Where I have been and thoughts about travels

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Here I am again after some months of absence. It was not because I had nothing to write or will of taking care of the blog, I just had not the possibility to dedicate myself to it because I was travelling. More precisely I have been in Germany. I have not simply travelled, but I have lived for two long months as, so to speak, an "expat". Yes, for the first time in my life I have tried what living, studying and working in a place that is not my own means. But let's go in order.

I left at the end of June for Heidelberg with the intent to attempt a language course to improve my German. I have always had some little problems with German, especially in oral production, so, after my graduation, being still idle, I thought: "Why don't you make good use of this period of inactivity to make an experience abroad and, meanwhile, to improve your German? What's a better opportunity?" So, full of enthusiasm and not little fear, I packed and left. At the beginning I had to stay in this town just for a month. I did not imagine that I would extend my stay until the end of August, even finding a little seasonal job in one of the most tourist place in Germany.

Now that I am back, everyone ask me, full of expectation, how this experience has been. Do you want to know a thing? After a first period, in which everything is beautiful and new, you get used and look at things in an objective way. I am not saying that is has been nothing particular: on the contrary! It has been a formative experience, overall on the human level, one of those make you open your eyes and realize that beyond boundaries, apart from cultural differences, we are all the same.  To be clear, in my class I met people from Syria, Spain, Japan, Brazil, Ecuador, even Taiwan and everyone wished the same things, complained about the same things, dreamt of the same things. Speaking with them, I found confirm of what I have always thought: human being is the same everywhere. We can have different cultural backgrounds, we can name things in different ways, we gesticulate in different ways, but deep down we share the same fears, the same dreams, the same expectations. Those who travel are in a previledge condition, because they have the possibility to experiment what I am trying to say with a certain effort. Obviously, however, it is not enough to book a ticket and spend a week, or less, in a place to realize such a truth. It is fundamental to socialize with people, not considering them in a particular way just because they have another nationality and speak another language, but because they are human beings, who can teach us something. Obviously, this does not happen without our effort: those who travel must be open-minded, they must know that thay cannot judge every single person belonging to a population just considering stereotypes, understanding that if we cannot stand a person, it does not mean that we cannot stand a whole nation.

To sum up, from this experience I have understood that it is ok to love the art, the food, the nature of a place. But just think this: by whom is a place done? Would it be the same thing without the people who live in it? Would it have the same charm, the same history, the same characteristics? I think that we need to understand people to properly discover a place.  They are the real resource of a land, not the contrary. What would the world be without people's memory? Nothing more than a mass of bricks, cement or a natural stretch that, even though beautiful, with the passing of time declines and vanishes. When I left I did not think that I would have realized all that. Sure, I have always known that we must not let us be "hoodwinked" by stereotypes, but a thing is knowing it and another is directly living it. What do you think?

And so, with this so "deep" post, I have updated a little bit about my experiences. Later I will also write some post dedicated to the town I have called for a short period home.