0:00
moved to New Zealand 6 and a half years ago. But yeah, it was scary. My first
0:05
drive from Oakuckland with my newb car to Hamilton.
0:10
Scary since they always say, "Hey, so it's good." E. Oh, what are you after?
0:16
Oh, yeah. Fine. Yeah, that's right. E. Everyone cried back home when they dropped me at the airport and said
0:22
goodbye. And I was just so excited. I was like, "Oh my god." How did How did
0:27
you end it in New Zealand? walking barefoot in supermarkets.
0:34
[Music] Welcome to Expert Experts. Today's guest
0:40
is Hannah Mars, someone who swapped microscopes for an adventure. Born near
0:45
Berlin and once deep into the world of honeybee research, she left her stable lab job for the unknown. After a solo
0:53
trip to New York sparked her confidence, she packed up and moved across the wall on a working holiday visit to New
1:00
Zealand. In this episode, we will explore how she transformed from a shy
1:05
introvert into a bold expert, living and working abroad with courage and
1:11
curiosity. We'll play cultural games, laugh while discovering Kiwi's lang, and
1:16
hear about the emotionals, ups and downs of life so far away from home. So sit
1:21
back, relax, and let's explore this expert experience together. So Hannah, uh, welcome. Uh, finally we
Guest Background & Expat Journey
1:29
are doing the episode the other way around. Welcome to to Expert Experts.
1:35
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me on your show. My pleasure. Uh, so
1:40
yeah, we already know each other from from your podcast, so that's uh that's already an advantage in this interview.
1:46
We I know you a little bit, let's say. uh but maybe for for the listeners more
1:52
than for me where where are you originally from and and uh where do you what do you call now home and uh let's
1:59
start from the beginning and what what brought you uh to where you live now
2:05
right so I'm Johanna um but everyone calls me Hannah and I am from Germany a
2:13
small town near Berlin it's called noitz but no one really knows that so I
2:18
usually usually just say it's near the or the biggest city close to it is
2:25
Berlin and um I yeah moved to New
2:30
Zealand 6 and a half years ago and live in Hamilton which is on the North Island
2:37
and haven't really moved around outside of the city. So, I move around heaps
2:43
within that city, but I haven't been moving lots within New Zealand. Yeah.
2:50
Nice. Um, so you grew up in a small town near Berlin and
2:58
how how was your life there? Like before leaving uh were you working already? It
3:04
was like a Right. Yeah. So, um, I grew up because it was
3:10
such a small town, we kind of grew up there knowing that we will go to school
3:16
there for the whole time and then it's pretty much spreading out because you
3:21
don't have a university. You don't really have many job opportunities.
3:26
So we all kind of went to school knowing okay afterwards we just probably move to
3:32
a bigger city or wherever we can actually get our education from. And
3:38
even though I went to um the gumnazium which is like the highest school for
3:44
university entrance. I because of our system how it works with uni you
3:50
sometimes have to wait a little bit to get a seat kind of because um it's
3:56
freeish so you have low study costs therefore a lot of people can get into
4:03
it but then courses are filling up so it's more like a gradebased system and I
4:10
just had to wait a little bit and I was thinking of studying marine biology
4:16
because I found that really interesting. But I ended up because I would have to
4:22
wait and my mom was always like, "No, we are not sitting around. We are not waiting for anything. You are using that
4:28
time useful." And so I went to Berlin to do a vocational training which was in
4:34
chemistry and biology. So it was pretty much then moving around
4:41
getting education and then I decided that I'm rather working after my vocational training and not go to uni
4:50
first which I guess once you start working it's really hard to make that
4:55
decision to go back to uni. So um I just found a job after that in another
5:05
smallish town which is in the north at the Baltic Sea. It's called Krywald.
5:11
Um but um it has an university as well. So it
5:17
even though it's small, it has quite a lot of young people which is quite nice.
5:23
And me coming from a small town, I felt really comfortable in another small town. And it was just like one and a
5:31
half hours away from my hometown as well. So I could visit my family and go back and forth for the weekend. So that
5:39
really suited my lifestyle. And my first job was on actually an
5:45
island. So it's like a research from island. Exactly. I jump islands. Island
5:54
hopping. Very big hop. But yeah, I just hopped from one big ocean
6:01
to the next. H. Yeah. So my first job was then on
6:07
this island which is like a research institution which I think it has been used even through the time of world wars
6:15
and stuff like a big big um
6:21
yeah it's just a massive building which covers almost the whole island. um it's
6:27
called Enzim and um has the Frelea Institute and they
6:34
do a lot with animal health. So everything that is like dangerous for humans but also dangerous for animals um
6:42
will be researched over there which is really interesting. So that was kind of
6:48
my life over there. Nice. I've actually listened to the
6:54
first episode of your podcast because it was helpful for research because you describe yourself. You explain a little
7:00
bit your story, right? Yeah. And you say something that it catches my attention
7:05
because a lot of the people who I interview like had this dream of living abroad either because their parents
7:12
traveled a lot or because they lived as a child abroad or because they are extroverts like me that can be put in a
7:20
sing in a place for more than x years. Uh um but you described yourself as a as
7:27
a shy person who was not that comfortable with traveling alone actually. What what what changed there
7:34
to to be to leaving your comfort your job at that at that time? No, like you even have the job that you like. So how
7:40
how did you end doing the big decision of living and going abroad?
7:48
I think I was so shy and not really confident. So it's kind of when you
7:55
realize that everyone else around you or not everyone but a lot of people did like a gap year after school or between
8:04
school and university and just traveled or had that overseas experience even
8:10
though it wasn't everyone maybe out of my group of people five six people but I
8:18
would describe them as quite confident and kind of knowing what they want. And
8:25
for me, I was just shy, anxious. I did not really think I would be able to do
8:30
any of this. And it didn't even cross my mind that that's what I wanted to do. So, I was like, "Oh, yeah, you guys,
8:37
cool that you do that. I'm so proud of you." Like, I would be really afraid. So, never really thought of that. But
8:46
because my parents started traveling with us as well, I realized how much I
8:51
loved just the differences between countries, uh I love to go to places
8:56
that had a very different um vegetation like plants and different architecture
9:05
and different climate. And so I really really loved going abroad, seeing all of
9:12
the differences and enjoying the heat. Usually I'm more of of a heat person. So
9:17
I would go on summer holidays to Greece, by the way. Nice.
