I am now German

Well, it finally happened: I became German this week. Even writing this out is surreal. It is a culmination of years of living far away from my family, choosing another culture that is similar but truly different in almost every conceivable way, and living day by day knowing that my entire identify and livelihood was tied to my having a job and being a productive member of German society. Over the years, that last point has really started to grind against my inner peace: it is beyond a privilege that I, an Australian, can come to Germany and choose to find my future here, yet, at all foreigners know, we are at the whim of our work and our ability to pay taxes. I like my job, I like being in the office every day and connecting with my colleagues as we solve hard(ish) problems and knowing that I am contributing to the society I’ve come to love, but it was with the suppressed reminder that, at any moment, my entire life could be thrown into disarray, should I get fired and then somehow…