It is less and less common these days for people to be born and die in the same place. We move from place to place like nomads. From Olsztyn to Szczecin, from Lipiany to Krakow, from Nurnberg to London, from Wolkenstein to New York, from Wittenberg to Moscow... Discovering new shores, sailing on the sea of life. Migrations (large or small) are not a new phenomenon. But nowadays migrants travels greater distances than storks on their yearly travels.
We move with our families or we move on our own. Sometimes we want to stay somewhere for half a year to experience something new. Sometimes we want to earn a living somewhere else and save some money. And then we sometimes stay longer than expected – sometimes for the rest of our life. There are also Erasmus exchanges for students: one could start their studies at the University of Warsaw but finish them in Hamburg, Munich or Brussels. In a nutshell: we could end up in any corner of the global village. And we are all like Christopher Columbus.
But we all have one thing in common: we miss those that we left behind. Phone calls or even Skype connections with digicams can’t replace actual face-to-face conversations with our family and friends. Nevertheless, we win over new people, we settle in new places and we build a new family life.
What are you missing the most at your journey’s end? What was the biggest surprise for you in the New World? How did you get there?
Cogito ergo sum (Myślę, więc jestem). Podziel się z nami swoimi poglądami! Dodaj swoją opinię!
Cogito ergo sum (Ich denke, also bin ich). Teile Deine Meinung mit uns!
Cogito ergo sum (I think, so I am). Share your opinion with us! Write your comment below!
DE:
#1 | Der Auswanderer am 06-03-2009 19:06
I was for a half a year in Spain – heavenly! Unfortunately I had to go back to Germany, but I hope that one day I’ll come back to my Heaven on Earth!
PL:
#2 | Marysia K. dnia 06.03.2009 22:28
O, I would like to live in New York!
PL:
#3 | PoTomek dnia 06.03.2009 23:24
My neighbour asked me to write down how I ended up in London. She says it is a funny story. But for me it isn’t a joke. There is no moral to that short story. So I bet once with my mates that if the “ducks” [Brothers Kaczynski, kaczka = duck – AB] won the elections, I would have to leave my country to go somewhere else, where pepper grows [=far, far away, at the end of the world – AB]. It’s obvious that pepper doesn’t grow in England, but France had already lots of plumbers, Sweden had lots of nurses and I got a job as a dishwasher, after the first “duck” won the elections. And then I lost my bet once more when the other “duck” won the second election. I thought that people wouldn’t buy the same thing twice but I was wrong. And so I had to leave the country and be a dishwasher, until the end of duck’s time, or mine.
And the party wasn’t too good either. English people don’t celebrate the way we do and there weren’t enough of us to change the atmosphere. We can’t drink alcohol by the barrel (weak livers), so we came back home and we sat down in front of our PCs (for a change).
PL:
#4 | Young People UK dnia 06.03.2009 23:32
PoTomek is always so politically correct. I admire this.
And after laughing my head off I no longer wonder what his political views are.
DE:
#3 | Gitarrespieler am 06-03-2009 22:34
My favourites:
Home is where you can find soulmates. Emil Rittershaus, lyricist
And all over the world people believe that their country is the best. You can see that the stupidity is distributed homogeneously. Wolfgang J. Reus, journalist, humourist
DE:
#4 | Heimatliebhaber am 06-03-2009 22:40
This song comes to my mind: Homeland song (Sportfreunde Stiller)
It feels just like
The perfect goal
The end of a long journey home
Love at first sight
A warm cup of tea in a cold winter
An idea that there is nothing falling in for a long time, nothing for a long time
Because here you are a human being, here you can be yourself for real
And I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I was born here and even if I go to Italy or somewhere else with my school I won’t stay there!
DE:
#5 | Thomas am 06-03-2009 23:04
I think that your home country is not where you were born, but where you feel at home.
DE:
#6 | Ulrike am 06-03-2009 23:20
Herbert was singing about it too!
A bilingual country, apart but connected
Washed out on different shores
Condemned to be successful together
Home is not a place
Home is a feeling
Pretty, right?
DE:
#7 | DeVision am 06-03-2009 23:24
Cool picture!
PL:
#6 | Honorata dnia 07.03.2009 01:19
I agree with Thomas, and the song lyrics are ok. I don’t know the authors. And one word to Heimatliebhaber: I couldn’t imagine myself living outside of my country either, but because of family reasons I was uprooted to the Netherlands. I hope it is not for the rest of my life, but I have to stay here for a while. Is it already emigration? I think so.
