Life In Luxembourg

Richards 1

Aidan Richards

Ms. MacIver

ENG 3U

January 15, 2017

Life in Luxembourg:

If my grandparents had not emigrated from Luxembourg, my life would be similar to my life in Canada. In this blog post, I will be focusing on my grandparents’ life in Luxembourg, as well as their decision to immigrate to Canada. I will also explore how my life would be different if I were to live in modern day Luxembourg instead of Canada.

My Oma and Opa both lived on small farms in Luxembourg and each had 10 siblings. Both of my grandparents’ families had below average incomes for that time period (Ernst). The quality of education that my Oma received was poor because she went to a one-room schoolhouse where nine grades were taught (Ernst). The photo to the left shows my Oma milking the cows. She and her future spouse had both been born in the Netherlands but moved independently to Luxembourg at around the same time. My Oma said that it had been “very challenging” to have to learn three new languages in Luxembourg (Ernst). She also remembers “feeling deprived” in Luxembourg because the money had to be split between so many siblings (Ernst). I do not know what my Opa’s life was like in Luxembourg, but I assume that it was likely similar to my Oma’s because they both had similar families and they shared the same mother country.

Throughout my grandparents’ childhood and teenage years, farms in Luxembourg were becoming bigger and more mechanized (Ernst). This increased the amount of land that a farmer needed to make a living. At that time, it was customary for the eldest son to take over the family farm, so my Opa had the option of taking over the operation of his family’s rented farm. Instead of continuing to live and work on his family’s farm, however, he chose to immigrate to Canada. One of the things that weighed into his decision was his need for a bigger farm to make enough money to support himself and his future family. Another reason for immigrating to Canada was to be able to own a farm rather than continue renting. I think that owning his own farm may have been a matter of pride for Opa. Another option that my Opa had at that time was to stay in Luxembourg and find work in mines or in factories instead of continuing to farm. This would have allowed him to make more money than staying in farming. He chose to stay in farming because farmers at that time had a higher status in society. For my Oma, immigrating to Canada was part of the package of marrying Opa. She also says that it was the “element of adventure” in not doing what was expected of her (Ernst). What was expected was that she would marry a different farmer who owned his own land (Ernst). I think that her immigration to Canada may have been an a bit of an act of rebellion against the status quo.

Setting aside the fact that I would not be alive if my mother’s parents had not immigrated to Canada, my life would be fairly similar to how it is right now. The Luxembourg educational system is divided into multiple sections: pre-primary (ages four-six), primary (ages 6-12), secondary (ages 12-15), and the non-compulsory general upper secondary (ages 15-17), and a specialization period from (17-19) (Geyer, [3]). Luxembourg schools begin to stream students at the age of 12, which is two years earlier than Canada (Geyer, [3]). My curriculum would be determined at the national level instead of being created by the individual school board (Luxembourg, [1]). Overall, the quality of education in Luxembourg is underwhelming considering the amount that is spent on it. The graph “Public Spending on Education and Performance in PISA” shows that Luxembourg’s educational system is below average given the cost per student (“Public Spending”). The educational system is the only area in which Luxembourg is trailing; They are excelling in all other areas.  

The infographic “How Does Luxembourg Compare” illustrates how Luxembourg stacks up compared to the other OECD countries (Luxembourg’s Wellbeing). If I were to live in Luxembourg, I would be significantly wealthier than in Canada (Luxembourg’s Wellbeing). Although this wealth would not ‘buy’ me happiness, it would raise my standard of living. I would also have a better work life balance than in Canada (Luxembourg’s Wellbeing). Overall, I think that once I finished school, my quality of life would be moderately better in Luxembourg.

Works Cited

Ernst, Frank Joseph Marie Michel, and Maria Catharina Hubertina Ernst. Videoconference interview. 13 Jan. 2017.

Geyer, Florian. The Educational System in Luxembourg. Research report no. 978-92-9079-923-8, Sept. 2009, aei.pitt.edu/14574/1/Includ-ed_FG_on_Ed_System_in_Luxembourg.pdf. Accessed 15 Jan. 2017.

Luxembourg. Nov. 2011, www.men.public.lu/catalogue-publications/themes-transversaux/informations-generales-offre-scolaire/national-summary-sheets/en.pdf. Accessed 15 Jan. 2017.

Luxembourg’s Well-being Compared With Other OECD Countries And Major Economies, 2014. 2014, www.oecd.org/statistics/BLI%202014%20Luxembourg%20country%20report.pdf. Accessed 15 Jan. 2017. Infographic.

“Public Spending on Education and Performance in PISA.” 2009, www.oecd.org/brazil/latinamericaneconomicoutlook2009.htm. Accessed 15 Jan. 2017. Infographic.