ABOUT ME STORIES

My Answers For You

No coffee but tea and always everything in yellow

It’s nothing new that I’m living a life rather not described as conventional. It starts with the work I do and ends with the way I travel but maybe goes even further. And somehow people are interested in it.

Every article I write about myself, my job, or the life I live does receive lots of feedback. My readership is constantly growing and that way new questions arise.

When this writing prompt appeared the first time, I ignored it. I also ignored it when I read the second, third and tenth response to it. I found all the articles interesting but just decided I didn’t need to write my own.

Guess what, I changed my mind. Eventually.

So here are my answers for you. If you still have questions about me, feel free to drop them in the comments below.

1. Favourite drink?

Tea. I love tea. All kinds of tea. Saying that as a German, I include fruity teas and all kinds of herbal teas. I’ve never had black tea before going to Africa. In fact, I didn’t know what it was.

But when I lived in Ghana and it was all they had, I drank black tea as well. And then green tea. Learned that one in Thailand. Japanese green tea is the best.

And something else about teas. Why would people put milk in tea? I don’t get that. I find that super odd. When I was asked if I wanted milk in my tea in Ghana I might have sounded rude responding “what?”

No thanks, milk doesn’t belong in tea. Not in my culture.

I do add honey occasionally. But just the tip of a teaspoon. Not more. I don’t like sugar in tea.

So yes, tea is my favorite drink.

I do like a cold beer or a glass of good red wine as well but mentioning alcohol here always sounds suspicious. I like juices too. Freshly squeezed orange juice stays the best.

2. Favourite color?

Yellow.

Say no more.

Or read here.

3. If you won the lottery, what are the top 3 things you would do first?

1. Buy a house and convert it into an Airbnb to produce passive income.
2. Go to Japan, New Zealand and Alaska. All those expensive places.
3. Travel the rest of the world.

I hope the money is enough for all of that. But just let me dream, please.

4. Favourite cuisine?

I grew up loving the Italian kitchen. I’m a pasta lover. And a good pizza too. But not those with thick dough. They just make you full. A thin crispy base with some good Italian cheese and salami on top. That’s enough.

When I traveled beyond Europe’s borders I explored countless other kitchens. Today I’d say the Japanese cuisine is my favorite one without ever having been there.

Does that count?

The Romanian cuisine, my heritage, is delicious too but just a bit too rich. I’d have to exercise a lot more to be able to consume all those carbs and fats regularly.

5. Which one would you give up forever — social media or your mobile phone?

I’ve kind of done that already. Surely my phone. I don’t even know where my phone is right now. I travel so much that I constantly change sim cards (numbers) and therefore people don’t call or message me.

I use Facebook messenger, WhatsApp and Skype to stay in contact with friends and family around the world. And all of that I do from my tablet.

When I’m out on the streets I often don’t have my tablet with me. And surely not my phone. The only person getting irritated by this is my husband.

I love being offline and unavailable on a daily basis.

So yes. While I could easily give up Instagram and Facebook, I am not willing to give up Medium or the messengers.

So here you go. Take my phone. (If you find it.)

6. One thing you’re really good at?

Teaching. It’s just something I really enjoy and it gives you back so much. The reward of the smile someone produces after completing a certain task for the first time ever is just irreplaceable.

While I’ve done many sports and activities over the years where I also worked myself up to become good at them, I also got my ratings to teach in most disciplines.

Volleyball. Snowboarding. Sandboarding. Climbing. Skydiving.

All these are disciplines I’ve become an instructor in over the years.

I also studied early childhood education and development which didn’t just teach me how to raise young kids but I learned a lot about the methods of teaching in general. And I use them. Daily.

So, when I need to talk about myself I’m aware of the fact I’m not perfect and still have to learn a lot but I do stand my ground. Teaching is one of my strengths.

7. Cats or dogs?

That’s a funny one. Up until a few years ago I would have said cats but didn’t actually ever touch a cat until I was 21. Crazy right? Yes, when I touched the cat at 21 I found out I was allergic to cats.

Up until then, I was seriously afraid of dogs. Then I moved to Namibia and lived together with an Irish Terrier. He taught me how to get over my fear of dogs.

He taught me it's not the dogs I need to be afraid of. It’s the owners.

And he showed me what loving, kind and considerate creatures dogs are.

So yes, definitely dogs.

8. Coffee drinker?

No. Not at all.

Not once in my life did I have a cup of coffee. The smell of it puts me off already.

Thanks, mom for this one. And this isn’t sarcastic. I’m thankful for it and do live healthier without an addiction to coffee.

But yes, it has to do with a childhood “trauma”.

Growing up, I’d have breakfast every morning together with my sister sitting at the kitchen counter. During our time eating cereals, my mom would come, grab the box of ground coffee just above our heads, open it and make another cup.

That smell turned me off like nothing else. The smell of coffee. Today it’s the taste as well. I dislike any cake or sweetie with a coffee flavor. And trust me, I will taste it.

Since then I never had the desire to have a cup of coffee. Smelling it is more than enough for me.

9. What languages can you speak?

• Transylvanian Saxon. My mother tongue. It’s a language spoken in Romania and possibly one to die out soon. It is closest to Luxembourgian but has roots in the German language at around 1100AD.
• German. I learned it when I came to kindergarten in Germany but I never managed to become good at grammar. German is just too complicated. Yes, I’m considered a native speaker and I did publish a book in German.
• French. I started learning French in 5th grade and it became the strongest foreign language I would speak. Until I moved to Africa while avoiding francophone countries. It’s rusty now. My French.
• English. A language I never put effort into learning in school. My mom used to say everyone speaks English, learn a different language to stand out. And so I did. But once I started traveling I realized I needed English. I speak English with my husband. It’s our common ground between his and my mother tongue and all the other languages we speak. And today it is possibly my strongest language. Above my mother tongue and German.
• Afrikaans. I married an Afrikaaner. If you don’t know what that means read about their history here (Afrikaners are a South African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries. — Wikipedia). Since Afrikaans is the language spoken in his family and my group of friends in Namibia I did learn the language. Not in school. On the streets. In conversations. It’s more fluent when I had a few beers but if needed, I can get by with my Afrikaans.
• Italian. I once took a language course but haven’t done anything in the language for years. I found it easy to pick up the language since I do speak French and would love to learn it.

10. Can you use chopsticks?

Yes. Thank you, Thailand. Or should I say thank you sushi? I did learn how to eat with chopsticks. Even rice or soup. It’s all possible.

These were my answers to the writing prompt “10 questions about yourself”. I think it was Linda Ng with “Can You Do 10 Quick Answer Questions?” who started the challenge. Here are other participants and their responses:

Simona Toma with “10 Questions, A Lot Of Answers”

Denise Kendig with “10 Answers to 10 Questions”

Michael Rhodes with “A Medium Challenge: Ten Things About Me”

Robert G. Longpré with “A Medium Challenge: Ten Things About Me”

The Sturg with “10 Quick Questions and Answers”

More stories about me:

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