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Can you spell in-te-gra-tion?
Germany becomes ‘home’ to many people who come here from all corners of the world. Some learn German, some don’t. Yet they all learn from their experiences. These are the irregular verbs that best describe the ‘integration grammar’.
To learn
“Obviously, immigrants should learn the German language”, says an elegant older woman. “They should respect our culture, as we respect theirs”, she expresses with conviction. She’s German. She was a ballet dancer and ballet teacher. Now she’s a senior. She’s at peace with herself and the world. In fact, she’s an immigrant herself. “I’ve been living in Mexico for 30 years now. There they respect Europe a lot. They look at it as an example of development!” She feels like home in Latin America: “I love Mexico and I really enjoyed learning Spanish. People are so nice!”
“It’s wonderful here, no problems, no discrimination!” “No, I didn’t learn German although I’ve been living here for five years.” “I am too old to learn German!” “Well, I did learn it. I came to Germany three years ago.” A happy multicultural group. One young Spanish woman who did learn German, three Americans who did not. Still, they all smile. They seem pretty content with their lives in Berlin.
To be confronted with
“They discriminate us because of our different colour and different culture.” She’s black, 57 and comes from South Africa. And she’s very angry. “Whenever there’s a fight between Germans and Africans in a public place like a restaurant or pub, people always take the Germans’ side. Always. Even if Africans are right!”
“I’ve been through very bad moments!” The old woman’s eyes reveal painful memories. But her voice communicates the force within. “The worse moment was when the Berlin Wall was built, only five days after I arrived to the GDR. I was missing Romania, but I could not return.” She was born in Romania. Her husband was German. He was forced to leave his country during the war, but returned in 1961.She followed him to communist Germany, a place where she could not fit in. “The only happy moment I had was when I worked with little children in kindergartens. This was the only light in all these nightmare years”, she remembers. She had lost her faith in democracy. “I’ve lived in four different political regimes: the Kingdom of Romania (before the Second World War), communist Romania, communist East Germany and finally Western capitalist Germany. I was their guinea pig. I tested on myself all these regimes. I can’t believe anymore in democracy. Communism only could have worked, but communism is utopia, a wonderful idea, yet impossible to put in practice. Ideas are all put in practice by people and people are all hungry of power and control.” Yet, she found a way to carry on: “My motto was always nu ma las (I don’t give up)”, she says with a bitter smile.
To feel
“Here it’s really ok, we have better education than in Poland!” This young woman came to Germany when she was seven. She adapted very well. She is now 31 and she’s studying Physics. She says she’s happy. But does she feel German? “Complicated question. Here I tell everyone I come from Poland. But when I go abroad, I always tell people I am German!” She stops a few moments to reflect. “Well, I think I take the best from both parts: the Polish sense of humour, and the German sense of friendship. Germans are really good friends and they are not superficial. Once you get to know them, they’ll open up to you and they’ll be your friends for life!”
“People are very kind here.” “I don’t study in German, I study in English.” They look at each other and laugh. Their eyes are shining. The Japanese mother and her daughter struggle to talk in English. In fact, it’s the little girl who translates the English questions to her young mother. “We’ve been here for three years now. My husband works here”, the mother replies after her nine-year-old daughter explains her the question in Japanese. They like German people and think Berlin is a beautiful city. But they find the German language difficult. “Difficult pronunciation, difficult writing”, says the young woman. But there is more than one way to communicate… “I’d like people to smile more”, says the Japanese mother, then looks at her daughter and smiles herself.
To change
“I feel really integrated. My German is so good, that no one ever guesses I am an immigrant.” But he is. He was born in Kuwait. He moved to Germany when he was 13. He is a Muslim. And he misses his birth country a lot. “One day I want to go back. It’s my country. My family is there. I want to die in Kuwait”. He is 31 and works in the construction sector. Yet, he has many different interests and he is really connected to today’s world’s realities. “I’d change lots of things if I could. First of all, the German mentality. They are too narrow-minded and egocentric. They don’t accept other points of view, they are not open to other ways of thinking.” He stops to think for a moment and then laughs. “Of course, I’d change German politics, but politics are wrong everywhere in the world. Like in the USA, for example, here people really don’t have a choice because the media give them the wrong information.” He pauses. “The media have indeed a huge influence upon people”, he concludes.
To accept
“I don’t have any close acquaintance with an immigrant. But I know a man from Turkish origin who was born in Germany and now is a very successful attorney”. A 30-year-old software development professional discusses migration on a relaxed tone. He is tolerant. “For instance, I would have nothing against if one of my relatives decided to marry an immigrant. I’m ok with it.”
“I am German. Well, my parents came from Serbia forty years ago. But I feel German.” She is 31 and speaks German, Serbian, and a little English. “My parents were very welcomed in Germany. The government needed workers then, so they had no problems when they moved here.” She believes many immigrants actually refuse the chances they are offered. “You know, it’s up to them. If they refuse to integrate and say they don’t like Germans, nothing more can be done. But they live in Germany and they should adapt to this reality.”
To fit in
“I’m from Angola”, the middle-aged man replies with a big smile. Although he moved to Germany twenty years ago, he still has the African joy in his eyes. “People are great here. I am married to a German woman. I have a daughter in Angola. I work in a hotel.” He is very open. He loves talking to people. “I came to East Germany when Angola was communist. There were work agreements between the communist countries from Europe and Africa (ed. Mozambique, Angola).” He went back to Angola two years ago when he got married. He needed to get a document that would prove he was not already married in his birth country. “This is the legal procedure. If you want to get married, you must afford to pay the flight back to your country”, he laughs. He says he is proud of his birth country’s achievements. “Nowadays, Angola is a democracy. There is freedom. And we are a rich country, we have oil and diamonds.” “In Angola we speak Portuguese and Mbundu”, he answers the last question and smiles. He has always lived in a multicultural society. He is not afraid of differences. For him, diversity is a way of life.
Posted in | 08.09.09
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