Liebe Leserinnen und Leser, nach zehn Monaten der Funkstille melde ich mich nun endlich auf meinem Blog zurück. Trotz der langen Pause schließt dieser Beitrag aber nahezu nahtlos an das an, was ich im Advent letzten Jahres im Rahmen meines Adventskalenders mit Euch geteilt habe. Der Eine oder die Andere wird sich vielleicht erinnern, in einem Türchen habe ich über Neujahrsvorsätze geschrieben. Ich habe Euch gesagt, ich wolle den Dezember dazu nutzen, mir einen Neujahrsvorsatz für mein 2021 auszudenken. Damals habe ich mich für folgenden Vorsatz entschieden: "Im Jahr 2021 möchte ich meinen Traum finden." Die Erfüllung dieses Vorhabens war eine lange Reise, die mich das Jahr über begleitet hat. Heute, gut zwei Monate vor Jahresende, kann ich Euch nun endlich mitteilen, dass ich die Suche nach meinem Traum erfolgreich abschließen konnte. Das Ergebnis, zu dem ich gekommen bin, stelle ich Euch in diesem Beitrag vor, der zur Abwechslung mal auf Englisch verfasst ist. Am Sonntag vor dem Semesterbeginn griff ich im Eifer des Gefechts zur Englischen Sprache, um meine Gedanken zu ordnen und meine Motivation zu Beginn des Studiums zu dokumentieren. Ich freue mich, Euch an meiner Reise - die mich schlussendlich nach Freiburg geführt hat - teilhaben zu lassen und wünsche Euch ganz viel Spaß beim Lesen!

Do you believe in dreams?

You might wonder: “Those dreams while you sleep?” whereas I think of having a dream for your life like a goal you are aiming for.

In Germany, it is common to set a certain personal goal for the new year. At the end of 2020 I was trying to figure out my goal for 2021. I had finished school in 2020 and graduating had somewhat been my goal for the past twelve years. After having achieved that goal I wanted to set myself a new one.

I have never been one of those people who had concrete career plans since their childhood. When I worked as a volunteer I met a lot of children who did have dreams such as becoming a police officer or being a child care worker. I felt some kind of jealousy when I heard them talking about their dreams because I lacked any idea what to make out of the life that was given to me. Sometimes I even felt like living was a burden. After having passed my A-levels I was frequently asked about my future plans, be it career wise or otherwise. For a long time I could not answer these questions, assuming I would have to find out first what my dream is. Therefore I kept on searching for my dream. Not actively but rather eagerly waiting for my dream to find me. I was waiting for months, if not years!

But still I did not seem to have the right idea until one day I had a conversation with my dear friend Olivia. Back then I understood that a dream does not centre on practicability above all.While exchanging thoughts with Olivia I noticed that since I only have this one life I should pursue whatever appears to be my dream and seek for my way to put it into action. Furthermore I realised one second thing: Maybe I had already discovered my dream. What if I had only been too chicken-hearted as to recognise that dream, waiting for a more realistic career plan instead? That day I decided a dream should be pursued, no matter how likely you might make it happen. Do you want to know what my dream is?

How do you sift out that certain idea that becomes your passion? Doubtless, every person will answer this question in a different way. I can only tell you what I felt. I suppose you are well informed about the German reunification. Whenever I watched a documentary about the peaceful revolution, the fall of the Berlin wall and the reunification I got goosebumps all over my body. This proves how overwhelming the involvement with the most precious moments in Germany’s recent history felt for me. Is this feeling strong enough to indicate my dream? Well, I am not convinced of that but what I know for sure is that nothing else has ever made me feel the same way. How can something that happened 31 years ago be my dream?

While discovering K-Pop, the Korean language and culture I became greatly interested in the history of division which links Korea and Germany. It is a pain that both our countries and peoples share. RM of BTS also talked about this during their concert in Berlin. I want to share his words with you. He said:

“As you may know I live in Korea. You guys live in Germany, right? You know, to me… Like I said we live in two different countries. It’s like eleven/twelve hours flight away. But… You know what? We share the same pain and it’s called division. So we live in two divided countries which is, your country not now, but our Korea still is. In a place in Seoul there is a piece of the Berlin wall displayed near a river called Cheonggyecheon. And I’ve been there […] to see it and I couldn’t help but thinking about you guys. So, you know, we might look different, we might speak different, we might eat different, we might live different but… We share the same heart. We’re not just some random people who just met by coincidence. I feel like we met here in Germany […] by destiny. Someday I wish that our piece of Berlin wall in Korea can be displayed in the city of Berlin. Someday.”

Listening to his words encouraged me to give it a try, to pursue my dream. There are two more initiatives that have inspired me a lot:

First of all, I learned about Daniel Lindemann who is a German living in Korea. He inspired me as he gave a lecture on reunification at a Korean university. He talked about the German reunification and correlated it with the Korean division. As he said he tries to give hope for a reunification of Korea and to encourage Koreans to learn from the German reunification, in a positive and also in a negative sense.

Second of all, I was inspired by the German Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation. In 2019 they hosted a photo exhibition in Seoul about the peaceful revolution and the German Unity in order to mark the 30th anniversary of the Berlin wall’s fall.

I wish I can engage myself in the topic of division and reunification in a German-Korean context. Be it in Korea or in Germany. Whether I will succeed or not, I decided to pursue my dream: For now, by studying modern and recent history and political sciences. And I am looking forward to whatever is in store for me!