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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
6 Jun 2025
Reply rate
95.8 %
Usually responds within 2 days
Feedback
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Details
Description
I’m Amanda, a Thai-American (1984) originally from California, and my husband, Daniel (1985), is German. We met in Bolivia, where I created a women’s economic development project and social enterprise. It consisted of a hostel and community center and cafe that brought locals and foreigners together, as well as an entrepreneurial training space for local women. Since I had hundreds of volunteers in Bolivia, we decided to also host them here in Germany. My background is in education/research, international development, urban planning, social entrepreneurship, and tech. Daniel is an anesthesiologist and emergency doctor with some background in plumbing/heating and electricity.
We’re currently working on bringing an old ruin of a DDR castle back to life near Berlin to one day become another community space for things like summer camps for foster kids, live music and theater, artist residencies, etc. That’s many years away given the state of the things now. We have set up our non-profit organization this year and we work with the local village association to host the area’s seasonal cultural events! We just started being able to host in 2022, given the lack of floors and a proper roof before.
It’s about 11,000sqm of truly magical, but mostly overgrown garden/parkland and about 300sqm x 2 floors of abandoned ruin. The structural stuff is in progress, but there’s so much "little" stuff to do that always takes more time. The castle is almost exclusively furnished, filled, and fixed up with used or free things (we even picked up the used toilets free from a Berlin nightclub!). We believe in the Japanese concept of Kintsugi and finding value in broken things, like the castle itself; so we prefer to give unwanted or broken things a second life to divert trash from landfills, avoid unnecessary consumption, and provide an example to others to show that one can have nice things without always buying new.
We have wonderful neighbors and garden club friends in the garden/park area (international Berliners) who are so friendly and helpful. The working language here is usually English, since that is often the only common language, but we can also always practice German or Spanish, if that’s preferred (you'd need at least B1 to communicate without a lot of active teaching required though).
We have all the basics needed for comfortable-enough living. Close by, there is a train station with a direct train (when it's not under construction) to Berlin, as well as a small town with a Rewe, a Penny, and few restaurants. There are also adorable little towns with artisan shops and homemade breads and organic cheeses, etc. for the foodies. It’s a lovely area to bike around in with all the rivers and woods everywhere and the famous UNESCO Spreewald Biosphere is only 20 minutes away by car. Spreewald kayaking and pickles are the best! Plus, everyone is very friendly and it’s culturally quite different, even ethnically, from the typical former East German areas.
* You must be able to speak/comprehend at B2 level in one of our languages to be able to understand directions.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Technology
Culture
Politics / Social justice
LGBTQ
Events & social
Sustainability
Self development
Movies & TV
Music
History
DIY & crafts
Books
Art & design
Photography
Languages
Cooking & food
Gardening
Architecture
Writing
Performing arts
Carpentry
Animals
Team sports
Nature
Yoga / Wellness
Mountain
Dancing
Camping
Water sports
Hiking
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Learning and practicing English, German, or Spanish. Exploring the culture of Spreewald and typical country life in Germany. Chatting with our friendly neighbors can really teach you a lot about real life in Germany. Daniel and I have both traveled extensively around the world, so we can always give ideas and tips. I cook international foods and classic dishes, so if you like to try new things and chat about all things possible, you will enjoy mealtimes. Berlin is only about an hour train ride (when it's not under construction) away for an easy day trip or weekend trip for people who want to explore the city. For those who like to stay in nature, there’s so much in the area to explore, including an artisan glass-blowing village or local factories and farms that give tours. You'll also learn about how to fix up a house, construction basics, and DIY projects. Depending on how long you stay, you'll likely learn a lot about yourself and new ways of seeing and living in the world by being around us and our diverse friends that come here to help.
Help
This year indoors we'll mostly need to lay cables, prep walls to be redone/plastered, install flooring, sew things, refurbish old doors, paint, sand wood for stair steps and furniture, install baseboards, etc.
Outside, tasks would include raking, weeding, evening mole hills, maybe reviving an old pond, trimming trees, splitting wood to dry/store, mowing, weed whacking, sorting through trash the former owners left to recycle as much as possible, etc.