9:23
So that was our first big holiday as a family because before we just wanted to
9:29
save money for a house. So our holidays before that were more like Baltic Sea or
9:36
Austria which is a bit closer. So definitely hot. That's for sure. Not
9:42
not that hot. No. And therefore it became more of a great
9:49
feeling and this excitement, you know, when you jump on a plane and then it's
9:54
accelerating and it goes up in the air and for you as a younger like we were
10:00
teens at that time. It's super exciting and I was so keen on waking up early in
10:06
the morning to go to the airports and just all of that really, you know, I felt really hyped up and I just felt
10:14
great. So, I was like, "Of course, we go." And funny enough, even though I was super shy, I never wanted to be on
10:21
holiday only with my parents and my brother. I was like, "You guys are cool,
10:27
but I kind of want to make new friends." And because I was shy, that sounds
10:34
really creepy, but I did that every time when we went on holiday. So, we sat on
10:40
the airport and I already looked around. Are there any maybe girls in my age with
10:46
their family that I could put potentially become friends with? Then I would check out who was on the flight
10:53
and who then goes into the same bus at the destination. then it's a higher
11:00
chance that person might be even in my hotel. Right? So then once the bus is
11:08
dropped off the people, I would look at who is actually getting out at the same
11:13
hotel and then I would think oh maybe this girl would be nice because you know
11:18
she arrived at the same same time she didn't know anyone as well is here with
11:24
her family and I just started kind of checking out who I would like to kind of
11:31
make contact and become friends with which I know sounds interesting, but I
11:37
just loved that. And so we would sometimes join these weird clubs where
11:42
they have entertainment for teens and stuff and um then we would I would force
11:50
myself even though I would not feel comfortable like I would be anxious and I would be really nervous but I would
11:56
force myself to go out of my way to say hi to meet them and then I would become
12:02
friends with people there and then the holiday was just always amazing. So
12:10
that's kind of how that whole holiday feeling traveling started. And then
12:16
later on I just got older, did more traveling with my friends and
12:22
just realized it's so cool to be overseas to talk to people over there to
12:28
improve my English to make new friends overseas like locals from Dublin or New
12:36
York. So, I was just so happy to be able to connect to people and because you do
12:42
it one by one, not all at once. I kind of overcame my shyness. I did a lot of
12:48
work on myself as well to overcome that shyness or to trick myself into it, I would say.
12:54
And at one point even my boss at that time told me all these crazy stories about
13:01
how he did his studies in South Africa, how he went to all these amazing places
13:08
around the world backpacking lots of Asia. And I just thought, "Oh my god,
13:14
that sounds so cool." Like such an adventure. And you go out and you experience all of this. And I was like,
13:22
I don't know, this feeling of I need to get out. I need to do that. I need to get out of my comfort zone and just
13:28
really push through. It just slowly grew. And I remember one of my friends
13:34
who was younger than me, and I thought she was shy, too. She was like, "Okay, I go to New York and do like a year abroad
13:42
and um work with kids with special needs and autism."
13:48
And I thought like how cool and somehow inside I was like if she can do it I can
13:56
do it. Yeah. Cool. Very nice. I mean it's always I mean even if you are an
14:03
extrovert actually going abroad it's always overcoming some fears and Oh yeah 100%. Yeah. Losing contact
14:11
losing the stable ground that you were living in. It's it's always scary. I I
14:16
did it uh three four times already. So
14:22
every country Yes. Unfortunately. Um
14:28
so the biggest question New Zealand why like it's not the first choice that I
14:34
would think coming from a small town in Germany and actually it's not even one of the destinations that you said that
14:40
you traveled before. So how did how did you end it in New Zealand?
14:46
I think it was really a mix of a lot of things um or a few things. One of my
14:52
colleagues actually told me about New Zealand and I have to admit I didn't think much of New Zealand before. I was
14:59
like, well, I want to have an overseas experience. So, what might be coming in
15:05
handy? I thought about New York because I've been traveling there a couple of times and I really liked it. Boston
15:13
was really nice, too. And I thought it has all these high-end universities
15:18
around so probably has a lot of research. And I where else did I apply for
15:25
Switzerland, Austria? And I just thought, okay, it doesn't have to be one
15:31
country. It can be one country where I can feel myself living in. And one of my
15:37
friends also had an opportunity to go to Miami and said okay because we have
15:44
learned the same thing. She was like why don't you come with me and work for me? I was like that would be super cool. And
15:52
um another friend had her cousin being a doctor in Australia and he was in
15:58
research and was like oh yeah maybe we can set something up here. So there were a few options which yeah I was just
16:05
interested in and we would connect but then they slowly fell through and I was
16:11
like okay it's not meant to be right so something will come up and then my
16:17
friend at work was like you know what I think New Zealand is my favorite country it has everything it has mountains it
16:24
has beaches it has um like a jungle type of thing has normal places cities And I
16:33
was like, "Oh, I never really thought much about New Zealand at all." And I didn't know much about it, but I just
16:40
thought I'd check out if they have jobs in my field, right? So, I just Googled a
16:46
bit and saw they have quite a lot of technician jobs in my field in Hamilton.
