Join a young family in creating their houseboat dream while experiencing the vibes in Berlin, Germany

Details

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  Description

  Hi!
  
  We are a young family with 2 little boys who happen to have bought a houseboat a few years ago - that wasn't yet livable, and very long story short: the boat took much longer to repair and we had kids in the meantime and now we are ready to go again and work on it to be able to one day hopefully live in it with our 2 kids. :) The journey has been challenging so far but also very enriching and we didn't needed help along the way and we are looking for people interested in enjoying a chapter of that journey with us starting asap! :)
  
  More about us:
  
  Raphael and I are both 37 years-old and we have lived in Berlin for nearly 8 years. We are originally from Luxembourg and France (so we are French and German speaking, and English of course). We became a young family recently and welcomed our son Émile nearly 2.5 years ago) and had our second son, Gabriel, 9 months ago. (Yes, we have 2 under 2!)
  
  Raphael is still a big child who has crazy energy, is open and very sociable. He is addicted to sports and coffee, loves a good movie and good night out dancing (doesn't happen that often anymore unfortunately...), and most of all time with his family and friends. I am quite talkative but also much more introverted at times and enjoy to have some alone-time, now more than ever after becoming a mama, and I love sports as well, but also very much reading and learning new things.
  
  We were attracted by Berlin for its dynamism, openness and progressive values and culture and deeply love this city (except in winter...). We both worked in start-up/ scale-up before and met at work, became good friends that shared the same hobby of triathlon, spent a lot of time training together (and going out for a good dancing session) until we started dating and the rest is history. :)
  
  We decided to take a year off last year to focus on our baby/ our family and do the travelling we had been dreaming through Asia (and we also welcomed 2 Workawayers to join our trip and we had a great experience!).
  
  We came back to Berlin last year to get a bit more settled, moved to a bigger apartment, also to be able to host Workees/ an Au Pair to have help around the house with the cooking and cleaning and also help with our 2 boys.
  
  We are happy to tell you more about ourselves but I would describe us as very open, family people (that would love to live in a community), love sport and dancing, enjoy good food and love the apéro time before dinner, especially outside on a terrace.
  
  We have had Workees living with us for the past year and it has been a joy!
  We knew that family life with 2 little kids was going to be challenging and that we would need help and we always wanted to live in a community or with family and not being able to do this at the moment we built our little community at home - by choosing a bigger apartment so we could host people and not just live the 4 of us a nuclear family. Every Workee has brought their personality and universe and we learnt from all of them - from songs and fun activities with the kids, to gardening tips, delicious recipes and of course cultural exchange generally on every sort of topics. It's been refreshing and enriching for us and we have been able to share about our life vision and help out in learning German or writing a strong CV, about nutrition (a topic I am passionate about) and sports (a topic Rapha is passionate about.)
  
  (We already have a Workee with us at the moment, and we have had the experience of having 2 at the same time and it's been great for everybody - it's been really joyous and fun doing this together and also with the family (i.e. the kids who have been super fond of meeting and playing with new people).
  
  Looking forward to meeting and inviting a Workawayer to join the team and make this a special, memorable time for all of us!
  
  Best,
  Chloé, Raphaël & Émile

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house
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  Interests

  

  LGBTQ

  

  Vegetarian or vegan

  

  Movies & TV

  

  Van life

  

  Self development

  

  Books

  

  Languages

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Fitness

  

  Camping

  

  Nature

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Sailing / Boating

  

  Dancing

  

  Beach

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Water sports

  

  Hiking

  

  Cycling
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Berlin is a buzzing city, very open and multicultural with a lot to offer on the cultural scene, but also in terms of restaurants and cafés and of course night life. But it's mostly the values of tolerance and openness (of course shaped by recent history of the Berlin wall and the Cold War) that make Berlin unique and the people that come to live in Berlin, so it is very easy to make new friends, meet like minded people and experience Berlin to its fullest!
  
  We are also happy to practise your French or German and as previous managers in a start-up with quite some responsibilities and team management experience, we are also happy to help and coach people on their CV or career choices if they are business related.

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  Au Pair Help

  Further details can be found here

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  Currently we already have a Workee/ support for the children and for help around the house and we now mostly need help in building the houseboat.
  
  We are at the very early stages but we already cleaned it out and it is now completely empty and "clean" and ready to be built to live in.
  
  Some of the next steps we see and would need support with (in the coming 2-3 months until October):
  - prepare the "construction site", i.e. install lamps (no electrical work or wiring), a small kitchen, bathroom
  - beautify the garden, maybe install some toys/ installations for the kids to play so mama can help on the project :)
  - clean out some areas (wood, old items from previous owner)
  - prepare/ help gather the tools we will need
  - paint garden shed
  - install the windows
  - install/ apply the inside or outside isolation
  ... only manageable DIY tasks and any more complex tasks will be done by / with professionals of course
  
  So we are looking for someone who is excited to work outside, to be flexible and adaptable and open to learn, who is willing to get his hands dirty and of course we would appreciate people who could teach us/ have experience in DIY/ building projects/ houses or smaller projects. From our experience with Workees in the past, we had the best experiences with people who enjoy working together as a team (also sharing meals together and be sociable), who are proactive and independent in doing the work, who can come with solutions and who are comfortable to work with a changing plan every week or so depending on how priorities shift BUT we try to be as organised and structured as possible and provide clarity. (So we also appreciate/ value people who are/ like to be organised and structured and have a good work ethic while having fun and joy in the process of course!)
  
  Most of all we appreciate open and honest communication - we are always welcoming feedback and ideas on how to do things better/ differently.
  
  And of course, we would appreciate if you could help as a normal member of the family, like unloading the dishwasher, setting the table etc.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Luxembourgish: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  You would get your own room, that is spacious enough and includes a large bed, closet and a sofa.
  The bathroom would be shared with all of us (but there are 2 bathrooms in the apartment and we all use the 2).
  
  OR you would share a room in the larger room/ small studio we have with another Workee and then you would share one bathroom, just the 2 of you on one side of the apartment. We would go with that setup if we find 2 Workees that know each other or that would go along and also meet before and be happy with that setup.
  
  Our flat otherwise is very large and spacious, it is a 4 bedroom flat with a small garden (we are on the ground floor) at the back of the building so very quiet.
  
  We are a 5 minute walk from the metro station, so it is easy to get around and a 15 minutes walk from the boat (or 5 minute bike ride).

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  What else ...

  We are very well connected with metro, bus and Berlin is very bicycle friendly city. We can provide a bicycle for you so that you can get around easily.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  My animals / pets

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