It just occurred to me this morning on my way to school that today is Germany's national holiday, German Unification Day. 18 years ago Eastern and Western Germany reunited. Although I have only vague recollections of the immediate events after the Wall came down there are a few moments that remain vivid in my memory. Such as that first Saturday after borders opened when my elementary school was almost deserted (we used to have classes on Saturday mornings in those days) because many kids had gone to West Berlin with their parents. Or that one winter afternoon when our family took the metro over to West Berlin for the first time and my grandparents bought Kinder Country chocolate for my brother and I. Our lives have changed a lot ever since. Nonetheless I have never really paid attention to October 3rd as I didn't consider reunification to be an occasion for unlimited joy and jubilation. Probably because I had had a happy childhood in Eastern Germany and many things have gone wrong in the unification process.
Anyway, today was the first time that this national holiday actually meant something to me as I realized that I probably wouldn't be in Barcelona now if history had taken a different turn in 1989. So I might have to reconsider my indifference for October 3rd and place this day higher on my appreciation scale...
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