“You get the impression even when you haven’t been there yet…an image of freedom, that you can spread your wings much easier.” Gabriele Verhoeven and her family immigrated to the U.S. when the pollution, crowds, and traffic of Paris became unbearable; her husband’s parents and sisters also lived in America. Her husband’s American background enabled Frau Verhoeven to converse in English at home, which built upon the English that she had learned in school. Since she was born and raised in Karlsruhe, Germany and then lived in Paris, France for ten years preceding her move to the United States, Frau Verhoeven is trilingual. This eased communication once she immigrated, but she believes that she would have been welcomed even if her English was not as developed. “What I really appreciated was the warmth and welcoming of the American people…I had not such a good experience being welcomed by the French people,” she said. However, her immigration story was not devoid of struggles. “It was quite a scary picture for me…the first day of arrival here because going through customs and having your papers checked and being questioned about this and that…was very frightening,” she reflected. Other struggles included the shock of the differences between American and European housing, daily life, and transportation; accustomed to the buses, cable cars, and trains in Europe, Frau Verhoeven was startled to learn that getting from place to place in the United States is nearly impossible without a car. There was also a significant cultural difference surrounding the simple question: “How are you?”. “I wished that friendships would not just stop on the surface…I see that more happening in Germany…Once you ask somebody how they are doing, you want to really hear how the person is doing,” she lamented. She believes that there is a special confidentiality about telling someone about one’s state of being that is not desired in America. However, she does believe that people are genuinely interested in her story and that her accent is a wonderful conversation-starter. She has established roots in the United States and has formed connections with others, but she has not abandoned her German roots. “When I go back [to Germany], I want to take that life back here, but my American life back to Germany, so I feel so much good in both worlds.”
