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Horizons
Journal - Remembering Our Roots
"Half
a meter of Bratwurst for 3 Euro!" The signboard
at the foodstall on this German Christmas market refuses
to be ignored. The delicious smells of food, Glühwein
and sweets mix with seasonal music : sausages are a part
of German culture - and I love them, too.
After
22 years in South Africa, we've been back home in Europe
for almost a month now - for good, not just visiting. Christmas
markets are everywhere, and we've seen quite a few already.
If there was one thing we could never get used to, it was
Christmas in summer in the southern hemisphere. It's just
not the same.
Everyone
keeps telling us that it's mild for this time of the year,
but they are all lying : it's cold! And dark - if the sun
shows up at all, it is very low on the horizon. Days are
short, but that's when the Glühwein kicks in.
OK,
there's no snow yet; that makes it easier to practice driving
on the other side of the road again. Traffic is crowded,
roads are narrow and the highways have no speed limit. Germans
are busy, they don't waste time - until they look for parking
space.
We
had forgotten how pleasant it is to live in a really efficient
society : things work here. Plenty of rules and regulations,
but bureaucracy is nowhere near as bad as we remember it
- we had compulsory registration, new ID docs and drivers
licences out of the way in no time. If you stick to the
rules they work for, not against you.
For
us, keeping an open mind is important at the moment - we
have new eyes and still see Germany from an outside perspective,
consciously approach situations and people in a friendly
and unbiased way.
And
the Law of Attraction never fails to produce the desired
results : we found the car we wanted at the first dealer
we approached, for example; other things we need fall into
our laps without effort.
Not
without cost, mind you : Europe is expensive if you compare
it to living in South Africa, but you get what you pay for
- the choices of products and services are absolutely overwhelming!
Everything is available in many different varieties, so
it takes time to sort the wheat from the chaff and find
what you want at a discount.
Everybody
is chasing that 'Schnäppchen' - finding the lowest
price is a national pastime, especially at this time of
the year. Most towns have turned their main shopping districts
into pedestrian zones and the crowds shuffle all over the
place, interrupted only by foodstalls, beautifully decorated
Christmas trees and travelling musicians.
It
is Christmas in Germany, we recognize the spirit - and it
feels good. We remember our roots - reconnecting with friends
and family is a joyful experience, we treasure the kinship
that has survived the separation of life on different continents
for such a long time.
People,
not things define what you call 'home' but the culture we
grow up in provides the common background that remains a
special bond for life. As much as we love the people and
the country, we have known for a long time that we would
never be South African.
Is
it the language? Our mother tongue is an important part
of our culture, but I write and even dream in English these
days - hearing the latest German idioms is a lot of fun
but takes some adjusting on our part.
We'll
find out soon enough : before this year ends we'll be in
Austria where they speak a very different dialect to our
northern German accent. We have our eyes on settling there
for the next chapter in our lives and hope that we can ring
in the new year with a lot of snow.
Until
then, may I sincerely wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year 2007 - may it bring all you expect and dream of
for your life :
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