It’s puzzling to realize how much time I spent to get an education. By 2025 I used 12 years of my life to get professional training, in addition to my 10 years of regular school attendance. That’s right, I don’t have a high school diploma (Abitur in Germany). But I taught high school kids and helped them improve their grades.

Kommunikationselektroniker – 3 years

My first professional education is from vocational training at the Deutsche Telekom AG, Niederlassung Potsdam on the Telegrafenberg. It usually requires 3.5 years, but I could shorten it with 4 other students to just 3 years. The official description is Kommunikationseletroniker Fachrichtung Fernmeldetechnik (communication electronics technician, specialized in telecommunication).

Diplom-Physiker – 7.5 years

I started to study physics at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin in 2000. This is before the bachelor and masters degree were introduced in Europe following the Bologna process. The diploma I received is now considered equal to a masters degree.

The regular study time (Regelstudienzeit) for physiks is 5 years. But I spent 2 semester at the MSU – Moscow State University (МГУ Моско́вский госуда́рственный университе́т и́мени М. В. Ломоно́сова) in Russia. And I invested 1.5 years into the investigation of HgCdTe Narrow-Gap Semiconductors at the HU and BESSY (Elektronenspeicherring-Gesellschaft für Synchrotronstrahlung mbH). The work is reflected in my diploma thesis “Elektronische Eigenschaften von CdxHg1-xTe mit 0.07 < x < 0.4” (here a link to the document on my personal university homepage).

The diploma system does not have a major and minor part. You are only required to study an additional subject for one semester. I chose physical chemistry (Physikalische Chemie) by Prof. Rademann in 2001 with a practice (many experiments and lab reports) over the summer break. This was really fun!

This degree allowed me to teach Math, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science at public schools in Germany. In 2012 I finally decided to officially become a teacher and get a teaching license.

Oberstufenlehrer für Mathematik und Physik im Niedersächsischen Schuldienst – 1.5 years

Teachers in Germany study for a master of education at universities. But that is only the first step, therefore called Erstes Staatsexamen (first state exam). To qualify as a teacher you also need to pass your Zweites Staatsexamen (second state exam), which usually requires an additional 2 year training period called Referendariat with a teaching obligation of 10 hours per week and lectures at a specialized institute.

I started my ‘Referendariat’ at the Studienseminar Stade in Lower Saxony. To save costs the state had reduced the training time to 1.5 years. While living in Hofkoh, I was travelling to the Studienseminar Lehramt an Gymnasien (45 kilometers), continued to the Gymnasium Warstade in Hemmoor (another 29 kilometers) and after a day of work with frequent visits to my lectures traveled the 56 kilometers back home on most days of the week. It was a stressful time 2012/08 – 2014/01.

Above the start on August 1st, 2012; Mathe Leistungskurs 12 in Hemmoor 2013 and finally the graduation on January 19th, 2014.

In summer 2015 at the Didacta I realized that there are more then 200 International German Schools around the world! It took a while to make up my mind and collect information, but in February 2016 I started applying for several schools around the globe. Here is the list until April 2016:

• Taiwan, Taipei
• China, Shanghai Pudong
• Egypt, Hurghada
• India, Mumbai
• Vietnam, Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City
• Indonesia, Jakarta
• Turkey (now Türkiye), Ankara
• Russia, Moscow

I added my resume to the database. Offers from Belgium and Mexico reached me by email.

Teaching in the English language – 5 years

My teaching degree brought me to Saigon in Vietnam, but I only taught for 1 year in German. After that I worked 3 years for the American International School Vietnam and 2 years for the Saigon South International School. The topics span a variety of subjects and include the American curriculum, IB Diploma Program and AP Advanced Placement. For the IB and AP I received special training. Here is a list:

• IB Physics HL/SL (training in Jakarta)
• Chemistry
• Integrated Science 9/10 (biology, chemistry and physics)
• MYP Design (training in Bangkok)
• AP Physics A (training in Sacramento)
• High School Math
• AP CSP Computer Science Principles (training in Baltimore)
• Live Science
• Advanced Automation

From a certain perspective I was successful with my teaching. In IB Physics at the AISVN we never had an SL student receive 6 points, and only one time in the past a student had received 6 points on HL higher level. No one ever got 7 points. I wanted to change that.