16:53
And I was like, well, might as well send some more application, right? So, I
16:58
actually also did Google Maps and then the satellite and then I just checked
17:04
out how the houses looked like, how the areas look like, if I could picture myself being there and it felt kind of
17:12
all right and I was like, let's see. And I never heard anything back from most of
17:21
the applicant applications because I didn't have a visa for any of those countries. So they must have seen it. I
17:28
ticked no visa and they must have been like in the bin. So
17:35
yeah, unfortunately visa process. Yeah. Yeah. But it's normal. It's this circle of like you need a visa to work and you
17:42
need a to have a job contract to get a visa and it's always this circle of like Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, either
17:48
they they sponsor you to the for the visa or it's very difficult to to get or you take the the leap and you go there
17:56
in a holiday visa and then try to sort things out which is also Exactly.
18:02
Yeah. Yeah. Which that was in the end what happened to me. But funny enough, I
18:08
applied for a job which was exactly what I was doing as well. I was working seven
18:13
years by then in the research lab for bee health or bee diseases and um they
18:20
looked for someone in the genomics field for working with honey and certain be
18:26
disease and there was one particular one which is called American foul brute and
18:32
I've been working with it for seven years so I was like the perfect candidate and even though I didn't have a visa or
18:38
I wasn't even in the country they still contacted me and gave me an interview.
18:45
And that's how the whole idea of New Zealand became a little bit more vivid, I guess. And even though I didn't get
18:52
the job because they needed someone immediately, but also they needed me to have a visa to be even allowed to be in
19:00
the country and work there. So I was like, unfortunately, I haven't sorted
19:05
out my life back home yet. I still have a job. I still have a flat. I still have all of this, but I told myself I will
19:14
stay in touch with the company, which I did and nothing really works out with
19:20
the job, but I might as well just go for a working holiday visa because at that time it was really easy to get and I
19:27
think I got it after two weeks of applying for it. So,
19:32
and as you said, that's what I did. I went over with the working holiday visa.
19:38
I met the people from the company. They really wanted me to work there. And
19:45
it was such great coincidence because the person who got the role at the time of my interview before she got pregnant
19:53
and had to leave on maternity leave. Okay. So you you step in in that moment.
20:00
Nice. Yeah. I was like here I am and now I'm here actually physically. So that's
20:06
Oh yeah. Exactly. A lot of the times to be honest happens by coincidence. Like a lot of
20:13
things in life happens because you're in the correct place at the correct time and that's it. Nothing else. Exactly.
20:20
Exactly. Yeah. Cool. Um I wanted to ask you how it is for someone from a small
20:27
town in Germany to suddenly land in New Zealand which is very far away at the
20:33
end. No, I mean it must be challenging. What was the first impression that you had in the island when you arrived in
20:39
the first weeks? I would say because I was also keen on
20:46
traveling around. So, I set myself up on potentially I only go for a year and
20:52
travel around and do like woofing, which is like on the farm and they give
20:58
you accommodation and food and you work for them and help out or to do like um
21:05
kiwi fruit picking or whatever like a proper backpacker. I had my big backpack
21:11
and that literally had all I needed. Um, but I put a few more professional
21:17
clothes inside just in case I actually have a proper job interview or something like that. And I told myself and either
21:24
I it's like one year of doing that traveling or I actually find a job and then somehow stay longer. So I extended
21:32
my health insurance for I think three years. I said just in case.
21:39
And I came with a traveler mindset. And I remember I was so excited.
21:47
Everyone cried back home when they dropped me at the airport and said goodbye. And I was just so excited. I
21:53
was like, "Oh my god, that is such a great opportunity." And because I
22:00
resigned from my job and I um had no flat or apartment anymore, I felt so
22:06
free. That was probably the best feeling I've ever had in my life. And um then I
22:13
remember arriving at Oland airport and again I did what I did best all
22:21
these years when I went overseas with my parents. I already checked out people at
22:26
the plane and I met not a couple but um a guy and
22:32
a girl that traveled together from Germany to New Zealand and we just
22:37
started talking and we had a long flight so we talked a lot and kind of they were
22:45
my first friends so I felt already not alone and I just checked into a really
22:52
nice hostel And the people there were really open and I was open and friendly and tried to
22:58
make new friends because I was all of a sudden by myself. Yeah. And I met two other guys from
23:06
Germany at that hostel and we all just decided to travel around together for I
23:12
think the first 3 monthsish. So that was my whole mindset of I
23:19
explore this country now. But one week after arriving, I already had that conversation with the company and they
23:27
already said, "We want you. You can go and travel New Zealand first, but we
23:32
want you to be back and please work for us and we want your experience." And
23:39
it was just perfect. You know, I've never had such a really smooth transition. So, I knew after the first
23:46
week, okay, I can travel now for 3 months and then I have a job. So that was just perfect.
