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Kredics at work: "We'll sit down with the guests until noon"
Photo:
Tung Vu
Many people dream of a life far away, but only a few make these dreams come true. What is it that drives you? How do you manage the new start in a foreign country? This is what the book "Lunch Break on the Mekong" by SPIEGEL editors Kristin Haug and Verena Töpper is about. You have collected stories from Germans in 28 countries on six continents. This text is an excerpt from her book, which was published this year.
»I never thought how happy it could make me to end my life in Germany.
To move out of my flat share for good, to give away my furniture, to cancel my insurance.
When I was 30 I made the jump.
Actually, the veal sausages were to blame.
I had already worked for an advertising agency in Stuttgart for five years and had to plan the buffet for an event for a tire manufacturer.
For four weeks I discussed with the tire saleswoman how Bavarian the food should be.
She was pretty rude to me and kept asking for new Bavarian specialties.
And then I asked myself why I have to talk about veal sausages for four weeks?
What have I done in the past few years?
Then I quit.
I'd tried to quit my job twice before, but my boss had raised my salary every time.
But with the third termination it worked.
At the time, a friend asked me if I could accompany her on a trip to Vietnam.
Her parents emigrated from there to Germany 40 years ago and she still had relatives there.
When we landed in Ho Chi Minh City, everything was bustling, loud and dirty - and I thought it was great.
We stayed there for two weeks and I've been fascinated by the country ever since.
Everything smells different, everything tastes different.
It feels like fireworks in your head all the time.
I flew back there, traveled the country for four weeks, and got stuck in the small fishing village of An Bang just outside Hoi An in central Vietnam.
The beach is right on the doorstep, there are great little restaurants, the people are nice, I felt good.
I extended my stay there by a week three times and made friends with a Vietnamese woman in a restaurant.
At some point she asked me if I would like to stay and set up a bed and breakfast with her.
I flew to Germany again, sold and gave away most of my things, furniture, clothes, electronics, and stored the rest with my mother.
I didn't just want to sublet my room in a shared apartment, I gave it up completely.
My business partner found a piece of land on site in Vietnam and we had our bed and breakfast built there.
We hired an architect who had studied in London and came from Hoi An.
She knew construction workers, roofers, plumbers and plumbers and after eight months our house was ready.
I invested around 30,000 euros in this - all of my savings.
But I found the thought of losing the money if it didn't work out less badly than later having to regret not having tried it in Vietnam.
When our Bed and Breakfast was being built, I took a language teacher and worked with him to learn the basics of the Vietnamese language.
Every word has one syllable, language has six tones - a word can have six different meanings depending on the tone.
Somebody once told me it takes ten years to speak perfect Vietnamese.
Then I've at least made it to half-time and my Vietnamese is quite acceptable.
I'm now with the friend I was with in Vietnam for the first time.
A year and a half after I emigrated, she gave up her job as head of a physiotherapy practice and followed me.
We have now paid off my Vietnamese business partner.
Now we get up here every day at seven o'clock, buy fruit and vegetables at a market and prepare breakfast for our guests.
There is muesli, omelette, waffles and dark bread - but nothing Vietnamese, we would never manage that as well as the locals anyway.
Usually we sit with the guests until noon, then we eat something ourselves, go to the beach, do sports or take a nap and then take care of the check-in and check-out.
Sometimes I have to pinch myself to understand that I've built something of my own here in a socialist country.
We have almost only German guests and many friends and family members also visit us.
We have three bungalows, two lofts, two private rooms and a holiday home.
We can accommodate a maximum of 22 guests at the same time.
actually
Our Bed and Breakfast is like a little piece of Germany, only more relaxed and with great weather.
That's why we are never homesick.
The corona pandemic is unfortunately a disaster for our business, all bookings have broken off.
The borders are as good as tight, but we hope that things will soon go up again.
At the moment we live on our savings, do a lot of sport and enjoy the peace and quiet.
We actually think little about retirement.
But the cost of living is also very low here, and in the main season we've always earned quite well, so we've also been able to save a bit of money.
Life here wouldn't be that easy with children - but we don't want any either.
Faced with poverty
And there are also downsides: It is not easy to do business as a foreigner, without local partners you have no chance.
Money disappears in the system.
And if you don't know that you can negotiate with the police, you pay more than others.
What also often makes me aware that I am on another continent are the animals.
The rule here is: if you can catch it, you can eat it.
As a vegetarian, this is particularly upsetting for me.
And of course you are confronted with poverty in Vietnam.
Our neighbors collect cardboard and every two weeks a woman picks up the plastic bottles from us because she can earn money with them.
That's why we try to live as modestly as possible here and occasionally donate money, for example for a new street through our neighborhood, for families in need, for an orphanage or victims of the Agent Orange poison.
I'd actually like to ride a really big motorcycle, but I don't buy one because I don't want to be seen here with such a big machine.
Simply out of respect for the locals.
It's only stupid at Christmas.
Hardly anyone celebrates that big, there is no mulled wine, no Christmas market, no atmosphere.
Two years ago we were in Germany for Christmas.
During this time, life usually takes place in the houses.
Everyone is inside and it's incredibly quiet outside.
I found that kind of strange and was happy to be able to fly to Vietnam again.
In the hustle and bustle.
Home."