I think
today I really owe you an apology! I promised to write this post more than two
months ago…but somehow I just couldn’t make myself write anything because on
the one hand there wasn’t a lot to report about and on the other hand it would
have been so terminatory for my year in South Africa. But now I am settled in
Germany again and ready to tell you everything about it – except that there
still isn’t too much to tell you.
Before our
group of nine remaining volunteers – some had to leave earlier for internships –
left our “home country for a year” we still had an End of Stay Camp at a lodge
near the airport of Johannesburg. We all met there for one night and had some
group sessions where we talked about leaving South Africa, our personal
feelings and plans and the theory of the reverse culture shock. The sessions
were quite short, so there was a lot of time to compare notes with the others
and to enjoy some last beams of the generous South African sun!
On the
first of August we all left for the airport. Most of us were quite happy and
excited to see the family and friends so soon, some had to fight back the tears
and were quite sad to leave the new country and friends and some already made
plans to come back for university. We all definitely had very mixed feelings,
but for me actually the positive feelings prevailed. I had a great year in
South Africa, but there also were so many things that I was looking forward to
in Germany, beginning with being able to walk outside on my own and even in the
dark without having to be overcautious, riding a bike again, drinking sparkling
water, jogging outside in the forest and
many other little things.
After enjoying
a last beautiful African sunset above the skyline of Joburg through the big
glass windows of our terminal we could finally
enter the big plain and only then we really realized that we were about to
leave for good.
The flight
itself was quite nice. We were flying overnight so that I could sleep a bit and
for the rest of the time I explored the movie selection. After disembarking in
Frankfurt the four of us that went on to Hamburg almost missed our connecting
flight, but luckily we made it in the last seconds before the gate was closed.
When we finally arrived in Hamburg at 8am our families were all waiting, we
quickly said goodbye and then set out for our homes.
Since the
very first second that I set foot on German ground for me it seemed like I had
never been away, but in a positive way. I still have all those great memories
but now it seems a little bit like a dream. Only when I meet the other
volunteers this dream becomes true again and then it’s definitely a great
dream! At home and everything with my family and friends is exactly like it was
before and I didn’t have any trouble to settle at all. In the beginning I
always had to remind myself that I don’t have to check the streets for possible
dangers when walking outside anymore, but even these habits I gave up very
quickly.
Two weeks ago
we had our first of two post processing seminars together with the volunteers
from Ghana, that we already knew from the preparing seminars, and some others from
different countries. It was really cool to see the others again and to exchange
everything that had happened and I think we all had a really good weekend. Of
course we also had some group sessions where we reflected on our experiences –
it was also nice to compare experiences with those from other countries such as
Columbia, Mexico or Australia – talked about possibilities to stay involved
here in Germany and also had the chance to share our criticism and suggestions
for AFS’s future.
I
definitely plan to stay involved with AFS, by joining the local AFS committee and
by becoming instructor for seminars. For our second post processing seminar we
have the choice between seminars treating various parts of development politics
or a seminar that’s the first part of our training to become instructor. I
chose the second option and so I am going to have my next seminar in three
weeks in Rottweil. Then I will write another short report on the seminar for
you and this time I will really keep my promise!!
In the
meantime I just moved to Heidelberg for studying medicine from tomorrow. So now
I am quite excited what is expecting me in the next few days and weeks, but
nevertheless already looking forward to the next seminar!