Our First International Chapter: Kaiserslautern, Germany!

This weekend Geek Girl Brunch officially became international thanks to our Kaiserslautern Chapter in Germany! Although both officers, Cree and Ashley, are American, the chapter is a dynamic mix of both Americans and Germans. One thing is for sure, no matter what country brunchettes are from they can all speak geek.

Get to know the KTown officers in the interview below. Find out what it’s like being an American geek abroad, why they wanted to become a Geek Girl Brunch Officer and more!

Interview with Kaiserslautern Chapter Officers:

What are your geeky interests?

Cree: My geek interests are anything Tank Girl, Doctor Who, Xbox gaming and lots and lots of manga. That should sum up my very long list of things.

Ashley: Any and all anime, I am addicted! I have recently fell in love with Tokyo Ghoul and Karneval. I am an avid fan of Attack on Titan and High School of the Dead. I love all things Doctor Who specifically the 11^th doctor and I have a growing collection of Marvel and DC comics. I consider myself a gamer, I have been playing Destiny religiously lately but I plan on taking a break until the new expansion pack comes out. While I wait you can find me hunting monsters in Evolve. I also have a growing love for steam punk, and I hope to cosplay a steam punk version of some of my favorite anime characters.

Why did you want to be an Officer for GGB? 

Cree: I wanted to be an Officer because there are so many people here from different walks of life and finding your geeky soul sista(s) is extremely hard. I wanted to create an opportunity for others, and myself, to be able to express our awesomeness and have get-togethers. More importantly, I wanted to be an Officer because Geek Girl Brunch is more than just a thing to do, it’s something for just about everyone. It’s a place for everyone to feel safe and have fun outside of the normal ‘geek’ community, which seemed to lack diversity and a strong female presence. I definitely wanted to be apart of that and share it with the women in my area.

Ashley: There is this idea that woman/girls have a lack of knowledge about anything geek, more specifically gaming and comics. It sucks that we as women are constantly questioned about the validity of our knowledge or love for anything geek, being an Officer for GGB is a way I can contribute to breaking those stereotypes. I wanted to become an Officer for GGB because I feel like it is important that we as woman can come together in a safe place and discuss our interests without the fear of being judged. The opportunity to be an Officer for GGB will allow me to be a role model for future geekettes, like my daughters, and I will get the opportunity to meet other really awesome woman who I otherwise would probably not get the chance to meet.

What is your favorite thing about the city you live in? 

Cree: My favorite thing about the city I’m in is the food and festivals. Every time I turn around, there is new food to try and another festival to enjoy!

Ashley: I live in a village right outside of the heart of Kaiserslautern, and it is beautiful. The people for the most part are extremely friendly and helpful. I guess my favorite part about the area I live in how beautiful it is. I love camping and hiking and we are lucky enough to have castle ruins in our village that we hike to often. This area is a photographers dream, I feel like if I need a spark of inspiration for my photography portfolio I can just walk out the door.

What’s it like being an American geek abroad? 

Cree: Being a geek abroad is a lot harder than some would think. Being in another host country where you speak little of the language, let alone read it…buying comics or watching your favorite TV shows becomes a challenge. Everything is online so I do a lot of online ordering. I found a comic store in France that sold English comics. But then the store I found here in Germany… little to nothing was in English. It’s pretty hit and miss. Boy do I miss being able to watch Game of Thrones or any other show when it airs and not having to find a website streaming it.

Ashley: Being is geek abroad can be difficult because of the language barrier. Finding amazing manga and comics and realizing they are in French or German can be a pain sometimes. Amazon Prime, Etsy and Midtown Comics are my best friends. I invest a lot in streaming sites like Crunchy Roll, Hulu Plus, Netflix, Funimation and Anime Network to name a few just so I can keep up with my favorite shows and get my favorite manga’s and comics. In Germany, at least for me, it is harder to find geeky things. In our area there is one geek related store that I know about that I believe is more board game based. I generally won’t shop on the economy for geek related things but if I happened to see something that I really like, which is rare, I will buy it.

What is your brunch drink of choice?

Cree: My brunch drink of choice would have to be Swimming Pool, it’s a delicious blue tropical mixed drink that’s out of this world.

Ashley: This might sound bad but my brunch drink of choice is a whiskey sour, I’m not into dainty drinks. It’s 5 o’ clock somewhere right lol.

Links: 

Cree’s Blog– We Ate We Loved We Traveled

Ashely’s Blog– Ashley in Wonderland

Like Geek Girl Brunch Kaiserslautern on Facebook and check out their Chapter Page for more info!

Stay tuned for a post from the KTown chapter about their Magical Girl brunch!