A Year Abroad in Germany with *YFU
2016

When Jana Badran and Inaya Atallah travelled from Lebanon to Germany to spend a year with a family and go to school there, they had lots of questions.  What would happen to them in Germany? What would life be like with the guest family and at school? How would they cope with homesickness? Would it be easy to make friends? Questions, questions, questions...

That was last summer. A year has passed, and now they are back home in Lebanon again. What happened in the meantime? What were their experiences? It was a year full of new experiences and discoveries for both of them with their guest families in different parts of Germany. The sensation of being a stranger in Germany? That feeling soon passed...

Jana: “Friendships are often made differently than back home in Lebanon, and sometimes it can be hard finding new friends. It took a while, but once I had made new friends, we were inseparable and did lots of things together. I even took a dance course! I also did a work experience with an interpreter, which was really interesting, and after that, I translated into Arabic for refugees at my school. It was a really intense year at school, but I learned how to master challenges like translating and interpreting. Now I’m really happy that I can speak fluent German.”

Inaya had similar experiences with friendships. Both girls remember how surprised they were at first that Germans often regard being late as a form of impoliteness.  So many things are planned and regulated – is there no room for spontaneity in Germany? Of course there is! Inaya recalls heated discussions with her guest family and at school about her wearing a headscarf. “Wearing a headscarf is a part of me and my world. It’s important to me that people accept it.”

‘The year’ is by no means over after these personal and intercultural experiences – far from it! Jana and Inaya will continue their involvement in the successful student exchange programme and share their experiences with other students. They quickly made themselves at home and became accustomed to life in Germany. In future, they will help other students prepare for the adventure of spending a year abroad in Germany and organise orientation events for them. They will mentor them until they leave for Germany and answer any new questions that may crop up…

*YFU = Youth for Understanding