it can’t get more German than that!

Carina and David, both settled in California after having traveled the world. For Carina, life abroad is nothing new. Born and mostly raised in Cologne, she got already an early taste of living abroad when she was ten years old. Her parents moved the family for 5 years to Pune in India, where they opened a Turkey Farm. For David, however, who was born in Bonn and later lived between Cologne and Bonn, settling abroad is a new, exciting adventure.

What made you decide to leave Germany and move to California?  [Read more…] about Bringing the Purity of German Sausage Making to California – Carina & David of YouBite (Interview)

Born an Expat. Always an Expat. – Tania Stappard, Voice Over Talent & Future Life Coach (Interview)

by Leave a Comment

XPAT Spotlight – Interview with Tania Stappard, who has been living the expat-life since childhood. Born to expat parents she learned early on to juggle two cultures and different ways of life.

At Boarding School, Baden-Baden

Tania Stappard was born to German parents, who raised her in Paris, France . Her mom was from Hamburg and her dad was from Munich (North meets South, this was a cultural experience in itself). Tania’s father, a diplomat, saw her mother, an actress, on stage in Munich and fell in love with her and “kidnapped” her to Paris. Growing up in Paris, Tania attended a German school in Paris (DSP) and spent the last four years in boarding school at the Pädagogium in Baden-Baden. After the Abitur, she moved to L.A. with her sister and spent her twenties in West Hollywood. Later, when she started a family of her own she moved to Santa Monica and now lives in Ventura County, about 37 miles from L.A.

Tania, what made you decide to move to California? [Read more…] about Born an Expat. Always an Expat. – Tania Stappard, Voice Over Talent & Future Life Coach (Interview)

Cherishing Her Love for Two Countries While Helping Fellow Expats – Barbara Kempen (Interview)

by 2 Comments

Barbara KempenXPAT Spotlight – Interview with Barbara Kempen, business owner, and nature lover, who manages to combine the two cultures she loves in her daily work while helping fellow expats. 

Born in Cologne, Germany, Barbara Kempen has moved to Los Angeles about 30 years ago. She arrived in L.A. as a young student and was fascinated by the magic of the American dream. She decided to stay, raise a family and start a business of her own. She knows life in Los Angeles inside out and can tell you a story or two on what it takes to make it or break it here in California. 

What made you leave Germany and choose California as your new home?

I was 24 years old when I finished my Diplom Kauffrau (similar to MBA) at the University in Cologne. As I was very young I wanted to gain some work experience abroad. During that year I worked for Lufthansa in Marketing and Controlling in Los Angeles and met my ex-husband. Instead of returning to Germany I started a career in the fashion industry and was a successful fabric sourcing specialist for several LA companies and often traveled abroad. [Read more…] about Cherishing Her Love for Two Countries While Helping Fellow Expats – Barbara Kempen (Interview)

The Desire for Adventure Across the Pond made Rita Reiff leave Berlin for California (Interview)

by Leave a Comment

Rita Reiff GASA

XPAT Spotlight – Interview with Rita Reiff, an integral part of the German speaking community of Southern California.

Rita, originally from Berlin, is a well-known member of the German community in Southern California. German speaking families with children especially appreciate her engagement as president of GASA, the local German American School Association. As an indispensable part of the German community in Southern California, Rita Reiff was awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) in 2014.

Together with her husband, Rita came to the United States as a young woman. They courageously left everything in Germany behind, ready to live the American Dream! [Read more…] about The Desire for Adventure Across the Pond made Rita Reiff leave Berlin for California (Interview)

Following her Husband’s Love for California – Claudia Tichy, Writer & Therapist (Interview)

by 4 Comments

Claudia Tichy, Martin, Hollywood

XPAT Spotlight – Interview with Claudia Tichy, a writer and therapist bringing European therapeutic techniques to Southern California

Claudia Tichy is originally from Steyr in Austria, a small town between Salzburg and Vienna. After deciding to move to California she settled first in Calabasas before finding her final home in Oak Park. She shares her life and home with her husband and their two cats from Austria: Funny and Fipsy. Fridolin, a Golden Retriever just recently joined them as well in the Agoura Hills Area and he instantly inspired Claudia to a new book that will be coming out soon: Fridolin, the Cuddlemonster.

What made you move to California? [Read more…] about Following her Husband’s Love for California – Claudia Tichy, Writer & Therapist (Interview)

The Rollercoaster of Life brought her to California – InnerWeaving Coach Silvia Schroeder (Interview)

by Leave a Comment

TreeWeaving Silvia Schroeder InnerweavingXPAT Spotlight – Interview with Austrian Innerweaving Coach Silvia Schroeder

California was never on her list nor one of her dreams. Contrary to so many others, whose most inner wish is to one day make it in California, Silvia Schroeder was happy with her life and career in Vienna and enjoyed every minute of it. If anyone would have told her then that one day she will call California her home, she would have just laughed.

But, life had it all planned out for her. After eighteen successful years in her coaching and consulting business doing projects for clients like the European Union and the Cancer Association, for which she designed a therapy camp to help the siblings of cancer kids, she suddenly felt the whole world collapsing on her.

What happened?

Silvia, how did you end up in California? What was the trigger for you to consider moving here? [Read more…] about The Rollercoaster of Life brought her to California – InnerWeaving Coach Silvia Schroeder (Interview)

‘Wine, the Elixir of Life’ – Continuing a Legacy of German Winemaking in California. (Interview)

by Leave a Comment

IMG_9478XPAT – Spotlight – Interview with Claudia Schug Schuetz, Partner at Schug Carneros Estate Winery.

Claudia, a dual citizen of Germany and the USA, has experienced both worlds, only the other way around compared with most of us expats.

Born in California and raised in Napa Valley, she has the wine business in her genes! She learned about wine from one of the most respected winemakers in California; her father Walter Schug. Both of her grandparents were part of this education as well, who were highly accomplished winemakers in Germany, with the Staatsweingut Assmaannshausen in the Rheingau and the Weingut Annaberg in the Pfalz.

After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics at Stanford University she moved to Germany in 1988 and lived for almost 30 years in North Rhine-Westphalia, where her ex-husband was from. There she started a California wine import and distribution business, worked as a wine educator, and served even as an international wine judge. From 2012-2017 she was California Wine Institute’s Trade Education Ambassador in Germany before she relocated to Sonoma in July 2017 to join her brother in managing her family winery, Schug Carneros Estate Winery. [Read more…] about ‘Wine, the Elixir of Life’ – Continuing a Legacy of German Winemaking in California. (Interview)

Following Your Dream – A Challenging Experience at Times! (Interview)

by Leave a Comment

DSC_5917XPAT Spotlight – Interview with Franziska Steinmetz originally from Barleben near Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt.

Persistence, flexibility, and determination mark Franziska’s path of making her dream of living in California a reality.

When she traveled to the USA for the first time as a teenager, Franziska was bewitched by the beauty of California and decided to check out the U.S. as soon as she had finished school. She chose to become an au pair to find out if living in the United States was something she would like to pursue.

Today, Franziska lives in Alameda, CA, but her search for a way to make California her home forever isn’t over just yet. 

Read about her challenging journey in our interview. [Read more…] about Following Your Dream – A Challenging Experience at Times! (Interview)