Who was there? Rachel Wills

After graduating I moved to Berlin, where I have been pretty much ever since. It's a great place to live, especially for the young and single! I've had various lines of work – most of them connected in some way with languages. I spent several years teaching English, but after a while I found travelling around between students a bit of a bore, and in 1997 I returned to the UK for a year to do a Masters in translation studies at Salford University. When I returned to Berlin I expected be self-employed, but in 1999 was lucky enough to land my current job as a translator in the German Environment Ministry. I did get married somewhere along the line, to Jimmy from Bury, Lancs. We divorced in 2000 but have a son Luca, now 13, who definitely made the whole experience worthwhile! Luca lives with me, so most of my time is spent juggling work and parenting obligations. Life can get hectic, but I'm enjoying it. I will be in Berlin for the next few years at least, but my ultimate aim is to move somewhere near the coast (and I don't really mind which coast) at some stage in the future.