WOOOW, six months have already passed. It is true that time flies. We are now in mid-April, yet it seems to me that October 6th (the day we left for Leipzig) was yesterday morning. They have been intense months, full of emotions and surprises. The experience went well, indeed, considering the fact that when it all started I didn't know much in German besides introducing myself and saying where I came from ... I would say that it went very well. Of course, I miss my family and friends, there were difficult moments ... but my determination combined with my desire to discover the world and another culture definitely had the best of the challenge that I imposed on myself. "I want to see how I will react to this challenge," I wrote in the first presentation article. Now, I have the answers, the experience I have lived through. Even before I left, I knew I need to be brave for such a choice knowing my situation. Now, however, with the end of the experience, I think I was just a madman, a madman who made the right choice and I am very proud of me for this. To better express what I want to say I suggest this phrase of Erasmus of Rotterdam: "The best ideas do not come from reason, but from a lucid, visionary madness"

By making a commitment and studying every day at home as a self-taught, I started being able to talk to my colleagues from the beginning of January, without taking any courses; the course started in mid-January. Now maybe some think "Yes, but moving to another country the language is much easier to learn...". To these people I would like to say that even talking is easy, but acting is not always easy. Furthermore, I can say with certainty that now I understand what my letter teacher meant when he said that the Germans are very efficient. Most people, while working and encountering a problem, they immediately think of solving it, not as we usually do, that is, always postponing everything to the next day, the day after the next one ... thus making the problem bigger. For sure, this type of mentality will be useful for my career.

As for the university of Berlin, my plans have changed. This is not because I would no longer like to be an English teacher, but because unfortunately the course of study that I would attend there would not allow me to be a professor. It's a shame, but I can always study the subjects of the course on my initiative, because the interest in the Anglo-American world has not vanished. So what are my plans now? I want to enroll in university and always study foreign languages ​​and literatures, without attending courses, because, to have greater independence as in Leipzig, I would like to work part time in the office, 30 hours a week instead of 40. It will not be easy, but I know that if I try hard I can do it! We are able to do many more things than we think ... we must believe it, not give up and have a pinch of passion for what we do.

"I am convinced that this age is the right age to have such an experience and I want to take a free year to take stock of the situation on some things" is another sentence that I wrote in the presentation article. As you can see, I overcame many doubts. In addition, I have grown a lot from a personal point of view and also in other respects. I would recommend anyone to have such an experience, you will see that in the end you will be proud of what you have done and who you have become. Such experience will strengthen you, you can be sure of that. Don't be afraid to lose a year of university: this '' university syndrome '' as I call it, it’s only for us Italians; in northern Europe it does not exist.

Leipzig introduced me to wonderful people, starting with my work colleagues, who were very kind and understanding with me, up to the friendships I made outside the workplace. I can't wait to meet them again, this time in Italy: this is the deal.

A huge thank you to Apro Formazione, both from me and from my family, for believing in me, for allowing me to participate in this unique and wonderful experience and for being able to get us back home despite the problems flights due to Coronavirus and all other related problems. A heartfelt thanks to FAIRbund for guiding us to Leipzig, to all my colleagues at work for their sympathy and understanding and to my new friends for the time spent together. Vielen herzlichen Dank!

Nikola