I thought about this as I got on public transportation last Friday night. My train came within five minutes, clean and reliable. And as I walked the three blocks from the stop to my apartment - at midnight, alone, and with no worries about my safety - I realized that Germany has been good to me.
Call me an ex-pat if you are an American, but to a German I am merely a foreigner, an immigrant. I have more in common with the Indian shop owner or the Korean music student than I do with the people who live downstairs.
Now is a time when many countries (not just Trump's America) are trying
to close their doors, and 'immigrant' is becoming a dirty word. And as much as I have maligned Germany in this blog (though usually with a sense of humor or a tongue in my cheek) I have never felt threatened here.
I'm not saying that my experience is the same as that of Syrian refugees or third-generation Turks here in Germany. But that's the point - immigrant is a big word and immigrants have a world of different experiences. Speaking just for me (which I think we agree is quite enough after more than five years of blogging), I am one of the lucky ones.
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About Me
- Julia
- Thanks for coming to my blog. It started as a way to keep in touch with family and friends, and now has become an ongoing project. I'm an American living in Germany and trying to travel whenever I can. I write about my experiences as an expatriate (the interesting ones and the embarrassing ones), and about my travels. There are some recurring characters in this blog, particularly my husband Brian and several of our friends. The title comes from the idea that living in a foreign country means making a lot of mistakes. So the things you used to do easily you now have to try over and over again. Hopefully, like me, you can laugh at how idiotic it feels. If you have happened upon my blog, then welcome. Knowing that people are reading what I write makes me keep going. Feel free to write comments or suggestions for future posts.
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