This is my seventh month in Bremen, and time goes by really fast. But interestingly, sometimes it feels like I’ve been here for years, I’ve gotten used to it, I like Bremen a lot, my friends, my work… I’m good with German now. I feel like I have an good life here now. The closer I get to the end of my project, the more I get sad, it’s not going to be easy to leave.
I just got back from my midterm seminar, met so many people, went to a concert of my favorite band in Berlin 🙂 And now I’m back to work again. During my two weeks of traveling I realized that Bremen is really starting to feel like home. Whether I’m in Amsterdam or Berlin, I want to go back to Bremen and sleep in my own room, cook in my own kitchen and spend time with my friends. It’s amazing and of course very nice to get used to a brand new place and new people in just 6 months 🙂
The past few months have been very fast and intense. As we are getting closer to the end of the project, the question “What will I do after the project?” is keeping everyone busy. Everyone is in a rush, university searches, jobs, internship scans, language certificates… It is a busy and sweetly stressful period. I made my plan after the project and took the German exam. I spent a month between work, course and home, where I didn’t participate in any social activities for a month. Then my friends from the seminar visited me, and I went to them. And finally summer came to Bremen. That means we can now do all the things we couldn’t do in the winter because it was cold. A lot of trips and activities are already planned. It’s been winter since I’ve been here, so it’s nice to finally see sunshine and warmth.
An important step for me: I started giving vegan food workshops at Freizi where I work. It’s an important step because I think it’s not easy to introduce Turkish cuisine to Germans by cooking mostly Turkish food in German and at the same time showing them veganism and witnessing them having a healthy meal. I have given more than 10 workshops so far, each one has been very sweet, a little stressful but very delicious.
I also started to join a walking group every wednesday at work. Bremen-Nord is so green and I think it is the right place to escape to nature. Every Wednesday, just being in nature for an hour, walking through the trees, even past horses and ponies, was another factor that lifted my mood tremendously. Finally summer came and we went swimming in the lake, we had lots of picnics in the park, we had parties, I was a Bremen guide and host for my friends many times, we made Papboot together in Freizi and floated it in the lake and won a competition, I started sports, I helped to clean the garden at my workplace, I rode my bike to work (I think I have the right to be proud because it is 10 km), I went to a techno club?? I never thought I could enjoy it so much. I think we can say that I am a local now 🙂
7 months have already passed and when I look back, I can see how far I have improved myself. Kübra, who could not speak German properly when she first arrived, who sat on the sidelines at work and waited without doing anything and who ran away from all her responsibilities in an unfamiliar country, is now very happy with her job, with the people around her, with her life 🙂 I am only 22 years old and I am proud of myself for leaving everything behind and stepping into the unknown at this age.
I’m on my way to the airport right now as I’m writing this. I’m going to Turkey to visit my family and friends, which I didn’t expect from myself. Because I always said that I wanted to travel Europe while I had a visa, if I had time and money. But Heimweh is real, changing countries is not like studying in another city. Language, culture, people, habits… Everything changes. This is exactly what pushed me to buy a ticket to Turkey and now I am on the road for this purpose. I haven’t seen anyone from my family and friends for 7 months and I am incredibly curious to see what has changed in their lives. (Because a lot has changed in my life.)
It is said that a person needs 7 hugs a day to be happy. How lucky I am that I complete 7 hugs a day thanks to the project I am in and the place where I work. My boss, my colleagues, the people where I work are so kind and patient with me that even if we are not doing anything, it is a pleasure to sit and have a coffee and chat. I can also swear that they are waiting for the result of my German exam as excitedly as I am 🙂
As the project comes to the end, I can’t stop thinking about how I will leave this place and go. I had a lot of plans, goals, places I wanted to visit, brand new things I wanted to try… I couldn’t do it all, of course, I couldn’t even get close to it, but the things I didn’t plan showed me the way and made my life beautiful. I have some plans for what I will do after the project and I am surrounded by people who support these plans and reach out to help. I feel incredibly lucky and I am glad I am here, in Bremen, in this project. Thank you my life <3
