Immigrants Thread

This is a thread for us immigrants and those of us that grew up in immigrant families, to talk about our experiences, share stories and thoughts, and just hang out. Others of course are welcome too, if they feel like they can contribute to the conversation, or if they want to ask questions.

I opened it in the general forum rather than politics forum because this doesn't have to only be that kind of thread. When I came up with the idea, I envisioned it as something similar to the city threads. A community rather than a notice board.

All that being said, I don't know how many people here qualify and/or are interested, so we'll see how it goes.

Myself, I am an immigrant and I have been one for most of my life, first with my family and later alone too. It is the "group" I identify with the most before any specific country or nationality (which is why I love the quote above so much). It has its ups and downs, as we all know I'm sure (some of us more than others), and lately things have been bleak for many of us, but overall I would never want to trade.

A little something to get this started:

 

Hi there! I too am an immigrant and that's what I've considered myself since I moved to my new country. I'm not an ex-pat because I have no plans to move back and this was always meant to be a permanent move. For me Germany is home. Counting down the years until I can apply for citizenship, but with that comes the decision of having to forfeit my US passport.

 

Hi!

I hate the term expat, haha. I feel like it causes nothing but divisions among people that should stick together.

The difference between an expat and an immigrant? Semantics

I have lived in Germany for a few years and my parents currently live there (they’ll move away in the near future though), plus my girlfriend is German, so Germany is always on my mind, haha. How are you enjoying it?

 

That article is perfect for explaining why I don't use the term ex-pat. Where in Germany did you live? And can I ask where you are originally from?
I love it here. It has its challenges, but I wouldn't change a thing. I work in a hotel while still a student and feel more integrated all the time. My only fear is not being able to find a job afterwards and what I will do then. But I remain optimistic that I will find something!

 

My family is kind of originates from all over Europe and it gets more complicated the further I go back, but my mom and I were born in Switzerland and have a Swiss passport, so that’s where I’m from the most I’d say, haha. I have spent a lot more years outside of Swisterland than in it though.

I lived in the Rurhgebiet for a while with my girlfriend and a few years later we lived near Freiburg for a while (where I’m still regularly because my parents own a little hotel there, where I also work a lot, so we share that too, haha), close to the French and Swiss border.

If you’re interested in working in hospitality after you graduate you’ll very likely find a job fast. Otherwise it probably depends on the field your interested in but in general I think your chances are good.

 

Super cool! Gotta love the Schengen area and ease of mobility. My brother visited me and we were driving from Germany to Czech Republic. He was like, "where's the border? When will they check our passports?" I said we're already in the Czech Republic for a few minutes, haha.

Do you have any idea where you will end up living long-term? Or do you just take it year by year?

I've never been to the Ruhrgebiet or Freiburg. I'm all the way north in Flensburg, right at the Danish border. Hospitality is not what I want to do forever, my degree will actually be in politics of the European Union. No idea what I will do afterwards, though. I took the job to start working and practicing German, with the encouragement from my Afghan-German boyfriend. And it has helped!

(Apologies for the late reply too)

 

Hi from the motherland /wave

That's awesome. I've lived here majority of my life (Switz).

 

Yeah, Schengen is awesome, haha. I actually remember a time when we regularly had to wait for passport checks when driving around Europe. It sucked.

I kind of want to stay in the Netherlands and so does my girlfriend, but we want to go into the hospitality business on our own and the Netherlands is a very expensive real estate market, so we'll see.

The furthers north in Germany I have been is Hamburg, but only for a few days. Northern Germany is a nice area though as far as I know.

Yeah Germany really requires you to learn the language, it's a lot less easy to navigate your way through in English compared to say the Netherlands or Sweden. German is a cool language though.

 

Grüezi

 

Grüezi! (although I am in the French part!)

 

I have to admit my French is abysmal even after like 10 years of French classes back in school

 

Not at all an easy language to learn. The grammar is an absolute nightmare. I learned it purely because I grew up in the middle of it all (I'm not actually Swiss).

 

Where are you from? How's Switzerland treating you?

 

Lived here most of my life so yeah, it's good - it's become home. My girlfriend is 100% swiss so it looks like I'll be here for life now.

Originally from Cyprus, was born there - my Dads a Greek and my mother is German. A proper European mixture, hah

 

Nice. Allegedly my father's family has some Greek in it, though nobody is sure of anything past my grandparents' generation, haha.

 

You're in the NL now? I lived there for a year or so in my early 20s. (14-15 years ago, fuck - that made me feel old) (Haarlem & Amsterdam)

 

Yeah, I've been here on and off. Went to kindergarten and some middle years of junior high/high school here, later again to university. Currently I live in Apeldoorn, used to live around Amsterdam.

 

Apeldoorn, if my memory serves me right that's where the monkey park is right? :D

 

lmao yes, ONE OF OUR MANY SIGHTS THANK YOU

 

Hahaha, sorry mate -- it was a long time ago my memory is a little hazy.

 

For this reason I call my mom an expat and all white self identified expats migrant workers.

 

This appears to be a very interesting book:

The Unsettling of Europe by Peter Gatrell review – the great migration, 1945 to the present

An immigration-related article I have enjoyed recently:

How donuts fuelled the American Dream

And an essay I wrote myself, on the concept of authenticity in (immigrant) restaurants:

An Essay on Authenticity in Restaurants — 1520

 

Today marks four years since arriving in Germany. Best decision of my life.

 

I wish I still lived in Germany these days

 

Have your plans changed and you're thinking to move back, or still staying in the Netherlands for now?