Interview with Blogger Charlotte Steggz
Vanessa: I met Charlotte in Japan many years ago and I read her blog more than any other. We have so much in common, having both studied Japanese and lived in Japan for many years and then living in Germany. We were delighted to grab an interview with her and tell you about her exciting new project: podcasts!
L&A: We love your blog. Tell us all about it!
Hehe thank you. I love your blog too! I started blogging when I was in Japan as a student. I’ve always liked telling people stories, so I found it easy to tell people stories of my life there. When people responded really well, I wanted to keep it up!
These days, my blog is about my life now that I’m back in the UK. I want it to be a tale of me readjusting to life here, of my life doing comedy and an honest representation of what it’s like here. I just started a podcast too – but it’s early days 😉
L&A: How did you go from Japan to Germany?
I was in Japan and feeling really blue. I loved my life there but didn’t like how I felt patronised all the time, and couldn’t really get respect from my coworkers in my job as an assistant language teacher. I also wasn’t ready to go back to the UK, so I applied to loads of jobs – to cruise ship jobs, teaching in Taiwan…and to a games company in Frankfurt. I found that I passed the test for the games company, and was a Japanese translator for them for a few years!
L&A: What is the most delicious thing you ever ate in Germany and why?
Schweinshaxe. I believe that if you don’t wrestle with your food, it doesn’t taste as good.
L&A: What surprised you the most about Germany?
German people are super nice. They have the rep (especially in the UK) of being boring and killjoys. But I think my German flatmates were more party-animal than I was!
L&A: Where is your favourite place in Germany?
I loved Marburg. It’s so pretty and quaint. Plus, the Brothers Grimm were from there!
L&A: Why did you decide to leave Germany?
A number of reasons. I was frustrated with me not being able to communicate easily with German people. I studied and can speak German conversationally, but there were certain situations that I was in where I just wished to be at home with my own people.
My life in Frankfurt was great but I felt my lifestyle was very unhealthy. There were great people around me, but I didn’t have very many close friends. We’d eat out and drink quite a lot and I put on a lot of weight. My life now in the UK is a lot more relaxed, and has a lot less drama in it too! This isn’t a German thing, it’s just the culture of having a small city with lots of foreigners, plus working in a massive company like I did.
L&A: What is the thing you miss most about living in Germany?
Eating out all the time and the cocktails!! 😉
L&A: Any plans to return to Germany one day?
I went back for the Christmas markets last year and that was great. I don’t see myself visiting back there for a while, but I do miss things there.
L&A: Why did you blog in Germany?
Because it was a huge part of my life, and also the German blogger community is so awesome. I really miss being part of it!
2 Comments
Charlotte Steggz
Yayayayay! <3 Thank you!
Vanessa Abel
You rock 🙂