I've been living in
Germany for seven months now and it surprises me to say that I am
just now getting over my culture shock. For one thing, Cape Town is a
hard act to follow and I often find myself fantasizing about heading back south. I was warned many times that once Africa was
in my blood, it would stay there. And so it has. Even a few in
between months in Canada didn't cure me; in fact they convinced me
more than ever that I belong in Cape Town – Vancouver is nice but
it's no longer home. I miss driving through deserts on the way to
some new adventure. I miss the colours, the animals, the beaches. I
even miss some, though not all, of the annoying aspects. It knocks Europe down a notch after having lived in such an amazing place. On the
bright side I guess my ANC caused rages have subsided, which is
probably better for my health.
I thought I knew what living in Germany was about having spent almost four years of my life here. But admittedly the experience is very different for an adult whose reality includes the administrational nightmares of life overseas as compared to the charmed experience of a child in a country where fables and fairy tales seemed real. What little girl wouldn't enjoy running around palace gardens and castle courtyards pretending she was a princess? For me, Germany always harboured a little magic, although perhaps that was due more to having amazing grandparents here than real life. But living in the former east as I now do has been a very different experience to growing up in the west. It just isn't the Germany I knew. I'm not totally complaining though. While some things here do frustrate me, it has afforded me an affordable life! Compare rents in Munich and Leipzig, and well...for a student the choice is clear. Plus, I live just three hours from Prague, five from Krakow...Berlin and Dresden both lie on my doorstep. In fact, living here certainly makes for a very international existence since everything is so close and borders are so open. You can pop off almost anywhere for a weekend. So while the continental life isn't quite as glamorous as North Americans often imagine, it certainly has its perks. On the flip side, German administration procedures make everything five times more complicated than it needs to be, and sometimes I really just miss friendly people. I had hoped to make more local friends, but especially in the former east there is often a distinct reluctance to embrace foreigners. I'm also surprised at how judgmental, and tactless the people here can be about mundane things such as clothing. I'm not sure if German directness or Canadian politeness is the best approach but perhaps something in between would be ideal.
Is it cliche to say that
these are exciting times we live in? Because here they inarguably
are. The European political climate is mercurial right now. For a
while every day brought some new terror attack in neighboring France
and here we have seen regular protests by the far left and right,
both of which often result in destruction and some violence.
Personally, I find extremists of any ilk frustrating beyond belief.
Especially those who try to stop others from being heard. Winston
Churchill said 'I might not agree with what you say, but I will
defend to the death your right to say it', and I couldn't agree more.
I believe in many things – I'm a little bit socialist (I can wax
for hours on the importance of universalized medicare), I'm a little
bit liberal, I'm a little bit conservative, but most of all I'm pro
democracy. As a result of long, convoluted histories, people are much
more politically engaged here, unlike the widespread apathy of home.
I think this is really great, but sometimes it can be a little scary, especially when large crowds mix with alcohol.
My current hometown, Leipzig is a city
rich with musical history. Many of the great composers either
lived here or passed through, including Bach, Wagner, Schumann and
Griegg. Actually, I recently joined a friend for Easter church service at
the Thomaskirche, where Johann Sebastian Bach was once cantor and I spent much of the service imagining him
conducting his choir those many centuries ago. I find things like this so
fascinating – everywhere here you are close to some important element of
history. The cultural life here isn't bad at all, you just need to learn
where to look for it. Leipzig is supposedly the new
place 'to be' in Germany - it's nickname is Hypezig and it apparently
attracts Berliners in search of something new (it's only an
hour by train). Architecturally, the city makes for an interesting blend of beautifully restored old buildings, and gloomy, communist era concrete boxes covered in graffiti
and smashed out windows. The process of gentrification is far
from instantaneous and will be underway for a long time to come.
From Leipzig, I have made
many great weekend trips to surrounding spots. When graded on its
proximity to other places of interest, it fares very well. Dresden, for
instance is very close and has been completely reconstructed since its destruction in the war. It
is now a beautiful city. Weimar, home to the Bauhaus university,
palaces and political history is one of my favourite spots in the
vicinity. Munich, I love. I've also been up to Hanover a few times to
visit family, and obviously Berlin with its alternative culture and
great museums is a very regular destination. There's also a national
park nearby called Saxon Switzerland, with rolling hills, flat topped
mountains and tiny little cobblestone villages lining the river Elbe
– it offers some spectacular hiking.
To sum up my
first seven months here, they have felt a bit bipolar. Sometimes I
love it so much, other times I find it to be so gray and miserable.
Being in a masters program has also been a challenging transition for me as it
moves beyond the learning of fact and into developing critical thinking
skills at a much higher, theoretical level. This caused some
growing pains at first, though I am now getting the hang of it and am really enjoying many of my courses. I must admit I am starting to feel, dare I say wise? But while I
recognize how lucky I am to have the opportunity to live and study in
these different countries and cultures, it is easy to get
bogged down in the mundane – especially when dealing with German
bureaucracy. And for all of the adventures there are of course
downsides. For instance making new friends every time I move is something I
enjoy, but it can also be lonely when the people who really know you, who
you have history with, live thousands of miles away. And being at
that age where everyone is getting married and having babies, I feel
like I am missing out on key moments of my friends' lives that I wish
I could be there for. I guess that no matter what your choices may
be, life is always about sacrifices. You take one path and that
causes you to miss out on others. But I shouldn't be so gloomy! I am
taking interesting courses this semester, have 3 great trips coming
up in the next 2 months and am moving to Vienna at the end of the
summer. So I will suck it up and celebrate this current phase in my
life: to the European years!
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