Hey, this is me, Jana. I find it quite difficult to describe myself so I will start with what I love most: travelling. š
High school exchange in New Zealand
It all started in 2005 when I was 15 years old and stayed in Dunedin, New Zealand for one year as an exchange student. My host parents Lola and Barry were amazing and they also had two other host students from Japan and from Hong Kong living with them at the same time. I did visit Sam in Hong Kong first in 2015 and then in 2019 for her wedding together with Blake, which was a lot of fun!
Work and Travel in Australia
By the time I left New Zealand, I had totally caught the travel bug, so in 2008, after graduating high school, I went to Australia for one year. In this year I spent 6 months in Sydney (still my absolute favourite city!) as an au pair and travelled the other 6 months around the country (while running out of money on the west coast, so I worked three jobs in Bunbury, south of Perth, for about 2 months). I also visited my host parents in New Zealand again and travelled a bit more around New Zealand.
Semester abroad in Australia
In 2011-2012 I spent a semester abroad, which happened to be in Australia again. (I just love this country!) This time I stayed in Surfers Paradise at the Gold Coast. I know many people say that Surfers Paradise has nothing to do with āthe real Australiaā. But for studying, (pretending to be) surfing, partying and meeting other internationals as well as locals it was the perfect place! When my semester was over, I had 4 more months to travel. I used those for travelling around Australia (where I met Blake in a hostel room in Cairns), New Zealand and parts of Asia.
Volunteer work in South Africa
In 2014 I wrote my masterās theses in Cape Town. Here I spent two months and did volunteer work at a local school. I made some amazing German friends here. Furthermore, I met many locals, which made me realize once again how privileged we are in Germany.
Travelling Asia after uni
At the start of 2015, after graduating university, I travelled around Asia for 3 months with good friends. This was another amazing trip before starting my teacher training.
Travelling Asia and Australia after my teacher training
When I finished my teacher training, I cancelled my flat and travelled for another 3 months around Asia and Australia at the end of 2016/ start of 2017. (You can kind of see a pattern here of which regions Iām always drawn to.) After this fun trip it was time to start the āgrown-up lifeā as a teacher.
High school teacher as a dream job
Yes, I am a high school teacher and Iām teaching English as a second language and PE. I probably forgot to mention this at the start because I feel like a profession doesnāt define you as a person at all. However, I do love helping others, I love working with kids and I love speaking English and doing sports. So, Iāve definitely found my dream job. And the holidays make it possible to combine it with my other dream activity: traveling. (You may have figured that out by now. š)
Sabbatical and world trip coming up
To bring my passion of travelling to the next level, I applied for a sabbatical before covid was even a thing. And now – 2.5 years later – itās about to start. In July 2022 Blake and I will start our world trip together! It was always my biggest dream to āone dayā do a world trip. What a happy thought that this is going to happen this year and itās going to happen with my āLieblingsmenschā. š
