As of: February 14, 2024, 6:30 a.m
By: Magdalena scratch
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Expecting their second child in April: Joy and Stefan Draxl, here at their wedding © from 2019. Photo: private
Love doesn't ask for a passport.
For Valentine's Day we tell the stories of three locals whose partners come from another country.
Joy and Stefan Draxl: From Bangkok to Jachenau
Jachenau
– Actually, she’s almost a local.
At least she has lived in the Isarwinkel longer than in her parents' homeland - namely over 22 years.
Chonthicha Draxl, who everyone calls Joy, was born in Bangkok.
At the age of 16 she came to Obersteinbach near Bichl with her family.
She attended home economics school and then started working.
“My younger siblings were born here,” says the now 37-year-old.
She also met her current husband, Stefan Draxl, through her younger brother.
“He was my apprentice back then,” says the baker (40).
That was in 2016. The two fell in love and quickly realized that they were a good fit.
Couple runs e-bike rental in Jachenau
After two years of dating, everything happened quite quickly.
In 2018 they built together in Jachenau near Stefan Draxl's parents' house.
The two also run an e-bike rental service there together.
In 2019 they married in traditional Bavarian costume.
In the same year their first daughter Viktoria was born.
The two are expecting their second child in April.
Like the firstborn, they will try to raise her bilingually.
“And of course Bavarian,” says Joy and laughs.
Joy has now settled in well in Jachenau, where everyone knows everyone.
“I have arrived,” she says.
“Everyone knows who she is,” adds her husband, who grew up in Jachna.
His parents and friends were open from the start and were happy that the two of them found each other.
Draxl's father helps them wherever he can.
The mother, who died last year, did the same.
Specialist in Bavarian and Thai cuisine
Above all, Joy's cooking skills inspire all family members.
She has mastered both roast pork and traditional Asian dishes to perfection.
“I cook more Bavarian than Thai,” says the 37-year-old.
The latter dishes in particular are particularly well received at the dinner table.
“We all really appreciate it,” says her husband and smiles.
The couple once visited Thailand together.
Even before her little daughter was born, Joy showed her husband the country where she was born.
They visited their grandfather, aunts and cousins in Bangkok.
He really enjoyed the trip, even though he's not really much of a "fart flyer," says Stefan Draxl with a laugh.
The small family feels most at home in Jachenau.
Once the baby is here, you can easily imagine another vacation in Thailand.
Sabrina and Rasika Appuwahandi: From Sri Lanka to Bad Tölz
Bad Tölz
– little Aron is 14 months old and babbles happily to himself while he eats his pasta with avocado.
His parents Sabrina and Rasika Appuwahandi smile at him.
They are incredibly happy about their little darling, who has just been traveling with them for two months.
They visited Rasika's parents in Sri Lanka.
It was the first time they were able to hold their little grandson in their arms.
“That was very emotional,” says Aron’s dad and smiles.
Until now, the grandparents could only see Aron via camera.
“We talk on the phone every day and so they see how he is growing up,” says Rasika.
He used his parental leave to show his son his homeland.
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Turbulent start to the relationship
In 2018, Sabrina – then still Strasser – and Rasika Appuwahandi got married in a civil ceremony in Bad Tölz.
A year later, a traditional Buddhist wedding was celebrated in Sri Lanka.
Rasika came to the wedding ceremony on the beach with an elephant.
The previous years were turbulent for the couple, who met and fell in love during Sabrina's stay abroad in Sri Lanka.
At the time she was 16 years old, Rasika was 23. Sabrina had to promise her parents that she would come home to Bavaria after the year abroad to do an apprenticeship. “That was the deal.”
Rasika Appuwahandi, on the other hand, didn't want to get married straight away in order to get a visa, but instead wanted to find work and learn the language first.
As a result, it took a while before he could move to Bad Tölz to be with his true love.
“Then I proposed to her,” he says.
Couple confronted with many prejudices
The couple faced a lot of prejudice.
Rasika, who now works as a chef in a hotel and also runs his own jewelry store “Appuwahandi Jewels,” wanted to position himself against this.
“Today we are glad that we did it that way,” says Sabrina, now 26. Even if the separations were always hard.
The first time in Bavaria wasn't exactly easy either.
“Life here is completely different than here,” says Rasika (34).
For example when it comes to structure and punctuality.
At the same time, people here are much more stressed than in Sri Lanka.
“That’s not particularly healthy.” But the couple complement each other perfectly.
“Rasika is the creative one for us, I take care of the formalities and paperwork,” says Sabrina Appuwahandi and laughs.
The chef has now learned to love his new home.
“The nature is very beautiful and I love it when people speak Bavarian,” he says.
This year he wants to buy his first leather pants.
Sabrina already has a few saris in her closet.
Little Aron is growing up bilingual.
And his dad is already looking forward to the little one speaking his first Bavarian word.
Alicia and Josef Meier: From Ecuador to Königsdorf
Königsdorf
– When the seven grandchildren are there, things are going well in the Meier house.
Loud keyboard sounds come from the playroom on the first floor.
There is a lot of laughter and everyone talks at once.
Josef and Alicia Meier love that. The proud grandparents can't imagine anything better than having all three children and grandchildren with them.
Since they live in Königsdorf, Benediktbeuern and Geretsried, this is not that rare.
“We are very lucky,” says Alicia Meier.
Her smile is so bright it's contagious.
She also comes from a large family that she sees once a year.
Then when she flies to Ecuador, the country where she was born.
It sparked in South America half a century ago
It was “half a century ago,” says Josef Meier, when he was seconded to South America by his company as a newly qualified engineer.
First two years in Brazil, then a year in Ecuador.
“One year turned into ten years,” says the now 75-year-old.
During this time he met his Alicia at a party.
“It worked,” he says and smiles.
After a few years they married and stayed in Ecuador for another five years.
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During this time they had three children.
Only the first-born Robert (39) was born in Bavaria.
“We were here again for six months in between,” says Josef Meier.
The two daughters Silvia (38) and Daniela (35) were born in Ecuador.
When the youngest was about six months old, the family finally went back to Bavaria.
“We wanted them to go to school here,” says Josef Meier.
As beautiful as it was in South America, he and his wife felt that it was better for their children to grow up here.
Homesickness for Bavaria in Ecuador
It was quite a change for Alicia at the beginning.
“It wasn’t easy,” she says.
The language.
The culture, which is very different from theirs in some ways.
With the love of the family, Bavaria became her new home.
She still speaks Spanish with her children today.
All three speak the language perfectly.
Back in Ecuador, Josef Meier only spoke Bavarian to them.
“They always understood everything, but always answered me in Spanish,” Meier remembers and laughs.
A week after arriving in Bavaria, the two older ones suddenly spoke German.
Alicia Meier also tries to pass on her native language to her grandchildren and impart something of her culture to them.
When she was in Ecuador last year, she had to stay there for three months due to visa problems.
In a phone call she told her husband that she had a great longing for Bavaria.
She smiles: “My heart is where my family is.”