My feelings about being a Berliner

[lethargic_man]

I used to hate it, when I lived in London, when people referred to me as Londoners. (Actually there was someone, whom I won't name here, who used to regularly wind me up by referring to me casually in conversation as a Londoner, until eventually she took pity on me and let on what she was doing.)

This had a lot to do with the way that Londoners, and London Jews in particular, would act as if London was the be-all and end-all of British life, and the rest of the country did not exist. As a Novocastrian, I took umbrage at this.

For some reason, though, I never had this hang-up concerning identifying as a Berliner. Possibly the fact I never had the experience of living in the provinces in Germany had something to do with it, but I think it's more that Berlin from my perspective (which mostly means my workplace and my synagogue(s)) is much more cosmopolitan than London: Most of the people I know here came to Berlin themselves, or failing that, their parents did: Multi-generational Berlin families—people who speak the Berlinerisch dialect—are few and far between in my circle.

I felt I wanted to express this. So I made a sweatshirt (click through for higher resolution):

Explanation for non-Berliners/non-Germans: The text of course plays with JFK's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner", but the addition of the "geworden" changes the meaning from "I am a Berliner" to "I became a Berliner". The bear I am dancing with is the state symbol of the Berlin. The I in "Berliner" is a silhouette of the TV Tower, which for me acts as a symbol of Berlin as the city I live in (the Brandenburg Gate being more a symbol of Berlin as capital of Germany). And the Union Jack in the background I have altered to be in the colours of the German flag to show both where I have come from and my successful integration into German society.

Lastly, the back of the sweatshirt reads "Und du?" ("And you?")

Comments

[green_knight]

That is a marvellous shirt and you're looking very content indeed.

[iddewes]

Good for you! I still dislike it here and if anything happened to Dirk would be on the next train back to the UK, though probably not London. I think it does make a difference that you live in a city and not a depressing commuter village, and that Andrea already had a community for you to join. Dirk is a loner and not from this area, so we really still have no Friends here.

[lethargic_man]

:-( I take it there's not really any possibility of your moving somewhere else...?