My first 2-year course started in 2018, and the results of 2020 were remarkable. All 15 students passed, both SL and HL. And some students received 6 and 7 points as their IB score, both HL and SL. Usually the best subject at AISVN is IB Vietnamese Literature with an average slightly above 6 points, and for obvious reasons. But in 2020 the best subject was IB Physics HL with an average of 6.5 IB points! Two students scored 6 points, two students scored 7 points. I am very proud of my students! AISVN was fun, see post on twitter/X:

The work at SSIS was also both challenging and rewarding. In 2022-2023 I supervised 2 ASAs (after school activities): The SSIS Robotics club with VEX V5 and the game developer club Unity Impact. At the end of the year we also absorbed the remaining students of the Girls Code club into our Unity Impact club.

The start for VEX was not easy, since I was completely new to the program. Until the end of 2022 no student could travel, so we could not take the students to the Signature Event in Taipei at the TAS to give them some experience in this competition. But early 2023 we set a new Vietnamese record for 12 attending teams from 5 schools at the Vietnam National Championship 2023 Spin Up.

And for the first time we had a Middle School Team in Vietnam. Now there were 2 spots available to represent Vietnam at the World Championship in Dallas. And I was coaching both winning teams, so I could travel with both teams to the United States:

We had a great time in Dallas. It was a nice experience for the students, they progressed so much in the coming years and returned to Dallas in 2025!

Now it’s time for me to improve my Vietnamese. I have lived in this country for 9 years already!

Ngành Tiếng Việt và Văn hóa Việt Nam – 4 years

I started applying for Ngành Tiếng Việt và Văn hóa Việt Nam (Vietnamese Language and Culture of Vietnam) at the Trường Đại học Sư phạm TP. Hồ Chí Minh (Su Pham university) since May 2024, but the requirements to start this course were not met. The course is intended for 20 students, the university requires at least 15 students to sign up. By October 2024 we were only 7 Students.

In 2025 the requirements were lowered to at least 10 students, but by the end of the signup period in July 2025 we were only 3 students. September 1st we were 4, and Ms. Tân could convince the board of directors to start the course anyway. It worked, we are now Tân Sinh Viên Khóa 51 of 7220101. My student ID is 51.01.615.002. The opening ceremony on September 21st was only attended by 2 of our students, the others were still in Korea and China. In October 2025 we have already 7 students! I went to Cambodia for 2 weeks to get my 1-year visa.

It will take 4 years to receive my bachelor degree (bằng cử nhân). The story continues until 2029. By then I will have spent 26 years as a student, almost 50% of my life!

Preparation while in Cambodia

Since October 2023 I enjoyed studying in the cafe on the ground floor of the RS II Guesthouse, Phnom Penh. It was named Coffee TodaY. But for 2 months it is already a new restaurant.

The new restaurant is not yet on Google. And from outside it is difficult to see that you can enter the second floor and the A/C area. I figured it out on October 17th and spent the next 3 days there almost the whole time by myself. I got things done.

Then I tried to publish this place on Google Maps. Let’s start with the name:

SPECIALITY IN PORK – បាយ សាច់ជ្រូកជាតិ

I have no idea how to enter Cambodian or Khmer characters with my keyboard. This was the first challenge. I took a picture and used internet services.

The Wifi is named BAY SACH JRUK CHEAT while Google translate reads bay sach chrouk cheate for បាយ សាច់ជ្រូកជាតិ. Here is the explanation from ChatGPT:

The Khmer phrase បាយ សាច់ជ្រូកជាតិ (bai sach chruk cheat) can be broken down like this:

• បាយ (bai) → rice (usually refers to cooked rice or a meal)
• សាច់ជ្រូក (sach chruk) → pork (literally “pig meat”)
• ជាតិ (cheat) → national, local, or domestic (as opposed to imported or foreign)

So, បាយ សាច់ជ្រូកជាតិ means: 👉 Rice with local pork or Rice with domestic pork — essentially, “pork and rice made with local meat.”

It could appear on a menu to emphasize that the pork is from Cambodia rather than imported.

So, that’s ChaptGPT. Now it’s on Google Maps too. This is the place I wrote this post. And analyzed more than 1500 bank transactions from my old German bank account of the last 12 years.