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It happened suddenly, during a walk through its fascinating buildings, freshly renovated, perfectly symmetric, everyone with a specific different colour. Surrounded by positive vibes, I couldn’t think of anything but: “this will be my next destination”. Perhaps because of the sun (it was April and the spring here is astonishing) or maybe because of the feeling of freedom… I don’t know exactly why, but I knew I had to move to Berlin, as soon as possible, because after years spent all around Europe, that was the first time I felt like at home. And I did it, I moved to Germany in only two weeks, saying goodbye to my family, my friends, my home, my everything.
But let’s start from the beginning.
Which are the common reasons to leave? Living a bad financial/working situation, willing to discover new places and cultures, emancipation, love, looking for new adventures and challenges, and so on. Well, at that point of my life, in 2015, after a master’s degree and different working experiences, I had all of those feelings together (and even more): the perfect situation for a brand new start!
In that period, I was living in Sardinia with my parents, not the best for a 28-year-old girl. I couldn’t find a job, not even after more than 100 applications. A bit frustrating, I must say, especially because none of them answered my emails. Could have it been worse than this? Yes, of course. Because a couple of months before, I fell in love, in a deeply huge enchanting love. There was only a detail, he was living in Berlin.
Definitively, lots of problems. I needed a plan, a good one, that could have helped me to transform obstacles into opportunities. So, I let my thoughts show up in my head:
– Staying at home? There are not so many possibilities to get a proper job (Sardinia has been in a deep crisis for ages) and I will lose forever my big love. However, my family is here, and so my whole life and my roots; the sun shines 360 days per year and we have such a beautiful sea. Maybe things will change with a bit of patience. But, unfortunately, we need money to live, and money comes only with a job, not from the good weather or an amazing landscape.
– Moving to Berlin? I don’t know German, I don’t know Germans, I don’t know bureaucracy, I don’t have a flat nor a job. Solutions: communicate in English for the first period, attending a German class, looking for a job or internship and getting the more information possible on Internet.
The solution seemed to be predictable, but it wasn’t at all. There were a few steps I wasn’t considering while thinking of a possible move to Germany: everybody must be registered to the municipality (Bürgeramt) after a stay of 14 days, but to do so, people must have an official address in which he/she effectively lives, but to get an apartment (or a room), it’s necessary to have different documents, included the three last German pay slips. Easy!
What could I do? Desperate? Never and never! I took a deep breath, I looked into myself, and I asked to my heart “where do you want to go? Just tell me, and I will do my best to reach the goal, our goal”.
On one side, the only thing I wanted, was to rejoin my soul mate. But on the other hand, I wasn’t sure to make this big jump into the nothingness just following another person and his personal plans, even if with this person I was really in love. The idea to start again from zero was a bit stressful for me. So, I went to Berlin to find the answer, I reached my love during the Easter holidays, only for one week, but that week, has been enough to make a decision.
I went back home full of hope, but the problems mentioned before hadn’t disappeared, I only found the right alternative at the right moment: there was a German family looking for an Au pair for their two kids, and I applied without hesitation because I had the same experience the year before in Northern Ireland, and I felt I could do it again. After only a Skype interview, I had the job! I couldn’t believe it.
I bought a one-way ticket, and I left my home with a bit of sadness, but full of positive energies for my new life. I live in Berlin since 2015, and at this point of my adventure, I can surely say that coming here (not speaking a single word of German), was the best foolish idea ever. One suitcase, my energy, the love for my partner, but also, for my future, have been enough to leave.
