Places Where You Never Go Hungry
For Farhana and Fahmida it is all about instincts and love, about very elementary feelings when they talk about food. It is a way of life. Food culture in Germany? The two master students from Bangladesh and Pakistan prefer to talk about literature, environmental protection, and other reasons why they came to Germany. In Bremen they represent the students from their two home countries, about one hundred from Pakistan and more than 150 from Bangladesh. Quite a few. And that is not the only thing that takes us by surprise when we meet.
“Even as a teenager I read a lot,” says Fahmida. “My favorite book was ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ the anti-war epic about the First World War by Rainer Maria Remarque. It was the first time that I became interested in Germany.” As a bachelor student, she took part in a conference in China, where a German scientist reported on environmental protection projects in Germany. “Afterwards it was clear to me that I wanted to come here,” says Fahmida Yasmin, who is now enrolled in the English master’s program Physical Geography: Environmental History at the University of Bremen.
“Going to Germany meant getting out of my comfort zone,” says Farhana Tabassum. In Bremen, she is a student of the English-language master Media Informatics. “Most students from Pakistan or Bangladesh go to English-speaking countries. Many things are easier for us there.” Farhana comes from Karachi, one of the megacities of the world with 25 million inhabitants. “Life there is so diverse. There is simply everything. I love Karachi.” In Bremen, she likes the green and the peace of the city. “When I came to Bremen, I found the city so contrasting from Karachi that it has occupied me for a lot of time and in a good way. It was like a different world for me. So even if I go somewhere else within Germany to travel or to work, coming back to Bremen is like coming home.” Today, she tries to make the start for newcomers from Pakistan easier. Even before they arrive, the Pakistani Students’ Association gives the newcomers advice through Facebook groups about what they need in Bremen and where they can best live. There is a great deal of solidarity among us. “Being hospitable is part of the Pakistani culture, so being able to host someone or even cooking food for others is a matter of happiness for me. The other day I simply cooked something for a friend and brought it over to her. I miss that so much here. Food is so important there in Karachi, you are able to get every type of cuisine. A food delivery can be faster than the police.”
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is also a food metropolis for its at least 10 million inhabitants, says Fahmida. “There are small snack bars with delicious food on every corner. If we were still hungry at two o’clock at night during our studies, we just went out and got something.” Here, Fahmida works in the organization Bangladeshi Students in Bremen. In times of the coronavirus, the students from both associations have always been meeting virtually. There, they also learned a lot about diversity, about differences and similarities in their own countries, Fahmida and Farhana agree. But now they are looking forward to the possibility of physical meetings – with many local dishes to help people experience their cuisine and to exchange thoughts about their country.
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