Am I an international Luxembourger?

Commentary By Anne Binsfeld

For the past four years, I have lived and studied in the UK, Scotland to be precise. Before that, I lived in Luxembourg. I was born here and I speak Luxembourgish as my first language. After I graduate I am expected, like every good Luxembourger, to return “home”. It seems all very simple, doesn't it? In fact, it is very far from it!

As anyone studying in Britain can testify, living away from home has many advantages. We learn to be independent and can adapt to new situations, social or otherwise. More importantly, we make friends with people from all over the world and slowly but steadily integrate into British life. For many of us, coming home over the holidays means seeing friends who also study abroad and going out to places where everyone speaks English.

However, now that my university time is drawing to a close I am stuck in a strange dilemma. I no longer feel Luxembourgish enough to be entirely comfortable with how things are done in our little Grand-Duchy. But of course, I am also not British, or international for that matter.

Living abroad made me realise the irony of our national motto “Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sin” (we want to remain what we are). In the fast-paced 21st century, unfortunately Luxembourg is committed to staying the same. Somehow, we Luxembourgers have become so comfortable in our relative wealth that we stubbornly resist change. As a consequence, in comparison to the UK, people can be rude and narrow-minded.

Of course Luxembourg boasts a large expat community. For my English-loving self, that means  I can socialise and even work by interacting mostly with international people and abroad-living friends. In the multicultural community, creative, friendly and travel-savvy people come together.

Sounds great, apart from the fact that I, as a Luxembourger, am not actually part of that community, no matter how much I like to pretend otherwise.

Although it is always great to hear people's disbelief when I patiently explain that, no English is not my first language, and no I did not go to the European School, it does worry me. Older family members criticise my tea drinking habits. Foreigners and locals have repeatedly questioned my “Luxembourgishness”. These days, I find myself, quite uncomfortably, in the middle of two microcosms.

Somehow, I do not really belong in either one world or the other. And as long as these two parts of Luxembourg society continue to exist alongside each other instead of forming one harmonious cultural melting-pot, I continue struggling to fit it. Hopefully, as more people find themselves in my situation, we “international” Luxembourgers are able to bridge the gap between our home country and the international community, so we can feel at ease in both.

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