Needed But Not Wanted
On life as an immigrant in the 21st century
“Please have patience,” read the email from the Schulamt. “We will assign your son a spot in a class as soon as one is available and you will be properly informed by mail.”1
I had thought I was being patient.
My son, then 12, had been on a waiting list for a school place for four months. Mindful of Germany’s strict compulsory school attendance laws, I had registered him in our district soon after we arrived, acknowledging that he would need to be in a Wilkommenklasse to learn German, at first.
I had received an confirmation of the application, but nothing else, so after 60 days, I emailed a different school district office (the office phone rang unanswered) to inquire further.
This prompted the reply above from my application’s original recipient.
“The classes are all over-crowded,” she wrote by way of explanation, adding pointedly: “Too many immigrants moved here last year.”
I think about this interaction often.
Usually when hearing about yet another…