23:53
It's very nice because it gives you a lot of security, you know, like you're traveling and you know that you go back
23:59
to safe. That's nice. Yeah, exactly. What's the biggest challenge that you
Biggest Challenges & Surprising Moments
24:04
find that you didn't expect? The moment that you realize because until now it's very fairy tale. It's still the
24:10
excitement of the moment. When it's the moment that you say, "Okay, wow, I'm really far away from hope." like yeah
24:19
I think traveling with the guys was great. They were really good company and really
24:25
friendly and took care of me in a way. But with one of them sometimes there
24:30
were some issues and he would be a bit rude and like just difficult to deal with. That was the first time where I
24:37
felt like okay my confidence drops a little bit. You know when you deal with someone who's constantly being rude and
24:44
you just feel uncomfortable. I was like okay so how do I deal with that do I
24:50
face it do I say something do I let it slip because it's just 3 months there
24:56
was a bit weird because I could feel like all this excitement slowly goes away
25:02
but traveling was still great with them so once we finished I actually went
25:09
always back to the same hostel in Oakuckland it became like my base
25:15
And just before I had to start my job, I
25:20
then went to Hamilton. So I bought a car by myself, which was scary cuz it's like
25:25
you just go there and sign a paper, give money, and then the car is yours. It's a
25:31
little bit more, but it's not as difficult as back home in Germany. But
25:37
you drive in the other side of the road, so that's Exactly. Yeah. So I when I traveled with the
25:45
guys, we had a um rental car, okay, and I tried or I drove a few times already
25:52
just to get used to it and because on the South Island there are so much less people that you have less traffic, so it
25:59
was perfect for me to practice a little bit. But yeah, it was scary. My first drive from Oakuckland with my new bod
26:06
car to Hamilton scary. I was nervous. as I was driving
26:12
and I was like, "Oh my god, please let everything be all right." Yeah. And I I can say the difficult part
26:22
are roundabouts and intersections. That was tricky because you kind of tend you
26:28
want to go to the wrong side. Yeah. Yeah. So, but once I came over, so what
26:36
actually was challenging, I booked a flat to flat there, which is more like a
26:43
shared space like um yeah, you have multiple people in one place. You don't just have your own little apartment like
26:50
I'm used to in Germany. When I first went there, it was a
26:56
completely new townhouse unit. No one ever lived there before. I was the first
27:01
one and I I haven't even seen that place before because I was in Oakuckland. So,
27:08
I booked in the viewing with the intention to move in right away and
27:13
that's really uncommon. But luckily, I liked it and the agency
27:19
or the person who looked after it as a property management person agreed that I
27:25
could move in straight away. Otherwise, I would not have any place to go at that night. But I was like, I guess I figure
27:31
it out. You had a new car. I had a car. I could That would be a bit
27:37
scary. Yeah. So, again, worked out really well,
27:44
but I had a bit of issues with the money because of the bond. It was relatively high. I wasn't allowed to take that much
27:51
money from the ATM at once. So, I had to do it in two steps. That was a bit
27:57
tricky. And then I was just in this empty room
28:03
in an empty unit for the very first time just by myself after being surrounded by
28:09
people constantly. And there was only a mattress. There was
28:14
no cutlery in this house. Usually it says fully furnished, but it wasn't. It
28:19
had the basics like a toaster or no, not even a toaster. No toaster,
28:25
no cutlery, no pottery, no not a kettle, just nothing really. And
28:32
it had a mattress, but it didn't have any sheets or any blankets or duvys,
28:38
just nothing. And that was the first time when it hit me. I was sitting in that room all by
28:45
myself, completely overwhelmed, a bit lonely and lost. And I called my mom and
28:51
I cried. Yeah. Sounds good. I mean it's it's far away.
28:59
It's also not that you can solve it with okay I buy a ticket for next weekend and I will be home you know like it's it
29:06
doesn't work like that. No and it was never an option for me anyways and I just signed up for that job that would I
29:13
think start a week after that. So, I was like, "Okay, I'm here now. I even though
29:19
it's difficult and it's lonely and I feel awkward and I have to buy a whole
29:25
lot of things that I didn't even know I need." And you need to think of it, right? Okay. You need toilet paper, you
29:31
need even a toilet brush, you need towels, stuff that you usually already
29:37
have. So, I went to the warehouse and I had this massive wagon trolley full of
29:45
stuff and that was just absolutely awkward for me. I never had to do that
29:51
before like that. Even moving apartments back home, I always had my parents to
29:56
support me. So, that was interesting. Yeah. But definitely my first feeling of
30:03
loneliness and really challenged, overwhelmed. But in the end again, you know,
30:10
everything is how they say, figure out aable and uh yeah, it's you find solutions,
30:18
but it might be uncomfortable for a bit. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe the last question
30:24
from these sections, um how do you deal with u being homesick? uh or like
30:31
missing stuff from home like uh how do you stay connected? Uh yeah, so
30:39
I was still very excited also with a new job, new people and my flatmates that
30:45
shortly moved in as well were really really nice. It was a French couple and I'm still connected. They are so lovely.
30:52
We became good friends and my colleagues were really friendly. So I slowly
30:59
started having friends also from host. They would come and visit me. That
31:04
helped a lot to not be alone. I did make a lot of calls back home.
31:11
Yeah. To check in, just to talk to my mom and dad and just in general to my
31:16
friends. And my friends were so amazing. They actually when I left got all my
31:22
friends to write a letter and spread it out over I don't know how many weeks but
31:29
I had probably 20 or so letters and every weekend I was allowed to open one.
31:36
So that got me through the first weeks of homesickness because they wrote something really nice and special and
31:44
that was really lovely. And for me really making connections and new
31:50
friends is for me the key to not be so homesick. But of course there were
31:57
moments when you were like, "Oh, okay. I'd rather have someone that already
32:02
knows me really well. I remember my first heartbreak. I did not know most of the people that
32:10
long yet. It was a few months in and I really missed having someone who knows
32:16
me for the past 15 years to comfort me, to give me a hug. So, I was surrounded
32:22
by nice people, but I wasn't that close to them yet. And I didn't want to be completely vulnerable and open my heart
32:29
to just anybody. So I felt sometimes a bit isolated
32:35
and yeah I think that was quite tough. So I made even more calls home. I cried
32:41
at that time quite a bit. But again for me the key is to be open
32:48
to to let other people in and to open up and to actually say hey do you want to
32:54
hang out? Hey, I actually feel lonely or I'm actually sad right now or those
33:01
things I'm really an advocate for. Just be vulnerable and open because then
33:07
empathy most of us have it and you will connect to the people so much more and
33:13
once you open up they are more likely to open up as well and then you build this
33:19
connection and then it feels a little bit less hard. But there's also a German restaurant in Oakuckland and I have to
33:27
say um at sometimes I just decided to go there and have some German food just to
33:33
feel a little bit of comfort. Oh gosh, the food comfort is always appearing. It's really interesting.
