About Me

Welcome to my blog!

Hi, I'm Ole. Here, I'll be sharing articles I've written on a variety of topics.

You might be wondering why I chose the name "My German Dream." It deliberately echoes the phrase "American Dream," but with a twist – reflecting my journey and aspirations in Germany.

I arrived in Germany with the same dream that has drawn immigrants to the United States for centuries: to build a life from scratch, pursue happiness, fulfill my potential, and achieve prosperity.

In this blog, I'll share insights from my pursuit of this "German Dream." My journey has been a rollercoaster of triumphs and setbacks, forcing me to re-evaluate my beliefs and confront unexpected challenges. I've had to grow and take responsibility for my life's direction.

Here you'll find reflections on my experiences at a German university, the path to German citizenship, the struggles of identity crises and cultural shocks, and explorations of productivity, self-optimization, and even "get-rich-quick" schemes. (Perhaps I got carried away there, but you get the idea!)

I also have a blog called "Outlandish Stories." My writing style and the themes I explore are deeply influenced by both classic and contemporary authors, as well as my own life experiences – the people I've met, my failures, and my successes.

Many of my stories are set in Russia or Ukraine, where I grew up. As one of my protagonists, Holger Elendberg, muses, "The motherland never leaves you." While neither Ukraine nor Russia truly feels like my motherland, it's often the assumption others make when they learn about my origins. This has led me to a broader definition of "motherland" – a place where people share your values and way of life, which may or may not be your birthplace.

My stories can be quite fatalistic. Fatalism, I believe, can be a self-fulfilling prophecy: believe in it, and it may become your reality. The idea that our beliefs shape our reality is a recurring theme in my writing.

Don't expect relentlessly optimistic tales. My stories sometimes delve into the darker aspects of human nature and society, influenced by the great Russian writers I grew up reading – Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Chekhov, Goncharov, Gogol, Bulgakov, Solzhenitsyn. Their influence runs deep.

Despite this, my writing is neither nihilistic nor relativistic. I actively challenge those concepts.

Through fiction, I aim to convey a sense of life that I often struggle to express in spoken words.

I hope you find my stories both entertaining and thought-provoking.

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