Who are the people on the cover?

VHS: Hello Helen, Todd, Zohar, Nari and Jana. Thank you for spontaneously joining us for the photo shoot. We wanted to show what classes and everything else look like right now. And we wanted to show a small part of the people that make up Adult Education life.

Helen, what do you do here?

"There is also so much poetry in hula hoop."

Helen Haukamp: I am a course instructor for Hula Hoop dance. With the participants in my basic courses, we play and dance with the hoop. I teach them easy and hard tricks and it’s nice to see how they slowly get a feeling for the hoop and better feeling for their bodies. Later it’s about moving more intuitively with the hoop and reaching a flow stage. This works out earlier for some, and later for others. Even though we need precision in the movements and timing for many tricks, I want to get out of the perfectionist thinking with the participants, where it’s all about looking and getting it right. In your own flow, it’s all about the feeling of concentration and flow, and that can look different for everyone. I love these moments. They are my great passion. And they can come so easily. With the right music, in a group or alone, and no complicated tricks are needed to make it happen.

There is also so much poetry and wisdom in dancing with the hoop. We can choose to let the hoop steer us. Or we can choose to steer the hoop. When it falls down, it’s not a mistake, it’s a chance to discover something new, to be able to react in a new way, to break out of patterns. It helps to think of the hoop as a second teacher, because it gives constant feedback on our actions and reactions. This allows us to learn to observe our bodies closely and get to know them better. The great thing is that if you practice regularly, you can have a particularly quick sense of accomplishment, especially in the beginning. I still work with just this one hoop after 6 years of intensive training. It’s so complex and never gets boring.

"Not all Mitte is the same"

VHS: And you, Jana?

Jana Koch: I look at the living environments of people in Berlin Mitte. Everyone has a different personal and social environment and thus a different perspective on this district. Not all Mitte is the same. And that means that there is not just one right way to organize and plan life in the neighborhoods. Among other things, I look at interfaces and networks for the Volkshochschule Mitte, the libraries, music schools, and for the areas of art, culture and history. These are the departments of the Office of Continuing Education and Culture, where I do “social space-oriented planning.” That originally comes from social work and is cross-disciplinary. I work at the interfaces within the office and with other actors in the district. It’s a lot about listening. It’s really amazing how many perspectives there can be on the same thing and how enriching it can be for everyone to you think about as many living realities (“Lebenswelten”) as possible during the planning process. I’ve only been doing this for a year. I’ve learned how complex it is to keep a city like this running. You move through the city differently, with your own or different perspectives. As rapidly as this city is changing, I think my job will be evolving as well.

I like these areas in life where many disciplines meet. That’s why I worked as a film and media scholar for years. For me, film is the big picture, where many levels interact with each other. This can also be transferred to the content of our office. In the sound, the music schools find their place. In the film as a narrative, the libraries find their place as well. Film as a sociological medium, like the Volkshochschule, reflects society. Here opinions are formed, society is created and finds its expression. In the aesthetic strategies of film we encounter the realms of art, culture and history. The increasingly complex world of work demands that different perspectives be brought to bear. ????My zigzag biography suddenly makes sense with what I can now do with passion. ???

"Have you ever tried to spell Volkshochschule? Or pronounce it?!"

VHS: And you, Todd and Nari?

Todd Stuchiner: I study German in the afternoons at Antonstraße. I started at A1.1 and am now at B1.1! Once a week in the evenings I teach a TOEFL test course in English at Linienstrasse.

It took me a lot of effort to finally sign up for the German course. Language learning is incredibly difficult for me, and as a New Yorker in Berlin, I get along wonderfully without German. I avoided German where I could. That’s what I always do when I’m not good at something. There were always enough things that I was good at and that has worked wonderfully in my life so far. Now it doesn’t work anymore with the German language. I have two children and I want to apply for a permanent residence permit at the immigration office. Without the B1 certificate, nothing works.

