Week 45: Between Two Worlds: Finding Identity and Belonging with Andrea Fahmel

00:00:00:

00:00:04: Bienvenidos to another edition of plus forty nine.

00:00:07: My name is Siri Darteaga and thank you so much for being here with us.

00:00:12: This week we're going to be talking about something many of us who have moved abroad can understand.

00:00:19: What it takes to belong in more than one place at once.

00:00:25: Because migration doesn't just change your address.

00:00:29: It reshapes you and who you are.

00:00:33: How we can see ourselves, how we connect with others, and even how we can handle the quiet moments in between.

00:00:41: Because later in the show, I'll be joined by Andrea Fammel, who, like me, grew up in a Mexican-German family.

00:00:49: Together, we're going to be talking about what she calls liquid nationality, a term that I absolutely loved.

00:00:58: and how social media can change the way we adapt, connect, and define our current home.

00:01:06: In this week's news, Germany's migration and labor report from the OECD, a major update to the citizenship law, and what the latest data says about the country's housing crisis.

00:01:20: Also, no wonder here what it's going to be saying.

00:01:24: For our cultural segment, we'll be stepping into one of Germany's most hard-worming traditions, the Latinan walks on Sunmarking's Day.

00:01:34: So grab your glue vine and let's start!

00:01:39: A new report from the OSCD this week highlights the growing importance of migrants in Germany's workforce.

00:01:46: According to the study, Foreign-born workers now make up a record share of employment in key sectors such as construction, healthcare and tech.

00:01:58: However, the report also points out familiar challenges.

00:02:03: Many skilled migrants still face language barriers and long waiting times for the recognition of their professional qualifications.

00:02:12: This means if you're looking to get a German citizenship, you will have to be a resident of Germany for five years.

00:02:21: Another news, government agrees on deportations to Syria.

00:02:25: Reports of internal disagreement over the return of Syrian nationals have been denied by a government spokesperson.

00:02:33: The goal they say is to stabilize the situation in Syria so that voluntary returns become possible.

00:02:41: At the same time, the government is working on legal and organizational measures to allow future deportations of criminals to their home country.

00:02:51: as outlined in the coalition agreement between the CDU and SPD.

00:02:56: Meanwhile, Minister Bebel Bas plans to ease occupational safety rules for small businesses.

00:03:03: Companies with fewer than fifty employees will no longer be required to appoint a safety officer according to Bas.

00:03:12: She intends to present her proposal on Wednesday to the Relief Cabinet, where other ministries were also introduced initiatives to reduce bureaucracy for businesses, citizens and public administrations.

00:03:25: Let's continue with something brighter.

00:03:28: and literally brighter because Saint Martin and the Latternenfest is something that happens every November just as the afternoon starts to fade into early darkness and something quietly magical happens across all Germany.

00:03:44: And this is children gather with families and neighbors.

00:03:48: They're carrying handmade paper lanterns that glow against the cold evening air.

00:03:54: They sing all songs about the moon and the stars and somewhere in the distance a brass band plays La Tiana, La Tiana.

00:04:07: This is the La Tiana Fest, celebrated around San Martin's Day, one of the most beloved traditions of the season.

00:04:16: The story goes that Martin, a Roman soldier, once shared his clothes with a beggar on a freezing night.

00:04:24: A simple act of kindness that became a symbol of compassion and light.

00:04:30: Today, that story lives on in the Latin walks across Germany that go in all small villages street through the city parks.

00:04:41: If you're new here and happen to come across a group of children marching through the night with candles and songs, stop for a moment.

00:04:49: It's a reminder that even in the darkest months, Germany has its own very way of celebrating light, generosity and togetherness.

00:04:59: If you are in Hanover and you are looking for something to brighten up the great days, there is plenty to see and do.

00:05:06: First, there is a celebration of the German humor and illustration.

00:05:11: The Wilhelm Busch Caricature Museum is marking the hundred and sixty years of Max and Moritz, the mischievous duo who shaped this country's comic tradition.

00:05:22: The exhibition features original drawings, rare editions and behind the scenes and sets in to Wilhelms-Busch creative process.

00:05:31: It is a cultural thing that you do have to take a look at because Max and Moritz are really shaping Germany still.

00:05:40: For families, you can go to the Su Hanover, since it's hosting its traditional Latin and Umtzuk, or Latin and Parade.

00:05:49: This will take place on the seventh and the ninth.

00:05:53: It is a magical night through the Su Glowing Path, complete with live music, snacks, and a warm drink at Meyershof to finish the evening.

00:06:03: And on November the eighth, Leipniz University Hanover, opens at stores for the Nacht die Wissenschaft, the night that creates knowledge, so to say.

00:06:14: Expect hands-on experiments, guided tours and lectures offering a rare glimpse behind the scenes of the university's labs and research centers.

00:06:24: Maybe you are a fan of the art, the science or just... looking for a winter magic.

