what my parents had when they were in their twenties was a privilege many of us nowadays cannot even imagine. besides being young, they had suddenly gained almost complete freedom and control over their lives, and the world suddenly opened up for them to a degree they had previously been unaware of, having been brought up in patriarchal families. namely, in the late 1960s, they both left their respective villages in former yugoslavia, and came to live and work in munich, bavaria. both lived in workers' accommodation homes in central munich, and both explored the city, their newly acquired freedom, and their own selves. they hang out with other young people like them, not only from yugoslavia, but from germany, greece, italy, too. they met partners. finally, my parents met each other, got into, from what i can gather, a somewhat turbulent relationship, and, shortly after getting married, produced me. i came to this world in june 1971, which means that I first got into the womb during oktoberfest 1970. a very jolly start.
thirty-five years later, after we have moved away from munich for many years, and when my father had already been gone, i accidentally discovered i had a half-sister by my father, still living in munich. the two of us met a few months after our first ever e-mail contact, and learned many wildly corresponding facts about our lives. the one we hadn't particularly dwelled on was that she was born roughly one year previously, in 1970, which means that oktoberfest 1969 was the time when she entered her own mother's womb. both times, the player was my father.now, who can judge such young people for getting intoxicated with freedom, with being young and fun-loving, with the festive commotions of a big city. i am so happy that they had the oppportunity to sow their wild oats, which was, unfortunately, not the case with me, since i lived in much more constricted circumstances when i was that age.