My friend recommended the Volkshochschule. I had never heard of it before. If you google German courses, it doesn’t show up in the search results. Besides, have you ever tried to spell Volkshochschule? Or pronounce it?! Anyway, I have two great instructors working with me now. They’re patient and really good at teaching. Because of Corona, the course group is now nice and small. In the A1.1 course we were 20 people, now we are a maximum of 10. We are all very different, but we are all in the same boat. We have no other choice and we just have to go through this language. Even though we make countless mistakes, we don’t have to be ashamed of it. It’s a nice atmosphere to learn. I feel more confident with the German language now. And I hope to pass the test in February.

The English course I teach is my first course at VHS. I have taught such TOEFL test preparation courses a lot online. In the group and individual courses have participants almost every continent. Many of those who seek online support have failed the exam a few times before. Even if you know English very well, it is a special exam format that needs to be practiced. The funny thing is that not a single person in my class at the community college is registered for the TOEFL test. But while we practice the format, they can still improve their English skills along the way.

Nari Park: I have taken some German classes and sports classes here. For six months, since the pandemic broke out, I haven’t learned German at all. Since the VHS has reopened, I have unfortunately not been able to get one of the few course places and am currently studying at home with a private teacher from Korea. I learn faster with her because I am more focused and she answers my questions directly in Korean. In December, I want to pass the B2 test and then try to enroll in a C1.1 course here at VHS. In the long run, it is more motivating to learn with other people.

Our daughter just switched from a private bilingual school to a regular elementary school here in the neighborhood. Now she is also learning German much faster and all of a sudden we feel more integrated into society. Before, we lived an expat life. We met many international people. Now our daughter’s classmates are also our real neighbors. On the way to the playground, we now meet people we know! And our kids can just visit each other. We feel much closer to the Germans now.

"Amazing, what else you can do at VHS!"

VHS: Glad you could come too, Zohar. You were already quite pregnant. Congratulations on your baby Beri. What are you doing here at VHS when you’re not taking a baby break?

Zohar Zehavi: Thank you! I’ve been teaching Hebrew here for two years. It’s my mother tongue and I’m a teacher trained in Israel. There I specialized in children with special needs. Maybe one day I will work with children again. But for now, I enjoy working with adults. I like the motivation they bring. They have made up their own minds to learn a language. It’s wonderful to teach someone in this way. Here in my VHS classes and in the one-on-one private lessons I give. And I also learn a lot about German culture through my participants. Friendships have also been formed.

Working at a German institution is the best way to start a life in Germany! As an immigrant, I had only heard of the VHS as a German course provider. In my German classes at another school, there was an assignment like this in the textbook: we were supposed to go to the VHS website and look up certain courses. The next day I checked it out again and found out what else you can do here! There is no school in Israel with such a wide range of courses for adults.

"We all had wet feet."

VHS: How did you feel about this photo day in June?

Helen Haukamp: At that time, everything in Berlin was closed. It was the first time I wore masks with other people in a building like that. It was unusual, but surprisingly not unpleasant. It was cool to walk through the VHS with such different people. And also to see the different rooms for a change. The photo group of about 9 people did play out real classroom situations that day. I love to learn. We learned the Hebrew alphabet, play in the jewelry, ceramics and dance rooms. Dancing with you was fun and I would have liked to show you more tricks with the hoop (that’s what we did in that cozy back garden). I remember we all had wet feet because the janitor had watered the lawn earlier. I was already in that teaching frenzy you get into as a teacher when we were stopped again!

VHS: Ha! Yes. The photographer kept stopping us, whenever he had enough pictures of each situation and I kept directing you around the house.

Helen Haukamp: Exactly! There is also this photo, where I am the first in the queue and the Greeter Doreen shows me the program booklet at the reception. We browsed through it together and especially looked at the many language courses. I would have liked to sign up directly for every other course.

Nari Park: I remember how I found that the emotions behind the masks were so hard to see. I learned over time to look closer to see a smile. My daughter was there that day, walking all over the place. And I talked to Todd about our kids.

Todd Stuchiner: Yeah, we talked about what it’s like to have kids growing up bilingual or trilingual. And about the phases when you have doubts about whether you can do it with learning German. We both have trouble learning the vocabulary and I got encouragement from Nari. I remember that I also felt sad that day, because I realized just how much life had changed because of Corona. It seemed so impersonal, having to sit two meters away from someone else on the bench.

