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German -American Friendship

Friendships across the pond

January 24, 2018 by Anne-Kathrin Leave a Comment

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FRIENDSHIPS ACROSS THE POND

I am sure many of you who have moved to California from overseas can relate to what I am going to express in this post.  We all had to leave all or some family and friends thousands of miles behind, living on different continents.  I personally have lived in the United States for six-and-a-half years and luckily, I was able to keep the majority of friendships existent.

Whenever I travel back to Germany or have friends visiting me in California, it feels like we have never been apart.  We catch up like we just hung out yesterday, and it doesn’t feel weird or unnatural at all.  Unfortunately, there are also those friendships that didn’t survive the long-distance relationship.

One particular case is my used to be good friend Vivienne (the name has been changed due to privacy.) I met Vivienne in Senior High School, and while we didn’t become friends right from the get-go, we grew really close once we got to know each other better.  In the long run, I did become her maid of honor and godmother to her firstborn son.

Today, Vivienne and I are no longer in touch.  Our relationship started to become rocky a couple years ago.  To be honest, I have never been the biggest fan of her husband, and I understand why she and I drifted apart.  But let’s circle back even further: Vivienne and her husband met while we were in our last year of Senior High School, and they hit it off instantly.  All three of us used to hang out a lot and had a great time together.

It wasn’t until after a while, I felt that I never got to see Vivienne without him around. I didn’t mind hanging out with him around every once in a while, but I was also missing girl time with one of my closest friends back then.  In the long run of their relationship, she confessed to me that her then-boyfriend became jealous whenever he wasn’t around her, which resulted into tension between the three of us.

At some point, they were at the verge of a breakup but managed to work it out. He promised to let her have her girlfriend time, and everything went back to the good times we used to have.  Ten years ago, Vivienne and her man became husband and wife on a very tumultuous wedding day.

Let’s just sum it up this way: A maid of honor that could only open one eye because she popped a balloon right in front of her eyes the night before; A father of the bride who answers a phone call in the middle of the wedding ceremony; And a father-in-law who is suffering a seizure and has to be hospitalized during the reception.  But as they say: the worse the wedding, the better the marriage.

Two days after, I moved all the way across the pond to work as an au pair for an American family.  As I had predicted it beforehand, a couple months later Vivienne called me with the news that she was expecting.  I was beyond happy for her and her husband and couldn’t wait for the day the baby was born.  I was even more on cloud nine when she proposed to me that she wanted me to be her son’s godmother.

When I moved back to Germany after my year in the States, I spent a lot of time with her and her family.  I helped them during their move to the countryside, which was located two hours away from our hometown.  I still was able to visit them at least once a month, and we had a blast together. I moved back to California in 2011, but whenever I traveled back to Europe, I made it a priority to spend at least one weekend of my time with them.

Over the years, my friend grew more and more unhappy, and one day she opened up to me that she was contemplating getting a divorce.  I supported her in her decision and had an open ear for her whenever she felt the need to reach out.  She eventually decided to give her marriage another shot, but it wasn’t until a year later she was contemplating her decision again.  By that time, I was totally displeased with her husband, and I can understand how that put her in the middle.

While I never asked her to choose between him and me, I can understand that me not being his biggest fan had a negative impact on her in her efforts to save the marriage.  They kept being married and now have a second child, but our friendship was the relationship that didn’t last.  Vivienne and I never had a fight; our connection just slowly diminished until we completely stopped any form of communication.

We are still connected on Social Media and can witness major life events through those platforms, but our friendship is done.  The long distance, unfortunately, didn’t work out for us.

Images: pixabay.com

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Anne-KathrinAnne-Kathrin Schulte is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes about her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany, she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She has been living in Southern California since 2011.

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

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Filed Under: Expat Stories, Life in California Tagged With: Anne-Kathrin Schulte, Friendship overseas, German -American Friendship, Germans in California, Germans in Orange County, Long distance relationships

German American Friendship Poster Contest Is Now Accepting Submissions For 2013

October 2, 2012 by Cornelia Leave a Comment

 

With German-American Day approaching on Saturday, October 6, you may find yourself feeling a little extra German pride.  If you have even the slightest artistic bone in your body, you may want to give the German American Friendship poster contest a shot since the Tricentennial Foundation is now accepting submissions for 2013.  There aren’t too many requirements and the contest is open to all ages.

Not only will the winning posters be featured in a moving exhibition throughout the United States, there will also be cash prizes awarded in various categories based on age.  The grand prize winner will receive an additional cash prize, and if you are finding it difficult to settle on one design, multiple entries are allowed in this contest.

Cash Prizes Offered

$250 for Open competition (non-student) : Category I
$200 for college student (undergraduate) : Category II
$150 for high school student : Category III
$100 for elementary or middle school : Category IV

The grand prize winner will be awarded an additional $100

Contest Rules

  • Must be an original 8.5″ x 11″ artwork
  • Include the words GERMAN AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP
  • Artist’s name, age, school grade( if a student), and phone number must on the back of the poster
  • Poster must have a copyright release
  • Submitted your poster by mail, postmarked by June 3, 2013 to: Tricentennial Foundation, 8628 Orion Ave., North Hills CA 91343-5815

To find additional information on the contest, visit the source link below, and feel free to share your designs on our Facebook page.

Source: Tricentennial Foundation
Photo: Past contest winner via Tricentennial Foundation
Article Source: German Pulse

———————————————————————————–   ABOUT

  German Pulse is a new online magazine for the German-American community where you can  find the latest news, reviews, events, businesses, and so much more.
website | twitter | Facebook
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Filed Under: Culture, German Festivals, LifeStyle Tagged With: German -American Friendship, German American, German-American Day, Poster contest

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