Lucky enough to live in Germany

What can I say? Blessed is the word. Altogether I have lived in Germany around 9 years of my life,
although in two separate stages. Living surrounded by another culture has had the greatest impact possible and I am so lucky to have had the opportunity live abroad for a such a lengthy time! So the first 3 and half years is the beginning of my childhood, starting school, meeting friends (who I still reconnect with on a weekly basis) something memorable and so greatly different to the way my friends here grew up. On the other hand, the 5 and  half years I lived in Monchengladbach were those that were truly amazing and what I would consider some of the best years of my life. One thing you need to know, I lived on an British camp/in an international community so to say i'm German would be a misunderstanding. The people were British, the neighbours were British but a soon as you stepped outside the camp we lived on we enter a whole different world, Germany. Here in Monchengladbach or should I say Rheindahlen I met some of the most amazing people in my life. Of course I keep in contact with many, but even those who I have lost contact with keep popping up, what a small world. My friends in the UK, well the majority, have grown up in the same small town and have lived there all their lives which a great deal of them love. Although there is nothing wrong with this an experience of the outside world is something everyone should have an I feel so cherished to have held this, as they say you don't know until you have tried it. So what about Germany itself? A beautiful country so different to our own. Every February/March time I miss carnival, yes everything you would imagine- dressing up and lining the streets. Or even walking round a normal German supermarket, what we would consider a cash and carry and having to buy everything in bulk. Even the small things like having sleepovers in the cellars of our houses. The theme parks were amazing, the summer days were amazing , living here was amazing.

So I can't speak fluent German and I have lost a great deal of what I had known but revisiting Germany on a trip to Berlin last year was perfection for me, I felt so at home. So I am an ex 'pad brat' what others would know as an 'army kid' and this makes me so unbelievably proud. To be a part of a family that has a figure who has served in the armed forces is beyond anything you can imagine, the opportunities it has provided have been immense. Although many of us are now separated, we remain a collective community- the schoolchildren that lived in such a wonderful world, JHQ and it was without doubt that this is a general thought amongst me, my friends and everyone who has had the chance to live in this environment whether we are still in contact or not.