00:06:30: Let us know what you did this weekend in Hannover.

00:06:33: And that's it for this episode of PLUS-FORTY-NINE.

00:06:36: Thank you to our dear Andrea.

00:06:39: For joining me today and to you, our listeners, for tuning in.

00:06:43: If you're enjoying the show, don't forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcast and of course subscribe to our morning espresso at plus-forty-nine.de.

00:06:53: You can also follow us on Instagram for updates, cultural insights and some behind the scenes stories from life here in Germany.

00:07:02: I'm Sigrid Arteaga and this has been plus forty nine.

00:07:06: Until next time, stay warm, stay curious and keep your Lantanan on.

00:07:12: Today we're sitting down with Andrea Famel.

00:07:15: She comes from

00:07:16: a half and half family.

00:07:19: She was born in Mexico, but her family comes from Germany as well.

00:07:24: And Andrea, welcome and tell me what do you feel more Mexican or German?

00:07:31: I really cannot say.

00:07:33: Because when I'm in Mexico, I feel absolutely, absolutely Mexican.

00:07:37: And when I take the flight back to Germany, I feel one hundred percent German again.

00:07:45: So I really cannot say that, yeah, I'm Mexican or I'm German.

00:07:51: I think it's, I have kind of a liquid identity between both countries.

00:08:00: A lot of the German community that arrived in Mexico is probably the same as the flows of migration we are seeing right now.

00:08:10: They escaped war and of course that changed a lot of the cultural awareness of a community.

00:08:18: But

00:08:19: probably it wasn't

00:08:20: that straightforward because at the end of the day they also integrated first themselves into a new community and they generated their own small communities without really understanding what was happening around it.

00:08:37: How do you see it?

00:08:40: Yeah, well my history is I think just like or very similar than yours.

00:08:48: I was born in Mexico.

00:08:50: I lived in Mexico until I was nineteen.

00:08:53: My father was German, but as I like to say, he was a made in Mexico, German, which means that my grandparents, no, my great grandparents are the ones that migrated to Mexico.

00:09:11: So it was end of the nineteenth century, I think.

00:09:16: And they stayed in the German community.

00:09:19: They stayed like very close in the German community, German thinking and so on and so forth.

00:09:26: So my grandparents also inherited that way of thinking, that way of living and kept the language, kept a lot of traditions around food.

00:09:41: Yeah, there is German tradition around food.

00:09:47: That's debatable, I know.

00:09:49: But yeah, that's what my father also inherited and what he also tried to pass us through.

00:10:02: He was the one in the family that married a Mexican, which is funny because my mother also went to a German school.

00:10:12: At that time, they used to have like cooking classes and all of that, all of those things that can make you become a German.

00:10:22: So my mother learned really, really, really good how to cook German food.

00:10:30: And in my house, it was typical to have falsche Haase.

00:10:38: I don't know, sauerbraten, as you said, Christmas cookies.

00:10:42: My mother began cooking or baking Christmas cookies around October or something.

00:10:51: So yeah, we had like Christmas cookies and Christmas began in October at my house and Leipkuchen so that it soaks the humidity or I don't know.

00:11:04: Yeah, and so.

00:11:05: Yeah, I grew up between these two worlds and between these two cultures and between this two ways of living.

00:11:13: Germans did kind of integrate to Mexico.

00:11:19: There was a lot of time in between Because, as I said, my great-grandparents were the ones that migrated, and they stayed in a German community, and you see those kinds of closed German communities in the north of Mexico, for example.

00:11:35: You have the Mennonites, and the Mennonites are like, they look just like you.

00:11:42: They're like blonde blue eyes, one lady.

00:11:48: duchies, so on and so forth.

00:11:51: It was a moment where the German school, for example, was founded.

00:11:58: And it was the moment where the German sports club was also founded.

00:12:04: So Germans were like a close community.

00:12:09: And I think it's an important thing to say.

00:12:13: For example, my mother learned a lot about Germany and learned a lot about German cooking, as I said before.

00:12:21: And that's one of the reasons why her, the mother of my father, saw her with better eyes.

00:12:29: She was a Mexican, yes, or she is a Mexican, yes, but was a good integrated Mexican in the German identity.

00:12:38: I think I took more than one generation and even more than two generations to get a real mix of both cultures and that Germans really felt as belonging to Mexico and Mexicans accepting Germans as they are.

00:13:02: And I think that's exactly the moment where people like you or people like me think, okay, I'm Mexican.

00:13:09: I have this roots somewhere else in this world.

00:13:13: So I'm going to explore them and I'm going to look how it feels to move in this other culture that lives within me.

00:13:22: And yeah, that's the moment where I think I'm or that's the moment that I'm living right now.

00:13:31: I'm a Mexican living in Germany, but I am a Mexican with deep German roots.

00:13:38: And when I came to Germany, I already spoke the language.

00:13:42: I already knew the fruits.

00:13:44: I already had like a cultural identity that was belonging to this place.