33:39
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Not that German food is particularly amazing. It's like
Life Hack & Advice
33:46
just comforting, right? It's um nice. Uh so actually you already give
33:54
like kind of a of a hack or an advice uh in the sense of opening up but I wanted to ask you maybe a little bit more
34:01
detailed one. What would you say to someone who is willing to move for example to New Zealand uh the a little
34:08
bit your piece of advice let's say like this? Yeah, I think what I've learned
34:15
and yes, you're right. It's pretty much the same what I already said, but it is so important to make friends or to let
34:23
people in. And even though I was still deep down shy and still am at times or
34:32
socially anxious even, I was forcing myself to just be the first one to say
34:38
hi, to be the first one to ask, "How are you?" and just to smile. I mean, I love
34:43
smiling. I do it all the time. So, that wasn't a big deal for me. but to actually be the one who is looking
34:50
someone in the eyes and say, "Hey, I'm Hana. Who are you?" And then just be the
34:57
one who starts the conversation because you can't expect everyone else to do it.
35:02
And if you want to make connections, it's probably the best to just start it.
35:09
And yeah, that's my advice. smile because people who are open as well feel
35:14
so much more like that you're approachable. It helps a lot because when I was too shy, I just smiled and
35:22
people would come naturally towards me and talk to me and that helped me a lot.
35:28
And now I'm just the same pretty much, but now I'm smiling and talking. So
35:35
that's my advice. just be the first one to talk as well so that you can just
35:42
open up and make new friends because that's really important. Nice. Perfect. Um, right. So, I would
35:51
say that we just jump to a little bit of the cultural deep dive. Hey there everyone. I hope you're enjoying this
35:57
episode so far. Remember that the best way to stay tuned with the latest episodes of the podcast is by clicking
36:04
on subscribing YouTube and in your favorite audio platform. For extra content and information, follow, like,
36:10
and comment on our social media and visit our website expatexpresspodcast.com.
36:15
Thank you for supporting our podcast. And let's continue with the episode. So, I prepared a little bit of like mini
Cultural Deep Dive & Fun Comparisons
36:21
games or I call them mini games at all. just like little bit of like trying to
36:27
get your perspective on the cultural life of New Zealand and what you experience what not like uh what do you
36:33
know a little bit of slang also. So um the first game that I wanted to play it
36:39
was like I call it culture shock or no. Uh basically I will writen a statement
36:45
of stereotypes majority of them probably uh that are from the from the island and
36:52
and if it's if it's really give you a cultural shock or you didn't experience it at all or it wasn't a big deal for
36:58
you. Yeah. Um the first one that I have it's people walking barefoot in
37:04
supermarkets. Um, I have to say I found it weird. Um,
37:12
it wasn't a massive shock, but I'm just so not used to walking barefoot back at
37:19
home. And you would think it's just a certain type of people that would do it,
37:25
but no, it's it's really a kiwi way of living. And I have a good friend who is
37:33
a great person and he just really prefers it to walk barefoot and he would go barefoot in the supermarket. So I
37:40
found it weird cuz I wouldn't do it and I just always, you know, you get it so into your mind that it's dirty and you
37:47
never know what you stepped into. So I'm just not really used to that. And
37:53
also I have to say um my skin on my feet are just also not used to. So, I'm like
37:59
a little wuss when it comes to walking barefoot. If there's a stone or something pokey, I would be like, "Oh my
38:05
god, it hurts." So, um I think they are more used to it, so it doesn't hurt as
38:10
much. But that was interesting. I I wouldn't say I was shocked, but I was
38:16
more like wondering why would you want that?
38:22
Makes sense. The second one that I have, it's strangers smiling and talking to you in public spaces.
38:31
I have to say that's absolutely up my alley. I love that. And my friends always say I got kicked
38:39
out of Germany because I was too friendly and I wouldn't mind that. But I have to
38:46
say not everyone like there are strangers and strangers here as well. There are some random ones or if certain
38:55
personas that might have taken some drugs or whatever start talking to you, you try
39:02
to be alert and just careful. So, you naturally walk a bit away from it. But
39:09
if it's just randomly in the supermarket or whatever, like I
39:14
love people being friendly, so I'm not necessarily finding it awkward. And because I grew up in a small town and
39:21
then we moved to a small village next to the small town, uh that's just kind of
39:26
what I feel most comfortable with because I walk around and smile and would say hi to people if they say hi.
39:33
So that whole village vibe is actually really nice for me. So no culture shock
39:39
at all. Nice. uh workplaces where people leave at 400
39:45
p.m. and really mean it like at 4 p.m. everyone goes up.
39:50
Ah, it's so funny because um well my current job is 4:30 so 8 to 4:30
39:59
but most of the time touch would uh most of the time we finish on time
40:06
and everyone is just out but I also have been at a workplace where I did a lot of
40:12
overtime and I was in a position where I felt really responsible for the team
40:18
because I was a team leader. So for me, I just wanted to make sure that
40:24
everything is sorted for the next day, that I'm available for everyone who had different hours and
40:32
and I feel like all the people in that company were working really really hard. Yes, you had the people who finished on
40:40
time and left, which was great, but not every place is like that. So I have
40:47
experienced both and I mean it's great if people take work life balance so
40:54
serious and actually have a more balanced life and feel like more healthy
41:01
and happy then why not right so
41:08
uh I don't know if this is true or not but drinking from the tap without even having second thoughts
41:15
tap Yes. Yes. Which funny that you say that
41:21
because it's so normal for me now that I don't even think of it at all. Like you
41:27
said, not a second thought whatsoever. Um, but you're right. Usually when I come
41:34
from Germany and I travel to another country, we never drink tap water.
41:40
And when my friends came just a year ago to visit me over Easter, they were like,
41:46
"Oh, we don't really like the tap water. It tastes like chloride and stuff." I can't taste it anymore.
