COMENIUS-Biography Rasim Toprak

COMENIUS-Biography
Rasim Toprak
Germany
(Mercator Berufskolleg Moers)

Immigration of my parents
• Origin: Türkei – Kayseri – Sariz
• Ocupation: originally farmers
• Arrival in Hanover/Germany 1969
• First only my father came to Germany
• 1 year later my mother joined him
• In the following years my five brothers and
sisters followed my parents

Parents and Family
• 1971: my parents moved
to cologne
• Father: worked for the
Ford car company
• Mother: worked for a
printers
• Brothers and sisters: Four
live in Germany (Cologne,
Dortmund, Stuttgart,
Berlin) one lives in turkey
(Kocaeli)
Kayseri, 1975: Father , Mother,
Sister, Brother

Parents and Family
Sariz, 1970, Picture for my father, my mother and my five brothers and sisters

About me
• Born: am 18 June 1976 in
Cologne. I am the youngest
child of my parents
• Kindergarden at the age of
three
• 6 – 10 years of age: primary
school in Cologne
• 10 –16 years of age:
secondary modern school,
Cologne
• 16 – 19 years of age:
grammar school, Cologne
• Final Examination 1995
(Abitur =A-Level)
Cologne, 1976: Rasim Toprak

About me
• 1996: Study of economics at Cologne University
• 2002: Graduation (Diplom-Kaufmann)
• 2002 – 2003: Jobs in insurance companies
• During studies several casual jobs (additional
trainig for students of schools, waiter, Insurance
companies)
• 2004- 2006 student teacher in Wuppertal
– Subjects: economics, insurance and mathematics
• Since 2006: Teacher at Mercator Berufskolleg
Moers

At Mercator Berufskolleg Moers
• Subjects: economics,
insurance, accountancy
and mathematics
• Junior head of department
insurance
• Since 2007 students
adviser
• 2009: First time involved
in a COMENIUS-Project
Cologne, Summer 2008: Rasim Toprak

Family
• 2003: I met my future wife
Gülsemin for the first time
• 2005: I married Gülsemin. We
live in Cologne
• She works for an IT-Firma as a
consultant
• In the meantime my parents
become pensioners and live in
Turkey six months of the year
• At home we speak turkish and
german, to my parents we only
talk turkish
Walltrop, 2003: Marriage, my wife and me

• My circle of friends is
multicultural. We have
Germans, Croations,
Portuguese, Italians,
Iraniaus and Turks
• What we all have in
common is the enthusiasm
for local soccer club 1. FC
Köln
• But I am also a
Galatasaray Istanbul
enthusiast
Friends
Cologne , 2006: My friends and me
at a party

Advantages of an Immigration
Background
General:
• Open-mindedness when working with people of
different cultures
• Being multilingual
• Access to the advantages of both cultures
At School:
• Better acceptance by Turkish students
• Example for the people with immigration background
• Advice to collegues in case of problems with turkish
students
• Contact for Turkish parents

Life in Germany
• I feel at home in Germany and I don`t see myself
as an immigrant anymore.
• Parts of German society should change their
attitude towards the integration of immigrants, so
that more people could feel at home in Germany.
• There are still people who regard integration as
complete assimilation and the necessity to give up
an original culture.
• But there are also a lot of immigrants who refuse
to integrate into society appropriately.
• I am of the opinion that projects like this are a
contribution to a new understanding of integration.