Taking a wry look at life in Germany

What makes the Germans tick? Let’s meet three young influencers with Asian roots who live in Germany. What have they observed and how do they make clips that go viral on social media? 

“I want other people in Germany to feel as happy as I do”

Surabhi Bhawsar, 30, product manager

“When I first started my Instagram channel five years I go, I never would have thought that one day nearly 80,000 people would be following me there. Like me, almost all my followers come from India and have either moved to Germany or are thinking about doing so. My content is aimed at this group, as I want to give them something which I used to want a lot. 

When my husband and I moved to Schwäbisch Gmünd in 2018 for my job, I knew almost nothing about Germany and I was completely overwhelmed by the fact that the way people live here is completely different to India. For example, where I come from it’s perfectly normal just to throw empty bottles away. We have nothing like deposits on bottles or separating recycling by colour. 

People from India would never expect shops to close for a day off, either. We’re not used to shops closing on Sunday or not being allowed to make any noise. That got me in hot water a few times early on! That’s why I share information about Germany to make sure newly arrived Indian’s don’t make the same mistakes I did. In my videos I explain the rules of day-to-day life in Germany and talk about bureaucracy, which can really catch you out. For example, when I gave birth to my daughter 18 months ago, I found out how complicated it is to apply for parental allowance. So now I package dry information like that into funny reels – and people love them! My most popular video is about how to separate your glass correctly for recycling. It’s been seen over five million times. 

The videos in which I share tips on how to keep your connection to your home country are particularly popular. For example, I talk about where to buy traditional Indian clothes in Germany. I often get messages from Indians who want to thank me because I helped them settle in Germany. That’s exactly what motivates me: I want to use my channel to help people and do what I can so they feel as happy here as I do!”

“I’m the ‘Swabian Asian’!”

Diana Hoang, 29 , content creator

“I’ve always been fascinated by social media, but it took a long time before I was ready to become part of that world myself. As a teenager I loved watching videos of my idols on YouTube. I mainly watched beauty videos by Asian-American and British Asian influencers. My roots are in Asia, too: in Vietnam. My parents emigrated to Germany and settled down in Swabia. 

In Swabia I often felt caught between two worlds: at home I spoke Vietnamese and grew up with Vietnamese culture, but I picked up the Swabian dialect at school. I got on okay in both worlds, but I wanted to meet people in the same position as me. I found them on YouTube, where influencers from Asian migrant backgrounds became role models for me. 

After finishing school I went to university and got a job at an agency. It was cool, but not really fulfilling for me. I wanted to be creative, to inspire people and make them laugh. During the Covid pandemic one of my friends told me she liked the TikTok app. I was bored and I started posting short clips there just for fun. 

My videos really took off, though, when I showed my Swabian side as a person of Asian appearance, such as reviewing regional food in dialect. It was there that I found my niche: I’m the ‘Swabian Asian’! One of my videos actually has 16 million views. That success encouraged me, and now I am a full-time content creator. I love knowing that my videos can put a smile on the faces of people out there!” 

“Life in Germany through Korean eyes”

Chamsol Sim, 31, student

“If the pandemic hadn’t happened, I would probably never have become an influencer. But in the spring of 2020 I was sitting at home in Berlin in lockdown with nothing to do, so out of boredom I started making TikTok videos. In the first video I posted I saw pictures of animals and said their names in German. Jaguar, penguin, frog. It was dumb, but I didn’t think anything of it. So it was all the more surprising when the video went viral. Thousands of people commented, saying how ‘sweet’ they found my pronunciation and my Korean accent, and they shared it with their friends. At that time I had been living in Germany for just under two years while I was studying economics and business administration. When I saw how many Germans were interested in me as a Korean on Instagram and TikTok, I started posting regularly and put more thought into the content of my videos. 

On the one hand, I want to entertain people, but I also want to show what life is like in Germany through Korean eyes and make people aware of cultural differences. I think my work has touched a nerve, as many people in Germany now are really into Korean pop culture, music and cosmetics. They’re also interest in Korean food. In one of my most popular videos I play two characters, one German and one Korean. They want to go for breakfast together but neither likes what the other one eats. The German has croissant and bread, while the Korean eats spicy noodle soup. Making a video like that takes more time than you would think. Often I spend a whole day mulling over the idea and it takes several hours to record and edit it. 

The creative side is great fun but I want to be an influencer on the side. I am going to finish my degree, even though almost a million people are following me on TikTok. I’ve even been recognised on the street and asked for selfies. Of course that’s lovely, but at the same time it still surprises me. I’m not a global superstar. I’m just a guy who makes videos!”