41:53
So, you get used to it. I mean, it's not so much of a different probably from Germany because I live there also was
42:00
also drinking tap water in Germany. But it's different. It's a difficult thing to do in a new country. No, like I don't
42:07
know. You don't go to Mexico and start drinking from the tap like out of
42:12
No way. But also, even in Germany, I wasn't drinking tap water. I was buying
42:18
water of the bottle, you know? So, it's just now I feel like it's weird to go
42:24
back home and buy water in a bottle. I'm like, why? If you can drink it from the
42:30
tap, it's right there. It's free, you know? So, but of course you should make
42:35
sure that it's like filtered and all of that. Yes, that would be ideal. And the last
42:42
one that I have for this one, it's a little bit funny, but uh seeing more sheep than people during road trips.
42:49
Yeah. Yeah. Especially on the South Island. Definitely. You drive sometimes and you don't see a human at all. Uh but
42:58
a lot of sheep and a lot of cows. Yeah. A lot. That's New Zealand for you. Yeah.
43:04
And it's I don't know if it's it if it ever was a culture shock. I don't think so. I think
43:11
I really enjoyed that countryside feeling because it reminded me a bit on
43:17
home as well. I think. Yeah. Cool. Then I would say we jump to the
43:23
second one that I prepared and I call it German lab versus expert job. And
43:29
basically I would describe a situation and you can tell me if it's more typical
43:34
for a German lab or for any of the expert jobs that you have ever abroad.
43:40
Uh or if you think that it doesn't fit neither one or the other. Um
43:48
you show up exactly on time and everyone is already there for 10 minutes before you.
43:56
Huh. um wouldn't happen in New Zealand.
44:02
No, they are not. They are really chill with their time, I would say. So, for
44:08
me, I still am on German time. So, if I am on time, that means I'm 10 minutes
44:15
early. So, I don't think most people would be there before me.
44:22
Uh, in Germany it's because it was normal for me to show up 10 minutes
44:28
early at least. I think I would be there with most people at the same time, but
44:34
yeah, New Zealand. Yeah. No, you wouldn't necessarily have No,
44:40
no one shows up before you. I mean, funny enough, I have a German girlfriend and she says that I'm the
44:47
German when it comes to time wise because I'm that person that arrives 10 minutes early to everywhere. So, yeah, I
44:54
do enjoy that. Yeah, me too. Uh, second one, a full group meeting ends in a
45:02
beach room. Oh, sorry. What was that? I didn't quite catch it. A meeting of a group uh at
45:10
work might end uh going to the beach. Oh, will definitely not happen back in
45:18
Germany. It hasn't happened yet in New Zealand,
45:24
but I can see not necessarily in my job. I would say,
45:30
not in my job, but in other jobs here in New Zealand, I could totally imagine
45:36
it's or maybe even having that meeting at the beach being like, you know what, today we go out. I definitely had
45:43
meetings outside just or to walk around. We at one point started um scheduling
45:49
meetings outside and walk around while talking just to get a little bit of movement and fresh air. So definitely
45:55
see that in New Zealand. Yeah. Nice. Uh the workplace lets you call your boss
46:04
for the first name uh from day one. Definitely New Zealand. Always 100%.
46:11
Yeah, everyone is always with your first name. I've never come across anyone who
46:18
introduced themselves with their surname ever. While it's really common back home, but my first job back home, most
46:26
people also introduce themsel with the first name, but it's not as common, I
46:32
would say. Definitely in New Zealand, it's a thing everywhere. Yeah. Nice. I mean I feel like here in
46:40
Mediterranean countries at least like people tends to always go by first name when I work in Germany I find it now
46:48
majority of people always presented by first name but those one who had titles this title obsession of Germany it's
46:54
incredible like doctor whatever like f
47:00
doctor and what yeah I think that's true because I took
47:07
it with me. Not that I ever had a title, but I remember at my job I really wanted to grow into a new position. And I
47:16
remember this obsession about but I need this title like I need to, you know,
47:22
have something for my CV. I need to have this name on it for my own country if I ever go back. They need to see that name
47:29
on it. And they were like, but why do you need that name? But I was like it's
47:35
just really that obsession with like title and position names and whatever.
47:40
Yeah. Nice. The next one it's efficiency
47:48
means getting the job done even if the method is chaotic.
47:54
Um yeah. So
48:00
I feel like everyone specifically in a lab everyone is trying to work based off
48:08
SOPs. So procedures that can't be changed because this is written exactly
48:13
the same way. You have standards, you have auditors coming to check if you're
48:20
exactly following the process. there's not much space to be like oh whatever I
48:26
just come to a conclusion or to the result somehow
48:32
so I feel like in most labs that I have been working it is very important to not
48:37
just be like that but I have to say it depends on what department you are if you're in a research department and you
48:44
don't have to follow those processes yet because you establish them or you validate a new method you have some more
48:50
flexibility and I have seen and a few people who were like, "Ah, I don't necessarily need to do all of this and I
48:58
might just jump to that." So, it happened here, but I'm pretty sure it
49:03
happened back home as well. Like, especially in those places where it's just R&D and they just try to get to
49:09
something or get a result or try something new. Uh, but otherwise, labs are pretty good with procedures and they
49:16
are really strict. Uh but in general I think German is still Germany is more
49:23
efficient in a lot of aspects but that really depends on the job and the career
49:30
and yeah all of that. Cool. Um so yeah I will jump to the last
49:36
game that I have for today which I'm very looking forward uh I call it guest the slang. So we will go a little bit
49:43
into Q which is uh funny uh at the same time because I don't know if I will
49:49
pronounce things as properly or not but I got some words I researched some words
49:55
of Kis lang so I would like to see if you know them how many of them you know
50:01
and if I missed something that you find interesting I
50:06
would you like to you to add uh any slang that you know at the end. So, the
50:13
first one that I have is uh chili bin. Chili bin. H for like the box that you
50:21
use for drinks and cold ice and stuff. Is that what it is? Yeah. Yeah. The
50:28
cooler box. No, like the typical blue one with the white things on. Yes. To
50:33
carry around at the beach. Yeah. Uh I'm used to it now. Yeah. If people say
50:38
chilipin, at least now I know what they're talking about. But yeah, before I don't know, but I
50:44
also don't know how I would have called it a cooling box or like I'm not sure. But yeah, it will be used here for sure.
