When I was younger, even though I had a big brother, my parents would give me the house key every day.
I knew before I arrived that the pressure at a club that challenges for the title grows quickly. The season is long; we'll become stronger with every game.
You can see the players are world-class just by the way they pass the ball. Ozil, Sanchez, and Cazorla, for example, are huge personalities. Even though the club maybe spent more money on me, I can still learn a lot from them in any respect.
Each month from our income - we have a separate account, obviously - we give 80 percent of it to our parents back home.
I heard my new team-mates saying, 'We have got to hope that we don't go down.' I thought to myself, 'What kind of a mentality is that?'
What happens here, the daily agenda of Arsenal, is very different from what I experienced in Monchengladbach.
A club like Arsenal, it's normal that expectations are high. This club must compete for titles, and that's what we want to do.
The expectations are high, so we know: If we do not meet them, there is criticism. We have high expectations ourselves. We are not happy with fourth, third, or second, either.
Personally, I can handle criticism, especially when it is deserved, and it's because my dad never, ever said 'Well done' to me. He did it on purpose so that I kept my feet on the ground.
It's true that my father was imprisoned for three and a half years, and it was because he stood up for what he believed in. It's not a taboo subject in our household. We talk about it. After all, I want to know what happened.
My brother was always going to go in the direction of football. With me, it was more between school and football. Eventually, it worked out for both of us. We're pleased to have gone down that path. I'm proud that my parents always supported us, in good and in bad times. You need that.
I am a very simple man. I love normality, and I love normal people. I love to eat normal food. It's how I grew up.
I can't stand people who are backward. I am honest, straightforward. I don't like to pretend. And I will not change either.
I've picked up quite a few yellow cards in the last few years - a few reds, too. That was the case as a youth player as it is now. But I don't see it as a problem. That's how I play. If you take that away, then I wouldn't be where I am now. So I don't think the yellow cards or the red cards are too big of an issue.
It's not like I played my first football match in England. For me, football is pretty much the same everywhere; the ball is round, but maybe tactically, things are different than at other clubs I've played for.
Arsenal were really interested in me for a long time, and I think that I fit into the football Arsenal play.