Home away from home?

So, this is a topic that’s close to home (quite literally), and so I thought it would be interesting to interview others with similar upbringings and see if anything differed to how I felt. I met Catherine through one of the “meet and greet” events here in Munich. Upon meeting, I would never have thought she had grown up in Germany, until the waitress came over and she spoke fluent, smooth, mind blowingly perfect German. With the waitress in the distance, I turned to Catherine and quizzed her instantly on her German ability. Finding out that her Dad is English, and her Mum is Taiwanese, I still couldn’t make the German connection? Why had she grown up there? Why not the UK? Why not Taiwan?

Hence, my interview revolves around the lives of people my age, who have either been born somewhere they “don’t belong”, or like me, becoming an expatriate. 

My first question, a simple basic why and where?

Cath was born in Ingolstadt, moved around a little to Starnberg and then finally settled in Frankfurt, north-west Germany. Why? Fathers job – if you’re an expat, then you know that its most basic and common answer. So, having understood why she was there, I told her my interview was about to delve deeper into how she felt about it.

Of course, being born there, she of course didn’t have a pre-opinion like myself. 

I started with early life, how was school? 

She informed me that neither of her parents speak, or at the time spoke, fluent German, so her only way to learn German was in school, and to go home each night to only speak English. She said she found it insanely difficult at the start to know what language to speak to friends? To teachers? To her family? 

So, with that comment, I moved onto my next question. Did growing up somewhere other than your true ‘home’ help or hinder you in life at all? Cath instantly touched on the idea that the daily challenges she faced were different to others. Maybe for someone in the UK, their daily problem was whether they’d remembered to bring lunch, or whether they’d remembered which books to take for the day. For Cath, the challenges were completely overwhelming in all aspects – how do you say, “I’ve forgotten me P.E kit today” or “Can I have school lunches today?”. Although at the time, she stated these challenges initially hindered her time in Frankfurt, now she looks back on it, she knows that she has gained so much more than others who have just grown up in the UK or their respective “home” country.

Knowing that Cath left Germany when she was 11, I moved the interview onto how she felt when she left. Initially, I started with the hardest question, for someone who has, or is currently, living abroad – where is home now? After a moments pause, Cath admitted she wasn’t sure. Although some may think only living in a country till the age of 10 can’t have that much of an impact, she explained that even though she has actually lived in the UK longer, being back here in Munich and re-living the German lifestyle; it has reinforced that Frankfurt in fact, will always be some sort of home – and for how long? – She has no idea. 

After 15 minutes of bonding over our abroad experiences, Cath reiterated that no matter where she is, the challenges she faced being in Frankfurt at such a young age, and the experiences she gained will never be forgotten with her closing remark being “I believe anyone and everyone should live abroad at some point”. Having experienced it myself, I believe there are also no truer words.