Christina Rutte

My cousin and I are three weeks apart in age, but we grew up more than 5,000 miles away from each other. My mother is German, born and raised, and her whole family is still in Bavaria. My father, however, is American, and thus I grew up in Atlanta. I was raised bilingually and went back to Germany every summer, where for six to eight weeks I would live my cousin’s life. In this picture we are at a public showing of the Germany Argentina game, which was a once in a lifetime experience. Sitting, or rather standing, on beer benches, screaming soccer songs, cheering on the German national team, and later celebrating our victory was extraordinary. I experienced so many phenomenal things that summer, not to mention previous years, that are unique to Germany.

My mother told me a long time ago, that once you cross the ocean you are always on the wrong side. Unfortunately, this is completely true. I have always struggled with feeling German in America, and American in Germany. This duality can make you feel like you never fit in. At the same time it also gives you the ability to see a much bigger, more interesting picture. I love that I can appreciate different aspects of German and American culture, and that I know there are different ways of doing things when a certain mindset irritates me. However, I can’t have both at the same time, and often it seems like the grass is greener on the other side. Because of my own personal difficulties with this issue, I am very interested in other people’s conflicts, whether they are an internal struggle or concern a situation they cannot change.