My decision to leave Germany and come to the UK was made under the ominous shadow of brexit – actually it might have been accelerated by it. When late December I went to the German authorities to officially communicate my leaving, the nice woman said to me: I see you’re going to the brexit zone, are you sure about that? My response was a smile and a shrug. I was very sure that I was going to do it, not about anything else, but she didn’t need to know that. A couple of days later I packed as much as I could and flew to London. The UK has been rather welcoming so far, but my children and the company I work for are still in Germany, so even before departing I had booked a flight to come back and visit. That flight was today, and it just happened to be right before official brexit. I’m aware of how silly it sounds, but today at Cologne airport, while following the proper line at immigration, for the first time I fully realised that I am a European citizen. Not specifically German but European. It would seem that only by coming to the edge of something, probably even stepping a little beyond, can one really appreciate that it’s there. For the rest, I’m just trying hard not to take brexit personally.