Zohar Zehavi: On the day of the photo, it was like discovering myself. The workshops, the movement rooms – it’s incredible how many things are offered. I came home and said to my husband, “You don’t understand. They really offer EVERYTHING!” Especially as a migrant in a big city, it is important to have a place to start.

Jana Koch: For me the experience was new, that you can still connect with others (with a mask). It’s nice that you can experience this with new people and express curiosity about each other through body language, eyes, posture or smiles. Communication finds a way.

It’s unbelievable how many levels of the Volkshochschule came together. It is so interesting to see who is actually involved in making the VHS as versatile and lively as it is. Where the threads come together and are held. Who puts their ideas in there and pushes which buttons? From the person who opens up in the morning to the person who plans and runs programs. It’s not just what you see, after all. There are so many different people working on the overall VHS product. On that day, it was nice to see that people have the same interest: to create a space together that is alive, where people meet and exchange ideas. That’s the only way education can work: To be interested in each other, to have curiosity and openness for people and for a topic as common ground.

This free space is what I like about the VHS. The space for experimentation. When I was a teenager, I learned Czech at a VHS because my father is Czech. There was a clear goal and a clear course. Probably most people come to a course with a clear goal. This goal-oriented approach is very nice. But it’s also good that there are open processes where you need to accept that it might fail. You have to put up with developments that you didn’t plan. That’s the only way new things can emerge and everything can stay alive. Sometimes you forget that. It’s nice that the VHS has that, too.

VHS: Listening to you, makes me think that it’s so logical that you’re right here right now. Did you have a life before VHS and have one besides it?

Todd Stuchiner: All my adult life I’ve been a teacher. I graduated with a master’s degree in 2004 and thought I would find a job, do that for the next 40 years, and then retire. I hated traveling, by the way. So I started out classically at a high school near Boston. But then the U.S. economy went downhill. I couldn’t afford to live in Boston anymore. With my huge student loans and my low salary as a teacher, I had two concrete options: Move into my twin brother’s basement in Portland or take a job in South Korea. And so, for 12 years, I became a traveler. I taught English in school classes there for years. Then I became a Business English teacher for adults in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and stood another 5 years in front of third and fourth graders in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Along the way I had two children with a German woman. So I moved to Berlin 4 years ago to be close to them.

I am also a professional stand-up comedian. I wanted to try this before, but the Middle East is no comedian territory. In Berlin, friends encouraged me to try it out at an open-mic night. For the past three years, I’ve been performing several times a month and sometimes my own show and touring other cities, countries and festivals. It’s nice when newcomers ask me for advice now and I can encourage them over a glass of Coke. Not everything, but a lot can be learned in this profession.

"Did I mention that I love to learn?" :-)

Helen Haukamp: I didn’t start hula hooping until I was 25, while finishing my master’s degree in biology in Marburg. Before that I thought I couldn’t do it at all and was more into horseback riding and martial arts. I was addicted pretty quickly and practiced a lot with videos and tutorials. With the hula hoop, I was able to focus. It is to this day that hula hoop dance grounds me again and helps me when I am not feeling well.

Since I’ve been in Berlin, I’ve also started taking other dance classes like belly dance, improvisational dance and Cuban salsa. I’ve been teaching Hula Hoop for 5 years now and Salsa for 3. I had taken Arabic after I graduated because I needed something for my head. Did I mention that I love to learn? Now I have started my next Master studies: Regional studies in Asia and Africa at Humboldt University. Theoretically, it’s a full-time study, but I dance and teach so much on the side. Dancing with the hoop trains both sides of the brain insanely well, because we practice with both hands and link both sides of the body. It also helps me when I return to my desk invigorated. I work with fellow students using the Promodoro technique. We discuss briefly and then have 4 times 25 minutes of work time in which each of us works at home in a concentrated manner. We can see each other on the screen. Works!

