German/Pakistani | Danish/Pakistani
I’m a German-Danish-Pakistani who’s spent his childhood growing up in Pakistan. I like to think I’m a good mix of the East and West but identify the most with my Pakistani roots since it’s where I grew up. Both my parents are mixed race, my Mother is German - Pakistani and my Father Danish - Pakistani. Both grew up in Pakistan and their story goes way back into their childhood when they first met and fell in love, right before heading out for college in the 70’s. They were going strong till my Father passed away from cancer a few years ago.
Reflecting back it was quite an interesting family dynamic because growing up in Pakistan made it the more prominent culture in our lives but we had a good mix of Eastern and Western family values and celebrated the best of both worlds. So we’d celebrate both Christmas and Eid, went to an international school, and loved food from all three.
I found it quite challenging once I moved to Germany after high school because I was living in quite a multicultural environment back in Pakistan and found it difficult to adjust to the emphasis on one culture as opposed to a combination of three, I felt more Pakistani than I had ever felt before. I realized I was looking for something more and found that I felt more comfortable in multicultural environments, which is why I was attracted to Amsterdam.
The beautiful thing about our world today is music, fashion, food, dance, are shared by so many cultures and you can connect with people who have lived such different lives as you. For me the biggest connection is food but if you really want to connect to people you need to learn the language, I didn’t do that and felt I wasn’t able to have the conversations I really wanted to have. Visiting relatives in all three really showed me what my native countries were all about. You get a taste of the customs, food, music, and values. My Grandmother’s also had a big role to play because they kept on their traditions despite living in Pakistan.
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