Katrina Deane

The Beginning http://hamburgican.blogspot.de/2015/04/the-beginning.html (please see blog for further posts) My favorite topic of conversation is cultural difference. The nuances; the tiny tweaks to daily life that one might experience if they were to suddenly move to a different county. That topic has never been more relevant to me than right now. I grew up in Michigan, USA and I lived just less than a year in Minnesota. Going from smalltown Gaylord (yes, laugh) and Houghton to just outside of Minneapolis was enough. Now I live in Hamburg, Germany. That's a population shift of 3,636 to 7,650 to 400,070 (73,987 if you only count the suburb I was in) to 1.799 million. What!? You don't even totally notice the difference in some ways. I'm just one person going about my life here as best I can with only a rudimentary understanding of the language. But in another respect - holy crap there are so many people and they are ​everywhere​. But I asked for this. I really did. Anyone who has known me long enough to even consider calling themselves an acquaintance, would tell you that I had plans to move to Germany. It started in middle school. I don't know what it was - I think I needed something to nerd out over to take my ​ mind off of ​horrible middle school. One way or another, I stumbled upon a deep love that I could never really explain to anyone else - except to tell them that I had a German grandpa and we never really got to talk much before he passed. The Germans, especially, do not understand. I started learning the language in high school online. My friend's dad did business trips to Germany and brought me back a few maps, a Karstadt shopping bag, and some Haribo bears. When I was religious, I started thinking that going to Germany would bring me to my life's purpose or calling. The retreat leader's face did not agree with my sentiment. Pretty obsessed, whatever way you look at it. Then it was time for college and I stayed in Michigan for a Psychology degree. The dream was still alive but I had no idea when it could actually happen, so I got a great idea: I'd buy a castle in Germany and run it as a hotel/hostel/resort. Obviously it would take years to afford, so my plan was (aggressively) to do it by 30 years old. That was the new story to tell everyone - something I would definitely love to do still - but secretly it was mostly just my new plan to end up in old Deutschland. I studied abroad in Hannover, Germany my third summer, gaining an International Business Minor and a renewed drive. While I was there, two really important things happened: 1. I met Andi, and 2. I met Hamburg. Long story short, my path was a lot clearer after that (and some more soul searching back home (and by soul searching I mean Andi and I lost touch cause oceans make for terrible relationships and I moved on for a while)). I finished college, moved to Minnesota and got a job (luckily) through my housemate, but of course the plan was always still Germany, which made any relationship in the States impossible. At the end of last summer I reconnected with Andi and found a way to get to my favorite city, Hamburg, without having to become a millionaire first: teaching English (so the opposite of becoming a millionaire). Through extremely stressful work and waiting (the source of my next blog post, don't worry), I managed to get a visa and here I am. My whole family is waiting for me to buy a castle, I have to start from scratch on friends and work relationships, those little cultural differences I love are sometimes overwhelming, and I have to keep pinching myself to make sure this is all real. I am American, but there is no culture I want to embrace more than German. I will, therefore, become - the Hamburgican.