50:53
Nice. Talks. Holy yes. Talks. I had no idea what it
51:01
was. No idea. It sounds a little bit like um like something in the kitchen. I felt
51:07
like something like a tool but it's a swimwear right swimsuits and stuff which
51:14
I did not get because I felt like why can you not just say swimwear which they
51:19
sometimes do but everyone says talks and I'm like it took me a while to get used
51:25
to that word. I'm still not using it though ever.
51:31
Uh third one that I'd have it's sweet ass. Sweet ass. Yes. So, a lot of people talk
51:38
about it because it's this funny one because if you don't know how it's written or
51:44
spelled, you can sometimes think, yeah, it's like sweet ass. Hi.
51:52
Uh, but a friend warned me because she came to New Zealand before me and she told me that that's really common, but
51:59
also it's like yeah, used for everything just
52:04
literally. And I'm saying it now. Uh sometimes you even only say sweet.
52:10
If someone says, "Oh, yep. Thanks for getting this done." Or, "Can you please do this?" You just say, "Yep, sweet." Um
52:17
or sweet as. And it's more like I was waiting for something else to come
52:23
because you know how you have this comparison as sweet as something else. And I was
52:30
like, "But but what does it mean? Why do you use it?" But no one can explain it to you why. They just know this is
52:37
what's said. So it's a thing, but no one can really explain why.
52:44
Wob wobbs. And funny enough, wobbs. And then my
52:51
American friend told me it's the same like saying out in the boonies. And I was like, what does that even mean?
52:59
So out in the warps is pretty much just really countryside
53:04
far away. Um we we have completely different sayings for that in German as
53:12
well. Uh but it's pretty much just a place that is far away from everything
53:18
really out middle of nowhere. Yeah, exactly.
53:23
What about tour? ch I'm not using it because I just don't
53:29
really know how they they say it also in random moments like chur bro what's up
53:37
bro ch it's like okay cool yes thanks just
53:44
whatever they use it for everything a little bit like sweet ass and I'm just feeling awkward because it feels like
53:51
you know all these cool dudes are using it and I'm like it's not really me.
53:58
So, I'm just leaving it. So, I'm not saying it, but I know it's there. It's more a brang. Okay, I get it. Yeah, I
54:05
feel so. Yeah, I feel so. Uh, what about dairy?
54:12
A dairy? Yeah. What would you have thought what it is when you wouldn't do
54:18
your research? That's the thing like for me it would be like it goes closer
54:25
to having a diary where you write things down. But
54:30
yeah, the dairy is pretty much just the shop around the corner which is everywhere in every corner. And I think
54:38
in German we would say tanta amaladen which is like you know this little store
54:43
that's run by that old nice lady and you buy your little sweets and this kind of
54:49
stuff. So that's what it is. You get like convenience things like milk or
54:55
cigarettes if you're a smoker or like little things when a supermarket is too
55:01
far away and it's just around the corner pretty much. So the kiosk without having
55:06
all the walls full of kiosk. Exactly. And less newspaper.
55:13
Uh what about heaps? Oh, right. I use it heaps.
55:19
Uh I use it a lot. And that's pretty much what it means. Something that's just a lot. And I didn't know before. So
55:26
when I first heard it, I wasn't sure how to use it. But you know, as soon as
55:32
people around you use those words, you just implement it in your own vocabulary and now it's just such a big part of
55:39
mine. So yeah, I use it heaps. Nice. Have two more. The first one it's LMP.
55:49
Yeah, it's a weird thing here. Like you know, I'm not sure if you have the same
55:55
feeling, but back home I feel like Fanta was a really big thing. like Fanta orange. That was something I would have
56:02
been drinking. Here it's a lot of Coke, but also LMP. And LMP seems to be the fizzy drink
56:10
number one for whatever reason. I don't understand it. They even have I think in
56:15
Peru if I'm not wrong. Mhm. A big LMP
56:20
bottle as a statue or something. So it I think maybe that's where the production
56:26
side is or something. But yeah, mean lemon and pero. So
56:32
yeah. So yeah, they they love it. It's their childhood drink, I guess.
56:40
Come on. I when I arrived to Germany, the whole Fritz Colola and the Club
56:45
Mate, it's something that we don't have anywhere else. So you also have these kind of things. It's just that you had
56:50
it from childhood and then That is so true. See, I didn't even notice. I
56:56
thought it's around in other places, too. But good that you say that because Yep. I'm well aware of Fritz Colola and
57:03
um M. Yeah. Yeah. Uh the last one that I have it's tramping.
57:12
Uh is it just like going outdoors and camping type of
57:18
thing? Yeah, hiking. Yeah. Yeah. hiking, tramping, being outdoors. Yeah, that's
57:24
yeah, really common. I'm not really using it much, but yeah, hiking and being outdoors is such a culture here in
57:32
New Zealand. So, yeah. Cool. Um, I would leave the floor to you
57:38
if you have any other one that come up to your mind, if you have any addition to the KV slang.
57:46
One thing that is really really common and I do it here a lot too and I haven't seen it in any other place
57:54
yet. It's like at the end of the sentence they always say a. So it's good
58:00
a. Oh, what are you up to? Oh yeah, fine. Yeah, that's right. A. Or are you
58:05
doing all right? Is it good? A. It's good. A. Like it's a little bit like this, right? Or like this asking for
58:14
confirmation or like a reaction. It's like a and just everyone does it automatically.
58:21
So you kind of pick it up and you just can't help it. And it's just yeah all of
58:26
a sudden they nice
Audience Q&A
58:32
uh yeah so I ask couple of questions to audience and I
58:39
when I know that you like yesterday before the recording and I got a couple of interesting questions. One is from at
58:48
Genro. Uh, what is the one thing that you miss the most about Germany that you can find
58:54
abroad? I think funny because I usually always
59:00
ask that question too, but I don't really think much about what I miss the most.