Zohar Zehavi: Of course there is a life besides the VHS! (laughs). There is my little family here in Berlin, together with Beri’s 4-year-old big brother. And my family in Israel. Time with friends and colleagues. I just finished my training as a yoga teacher. I want to teach yoga authentically and that’s why I went through this long journey myself. Beri is now 7 weeks old and slowly I can spend a few minutes on the yoga mat in the morning again. We had the idea at the VHS to offer short yoga sessions for course instructors at the VHS – in the breaks between their courses. But right now is a bad time to start something like that. Before I started at the VHS, I worked at the Jewish Elementary School. And as a daycare educator. In the early days, of course, I learned a lot of German. I managed B1. Soon it will be time for B2.

"Good podcasts can emerge from long pub nights."

Jana Koch: I come from a village near Munich and studied social work. Now comes the zigzag biography I was talking about: degree in theater, film and media studies in Vienna, work for television, as a researcher, as a lecturer in film theory, administration for the University of Vienna. Even at the university, I always tried to bring in my previous work. For example, my colleague and I conducted encounter seminars on body images with an institution for the disabled in Austria. What body images are we confronted with in the media? What is the “perfect” and the corresponding “imperfect” body? And who decides that?

And again and again projects where I learned a lot about enduring and the possibilities of failure…. And how good podcasts can emerge from long pub nights with students.

After a year of scholarship in Berlin, I took down the tents in Vienna with a heavy heart. Now I see my favorite people less often. But the start in Berlin was an easy one. Berlin and Vienna are very closely connected in terms of cultural work. There is an insanely good Vienna-Berlin connection. Now I have grown a new circle of friends in Berlin. I’ve gained so much all along the line!

"Love of language"

VHS: The topic comes up again and again with all of you: Berlin – and elsewhere.

Helen Haukamp: Yes, for me it’s the love of language. That’s another thing I used to think I couldn’t do. When I meet people who inspire me and whom I like, I learn easily from them. It was like that with Spanish and also with the other languages I have learned and am learning. For Persian (Dari) I am still looking for a tandem partner.

Nari Park: South Korea is dealing with the corona virus in a very different way. It has been much admired in the world for this, because with testing, tracking, and quarantine, they have managed to keep infections down without hurting the economy much. But they are being very careful with the second wave right now. Especially with the children. In Seoul, they only go to school once a week. The rest of the time, the parents take care of them at home. That drives a lot of people crazy. I think children need school. It’s not good when human beings are stuck at home so much, especially children. And we here in Berlin? My daughter even went to after-school care sometimes during the summer and fall vacations! There is no such thing in Korea even without Corona. The parents have one week of vacation a year. And the children have 6 weeks of summer vacation and 4 weeks of winter vacation. During these weeks, other childcare facilities earn a lot of money.

"Watch your mouth"

Todd Stuchiner: I love Berlin! I would never want to live anywhere else. I can appreciate it more because I come from a country where things like childcare and health insurance are unaffordable for many. In the U.S., we are used to having massive poverty, huge income disparities, and people losing their homes and apartments because they had to pay high medical bills. Also, compared to the Middle East, where I could not freely express my opinion, Germany is a great relief to me. In many ways it was even harder over there for my female colleagues than it was for me. But also as a privileged U.S. “white” male, I knew to “watch my mouth.”

This overt racism, reflected in the laws as well, is hard to take. Depending on your ascribed race, certain jobs are eligible for you.

It’s not perfect here, but definitely better for me. Most people in Germany are even friendly! And this multicultural life suits me. I walked by a restaurant in Berlin the other day that had a menu translated into five languages! In the US, they would have kicked you out if you asked for a menu in another language. Even in the more liberal places.

My favorite place in Berlin is Mehringdamm. That’s where I lived the first time I spent any length of time in Berlin. I always get all nostalgic there. I still can’t understand the long line at the vegetarian kebab place next to Curry 36. There are people standing in the middle of winter as if it were the 8th wonder of the world!

