Meet our German intern, Lotta!

We've never had an international intern before, but when Lotta got in touch at the beginning of the year, we couldn't resist her enthusiasm. Lotta is 19 and her family own a bookstore in  Ratingen, Germany. Lotta will be sharing her skills with Time Out all through October!

What brings you to New Zealand?

I think to be honest, I have to say that the decision to chose New Zealand to pass an international internship was influenced by Love. My boyfriend is studying in Auckland since July and both of us tried to find a solution to shorten the time we don’t see each other. But I’m really thankful for this impulse because I didn’t see the possibility to make an internship abroad during my apprenticeship before. (In Germany its quiet normal to pass a semester abroad, but to integrate an internship abroad in an apprenticeship is still complicated) and I’m thankful and really excited, that it works to pass this internship in such an amazing country, which always has been one of my favorites expecting to get this possibility.

Where are you from in Germany?

The name of the town I’m living and working in is Ratingen. It’s a little town (nearly 100.000 inhabitants) near Düsseldorf or Cologne (because no one even knows Düsseldorf) in the west of Germany. We don’t have an ocean and we don’t even have mountains. Apart from this Ratingen is a little charming old town (750 years I think) between fields and forests and lots of other big towns.

Can you tell me about your bookstore?:

Our bookstore named “Buch-Café Peter&Paula” is laying in the centre of Ratingen and was founded in 1983. We have a mixed range and also a little café in it, so everybody who wants to, can get a coffee and sit in to relax and read. Over the years, we have a lot of people who come to sit here every day. Since about 6 years we have a cultural event every Thursday evening at 8 pm ( for example concerts and readings created by ourselves or with invented guests). This series of Events is called “Tragödchen”( the german trivialization for tragedy).

How did you find out about Time Out Bookstore?

I found out about Time Out Bookstore via the internet. I was searching for  bookstores in Auckland and this one impressed me most (without wanting to endear myself J ). I was really attracted by the green charming facade and this page with these really likeable presentations of the staff. I really liked it to had the chance to get this little personal insight, so it didn’t feel this anonymous. And for sure I really liked the cat.

What do you hope to learn while interning at Time Out Bookstore?

I’m really excited to see how it works to be bookseller at the other end of the world (How books can be ordered, how it goes on with the EBook-Trade in New Zealand, if there are any publishers I didn’t hear about yet, etc.). In Germany there is a special law, which interdicts us to sell books under a fixed price given by the publishers. This shell protects the book as a cultural property. I’m curious how it works on another way, because it isn’t sure if this law will exist furthermore. Apart from this I hope to improve my English skills and to learn to know the country and its people for sure.   

What do you think our staff can learn from you?

I really hope that I can return something to the team during my time in the Time Out Bookstore. I think it could also be interesting the other way around to experience how it goes to be a bookseller in Germany. I don’t know if the German speech is very interesting for anyone, but if there should be someone who wants to learn it, I will tell you some words for sure.

What are some of your favorite books?

My favorite books in the last time were “The Story of Forgetting” by Stefan Merrill Block, “Me before you” from Jojo Moyes (surprised me in a positive way), “A Biblia” from Péter Nádas and “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green.