Hey guys, I've been dealing with a few issues lately which have dragged me away from here over the past few weeks. With those issues dealt with, I am back to writing.
I recently had a chat with my students about where they would most like to live. This was another typical lesson about 'describing places' and talking about preferences. The whole lesson should have gone on to focus on certain grammar structures, but we got stuck on talking about everyone's wishes and desires to live somewhere else.
The German language, known for its specificity and habit of joining many words together to form one single word, has a special word called 'Zugunruhe'. In general terms, it is a word that refers to the restlessness migratory brids feel when it is time to migrate. This invisible pull to a far off land, a place that they know they need to get to but might not know why.
This was something that came to my mind during the class discussion. Have you ever felt that need to just go and live somewhere else, but not be able to understand why? That itchy feet syndrome people often get at many different points in their life, when you can't stay put but don't really know why you want to go to a specific place?
This was the general feel of many of my students. It seems such a natural desire, and such a common one, that I see no point in ignoring it. Some said they wanted to move to the Bahamas, or some other exotic place. I remember when I first felt it, I wanted to head off to New York- and I did. It was one of the most amazing times I have ever had. I spent three months there, and absolutely loved every second of it. If I were to pick a specific time in my life when I can honestly say I was the happiest I have ever been, it would be that time. I felt like I grew so much, and had the biggest adventure of my life.
Other people I know have gone to India, or Australia, or maybe even South Africa. It seems a common denominator in all this is the need to travel very far. Not so much for economic benefits, but more to be in an environment that one feels they need to be in so as to expand.
However, I never realised how lucky I was to be able to do this. Most of my students come from Colombia, Brazil or Thailand. These students spoke about how difficult it is to get a visa and be allowed to travel freely. Here in Europe we really are spoilt. We barely even need an ID card to cross the border which in most cases isn't even visible or marked with a check-point of any kind. We can literally walk from Lisbon to Talin and never be asked a single question.
Listening to the difficulties my students face made my heart sink and re-affirmed my dislike for visas. Don' t get me wrong, I understand the need to have down on paper where one country starts and another ends, and of course one would always want an easy way to catch any criminal that wants to cross the border to escape their punishment. However, most people aren't criminals, and most people aren't parasites either.
Most people just want to be able to live. They just want to be able to go about their life and live where they feel happiest. Wouldn't that be amazing?
Students from many South and Central American countries still suffer the horrible discrimination from countries like the USA and places in Europe, which insist that they jump through numerous hoops just to be allowed in. Why the world needs to be so Western-Centric is beyond me.
So the question is: Are visas really a necessity? I don't think so. Europe has done away with them, and while some might argue that there are certain challenges, all in all it has been a great thing to know that my country treats people with real respect rather than suspicion.
I want a world that has a different system. One where no one is made to feel like a criminal just because they want to spend their life somewhere else.
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