Order!

Aw, after two whole years, Christopher and I finally got to go back to Germany. And this time, more so than before (due to the long time of not going in between), I experienced quite some culture shock. Had completely forgotten about the realities of some things… things like… ORDER!

Despite It All – I Am Proud To Be A German American (Kind Of Part 6)

Surprise – There’s a Part 6 after all! Who would have thought! This Tuesday was Activity Group Night at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim, a German Cultural and Events Center here that has given me personally a home when I most needed one. The members of the Phoenix Club welcomed me with open arms as soon as I showed up. They have truly become my German family away from Germany and made it possible for me to have a stronghold amidst the chaos that has been reigning my life.

In Part 1-5 I have focused on counting our blessings, my immigration story, how I became a divorced weekend mom because I forgot how to count those blessings, and how I remembered to count those blessings again. This part takes a bit of a different approach. While I am still proud to be an American, I think it is possible for me to say that because I have first learned how to be a proud German. I have learned that if I don’t embrace who I’ve always been, if I don’t embrace my innate culture and roots, then I am just sort of lost, always looking for an identity. And while it would make sense to look for that identity within the American culture now, deep in my heart I am German (because I was exclusively German for the first 21 years of my life). It’s just that I am a German who’s been in the U.S. for the past 9 years. So – I now proudly call myself (and my son) a German American. Because that’s truly what we are.