It was 16 years today...

...That my mother and I immigrated to the US. Spending my child hood in Germany, I had envisioned that America was just like the movies. Everyone had a pool in their back yard. People had fast cars. Everyday was like Disney world. Of course I quickly realized that I was very much disillutiond. First couple of weeks in the states was fun. We visited my aunt in south Carolina. They had a boat, and my cousins had mini motor cycles and go-carts. Off coarse that supported my illusions of the states. A week after that we went to meet the "new" relatives in abopca, Florida; that is where my step father was from. Ironical, most of my new step aunts had jobs at "Disney world". That was cool, because I got to go for free. There is nothing more exciting for a 12 1/2 year old boy, than to be able to go do Disney world for free, further supporting my disillution.

The reality started to become apparent that America was not jolly-jolly-gum-drop, when we arrived at our final destination in Fort Riley, KS. That is where my stepfather was being stationed. My first years in the states were horrible. We lived in the ghetto of Junction City Kansas on North Calhoun Street. Middle School was the hell of hell for me because I had trouble fitting in with me being the weird German kid, who was more mature than most other kids. It also did not help that I hated my step father. He was a fucking asshole who cheated on my mom and never payed attention to me unless I had to be grounded. I wanted to move back to Germany within that first year.

I had finale made a group of friends in my 8th grade year. That's also the year I started smoking and getting in trouble at school. Mike, Will, Tim, Tony, and I were the "Heavy Metal Group" during the 92-93 year at Fort Riley Middle School. Those were fun times. In the fall of 93 my mother got divorced after stationing at Fort Hood Texas. By that time I had pretty much mastered the English language, I liked Killeen High School, and I started to get excited about living in the states. My mother had proposed on moving back to Germany, but she did not want me to change schools again.

Today I have pretty much integrated myself to a point that I consider living in the states to be my home. When people ask me if I prefer Germany or Texas, I tell them that "my love for Germany is like the love to a mother, my love to Texas is like a love to a wife" I pride myself of being a native German, and being able to retain my mothers toung. On the other had pride myself of being able to adapt in a foreign country to a point where I have a great wife, a good carreer, and a great potential for the future.