Fun facts about me

  1. I’m a real “Frankfurter Mädsche” – a Hessian Frankfurt girl.
  2. I used to be addicted to salsa dancing.
  3. For me, there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.
  4. I once rode on the back of a truck to the Tibetan side of Mt. Everest Basecamp (5,500 m).
  5. I didn’t want to have children of my own for ecological reasons, but then adopting had been too complicated.
  6. I have a list called “Signs I’m growing up”. It has things in it like, “First grey hair” and “Started shaving my armpit hair.”
  7. I created a calendar every year for a while and sent it to my clients. The first calendar was about dogs from behind.
  8. I haven’t done any sports for 30 years.
  9. I am a synaesthete. I see letters, numbers and musical notes with colours.
  10. I was one of three women in the advanced maths course and the only one in the first computer science course in our high school.
  11. I don’t have a car driving licence.
  12. I remember well when a boy in my class said to me in front of everyone: “Tit-fucking. But that doesn’t work with you.” I therefore think that communication training in schools makes sense.
  13. I used to want to be blonde and blue-eyed.
  14. I wore a perm for 3 years.
  15. I speak 3.5 languages: German, Spanish, English and have basic knowledge of Mandarin.
  16. When people ask me where I come from, my short answer is “Frankfurt” and the long answer is: “I was born in Frankfurt’s Marien Hospital and went to school in Offenbach. We then moved to Langen, 15 km south of Frankfurt, and that’s where I grew up. My mother comes from Taiwan and my father from southern China. They met in Heidelberg.”
  17. I did an Executive MBA at Germany’s best business school.
  18. I have inferiority complexes and I think one should be able to be open about inferiority complexes.
  19. I am a continuing education junkie. I love to learn new things!
  20. I don’t like beer.
  21. As a schoolgirl, I wanted to go to India and work in an orphanage. But my mother didn’t allow me, because she thought it was too dangerous.
  22. My favourite neighbourhood in Frankfurt is the international railway station district.
  23. As a child, I devoured Heinz Sielmann documentaries and wanted to become a wildlife filmmaker.
  24. I often wear black clothes because it’s uncomplicated.
  25. I am a fun and pleasure person. I love delicious food, people with a sense of humour and also, from time to time, just do nothing.
  26. I only wanted to get married, if I have children. Because if I like being with someone, I don’t need an official status.
  27. I’ve been wearing Chucks since I was 15.
  28. I lived in Jimei, near Xiamen (China), for a year when I was 15 and studied Chinese language and calligraphy.
  29. In Jimei, I was often a head taller than the local men. I was told that I would never find a man who would want to marry me.
  30. After graduating from high school, I lived in Beijing for a year and studied Chinese language and ink painting. I enjoyed riding in the sea of cyclists, which until then I had only known from television.
  31. I studied communication design at the university in Darmstadt.
  32. I did my practical semester in Taipei and worked there on a trade fair stand for China Airlines. Afterwards, I travelled through Japan and China for a few months.
  33. In a public Japanese bathhouse, for the first time in my life, I felt I blended in visually.
  34. I lived in Barcelona (Spain) for 4 years and studied fine art and later worked in design studios. I still carry the sun from that time inside me.
  35. I haven’t had a TV for 25 years.
  36. I love hiking. My longest hike was 6 days in Tibet during the rainy season.
  37. I never smoked.
  38. I do things I’m afraid of to lose fear. For example, I joined a diving club when I was a teenager, because I didn’t swim very well. Since then, I am no longer afraid of deep water. My fear of heights has become less since I go rock climbing from time to time. I am in a public speaking club to reduce my fear of speaking in front of people. A few years ago, I was voted best speaker in a debate duel.
  39. I hate to throw away food and often carry a container with me to take along my leftovers.
  40. Sleep is medicine and prevention for me.
  41. I often feel guilty when I see the poor living conditions of others in the world.
  42. Although my father earned above average, I grew up thinking that we were poor. For example, we only had second-hand clothes and furniture or furniture from the bulky waste. At first, I wasn’t given pocket money either, but I got 10 pennies for each A4 page that I wrote full of Chinese characters. When it came to money for school trips or sports club fees, it was always stressful for me to ask for money, because I had to listen to my father for months telling me that I should earn the money myself. That’s why, for example, I never handed in my membership application for the handball club to my father and joined without being registered. When I read about child poverty in Germany, a slight feeling of familiarity creeps over me.
  43. I love travelling through a country as a backpacker on public transport, because it gives me a more intense experience of the country and its people.
  44. I feel I belong to an international group rather than to a culturally homogeneous group.
  45. I eat very slowly because otherwise I can’t taste the food.
  46. When people ask me what I like to eat, I always say “something tasty”. Because something can be prepared deliciously or not deliciously.
  47. I’m very good at getting to the heart of complex things visually.
  48. I have won international design awards for my work and worked a lot to get them. Now I often forget that I have them.
  49. I like to watch arthouse films and read thrillers, crime novels or entertainingly presented non-fiction.
  50. I rarely go to concerts, although I like music a lot.
  51. My first elementary school certificate stated: “Shau Chung likes to sing and dance”.
  52. My sports teacher told me that I danced “like a peasant”. After that, I discarded the plan to become a member of a dance club. After 10 years, I didn’t care anymore and took dance lessons again.
  53. I was one of two students in my class who was selected for the school choir at the audition. However, I didn’t want to join the choir, because I didn’t like the teacher and because there were only “nerds”.
  54. I took piano lessons for a few years, but could never got enthusiastic about Mozart and Beethoven. Until I discovered jazz and new music. But by then I had given up on it.
  55. As a child, I dreamed of a car-free world and for that I wanted public transport to criss-cross the world like paternosters.
  56. I don’t just want to experience the beautiful, wholesome things about people, but also the not-so-beautiful, vulnerable, dark things. That’s what makes a person for me.
  57. I always want to know WHY something is happening or has happened and WHY something needs to be done.
  58. I used to be able to tell all the local bird calls apart.
  59. I have been a member of Junior Chamber International since 2009 and have Senator status, the highest award for outstanding commitment to this international organisation.
  60. I am a member of the Frankfurt Working Group for Family Members of Individuals Living With Mental Illness and advise family members on a voluntary basis.
  61. I started reducing my waste a few years ago. I buy more at the weekly market and also at the supermarket I try to buy things that have no packaging. I reuse the plastic and paper bags from the market, bakery, etc. or bring my own containers. I have also tried making my own washing-up liquid and washing my hair with rye flour. Both with not so great results, so I’m currently still sticking to bought products. Someday I’ll try again.
  62. I did a 6-month communication course for parents.
  63. I travelled from Moscow to Beijing in 7 days on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
  64. For a while, I crocheted personalised penis dolls. First as gifts for friends, later as commissioned jobs.
  1. I created and sold notebooks with pornographic titles in different languages because I wanted to encourage everyone to spend time on their passions.
  2. My motto is “live and let live”.
Published
Categorised as Personal

By Shau Chung Shin

I am a designer, businesswoman and founder of HAHAHA Global and Gesund in MeinerStadt. I develop solutions and products that encourage an open and positive approach to taboos. In doing so, I contribute to a healthier and more peaceful world.

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