25.11.12

The day I became an immigrant

It’s been two years since I left home. Two years and two months since I came to Germany to study. When I left, I didn’t think about returning. It’s not something one thinks of when starting anew. When I left, I had a whole world of chances ahead of me. It was up to me to decide when and where I would continue my life. And I was amazed of this whole new spectrum of possibilities. I could go anywhere! I could live my life as diverse and adventurous as I wanted. Germany was a first shy step and after that… who knows what would follow?  
Two years later I do have a whole world of chances ahead. I do have them all, all but one. Now I can’t go back. Somewhere in-between there was this decisive moment when the international student became an immigrant. Somewhere between memorandums and “yes to all” my chances of survival, quality of life and financial independence in homeland withered away. I can do whatever I want as long as I don’t choose to go home. I never had to decide after all, the choice was made for me in absentia.
As life back home continues… in absentia.