Still More Border Thoughts and Returning Home

Bonn, Germany

Technology has me in awe sometimes. The distance that I spent one year, three months and about two weeks covering on the outward journey up to Singapore only took a mere 12 hours on the return trip. For me it was only three movies and a nap later that my Boeing 747 touched down in Frankfurt and returned me to my home country. It was quite curious to see signs and hear announcements in German language again.

Then came the first culture shock. Passport check at the immigration check point. Wearily I bade the officer a good morning and was greeted with hardly a look and a grunt in return. Next to me I witnessed an Asian couple that presented their officer with a required document, not on paper but by showing her on the screen of their laptop computer. The officer inspected whatever was on the screen and with a stern "Next time you print it out, ya?" sent them on their way. Talk about German clichees. At this moment I was handed back my passport and, with a curt "thank you", allowed to set foot on German soil. After this sort of treatment - in my own home country no less - I'm not surprised anymore that many foreigners see us essentially as the Hollywood image of SS troopers. In countries far away from here I was greeted with, at least, a little smile or even a few friendly words but in my home country, my Vaterland: this. I don't feel very welcome. Probably only Russian (or American) border police can surpass their German counterparts in unfriendliness. You may say that there may be many people at these border check points that cause trouble or are just plain annoying. True. But I say, these men and women in uniform are the face of my country. They may well be the first Germans that foreigners interact with. Now imagine this as a first impression. I told all my friends during my trip that they would be welcome to come to Germany but these officers seem to do their best to make me a liar. I am sorely disappointed.

Later sitting on a train back to Bonn and a bus from the train station to my parents' house I marvel at the sights and sounds around me. I'm home. I witness my first sunrise over German fields again. I see all the castles along the Rhine that I've known since I was a child. There's a vague feeling of sadness, of conclusion, of loss, of all the things, places and, most of all, people I've left behind. Still, it doesn't feel as strange as I thought it would after being away in the a different part of the world for so long. I'm almost disappointed. But it is still home, after all. It's always been with me in a way. And it has hardly changed. And that's the really amazing part. While cities like Beijing and Singapore had changed a lot since my last visit two years ago Germany still was - felt - the same as before. As if time had stopped until I got back. A new shopping complex had opened near my family's house, some shops had changed or closed, buildings may have had a paint job but those are just details. The town of Bonn as a whole hasn't changed one bit. Traffic lights are still set to slow traffic down. On a Sunday morning bakeries are the only shops that are open. I have my first bread roll with cheese in one year, three months and two weeks. It tastes nice, familiar, and I don't care that it costs almost two Euros, which would be 20 Yuan or 10 Ringgit just for a bread roll with cheese. This is Germany and this is normal. Later, a neighbour is the first to spot me. She's eager to question me and I try to be patient. When she decides that her dog really needs to do its business now I finally get to walk the last few steps to our house. I am greeted with smiles and hugs. It's been an amazing trip, a great adventure, an exciting experience, a hundred valuable lessons, that last of which is this: As much as I loved and enjoyed the far-away countries, exotic foods and countless new acquaintances, now I can kick off my shoes, have my own room and let down my guard. There's no place like home and that will always be here.