English

Pred štirimi leti sem se podal na precej neznano pot v Nemčijo. Do neke mere mi je ta korak povzročal tudi nekaj malega strahu. Čustva, ki so se mi ob tej deželi pojavljala, pač niso bila samo lagodna; predstave, ki sem jih imel, niso bile skrajno romantične. No, ali pa sem preprosto šel skozi določeno notranjo stisko, ker sem se preselil v tujino. Kakorkoli. Dejansko sem pristal v okolju ljubečih ljudi in ličnega mestnega okoliša. Pred nekaj tedni sem se lotil osebne bilance preteklih let in zaključil, da sem v Münchnu preživel najlepša leta svojega duhovniškega življenja. Prišel je čas, da pospravim stvari, da se poslovim in se preselim v Ljubljano. Oditi mi bo v bistvu težko, prihoda v domovino se pa veselim. Z drugo besedo, obojega je.

V teh dneh pospravljam stvari, nadaljujem z delom ter sem na nekakšni mini poslovilni turneji. Ravno sem prišel od obiska pri družini v naši župniji. Moj odhod se jim je zdel zadosten razlog, da nas vse tri duhovnike povabijo na večerjo. Bilo je odlično, tako med ljudmi kot za mizo. Ravno tam, sredi večerje, me je ena od hčerk vprašala: Kaj je bilo zate najboljše in kaj najslabše v Nemčiji? Ne, da bi me presenetila, a vedel sem, da ji želim odgovoriti direktno in brez olepševanja, zato sem izrekel kar se da hitro sledeče. Najslabše v Nemčiji je sledenje pravilom. Pa ne, da jim ne pritrjujem, temveč je slabo prepričanje, da strogo sledenje pravilom naredi ljudi dobre. To postane na trenutke zares naporno … in vsak Nenemec si verjetno ob tem na vsake toliko zaželi nekaj malega brezvladja. Kanček balkanizacije. Najboljše v Nemčiji so ljudje. To je dežela ljudi, ki so – kadar so izven območja pravil – popolnoma neskladni z mojimi nekdanjimi predstavami in strahovi. Španci jim pravijo kvadratne glave, mi jim pripisujejo red in disciplino … a kaj, ko so to samo zunanje in pogosto navidezne lastnosti.

Po štirih letih je postalo jasno, da je zame prišel čas, da se vrnem v Slovenijo in ponovno postanem Ljubljančan. Bog ve, kaj vse me čaka, vsekakor pa se tega novega koraka zelo veselim. Tebi, draga Nemčija, pa hvala za gostoljubje.

Auf Wiedersehen!

English

Auf Wiedersehen!

Four years ago, I embarked on a somewhat unknown journey to Germany. To some extent, this step also caused me a little fear. My feelings about this country were not just leisurely; my notions were not highly romantic. Well, maybe I was going through inevitable inner distress because I had moved abroad. Either way. I ended up in an environment of loving people and a neat urban neighborhood. A few weeks ago, I took the time to summarize the major points of the past years and concluded that I had spent the best years of my priestly life in Munich. The time has come for me to pack my things, say goodbye, and move to Ljubljana. It will be difficult for me to leave, but I look forward to returning to my homeland. In other words, it is both.

These days I am packing, getting on with my work, and on a mini farewell tour. I have just come from a visit to a family in our parish. They thought my departure was reason enough to invite all three of us, priests, to dinner. It was gorgeous, both among the people and at the table. In the middle of dinner, one of the daughters asked me: What was the best and worst thing for you in Germany? I was not surprised, but I wanted to answer her directly, and without embellishment, so I said the following as quickly as possible. The worst thing about Germany is following the rules. I agree with the concept of following the rules, but it is bad to believe that strictly following them makes people good. It gets really tiring sometimes, and every non-German probably wishes for a bit of lawlessness every now and then. Some balkanization. The best thing about Germany is the people. It’s a country of people who – when they are outside the zone of rules – are utterly inconsistent with my former perceptions and fears. The Spanish call them square-heads. We link the order and discipline with them … but the fact is that these are only external and often illusory qualities.

After four years, it became clear that the time had come for me to return to Slovenia and become a resident of Ljubljana again. God knows what lies ahead, but I am looking forward to this new step. Thank you, dear Germany, for your hospitality.

Auf Wiedersehen!