00:13:52: So of course there were cultural shocks, but there weren't like these huge things like oh my god what is this food?

00:14:00: or oh my god what is this language?

00:14:02: oh my god what is this climate?

00:14:03: well the climate shocks me every time

00:14:09: before we let you go.

00:14:11: Nowadays we have

00:14:13: this constant understanding of what is happening in our home country because of social media and especially because we already know what's happening there because of the memes, because of everything that is happening there.

00:14:27: Do you

00:14:27: think that being able to

00:14:30: see

00:14:30: what is constantly happening in our home country makes it complicated for us to really adapt to Germany?

00:14:43: That's a difficult question.

00:14:46: I think there are good things to it, as you said, like consuming what you know, hearing the rhythms that you are accustomed to, hearing, understanding the memes and understanding the jokes behind those.

00:15:10: because behind everything that we are consuming on social media.

00:15:15: And I think there are definitely good things about it.

00:15:19: And I also think it's a way of staying connected to the places we belong to or the places that we come from.

00:15:32: But I think it also fuels exactly what you said.

00:15:36: It fuels the feeling of having home sickness, like a never ending home sickness.

00:15:48: And I'm, for example, right now on a digital detox, and I'm trying not to consume so much Instagram at the moment.

00:15:58: And it's incredible.

00:15:59: It's been like a week that I reduced my consumption of Instagram a lot.

00:16:09: Yeah, all of a sudden I'm not trending and I'm not seeing all the reels and all the memes and all the things that happen around Christmas or before Christmas, the Posadas and around Day of the Dead and so on and so forth.

00:16:27: And it's like, oh my God, am I missing something?

00:16:31: But I think it gives you more connected to the place that you are living.

00:16:37: at the moment and I think that's also an important thing.

00:16:41: so back to the point if it's a good or a bad thing I think as in German there is this amazing German saying the golden middle and it's the golden middle and that's about just finding the balance between being there like being where you are living and staying connected there but still not losing the connection to your homeland or to the place that you grew up and where you have a lot of friends or a lot of family.

00:17:19: We have heard from a lot of people we have interviewed that it is important to learn the language and it is a tool to fully or start the integration process.

00:17:29: But on the other side, I remember the first time that I saw Fuck You Good.

00:17:35: that I didn't understand anything and I really thought I could learn the language or that I could speak the language and then suddenly it was slang and I had absolutely no idea what was happening.

00:17:48: Is there something that happened to you in a similar way?

00:17:55: I think I cannot answer that question.

00:17:57: What was the trend?

00:17:58: But something that you said right now resonates a lot with my with the moment that I came to Germany.

00:18:07: As I said, I was, or I think I didn't say that, but I was in a German school, so I learned German from kindergarten to until the famous Abitua.

00:18:20: And my father was German, or as I said, a maiden Mexican German, and he tried to speak to us in German when we were kids.

00:18:31: At some moment in our lives, we said to him, We are not going to speak to you if you still keep talking to us in that in famous language.

00:18:42: So my poor father had to stick to Spanish so that his kids would still talk to him.

00:18:53: But when I came to Germany and when I started living in Germany, I came fresh from the German school.

00:19:00: thinking, I know how to speak German.

00:19:04: And all of a sudden, I am working at a car workshop in Stuttgart, where it's only Schwerbisch, what they're talking.

00:19:14: And I'm sitting there like, oh my God, what are these people talking about?

00:19:20: The moment that you realize that you might speak the language, but you are not understanding the language.

00:19:30: You might speak German, but you are not understanding Germany.

00:19:35: And I think that happens, like, it's not only German.

00:19:41: I think that happens the moment that you go somewhere else, to live somewhere else, and that you start moving and start adapting to a new culture.

00:19:52: It's the, in between the... like the nuances of living abroad.

00:20:02: Andrea, thank you so much for being here with us today.

00:20:05: Thank

00:20:05: you for giving me or for letting my voice be heard.

00:20:15: One thing that I think it's important to know about Germany is the direct language.

00:20:27: Directness in general.

00:20:28: the Germans.

00:20:32: Yeah, Germans live by.

00:20:37: As I said I lived I have been living in Germany for twenty years and after my first ten years I moved to Berlin and started working at the Mexican Embassy and I realized during my time in the Mexican Embassy that I had adopted that directness, the German directness.

00:21:03: And I really love it.

00:21:06: But Mexicans do not love it.

00:21:09: And it was a funny cultural shock because it was on the other way around.

00:21:19: Because me being Mexican, I was not expected to be direct and to be clear and to be like.

00:21:26: things have to be this and this and this and this way.

00:21:29: and why are we doing this and this and this and that way if we are not getting nowhere.

00:21:37: so yeah that's a thing that you have to get a custom tool and I think it's a great thing to learn from.

00:21:50: it saves you a lot of time and it saves you also a lot of unnecessary politeness in between.

00:22:01: So, up with German directness.