„My originally planned vacation turned into a permanent stay.“
Hello, my name is Younes. I came to Germany in 1975 to visit my brother, who has lived in Germany for 5 Years. I was ten years old at that time. I was not able to go back because of the sudden outbreak of war in Lebanon.
As much as my mother was happy about me being safe in Germany, as unhappy I was because of me missing my mother , my siblings and being homesick. My brother was naturalized in 1978, and since I was a minor I also received the German citizenship. We only spoke German in my brothers house. I have learned German in only 3 month in the language school, where he signed me up. While my classmates welcomed me into their community (also because of my good athletic performance in athletics) I was rejected by some of the teachers. The Gymnasium used to be reserved for the privileged until the workers children came. „And now you came” was a sentence that I had to listen to. After I finished my high school diploma I worked in a Pizzeria, and later opened one myself. I had to close it in 2001 due to health issues. Meanwhile I got married, and became a father of 3 children. My children were confronted with similar prejudices as I was back then after the opening of the Berlin Wall and the takeover of East German teachers. This for me unbearable situation prompted me to act as a parent representative. In order to change the situation I educated myself to become a part time intercultural mediator, and worked as a social worker at an elementary school. This project was later awarded the integration prize. My oldest daughter completed her Bachelors degree in marketing, and my son studies Computer engineering. My youngest daughter made her high school diploma. I as well did a training to become a specialist for Gardening and Landscaping. Today I am in the lucky position, to combine both jobs the manual and the social one. Now I work as a manager. In my free time I am a beekeeper, who works for the environment and on bans for pesticides. I also give a bee keeping course once a year.
My first lasting impression in Germany was the thick fluffy carpet in my brother’s apartment. For myself I am considering to spend my census evening in my home Country Lebanon. I miss the village life of my childhood in Lebanon. My two older children feel more comfortable in Germany, where my younger daughter feels more drawn to the Arabic culture. Typical German for me are the bossiness and a certain reliability. Also typical German are many abbreviations for certain words.