I mean, I've got some pretty strong views about how things could be done better here.  For example, I am of the considered opinion that Germen, –women and –children would be a lot happier if they stopped using lemon and instead embraced milk as their accompaniment of choice when it comes to tea.  I also believe that biscuits should be baked all year round and not just in the run-up to Christmas.  And nothing, I repeat, nothing, will persuade me to start wearing socks and sandals around the house.

Granted, I own a Dirndl, have a weakness for Butterbrezen, and, on paper, am probably more of an asset to the state than a drain on it.  I arrived here with a First from Oxford and soon topped it off with a Master's from one of Germany’s top universities, after all.  But still, surely that does nothing to erase the fact that – to use the language of the more xenophobically-inclined – I don't really belong here.   

A DOUBLE STANDARD?

I know that I am not alone in this situation.  There are countless talented young Europeans dotted all around the continent, living in a country other than that of their birth.  It is one of the hallmarks of modern life, a triumph of the European project, you might say – real freedom to live and work where we choose.

Fortunately, for my part, I have never experienced anything approaching hostility here.  I have had no difficulties making friends or dealing with public officials.  On one occasion, I've even had to listen to a crotchety old neighbour complain about the many "Scheißausländer" in the area, apparently blissfully unaware that he was in fact talking to one of them.

Photo: akante1776; Licence: CC BY-ND 2.0

Of course, prejudice is by its nature, well, prejudiced, but it does seem deeply unfair to me that just because I can pass – physically and linguistically – for a German, I should be spared, while someone whose complexion is a little darker or who hasn't quite got their head around all those verb conjugations may be subjected – at best – to impatient looks and condescension; at worst, to downright discrimination.

What's more, I have a sneaking suspicion that even if I weren’t able speak German, I still wouldn't be treated all that differently, as I come from a country that enjoys a similar level of social and fiscal development to Germany.  Although I admit that lower tuition fees did play a part in my decision to continue my studies here, there is no real sense that I am taking advantage of the system.  However, I do wonder how my experience might differ if I were to have been born in a European country that can't match Germany's economic clout.

It's not that I would like to be discriminated against, but this hint of a double standard, the whispered implication that there may two tiers of EU citizens – those whom we welcome, and those whom we suspect of harbouring designs on our social security, based purely on their nationality – strikes me as posing a far greater danger to the future of Europe than all the treaties and trade agreements in the world.

* Typical foreigner; can’t drive for toffee.