Home Is Where Your Heart Is in Love

"What are we actually doing here and why is European Commission willing to spend money on such a useless thing as EVS?" - asked one of the participants of my recent introductory seminar in Hamburg. "Because if one will send all young people abroad and let them fall in love, there will be no wars anymore, you stupid!" - was the answer of my amazing instructor. At this moment, I turned my head to the right and felt a new wave of tenderness and warmth, which was coming from a blue-eyed boy with a charming smile. Afterward, I slowly switched my sight to a girl, who was giggling and sending air kisses to the group. Exactly in this second, I told myself: "You can relax now. You finally got home after an exhausting trip." 

But let me get a little bit back in time. Two months ago, my preparation to leaving for Nordhausen, a small German town, could not been harder than it was. With my head full of smart reasoning and a strong persuasion that EVS was a wonderful idea, I could not stop my heart from bleeding. Probably, it is never easy to pack all friends and family members in two suitcases, but it was exactly the thing I felt like doing. After long hours of crying, I arrived in the city, which felt absolutely cold and dark to me and met people, who tried to make me feel comfortable but did not manage to break my heart shield. Yes, being a homeless person is not a pleasant feeling, I will not deny. But guess what, finding a way to your new home is the most critical moment in life.

Today, I am getting back to Nordhausen from Hamburg with a dozen of Facebook contacts, which I received from people, who are now my "homemates." I am drinking delicious German kakao and reading a book, which I received as a present from an amiable man at Göttingen train station. He lives at my homeplace from now on, by the way. Today, I know for sure that there are no Italians, Russians, Germans, or French for me. Instead, there are People. The point of this over-emotional speech is the following: East or West, home is the best. The thing is, however, that this "home" can be both in East and West simultaneously as long as you love people, who live there. What I firmly know is that I am not going to fall out of love with people, who surround me today because as long as I am doing this, my home will never be empty.