Facade Portrait: Gustavo Ocaranza Nuñez

Gustavo Ocaranza Nuñez

* 1983 in Santiago de Chile / Chile

Immigration to Bremerhaven: 2018

„Chile was not my country – here I am happy, here is where I belong.”

„Chile was not my country – here I am happy, here is where I belong.”

This is what Gustavo Ocaranza Nuñez says about Germany, after having lived in various metropolitan areas in Latin America, the USA, and Australia, and finally immigrating from Chile to Bremerhaven in 2018.

When Gustavo Ocaranza Nuñez decided in 2003 to abandon his unhappy studies as an electrical engineer, he initially did not know what he wanted to do.

Gustavo Ocaranza Nuñez

„I did everything wrong at university. Then my mother asked me: ‘Gus, what do you want to do? Why don’t you go to your uncle in the USA for six months, learn English – maybe you’ll discover what you want to do.’”

In New York, he then follows a two-year English study, which encourages him to return to Chile to become an English teacher. In 2015, an opportunity arises for Gustavo Ocaranza Nuñez to study in Australia. He plans to return to Chile after successfully completing his Master’s degree. In Melbourne, he meets a German student from Bremerhaven: his future wife.

After completing his studies, he initially returns – he goes back to Chile and she returns to Germany. However, both are determined to continue their relationship, and Gustavo Ocaranza Nuñez decides, “Okay, I’m going to Germany” and first comes to Bremerhaven in 2017. Due to “too much bureaucracy to live permanently in Germany,” he initially stays here for short periods and uses the time to get to know the language, the country, and the people. In 2018, he finally marries in Chile, allowing Gustavo Ocaranza Nuñez to move to Germany long-term. Since September 2018, he has been living with his wife in Bremerhaven and is now working as an English teacher at a Waldorf school.

“Now I have finally found my place.”