Consequences of the Referendum

This is probably the saddest day for me personally as a young European... I grew up with nothing but a feeling of unity. It was always clear to me, that Europe was one in spirit, with all the differences still to embrace.

The vote of the British people feels like a slap in the face. It feels like me and many of my European friends have been betrayed by fear. It's not about not recognising the legitimacy of the British people's vote but about recognising that this is really how they feel.

For the first time since I was born, Europe does not feel quite right. Something has broken and who knows how long it'll take to heal. It is a victory of fear over a vision. A vision of an ever closer union, which felt so right, so very natural to me. Maybe I'm one of the few who felt like this, but here I stand. United with those who share this idea, across counties and hopefully still across newly founded borders.

For those people who fought to remain in the EU I could not feel more sad. You have my deepest respect and I am hoping you will be fine wherever this journey will lead you; will lead us. There will always be people in Europe who will welcome every single one of you with open arms.

May what unites us be stronger than what tries only to divide.

Brexit or Stronger In?

Hello my fellow readers,

it has been too long. I've spend most of last year finishing my degree, and after graduating (yes, I did finally graduate) I had to move for my job. I am currently living in Cologne while doing a graduate programme at a Fortune 500 company. Travelling is part of my job now, and it is so to an extend where being at home becomes a rarity. This however is not what I want to write about today. I will gladly write more about the people I have had the pleasure of meeting during my many travels in the last couple of months and about the experiences I have made. Today I want to write about something that is close to my heart, maybe closer than it should be.

The upcoming referendum in the UK - the Brexit.

Why Did You Go?

Hey fellow readers,

After due consideration, I have decided to try and keep this running despite the obvious lack of internationality at the moment. Which obviously will not be all that interesting for some of you others however might still enjoy it.

I tried to really give an insight of what a German person would experience going to England - what's different, what's similar. Whilst I was living with people from England, others do not. In fact a lot of the ERASMUS students do keep to themselves in the foreign country. They create their own little states and live in their old little worlds. Do not get me wrong, by all means, this is not necessarily a bad thing. To a certain extend, I did this as well. I travelled with other international students a lot, I spent loads of time getting to know their countries and their customs. I enjoyed it almost as much as I have enjoyed spending time with my room mates and the guys I met along the way and to be quite honest, I never really cared where they were from, I wanted to meet people and with a bit of distance to it all, I finally understood why. It was about the challenges that changed me along the way. So why was it such a unique experience for me and why should you want to go?

A Year Abroad and How It Didn't Really End

It has been quite some time since the last time I published something here. In fact, it has been more than two years, which is a pretty considerable amount of time passed.

My time in England ended and so - I thought - did the purpose of this blog in general. Fact however remains that once you have lived abroad for a while your life is not quite the same as it was before any more. After some time of reflecting on those changes and on the time in England, you always get back to the question, what did you learn and how did it shape your life. For me, what has changed rather drastically is the interaction with people from abroad. A lot of people from abroad come to study in Germany and it is sometimes rather difficult for them to meet locals. Before I went to Bath I was not aware of international students too much and I have to admit that I did not really care very much either. I didn't notice them too much and it always seemed like they wanted to keep to themselves. A mistake that's not easily forgiven, since essentially this behaviour is what shapes the way people will think about this country and especially the students here. After coming back, my circle of friends has changed dramatically. Whether it's all for the good or not is not to be discussed here, however I do want to stress how vital it is to take every chance to meet people from foreign countries.

Summer Trips and Rain

Finally it's time for yet another entry in what has become a rather inactive blog. Exam period and my time in Germany was surprisingly time consuming. Luckily there was not a lot happening in this time anyway so I'll skip straight to the good part or well the part after exams.

Naturally you would think, the second you finish your exams you'd want to have a couple of drinks. Surprisingly enough I did but let's not get into that.

Spring and a Friendly Visitor

Last week was probably the best week of all my year. Saying this might upset people sharing great experiences with me a little bit in the first place and yet I am making this drastic statement. Why? Simply because the sun was shining. The difference is enormous and the fun you can get from lying around the lake and enjoying the sun after what has been 5 months without really seeing the sun can be quite depressing. I am not the guy to become depressed quickly, in fact I have not become depressed at all but seeing the sun made me yet a bit happier. Work has been laid to rest for a couple of hours each day and all the sorrows carried away by warm sunrays hitting the face and body of everyone. I would've never imagined writing about a simple thing like a sunny day before but England and a tough winter in general makes you realize the sun with all its power.

Yet last week was great for an entirely different reason. Anna Lena went to visit me for the weekend and what a weekend it turned out to be! On Friday we celebrated Dan's birthday by going to Happy Hour (Beer for £ 1.50) followed by going to a casino and a club in Bristol. Cheers to "All on 17" and the people I went with, it was a great night. Coming home at 4:30 can only be topped by waking up at 8:30 again and going to do some sight seeing. So this is what we did! I will skip telling you about the part of the day I spent realizing just how stupid I am (reading Anna Lena's project makes me feel exceptionally dumb). Due to being tired and having a lot to talk about, we spent the evening at home.

Sunday started like you would want it to start. Waking up feeling perfectly awake and ready to so something amazing. For Anna Lena and me this meant going to Chris' place to eat lunch. Cheers for all the good food (Fajita's and Schnitzel) and for this great game of football in Victoria's Park, and if you think this is not a good end, I agree with you but I am off to meet friends for a coffee and I cannot make them wait any longer.

German and a proper fun ending will follow soon - I hope.
See you all!

St. Patrick's in Ireland

Realizing the great opportunity at hand, we decided to go to Dublin for Paddy's. Looking forward to this trip to Dublin and Galway I didn't even mind waking up at 3:20 in the morning to go to the airport and after wasting most of the morning due to being tired and lazy, we had a great guided walking tour around Dublin's most important monuments (including more than one pub). It was fantastic and for free. Truth be told, I forgot half of what our amazing guide said already but nevertheless it was very informative and enjoyable. After walking around the city a little bit longer and some great Irish dancing lessons, the night finished in a great hostel with pasta and a very talkative room mate (hope she doesn't read this). Awake as I was the next day, the Guinness tour in the morning was cancelled and we prepared ourselves for the national patron to arrive. The massive amount of people to see the parade was sheer overwhelming, however I could not see a lot. I hope the pictures tell you roughly what it was like.