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All Things German In California

Austrians in California

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

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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)

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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)

Following The American Dream – Germans in the USA

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GermanAmerican

America – a country that mesmerizes and fascinates us, or might repel and perhaps irritate us,  but for sure a country that evokes strong emotions either way around the globe!

Many of my generation grew up with an idolized image of America, as the nation of freedom and abundant possibilities and opportunities. That’s what we’ve heard from our parents. The USA helped Germany after the war to get  back on its feet and become a competitive nation among Europe once more, and our parents didn’t forget this!

Even little things had made a big impact. My mother still remembers when she and her sister were getting candy and their first chewing gum ever from American G.I.s stationed in Germany right after the war. They were young kids starved not only for food but attention and hope. And America gave them and many others back the hope for a better & brighter future. America, became the symbol for a better life!

Immigration to the US from Germany was on a “high” after the war of course, then declined some, but interestingly enough among our younger generation emigration is “in” again, not only to the U.S. but to all over the world. Be it that the global market makes the USA once more an attractive place to live in, or that our children having spent time in foreign countries for perfecting their language skills are so intrigued by their exchange country and culture that they want to live there eventually.  As a student exchange destination the USA has consistently been among the favorites. Oftentimes students, who have spent some time in the USA as a teenager or during college yearn to come back to the U.S. later on and wish to make America their home.

Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure: The world definitely grew closer together, and Germans undoubtedly love to travel and seek adventure elsewhere in the world. The USA certainly remains an attractive destination for many of them.

Happy German-American Day!

Photo Credit: ©CaliforniaGermans.com

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 Articles of Interest:

http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2534/umfrage/entwicklung-der-anzahl-deutscher-auswanderer/

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/statistik-auswanderung-laesst-deutsche-bevoelkerung-schrumpfen-a-696863.html

Click to access warum-wandern-viele-deuts1.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American#Contemporary_period

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