So Why'd YOU move to Germany?
My German professor from Webster recently wrote me and said, "Laura, it's so nice to see you living your dream in Germany!" Other loved ones have had similar sentiments since August, but it's funny - the longer I'm here, the more I think life is just life. You go to work like a normal person, you buy groceries like a normal person. Once you get used to the culture, things aren't a magical fairytale (which anyone who grew up on Disney movies imagines when they think of Europe, the Land of Princesses).
Being a foreigner tends to attract other foreigners, which is a comfort and an advantage. If you find someone from the States, you automatically have things in common, like 1) you both moved to a new culture either for the boyfriend/girlfriend or for the adventure of it, 2) you've both been burned by German honesty when you were just trying to be polite, 3) you both know how ridiculous it is trying to get anything done at the foreigner's office, etc. Even conversations with people from anywhere other than Germany ensures immediate common ground:
One of my students' mother is Croatian. She's a short, skinny woman who feeds me sugar doughnuts and pays me more than I actually charge. When I arrive at their house on Tuesdays, she tends to greet me with her hair in a bath towel turban, and teases her son in Croatian until he sits down and cracks open his English book. Around Christmas time, she made a point to ask how I was dealing with being away from home. "You get used to all things. My mother is in Croatia, and we visit her, but I can't be there for birthdays. Still, that's our life as foreigners! We move here because of the husband, or the husband's job. You simply get used to it." Then she handed me a giant chocolate bar.
There is a whole hoard of us - some of us obvious, some more quiet about it - but we're definitely here. The people who kind of wandered in on a whim; the people who said "what the hell?" and jumped on a plane. I've met lots of people in their early thirties who straggled in after breakups back home, or who stayed here after their time stationed in Stuttgart with the U.S. military. None of us know exactly how long we'll be here, and some of us seem to have just ended up staying. Almost every teacher at Berlitz came to the city because of a relationship, and Berlitz is one of the few places that really treasures mother-tongue speakers who can't speak a word of German. ("Come to us, wayward expats! We shall give you visa documents and money for bread!")
Life isn't like Cinderella, despite the yellow castle a mere 20 minutes from my house. Life isn't idyllic because I live near a vineyard. (Missouri has vineyards too!) Life has lots of taxes and complicated paperwork, long Skype dates with family, money issues, juggling schedules, birthday parties and Mass on Sundays. You blink in Germany and three weeks pass, just like they would at home. What keeps this life special here, what reminds me to look for the different and be joyous about the opportunities here, is getting to be with Fabi.
There we go - I'm the absolute poster child for expats - leaving home for love. But how exciting to think that you can take home and love with you anywhere, as long as you bring the right people along! With that in mind, I might have to start plotting the next country to live in... I get goosebumps just thinking about the possibilities.
Being a foreigner tends to attract other foreigners, which is a comfort and an advantage. If you find someone from the States, you automatically have things in common, like 1) you both moved to a new culture either for the boyfriend/girlfriend or for the adventure of it, 2) you've both been burned by German honesty when you were just trying to be polite, 3) you both know how ridiculous it is trying to get anything done at the foreigner's office, etc. Even conversations with people from anywhere other than Germany ensures immediate common ground:
One of my students' mother is Croatian. She's a short, skinny woman who feeds me sugar doughnuts and pays me more than I actually charge. When I arrive at their house on Tuesdays, she tends to greet me with her hair in a bath towel turban, and teases her son in Croatian until he sits down and cracks open his English book. Around Christmas time, she made a point to ask how I was dealing with being away from home. "You get used to all things. My mother is in Croatia, and we visit her, but I can't be there for birthdays. Still, that's our life as foreigners! We move here because of the husband, or the husband's job. You simply get used to it." Then she handed me a giant chocolate bar.
There is a whole hoard of us - some of us obvious, some more quiet about it - but we're definitely here. The people who kind of wandered in on a whim; the people who said "what the hell?" and jumped on a plane. I've met lots of people in their early thirties who straggled in after breakups back home, or who stayed here after their time stationed in Stuttgart with the U.S. military. None of us know exactly how long we'll be here, and some of us seem to have just ended up staying. Almost every teacher at Berlitz came to the city because of a relationship, and Berlitz is one of the few places that really treasures mother-tongue speakers who can't speak a word of German. ("Come to us, wayward expats! We shall give you visa documents and money for bread!")
Life isn't like Cinderella, despite the yellow castle a mere 20 minutes from my house. Life isn't idyllic because I live near a vineyard. (Missouri has vineyards too!) Life has lots of taxes and complicated paperwork, long Skype dates with family, money issues, juggling schedules, birthday parties and Mass on Sundays. You blink in Germany and three weeks pass, just like they would at home. What keeps this life special here, what reminds me to look for the different and be joyous about the opportunities here, is getting to be with Fabi.
There we go - I'm the absolute poster child for expats - leaving home for love. But how exciting to think that you can take home and love with you anywhere, as long as you bring the right people along! With that in mind, I might have to start plotting the next country to live in... I get goosebumps just thinking about the possibilities.
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