It’s been a longtime coming

Starting off my goodbye post for the swifties that recognise the title “it’s been a long time coming”

Hi to whoever is reading this! Our time together is coming to an end, and I’d like to take a minute to reflect on this past year. Wow, what a year. When I began my Erasmus in Munich, I really didn’t know what to expect. Honestly, I had no idea what the year would hold for me. First of all, I didn’t know much about Munich. I knew it was one of the biggest cities in Germany, so knowing it was a big city I assumed it would have some similarities to Paris. I assumed, wrongly, that my experience in Munich would be pretty similar to my experience in Paris. But I wasn’t exactly correct about that now was I. I had a great time in Munich, it’s a truly beautiful city, but the atmosphere is entirely different than that of Paris. I was struck by the warmth of the Germans in Munich, I felt that they welcomed me with open arms even though I was a complete stranger. 

I’d like to add that I made some life-long friends during my Erasmus. I met people from all over, and even though we come from different backgrounds, we all found things that we have in common. I feel like I found people, my people, and we’ll remain in contact for the rest of our lives. I look forward to reuniting with the friends I made along this journey, and seeing where we end up down the line. I imagine that we’ll reunite, maybe in Paris, maybe in Munich, maybe somewhere else. I wonder, where will we be in the next few years? Where will I be? 

I’d like to backtrack, talk a little more about the warmth of the people in Munich. That’s really what made my experience so special. I felt like, walking out into the street, I could meet a new friend at any minute. I could go to a bar and leave with an entirely new friend group. That’s just the way that Munich is, and how the people in Munich are. It’s not a social atmosphere that I’ve encountered anywhere else, it’s entirely unique to Munich. And that’s the main thing I’m going to miss about this city and this Erasmus experience overall. I don’t know how else to describe it, but the warmth of the atmosphere is what I will miss. I’ll miss strangers smiling as we walk down the street, I’ll miss friendly encounters with shop employees, I’ll miss making new friends in bars, in cafes, in restaurants, etc. I’ll miss that energy, the feeling that everybody is ready to meet you. 

I think I’m also going to truly miss the culture of Munich. By culture, I’m mainly referring to the arts. The museums, big and small, the little exhibitions, I’m going to miss all of that. I live most of the time in Paris, so I’m used to living in a lively arts scene. I’m used to spending my weekends in museums or small art venues, taking in the culture and experiencing art. So, I was delighted to find that Munich has a similar arts scene. I felt at home in this environment, I was able to maintain my ritual of going to museums on the weekend. I really will miss the Munich art scene, I think it’s one of my favourite parts of Munich honestly. While there are similarities between the Paris and Munich arts scenes, I feel like there’s something that makes the Munich scene unique. It’s maybe a little more modern, a little more avant-garde. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but it feels different. I’m going to miss that, the uniqueness of the Munich arts scene. 

And of course, I’ll miss the people I met through Erasmus. I loved that I met people from all over the world. I met people from countries I’d never met anyone else from. I don’t know if that makes sense, I’ll rephrase. I met people from certain countries, countries that I knew nobody from before. I was exposed not only to the German culture, or the Munich-specific German culture. I was exposed to cultures from around the world. And furthermore, I was able to introduce my cultures to other people. I was able to represent both French culture and the Emirati culture. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to represent my cultures, to be a sort of ambassador for my cultures. I think I was able to represent two cultures that are somewhat misunderstood. Emirati culture isn’t about wealth and excess, that’s a stereotype. French culture isn’t just snobby, that’s a stereotype. I was able to represent the truth of these cultures, the beauty and reality of these cultures. Again, I am so grateful for that opportunity. 

So, in sum, I’m grateful for the many opportunities that were granted to me by this experience. I was able to meet people from all different cultures. I was able to interact with and learn to understand the German culture. I was able to experience a new arts and culture scene. I was able to experience that warmth of the people of Munich. I don’t know where I would be without this experience, basically I can’t imagine what my life would look like if I hadn’t taken the opportunities given by this Erasmus experience. I will be forever grateful. Anyway, goodbye to whoever is reading this, I hope we meet again