Volkshochschule - first "Amt", then home

Volkshochschule Berlin Mitte (VHS), Anne Nguyen: Hello Nari Park. It is so nice to finally talk to you. At the end of last year we decided to put the picture of you on the cover of our programme for the year 2020 (see above). We didn’t even plan to take a picture of you back then. The photographer, Thabo Thindi, and me were on our way from the Interior Design class to the smartphone videomaking class, when we passed you in the stairwell. It was such a beautiful picture, the way you were sitting in the window frame and dreaming away…

Nari Park: Yes, I remember that moment so well. It was in October 2018, I just got out of my German class A1.1. My head was incredibly heavy. I just had to stop and look at the beautiful red vine leaves that climbed up the building. That moment where he took the picture of me actually felt like healing after the difficult morning class. At first I was hesitant about the picture. In Korea you don’t do this without any preparation. But I thought it would only be a tiny picture somewhere in the back…

Nari Park during the interview

VHS: You didn’t need any preparation, trust me. Later on you also made it on another picture. Last summer we promoted our new summer courses with a smiley postcard. Remember? I walked through the house and took pictures of any colleague, teacher and participant I could find in the hallway. This is how you ended up in a video together with the mayor of our district Stephan von Dassel.

Park: Really?

VHS: Yes. Want to see it?

She takes out her headphones and we watch the video on the laptop in a café.

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In 2018 Nari Park lived with her husband and her daughter in Seoul, when her husband told her out of nowhere, that his company is sending him to Germany. One month later they found themselves in an apartment near Berlin Hauptbahnhof with a 5-year-old daughter, none of them knowing a single word of German nor anyone in the city.

Nari Park with her family

Park: The first year was terrible. It was not at all what we imagined. I met my husband 14 years ago in Canada. Life was so easy back then, I was single most of my time in Canada, I picked up the English language quickly, I had a lot of free time and could do what I felt like doing. Then, in Germany, married and with a kid, I felt stuck. It just felt like trying to survive. I was afraid of everything. No friends, no language, having to find a place to live, sort out a school for my daughter – and aaaaall those documents! You can’t do any administration online. For everything you need to wait for weeks and go in person to all kinds of “Ämter”.

Also registering at the Volkshochschule for my German course felt like going to yet another “Amt”. But soon after starting my A1.1 German class, whenever I entered the building it felt like going home. Here is where my Berlin life started.

VHS: So what changed after the first year?

Park: Oh, after one year, the three of us couldn’t imagine going back to Korea. We love Berlin. My daughter hated Kindergarten in Seoul. But she is enthusiastic about school in Berlin and tells me “I feel so free here, Mom”. In Korea even in Kindergarten, the kids have to sit inside and study. They are only outside once a month for a special activity, for example digging for potatoes. But of course only the teacher does the digging in the dirt. The kids get to watch and then smile for the picture of proof. For a lot of parents it is too sad to send their kids to Kita. Since there are hardly any part-time jobs in Korea, you usually quit and become a housewife.

Nari Park - fashion design for kids

Before we had a baby, I was a fashion designer for kids for almost 10 years. After that I studied teaching Korean for foreigners. Inbetween I learned a bit of Psychology because I wanted to understand the minds of kids. I taught Korean in a university for 6 months before we moved to Berlin. Working hours in Korea are usually very long and working overtime is expected.

Here everything is so much more familyfriendly! Do you know Familienpass? There are so many things, you can do for free. In her last summer break, my daughter took part in a choir. They practiced everyday and finally even had a performance on stage with a big orchestra in the end. For free! Can you imagine that?

VHS: (laughs) Yes I can. So how did you get to know people in this huge city?

Park: Well, I met my favourite people in my German class. We are a group of five. One is from Chile, one from Sweden, one from Japan and the other one from the USA. We had a lot of fun studying German, especially with our teacher Monika Ebersbach. Without them, I couldn’t imagine living here. But I have to admit: whenever we meet, we only speak English…. And last year I worked in the Korean Culture Center at Potsdamer Platz, where I taught Korean. My German students are totally into K-Pop (editor’s note: Korean Popular Music) and I will take my former students to K-Pop-Karaoke next week.

I really would like to work in fashion and as a Korean teacher again.

VHS: Apart from the cover – which is your favourite page in our programme booklet?

Park: Oh, that’s page 24/25 with the cultural cooking courses from different countries. I would like to attend those. Since 90 percent of my friends are foreign, I would like to learn not only about cooking the dishes, but also learn something about the different cultures along the way. And I am looking for an English course. Last year I did a Pilates class at Volkshochschule, where I expected a hard workout including sweat. I clearly should have read the instructions better! (laughs)

After passing my German B1 test I continued to study at Jüdische Volkshochschule. Our teacher there is less strict. Next month I will come back to Volkshochschule to repeat B2. I am already registered, because I am so afraid to have a break inbetween.

My biggest motivation to keep going is my daughter. I want to keep being able to answer all her questions.

Reproducing the initial picture