I’ve been living abroad for almost 12 years now. With other words: it has been a little while. And I love it. Somehow, the life abroad, in a country where people don’t talk my mother langage gave me insights and some depth in my way of seeing life.

My first stay abroad was in Germany. I had studied german for 11 years at home, but when I arrived in Darmstadt, I was totally lost when I had to understand or talk about things from every day life. I could talk about atom power and everything, but had big difficulties to buy bread for breakfast. But I learned. With patience and nice people around, after half a year, I was comfortable. Not like a fish in the sea, but at least like something that is able to swim in the sea.

After 2 years in Germany, I moved to Sweden. I did not know any word of Swedish. But as I did with german, I learned. It took me about a year to be comfortable and now, after almost 10 years in Sweden, I would say that it would be the first langage I would talk in the middle of the night if you woke me up. Of course, when I talk, you hear that I’m not from Scandinavia. I understand pretty much everything, and honestly, sometimes I wonder myself when I see how many strange words I know in Swedish. But here again, no big deal after 10 years, this is just the result from a long stay and hard work. No genious here at all.

For me, German was kind of a trouble when I learned Swedish: the two langages are so closed that I mixed it all up. I had then a lots of years without practising German at all: this was a big mix in my head and I have some difficulties to sort the words. But some times ago, I began to watch at german documentaries on Arte. And somehow, my german is back. I understand and almost could speak again.

When I was planning our trip to France and Germany the other evening, I had a hard time to fall asleep after that. Somehow, I was nostalgic about Germany. I had a difficult period there, but the country is a mix of the strict of Scandinavian and the climat of France (at least from east of France where I’m from). I also feel like I did not use every possibility to discover things there and a lots of thoughts went through my mind.

Sometimes I wonder what is keeping me/us up here north, when I dislike that much the darkness of the winter, the coldness of the society and the lack of french food. Of course, there are plenty of good things here in Sweden, don’t missunderstand me, but somehow, I feel like I am growing away from a lots of things to discover, by staying such a long time in the same country. I am growing a little nostalgic of this feeling: moving somewhere you don’t know anything of and starting from zero.

Of course, this is not a very sexy possibility when I think of my professional career (or what it can be called). I would have to start from the beginning for this point as well. Would I be sadder? I don’t know.

Another big difference from earlier is that we are two. M also have to feel that he wants this kind of changes. But after all, what would stop us? Are our life in danger with a moving abroad? Prolly not! But it’s not on our agenda yet.

And if you wonder why this blog’s name is woistdasmeer, look at this video:

Hast du geglaubt
Hast du gehofft
Dass alles besser wird?
Hast du geweint
Hast du gefleht
Weil alles anders ist?

Wo is’ die Zeit
Wo is’ das Meer?
Sie fehlt
Sie fehlt hier
Du fragst mich
Wo sie geblieb’n is’?

Die Nächte kommen
Die Tage geh’n
Es dreht und wendet sich
Hast du die Scherben nicht gesehen
Auf den’ du weiter gehst?

Wo is’ das Licht
Wo is’ dein Stern?
Er fehlt
Er fehlt hier
Du fragst mich
Wo er geblieb’n is’

Wird alles anders?

Ja ich weiß
Es war ‘ne geile Zeit
Uns war kein Weg zu weit
Du fehlst hier

Ja ich weiß
Es war ‘ne geile Zeit
Hey, es tut mir leid
Es is’ vorbei

Du willst hier weg
Du willst hier raus
Du willst die Zeit zurück
Du atmest ein
Du atmest aus
Doch nichts verändert sich

Die Lichter sind aus
Es is’ schwer zu versteh’n
Du siehst hilflos zu wie
Zeiger sich dreh’n

Du siehst deinen Stern
Ihn kann nichts mehr zerstör’n
Weil du weißt, dass es geil war
Dass es geil war
Weil du weißt, dass es geil war