59:07
Apart from family and friends, which is normal, I do miss really good bread. So
59:14
that I actually went out to buy these PMA nickel ones and brought it back
59:19
here. Yeah, because I will never be able to not eat bread. Even though I know
59:24
it's not good to eat too much of it, but yeah, I literally go into the
59:30
supermarket and the way how I choose bread is I take them in my hand and weigh like if it's heavy, I consider it
59:39
more bread than anything. If it's really light for me, it's more like toast and
59:44
toast I don't really consider bread. So, uh, yeah, that's something I definitely
59:49
bring over. That was a very German response. Yeah, very much so.
59:58
And the second one that I received is from Lisa Sil. Uh what is the most
1:00:03
surprising thing about your personality be now be between now and when you
1:00:09
arrive uh to New Zealand? The changes you mean? Mhm.
1:00:17
O, I think the way I see myself and the way I
1:00:24
worked on myself and that you actually can look back and
1:00:29
remember how you felt when you first arrived or how you felt when you were still back home
1:00:36
and sometimes how insecure and then now feel so much more stable. You've built
1:00:42
like a whole new life on your own. and you realized you can do it. You can
1:00:47
go through and you can have challenges and you feel definitely heartbroken and homesick and lonely at
1:00:55
times. That's definitely going to happen. But you manage and you realize
1:01:00
that even though I'm really close with my family and I love them to bits, but I
1:01:06
have been here sometimes through co also I haven't seen them for three and a half years. If you would have asked me years
1:01:13
ago if that would be something I could picture myself doing, no way. And now
1:01:19
being actually stable, having my own life here and like making this big group
1:01:25
of friends and being comfortable to have my own podcast and just feel so much
1:01:32
more like I got to know myself and I'm more okay with who I am.
1:01:39
Not saying that I'm like able to see every bit of it. Like people tell me now
1:01:44
like, "Oh, you're so brave going overseas." And this is something I'm not really seeing this way because once you
1:01:50
did it yourself, you are not feeling super proud of yourself. But I guess just that you are so much
1:01:58
more okay with who you are. At least I've learned so much about myself and
1:02:03
work a lot on myself over here. And I noticed last time I went back for Christmas to see my family, I realized I
1:02:11
really love the person I am here in New Zealand. Still love the person I am over there,
1:02:18
but it's just the people who are there are all part of my childhood or my
1:02:23
school time and all of this. So I'm sometimes a little bit different. Not
1:02:29
much, but you know how you sometimes jump back into old patterns. So I really
1:02:35
like the person I became here. So that's something I found really interesting to
Guest Promotion
1:02:40
see. Yeah. Lovely. Uh so before we wrap up uh you
1:02:46
just drop it again uh conveniently the podcast but uh I would like to give you
1:02:53
the space to share anything that you were working on. And if it's the podcast, the podcast. If not, it's something else something else. But
1:02:59
basically, where can my listeners find you, reach you out, uh find a little bit
1:03:04
more on what you're working on. Yeah. So, thank you so much that you give me that space. And uh yeah, you can
1:03:12
definitely find my podcast, which I'm mostly working on, on Spotify, YouTube,
1:03:17
Apple Podcast, just really wherever you have your podcasts. and also on Instagram under Hannah Worldwide and
1:03:24
Friends because I created my own podcast uh my own Instagram ages ago which was
1:03:31
Hannah Worldwide just because I love traveling and then I just realized that I interview people who are like-minded
1:03:38
and share similar experience and whatever. So I just called it and friends. So what I would like to see is
1:03:46
if someone wants to be interviewed by me or wants to share their story with my audience as well then just hit me up. I
1:03:53
love to connect and also like-minded people other people I like to you know see different perspectives. So just
1:04:00
whoever wants to share their story or connect with me I'm more than happy to yeah have some messages and do an
1:04:08
interview that would be really cool. Perfect. like uh for the audience as always the links to Hannah's Instagram
1:04:16
but also podcast in all platforms will be in the description of the episode. So go and check it out. Uh so I would say
Funny Story & Wrap-up
1:04:24
that we close uh the episode with something fun. I asked you to came up or
1:04:29
thought thinking a bit of an unexpected funny story or even embarrassing that you have from from New Zealand. Uh let's
1:04:36
and we will close the episode with that. Right. Yeah, it's I actually thought
1:04:43
about it and I was like, hm, funny. Either I'm not funny or nothing funny
1:04:48
ever happens to me. But what I found interesting and looking back also a
1:04:55
little bit funny is that when I first came, everyone was like, oh, because I came when I was singer, so everyone was
1:05:02
like, oh, maybe you meet a nice mi guy or like a Kiwi.
1:05:09
And I ended up actually dating someone from Taiwan. So I I found that really
1:05:17
interesting because there are so many different cultures and I never thought I would go to New Zealand to end up dating
1:05:23
someone from Taiwan. So that's always interesting. Um but yeah, I'm really
1:05:31
yeah curious. And so far, I haven't dated anyone from New Zealand, so it's
1:05:37
still kind of a funny thing for me. I mean, for me, it doesn't feel weird.
1:05:44
I'm living in Italy. I'm from Barcelona. My girlfriend is German, so I'm kind of used to that kind of thing.
1:05:51
You understand? Yes. Absolutely. Cool. Uh then, Hannah, it has been amazing.
1:05:58
Thank you so much for your time and for explaining your your story and your experiences uh living in New Zealand. Uh
1:06:04
so for everyone listening uh don't forget to subscribe uh rate, share this
1:06:09
episode and also check uh Hana's podcast and also give some love to Hannah.
1:06:16
[Laughter] Until then, yeah, thank you so much for
1:06:21
having me. My pleasure. Until then, keep exploring, stay curious, and see you in
1:06:27
the next episode of Expert Experts.