Goodbye to London

This is our last week in London.
On Friday we will say goodbye to what has been our home for the past two and a half years and get on a plane to Berlin which will be, for the foreseeable future, our new home.

Life is funny this way, if you let it, it will take you to places you never imagined you'd get to. If anyone would have told me ten or even six years ago that I will become one of those people who move around the world I would have never believed them, and yet Germany will be the fourth country we've lived in; if anyone would have told me my wandering will bring me to Berlin I would have laughed, and yet here I am, packing; if anyone would have told me I would take two kids with me on all my adventures I would have really gotten angry, and yet both my boys happily approved this move and are impatient to get to Berlin.

In the last few weeks there has been a bit of stir in the Israeli press about the fact that young Israelis choose to immigrate to Berlin. It was called "the pudding protest" because apparently pudding is cheaper in Berlin than in Israel (honestly, it is cheaper here in London as well), and apparently we Israelis follow the pudding. Well, while it is true that for Jewish and Israelis food is not just an important thing, it is the most important thing of all, people do not leave their whole life behind just to buy cheaper pudding.

And yet here we are, part of a trend. I have to say I am somewhat excited, I've never been part of a trend before. On the other hand, it is in part why I've waited with this post until our bags are (almost) packed. I was hoping it will go away and I won't have to deal with it in my post. After all we are not moving to Berlin because it's cheaper than London. First of all because everywhere in the world is cheaper than London, and second of all because I don't even love pudding.
No, we are moving to Berlin for the same reason we moved to Gibraltar and London - for the adventures.
Because adventures is such a better reason than pudding.

A few years ago I've read this story about a family who travelled around the world, stopping for a few months in each place to learn how people there live. They had three kids I think, and they chose mostly less developed countries as destinations. I remember thinking they were crazy, that they were ruining their kids' lives, that they were bad parents who'd rather realise their own dreams than raising their kids. Well, I was young and much more prone to criticism in those days, and I guess I deserve the people who look at me and think the exact same thing. These days, though I would still won't be caught dead in any place that requires a tent, I understand their choice so much better.

Because adventures aren't about having fun all day every day, they are about experiencing everything the world has to offer. And everyone knows the world likes to throw crap your way.
Adventures are about the fear of the unknown and the belief in yourself.
Adventures are about the people you meet along the way and the things you get to do that you'd never imagined you will. Hey, I got to meet David Cameron.
Adventures are about inventing yourself every time - who will I be here? What will I do? You get the chance of a clean slate and a new beginning.
Adventures are about the option to experience life from different angles, see other cultures,  understand that every place is different, that there is no right or one way to live.
It is, if you allow me some schmaltz, about building a better future for your children. It is about letting them grow up and live without seeing colour, or religion, or country of origin. Wherever we see all these differences, they just see friends.
But most of all, if you let it, living in different places teaches you all about freedom. A lot of people think the hardest part of being an expat is the fact that you don't belong anywhere anymore. You are no longer a real part of the country you left, and you will forever be a foreigner in the country you live in now. I think if you embrace this feeling what you get is an enormous amount of freedom to be who you want, to do what you want, to think what you want.
No, the hardest part of being an expat is the food. Don't look so surprised, I did say we Israelis are very attached to our food.
And they do say Berlin has great bakeries.

Now that the time to say goodbye has come, I should be able to say something about London, summaries the last two and a half years in one sentence. But I can't. Mostly because writing short sentences was never my strong suit, but also because I am just not sure it will be the right sentence. There is, after all, something to say for perspective.
For now mostly I feel that I am ready to move on, but I can say that London gave us a lot, we've had so many good things happen to us here, we've accomplished so much, but that it all came with a very high price-tag. Like everything else in London.
I am proud of us for what we've achieved, and at the same time I hate that we had to pay so dearly for it.

And then, because life is funny this way, someone shared this Elisabeth Kübler-Ross quote on Facebook that just seemed so fitting for my goodbye to London -
"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen".

So Long London, and Thanks for All the Fish!

All the photos in this post were taken by Hidai on his recent travels to Berlin, and not by me because I haven't been to Berlin. Yet.