The shop assistant
Marina Paul starts the day in her kitchen with a cup of tea. To start the morning off right she must always make time for relaxation. This is time that the shoe saleswoman cherishes because with her busy schedule, it does not last for long.
29-year old Marina prepares for another busy day at the "Loop 5" shopping center. The colossal mall is one of the largest in Germany and houses the shoe store where the Russian German works.
A Russian with German roots
The strawberry blond and her older brother grew up in the Russian city of Saratov not far from Volgograd. There - on the banks of the Volga River - Paul's ancestors settled in the late 18th century. Her father, a German born in Russia, spoke only German until he was seven years old.
It was growing up in this mix of cultures that led Marina Paul to develop an insatiable hunger to see the world and learn new languages. This is what led her to study tourism for five years at a university in Saratov.
Nearly six and a half years ago, Marina left Russia, to join her brother in the north of Germany. She then quickly decided against a career in the tourism industry. "You have to live in a big city and know the German laws in order to work in the tourist branch here," she says. She chose a career in sales instead.
After about five years in Bremen, Marina decided to move south to Munich in pursuit of a job opportunity. Less than a year later, a chance meeting in the Canary Islands precipitated yet another move.
"I met my boyfriend and I ended up moving to Hesse to be with him," she says.
The shoe store in Weiterstadt
Display box after display box showcase the latest fashion in black and brown heeled women's boots. A string of crystals flow from the ceiling and weave elegantly between the shoes. All the while, the bumping rhythm of House music plays in the background, enticing the female customers into the Austrian-owned shoe store.
Marina is in her element as she stands at the counter greeting each customer with a warm smile and packing shoes into boxes and bags.
Marina enjoys her job because of the contact it allows her to have with other people. "I've known all along that I want to be in the sales business," she says.
When her shift ends at 4p.m., Marina drives about 20 minutes to the small town of 25,000 people where she has just moved with her German boyfriend. The village is a welcome change of pace from the mall where she works.
Unpacking the moving boxes
The job is hardly over for Marina Paul when she comes home at night. Cardboard moving boxes are stacked anywhere there is space in the cozy apartment she and her boyfriend have just moved into.
"Every day I have to spend some time unpacking moving boxes and cleaning" she says, "I just want everything to finally be put away in the attic and have some space to move."
Marina has never owned a television. She listens to the radio a lot and enjoys learning Spanish and English, as well as reading books. "I like history and history based novels but I do not like fantasy books," she says.
A question of identity
The story of Marina Paul spans across a continent and even includes ancestors from Hesse that immigrated to Russia.
"Maybe that's the real reason I ended up in Hesse," she adds contemplatively.
When asked whether she sees herself more as a German or a Russian, Marina simply replies "I identify with both cultures. It is a wonderful feeling to have two mentalities. I think that is honestly a gift – and I am happy to be like that."
Author: Genevieve Baer
Editor: Rina Goldenberg