I just dropped off my things at my fourth host's home, and now I'm on my way to meet up with a new German friend (different from the one I met with yesterday). My fourth host is a Turkish-German woman (she is Turkish by ethnicity but came to Germany at age 5) who works at a community center. She has 2 other couchsurfers (besides me) staying with her right now. I had a really nice conversation with one of them, a young Indian man who lives in Greece and studies medicine (he moved to Greece as a teenager; there is a sizeable Indian community there, which I hadn't known before). He is in Berlin on vacation and is visiting his girlfriend, who lives here. He had a very idealistic, optimistic outlook on life.
He expressed a desire to help his parents eventually find a more relaxed life; like many immigrant parents, they work a lot. He believes that borders between countries should be erased, and that improving the world can start in one's own neighborhood and personal life, as opposed to going all the way to another continent.
He told me about life in Greece with the current economic crisis. He said the government is raising taxes, and people don't even have enough money to buy a cup of coffee. He gave another example: he bought the flannel shirt he was wearing in Berlin for 7 euros, but he said that in Greece it would probably cost 40 euros.
While I have encountered prejudicial attitudes in Berlin (which I will touch on later), I have also encountered an open-mindedness, expressed by this young man and others I have met. For example the German friend I met last night said that despite cultural differences, anyone can understand another's feelings, and that all human beings want the same thing. That might sound cheesy and trite, but I find it important to remind myself of this belief in what seems to be an increasingly divided world.
6pm
I hung out with my second new German friend this afternoon. She is studying communications and media (more on the side of graphic design). We went to an event called "White Bouncy Castle" in a vast sculpture park outside the city center. Basically, there was a huge inflated bouncy castle - for adults! - inside a warehouse-like structure. I felt like I was inside a giant marshmallow. It was quite fun ;-)
After that, we got some falafel in Friedrichstain (near Kreuzberg). We discussed the social welfare system versus the lack of it in America and how it affects people's motivation to work (or not), immigration and assimilation issues, and veganism. This new friend seemed to have a low-key demeanor, which I have sensed with other Germans I have met.
Almost 1am
I returned to my host's home at about 7pm, and stayed up late chatting with her and the other couchsurfer, a Turkish engineer (the young Indian man has since left). We talked about many things, from culture and religion to politics in the Middle East and the influence of U.S. foreign policy, and best of all, we laughed a lot along the way (e.g. joking that the Torah, Bible, and Qur'an are just "software updates" since they all contain similar stories, and some religious people haven't gotten the necessary "downloads"...I'm not sure if that sounds funny to readers of this blog; it's a nerdy joke).
Regarding immigration and assimilation issues, my host explained how in the 70s, many Turkish children in Germany only had classmates that were Turkish or Arab, so they didn't learn German well (or at all), and many of those children, now adults, are unemployed or have trouble finding work. She also said that as a result of Turks believing Germans don't want them here (and some Germans don't), they might stick to their own culture and not interact with Germans that much.
Earlier today, my new German friend said the same thing in terms of the Turkish community sticking together.
My host's other couchsurfer, the Turkish engineer, said that in America (where he lived for some time), there is more tolerance of foreigners, but not so much in Germany. For example, in America, immigrants usually integrate after the first or second generation, but German society doesn't view immigrants in the same way. According to my host, German society saw the first wave of Turkish immigrants as "temporary" and perhaps thought they wouldn't stay for as long as they have, that is, ending up raising children in Germany and staying permanently.
(I sometimes wonder if I would like to become a professor and study human migration patterns. I'm quite intrigued by the process of assimilation/integration, and what that means for cultural identity...but the practical side of me says that I would be in a ton of debt after grad school, and these days it's hard for PhDs to find tenured positions.)
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