Why are you here?

I recently got an email from Bob, the finance guy that I used to work with in Saint Paul. He wrote "Do you plan to stay in Europe permanently? I really thought you'd be back in the States by now."

We get this reaction from a lot of people: Bob, a woman I met at a party yesterday, teachers at the school, relatives, maybe even you.
I think what they/you really want to say is: 'It's been more than two years, you've gotten the travel itch out of your system, aren't you ready to get back to real life?'. I guess the answer is no, but said people don't expect that answer. They want us to have a plan, a deadline, a big alarm clock that wake us up and tell us it's time to go.

Another reaction I get is: 'You are from the U.S. Why are you here?'
This comment often comes from other immigrants, especially classmates from my German course. A few people asked us the same thing when we were in Egypt. The U.S. is a place where so many people want to go, so why would we leave? My classmates often ask if the U.S. is better or if Germany is better.   Both Fahima from Iran and your pal Mikhail the book thief recently asked me this question. I usually shrug with a non-committal, better in what? I feel a little guilty saying that we didn't move to Germany to have a better life. Our life was pretty good back in St. Paul. We moved here because we could, because we wanted to try something different, see new places, understand other cultures, see some of the world. We are immigrants by choice. It sounds pretty frivolous when you are talking with someone who came to Germany to escape unemployment, or political persecution, or even war.

So, Bob, in case you read this blog, the big alarm clock has not gone off yet. And while it keeps ticking away, we are not done with Germany yet.