There's also just a constant accumulation of dust and piles of things left from workers and construction. It would be great to also have help keeping the upstairs clean and managing the mess downstairs so we can still keep doing tasks without it getting in the way.
Although welcome, you needn’t have professional experience or expertise of any kind. All tasks are broken down into the simplest sub-tasks and we would show you how to do things the way we prefer it anyway (or the best way to do it given the limited tools we have at hand). There is never a right or wrong way to do things and as long as you’re open to learning and respect that there is sometimes a preferred way we have to do certain things, we’re good.
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Thai: Intermediate
French: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
If you have your own self-study materials, we can discuss and I can explain, teach what I can, or practice your English, German, Spanish, or Thai!
Accommodation
Individual rooms upstairs with shared living room, office loft, wintergarden, bathroom, and provisional kitchen. Big things are missing downstairs and little things upstairs. It’s still a ruin after all.
There’s WiFi and a cuddly dog that always loves to play with new people.
In terms of food, we can hopefully switch off preparing dinner, if you like to cook. We mostly eat vegetarian and try to generally eat lower on the food chain. We wouldn’t be able to accommodate a vegan or very picky eaters, unfortunately. There would be at least one big hot meal a day and whoever doesn't help cook must help clean. You’re expected to keep your own bathroom and bedroom clean as well, so as not to make more work for us, since we have quite a lot to do this year!
I am asthmatic and allergic to cigarette smoke, so non-smokers please!
What else ...
We really can’t manage people who have many particular needs or are very new to the practicalities of the real world or conscientious group living. It would be ideal to have people who are competent, motivated, communicative, and curious self-starters who can see that something needs to be done and can commit to starting and finishing the tasks well. It can be overwhelming to think of such a project and all it requires, but it just takes a determined and diligent chipping away at the tasks to keep it all from getting daunting. There’s so much to do and it feels so great to witness the little and big transformations you can make with your hands. We would love to have someone who can feel that and wants to be part of this story of finding something that was neglected and abandoned and contributing our knowledge and experience to leaving it better than we found it.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have wifi and can also set it up in the garden in summer.
Space for parking camper vans
We share our garden with friends in yurts, mini trailers, and vans on the weekend. There’s a compost toilet in the garden and a camper shower and provisional sink for those looking to sleep in a camper van in the middle of nature!
Can possibly accept pets
We love dogs, but are allergic to cats. Depending on if it’s indoors or outdoors, we can discuss!
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Feedback (19)
The work was decent and… read more
I had a chance to learn how to work with small construction projects, that I was a bit afraid of before, Amanda was extremely patient… read more
Photos
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
The work was decent and… read more
I had a chance to learn how to work with small construction projects, that I was a bit afraid of before, Amanda was extremely patient… read more
The tasks were discussed every night and consisted of mostly self-directed work. They are very good at assigning tasks based on skill level and comfort. And communicate very well with what needs to get… read more
I enjoyed the work on… read more
The work was challenging as it involved the restoration of… read more
We spent most of the time in the garden, often in company of their funny farting dog Rocky (we miss him).
We really liked to have dinner together because it was a great way to have a social exchange.
We… read more
Workies are encouraged to… read more
The castle itself as well as the whole property is just a beautiful place to experience. You can definitely feel the magic and history of it. There is so much to do and accomplish, but you will see the… read more
Amanda and Daniel are incredible people with their hand on their heart. It was my first experience and I loved it. Everything in the description is correct. There is so much to do in this incredible project, whatever your skills, there is bound to be something you can do. Rocky is an electric battery that never runs out, so if… read more
I love Amanda, Daniel and Rocky (the dog😊) I stayed there for about 2 weeks at the end of December 2022! Everyone was very welcoming and comforting to be around.
The work is exactly as described in the listing and you can usually pick from various tasks available depending on what best suits the Workawayers strength.
We had… read more
I stayed at Danial and Amanda's beautiful Castle for twenty days and i wish i could stayed longer. I had so much fun and experienced one of the best days.
We enjoyed talking about so many topics and tried so many new things, also it was a great opportunity to refresh my English.
I had the chance to meet new… read more