Jana Koch: Vienna and Berlin have a different rhythm. Right down to the walking speed on the street. In Vienna, for example, I didn’t notice in the beginning when someone criticized or attacked me because it was packaged so flowerily. Berlin has grown together differently and has its own history. Berlin cannot be compared to other cities in terms of urban planning either. It is a patchwork city. You can get out of the subway after five stops and feel like you’ve landed in a different city. Every neighborhood has its own rhythm and melody. There are so many different images of Berlin – also in movies and in music. Berlin and pop culture! These Berlin images can be individually true and yet at the same time represent something different from what you find in your own reality. It’s a nice surprise that it works so well.

Zohar Zehavi: I love Israel, where I come from. And I enjoy Berlin very much. Like Jana, I also come from a small village and it’s something completely different to discover such a big city. Only I still haven’t got used to the winters after 7 years. Usually we always try to spend a month in Israel in December or January.

My husband has a Dutch passport and we both wanted an adventure. One day we decided to move to Europe for a while. We had heard that Germany and especially Berlin were cool. We learned German up to level A1.1 while still in Israel and then we flew here on a one-way ticket. Totally crazy, especially since we had never been here before. But we were young and wanted to try. If it hadn’t worked out, we would have gone back. I love the music scene in Berlin. And the clubs. The first 3 years we lived in Kreuzberg. When we moved to Prenzlauer Berg, it felt like moving to a new city. Discovering so many new things again. Today, my family is my adventure.

VHS: And now? Do we dare to look ahead?

Jana Koch: Sure! I would like things at the VHS to remain so lively and open. I can’t name a fixed goal, because that would contradict this wish ;-). My biggest wish and probably all employees have it: That it is a place for everyone and is perceived as such, because only then everyone feels invited to come. And, above all, to help shape it. On the one hand, the VHS is a reliable factor for consistency and certain fixed offers, and on the other hand, it always leaves room for flexibility so that things remain lively.

"The future makes me feel anxious - and relaxed."

Nari Park: The future makes me feel anxious – and relaxed. Sure, these are strange times and there’s a lot of uncertainty about health and finances. On the other hand, I’ve never been so calm. Those phases where I do nothing and think about my whole life. I feel that at the moment some things are more human than before – more family. The inner stress is gone and time passes more slowly. A bit like how I imagine life in the countryside. I grew up in Seoul and it was never as quiet around me as it is now. I think I’m actually the village type. I want to figure out how to provide myself with everything I need.

Zohar Zehavi: Right now it’s hard to talk about the future or make plans. I’m just living day by day and enjoying the time with our baby. Actually, it doesn’t make much difference to me right now if there are more or less contact restrictions.

Helen Haukamp: I don’t know what’s coming now. These are not good times for dancers. But I could imagine a thousand things: Dance projects with Afghan women, educational work. At the moment we are doing a project on “Non-European Gender Identities” with children and young people. There is not just one view on the concept of “gender” for example. In any case, I continue to teach dance. This experience with the students and participants is irreplaceable for me. I know that for sure. What I can create around it, or what I have to create financially, I will see.

Todd Stuchiner: I’m going to be a professional American football and baseball player. And in the near future, I want burgers and fries.

VHS: You’re all on the move again. Where are you going?

Jana Koch: I’m enjoying my “Feierabend” in Neukölln.
Helen Haukamp: Straight to the desk to my Promodoro writing group.
Todd Stuchiner: Also straight to the desk. Teaching English online.
Nari Park: My daughter is on vacation. Let’s see what we do now.
Zohar Zehavi: Well, change diapers, what else?

The interview took place in October 2020.

Photographer and filmmaker Thabo Thindi was born into the height of apartheid in South Africa. He feels magically drawn to human stories.

VHS: Thabo, what are you proud of?

Thabo Thindi: It makes me proud when I see a smile on the face of a person I portray. To be able to show that person with dignity in their specialness makes me happy. We are all fighting a battle that others know nothing about. Being compassionate with each other is the least we can do.

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Learn more!

• Helen Haukamp on Instagram
• Thabo Thindi on Instagram
• Todd Stuchiner Comedy
• Volkshochschule Berlin Mitte on Instagram