Antje wants to know…

I was “interviewed” once again and I apologize, Antje, that it has taken me a while to put the answers up, but here they are :)

1. What is your first clear memory from your childhood?

This is a very difficult question to answer, not so much because I don’t remember anything from my childhood [I do!], but for the fact that it is hard to tell what really is your “own” memory and what do you remember because your parents or grandparents have told you about it?!

I do remember the setup of my parents’ first apartment where they lived with me and my sister until the age of 3 or 4 I think. I would say that this is one of my early childhood memories, because I don’t recall any pictures that would show the setup of the apartment or something like that. We lived on the third floor and I also remember that an old lady lived in the house next to us and my sister and I would be at the window and wave at her and she would wave back.
I don’t remember ever meeting her in person, but to my sister and I she always was the “Winke-Oma” [= waving grandma] :)

2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now in terms of career, family, and place to live?

I can’t really tell you where I see myself, because I very much like to live in the moment [or the past for that matter] and don’t like to look that far into the future. Life once threw me off my planned path pretty unexpectedly [when I met J] and since then I try not to plan so far ahead.
I could see myself back in Germany with kids though. But who knows what’s going to happen in the next couple of years… I have to start a career here first, before I can think any further.

3. How did your family react when you told them that you would emigrate to the US?

Well, since this was a gradual decision over a couple of years, they had time to get used to the fact that I would not be around that much. I am somewhat surprised myself how well I’ve been holding up, because I am a “family person” and I have a hard time being away from my family for extended periods of time.
I think first my family couldn’t really understand it, although they knew that I had always wanted to live in the US for a while… well, emigrating is not really just “a while”, but who could have foreseen that I would fall in love with an American and actually MOVE here. Then again, I am still planning to move back to Germany sometime in the future.

I know, my parents miss not having me around, but I also know that they LOVE to come and visit me here :) 45 days to go!!!

4. If you were deciding to move to Germany, what things about the US would you miss the most and what other things not at all?

I honestly had to think about that for a while. I think what I would miss the most are certain products [like Coffeemate ;)], certain stores and the overall laid-back way of living. For some odd reason, I feel more ‘relaxed’ here, even when I was working a full-time job.

I think I wouldn’t miss all the cars [I love being able to take public transportation or ride a bike] and I definitely wouldn’t miss American washing machines. They suck. Oh, and I absolutely wouldn’t miss the “flakiness” of most of the people here… in general, I like that people are more open and friendly here and I don’t mind a somewhat superficial “Hi, how are you? Have a great day” when I go shopping, but what I absolutely hate is when you meet someone new, you exchange numbers and the person tells you that [s]he most definitely wants to hang out and will call you and then you never hear from them again. This has nothing to do with being “friendly”, that is what I call being an a**hole.

5. How do you wish your life to be like when you’re getting old and you retire?

This is easy. I hope that I will have saved up enough money in a pension plan to live a comfortable life in my own house with my family. I hope I will stay healthy and maybe be able to travel and enjoy my hobbies. Oh yeah, and I would love to be back in Germany by the time I retire.

So, is there anyone else who hasn’t been interviewed yet and is up for some serious interrogation? *g*

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.