so i just came back from a long weekend in Berlin, and it made me realise two things:
i come to a city for the friends rather than for the city
i’ve got friends in quite a lot of different cities.
the second one isn’t particularly new to me, having spent my highschool years in a boarding school and being one of the pupils to leave the furthest away from the boarding school, i’m already used to go hours by public transportation to meet most of my friends.
and also Berlin is a tad unique in being on the larger side of European cities, as well as being the most popular destination for Israeli queer folks tired of Israel.
but still, having now moved to a part of the planet that doesn’t require an expensive plane ticket to get absolutely anywhere outside the country, i’ve began to internalise just how many international friends i have. so far i’ve counted people in seven European countries, one in Canada, one in New Zealand, and approximately three billion people in the US, and i’m sure i forgot some.
those also tend to be a healthy mix of Jewish, queer, or Jewish and queer.
i can’t really say why i’m so excited by this fact. maybe i just feel connected to my great grandfather who at 18 moved from one part of the family in Łódź to another in Dresden, then at 29 to Antwerpen. or maybe i’m just excited at the excuse to travel the world (well, Europe for now, i don’t have the money to visit New Zealand or North America any time soon).
