Julia Neuhoff in Bulgaria – between cultures, technologies and inspiration

In a small village near the town of Pavlikeni, close to Veliko Tarnovo, far from the noise of the big city, Julia Neuhoff has built her new world – a world in which different cultures, languages ​​and professional paths intertwine.

Born in Germany, near the border with France, she studied European Studies. But her life took an unexpected turn.

"My story began, as it does for most foreigners, with love. I was hitchhiking to Iran and just a month after arriving in Bulgaria, I met love and my husband, who is from Pavlikeni. And so we have been living in a village for 10 years now as our children and my husband's family is what keeps us here. Back then, there weren't many opportunities for remote work and I started as a German language teacher, which I really liked. Then an idea emerged to get a certificate as a trainer in AI, which I implemented again remotely – in the United States. And so I started working for a German agency, for which I write online trainings."

Today, ten years later, Julia speaks Bulgarian fluently. She admits that it was not easy to learn the language: "I cried more than once while learning Bulgarian, but I invested a lot of time and efforts because I wanted to speak it fluently and communicate with people in Bulgaria".

In addition to taking care of her two sons and her professional activities, she also finds inspiration in improvisational theatre - a space for freedom, creativity and the opportunity to develop the ability to understand others.

"It all started when an advertisement for improvisational theatre emerged on social media and I decided to give it a try – I went to a workshop in Sofia, which was in English. Then I decided to create a similar community in Veliko Tarnovo, because it is a very nice way to communicate with people and helps develop various abilities. When you do improv theatre or something that develops creativity, you also develop the ability to listen to another person and react from their position, you learn to take on the role of the other – a very valuable skill, especially in our time."

Her creative impulse also led her to create the first "teeming book" (Wimmelbuch) in Bulgaria - a book filled with details and scenes from Bulgarian life, dedicated to her children.

"We received a teeming book from Germany for Christmas and my child really liked it. I grew up with books like this. They are large in size and very often there are only pictures or very little text. The idea is that there is a character in each picture and the child who looks at the books tells a story about that person. I then looked for a similar one in Bulgaria and was unable to find one, so I decided to create such a book to help even the youngest children understand the surrounding environment by connecting the pictures in the book with the world around them. Children can connect the pictures to their real life, which is very nice and also stimulates conversation between the parent and the child," Julia says.

The young woman says that, unlike her village in Germany, the villages in Bulgaria have and maintain close-knit communities and a rich social life - something that she really likes and makes her feel at home.

"I grew up in a village in Germany, but what I like most here in the village where I live is that there is a large center with two small shops and the best thing is that people gather there – both young and older. There is a pensioners club, benches, a playground and I really like the fact that there are always people here. And the other thing, which was also a big surprise for me, is that our village is very close to nature. There are many forests around and, for example, you can see a turtle on the street or in your garden, which doesn't happen in Germany. These are my favourite things about our village," she says.

Julia Neuhoff's story proves that life often leads us on surprising paths and somewhere along the way, we can find a new home, meaning, and unexpected opportunities.