I found this article about the "young cosmopolitan generation" really interesting and honest. It is about German people, but in reality, anyone having experienced this way of life will recognize him/herself in it, with both good and bad sides. At least it´s what happened to me...
Read it and tell me what you thought about it! Spiegel Special –international edition- N°4 / 2005, p. 130.
„ (…) For many young people, the flexibility demanded by studies, internships or years abroad is not a burden, but a vital part of becoming a well-rounded individual – in perfect accord with their parents´ wishes. (…)
“Foster, promote, encourage” were the new watchwords: parents wanted to afford their children the opportunity they had been denied: the chance to discover and develop their own skills and talents. “Being an individual is what counts today. That is a core principle of our society,” says sociologist Ulrich Beck.
But first and foremost, a broadly diversified résumé is vital to success in the job market. (…) “Biography crafters” is how the author Holger Friedrich defines a generation so intent on presenting
life as a colourful mosaic. Diversity is what makes people interesting – and makes them stand out from the crowd. (…)
Anke Gerber studied law in Constance, spent a year at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, went to Ecuador for a Spanish course, did a degree in international law in South Africa, and went to finish her law education in Hamburg. Somehow one step led to the next. “But
I was never really sure where it was all supposed to lead to in the end,” she says. She simply plucked one opportunity after another from the posy of openings that was offered her. But now, at 32, she does not really know where she stands. “Today I often doubt whether I chose the right path for myself.”
The constantly changing environments and habitats may be appealing, but flexibility alone is not a source of orientation. Sundry sojourns abroad and a wide range of experiences may produce a cosmopolitan outlook and mental agility –but they scarcely add up to stability. (…)
People who get around a lot are well drilled in small talk and amassing acquaintances. Today’s young polyglot Germans are at ease making contact with others, showing interest in new things and appearing interesting themselves.
There is, however,
something superficial about an “inter-cultural” life. After years of travel and gathering experience, one question often arises: where are my roots? For many young Germans, the answer today no longer leads back to a certain place. It is rephrased as the question:
Which friends really mean something to me?
Above all, these cosmopolitan Germans –who often move home more than 10 times between the ages of 20 and 30 –draw their strength and composure from belonging to a specific social set, one that is young, polyglot, well-travelled and at home everywhere. They value the friendships that each new sojourn brings –but emails and week-end meetings in international cities are their only means of following up and turning these ties into true bonds.
Kreiser´s week-ends are booked up months in advance: the family reunion in Munich, the birthday party in Berlin, the visit to see his best friend in London. “Half of my salary goes to train and air fares,” says Kreiser. Add to this the evenings on the phone and the hours spent writing emails.
For the young cosmopolitans, nurturing relationships is hard work. It requires planning and organization – a quick coffee is out of the question. But distance doesn’t necessarily make these friendships any less fonder.
According to Beck, “Studies show that next-door neighbors live in complete isolation in Berlin or Frankfurt, while maintaining close links to people at the other end of the world, thanks to the new communications technologies.”
(…)
When asked what they consider their home, many of the young cosmopolitans are at a loss. Their globetrotting ways produce an inner ambivalence. “Somehow, home is always where I’m not,” says Jana Dorband, who has commuted between Germany and the United States in recent years. “When I’m here, I miss America –and vice versa.”
To these young people, home is no longer a specific location, least of all one in Germany. They may live in Berlin now, but they feel equally at home in London and could imagine moving to Barcelona rather than Bremen later in life. “Once people practiced location monogamy. Now they pursue open love affairs with various cities, languages and cultures,” says Beck, who terms this geographical philandering a
“cosmopolitan identity”.Yet a feeling of belonging to one place does not rule out a sense of closeness to another. “People are no longer either French or German,” says Beck. The European identity exists at the very moment people start feeling at home on various places, he says. This doesn’t have to entail loosening the bond to one’s own country.
(…) Anke Gerber also realized that a globetrotting life can also be unfulfilling and counterproductive for partnerships; her long-distance relationships have always broken up. New acquaintances can’t offset the sense of loss. “At first, of course, it is incredibly interesting to be meeting new people in Cape Town, The Hague and Ecuador all the time,” she says. Yet with the passage of time she has learned, she says, that a constant supply of new things does not give lasting meaning to life. “The more people I met, the more I longed for the old school friends I have known for the past 15 years,” she adds. (…)
15.09.06. Abenddämmerung an der Vltava in Prag... 
26.0606. Kurz vor meiner Abfahrt in Köln_(Noch) in fröhlichen WM-Stimmung
A Niederkassel
Agnese in Aachen mit ihrem nagelneuen Italien-T-Shirt!
Rote Tulpen in der 