PoTomek, you are a legend, even if just for me! I hadn’t laughed so much in a long time! (The last time was maybe in the comedy club Opole when the humourist said that we won't build new highways for Euro 2012, but we'll put signs on the borders saying: "itinerary reduction by 600 km )
In short, you were banished and now you're a washer (what are you washing anyway?)
Thank you very much for your activity so far in this portal (in discussions and in the fairytale) and I invite you to be active furthermore! Write your posts from the bottom of your pile of dishes.
I would like to use the opportunity to thank Young People UK, too. She's PoTomek’s neighbour and they're a good team together.
And I moved on from London to Cambridge. I study here and I like this place very much. And I like your suggestion about “e-migration”. I like to surf from one page to another and I travel online a lot. I'm an e-migrant too
PL:
#8 | PoTomek dnia 07.03.2009 17:11
Oh, thank you, thank you, we’ll try to write something down. But first we’ll go crazy, my neighbour is looking for a bottle of wine and I’m looking for a corkscrew. And what I’m washing here? Usually money.
PL:
#9 | PoTomek dnia 07.03.2009 17:17
The neighbour says that I should send you greetings from her, so I send you greetings from her. She has dropped the bottle of wine on the carpet in the hallway. This woman can’t open a bottle of wine correctly. I have to work on that with her.
PL:
#10 | Young People UK dnia 07.03.2009 17:27
Oh no, PoTomek, you make a fool of me, and I just dropped it by accident. And he writes down that he does money laundering. They will send some officers to search our apartment and at the border we’ll be searched thoroughly.
PL:
#11 | Anna Brakoniecka dnia 08.03.2009 01:51
PoTomek, you’re looking for a corkscrew? (It came out during the translation)
PL:
#13 | Kazimierz dnia 08.03.2009 15:54
I really liked what you wrote down in your article about Cebit 2009 and I think that this passage fits here very well:
"This is how I see us, the people, in the www-world. Everybody has something to say, everybody is different and unique and has a life story worth knowing about. And here is the problem: Which CV should I look at? Which opinions should I follow? How do I find the most unique people? And I have to accept the fact that there is too much information coming to me. Obviously every piece of information is more or less important to the sender, obviously other people’s opinions enrich me, and obviously I learn something new. But there are certainly smarter and more entertaining people in our www-colony. And I won’t be able to get to know all of them and I won’t be able to sift through all that information."
I like meeting new people, hearing their story and their opinions. I’m disabled and I am not very mobile, but thanks to the internet I have the possibility to talk with others, I can get to know new people and cultures. I thank you for the opportunity to discover German opinions. I think we know our neighbours too little.
Such projects should be advertised more in the media so that as many people as possible can have the opportunity to read the opinions of other Europeans (even if they don’t write down their own opinions).
PL:
#14 | Ola dnia 08.03.2009 17:43
Kazimierz, you’ve got a hard life, but I’m happy for you that you can at least make contacts with others through the internet. I found my work in the Netherlands thanks to the internet and I live there with my boyfriend whom I met in a chat room. I keep in touch with my family through the internet too. I’m happy that I can read the opinions of our neighbours from the other side of Odra like you without knowing the German language.
DE:
#12 | Yvonne am 08-03-2009 18:00
Is the duck land so bad? I know some jokes about Poland and about Kaczynski too. That sort of humour is a bit limited and non-discussion-friendly. Maybe it is just my opinion. There isn’t much written about Poland in the press and when there is, I can’t understand it because of my lack of knowledge about our history.
Be Lovefool is a very nice idea! I liked the book and I will participa in the summer campain for lovefools
Helena
13-06-2010 18:59
Anna, this is a great project! You are a truely interesting and creative person! Don't stop integrationg Europe!
Peter
07-06-2010 21:51
Ich beneide Scholar Online, da das Team stets so viel erlebt! Ihr seid überall! Weiter so! Verunsichere Europa!
BK
22-05-2010 17:51
Flutwelle in Mittel- und Osteuropa. Mein Mitleid für alle Betroffenen aus Tcheschien, Polen und anderen Ländern!
Jule
15-05-2010 18:27
Polen und Russen setzten den Versöhnungskurs bei der 65. Siegesparade in Moskau fort. Scholar fördert die europäische Freundschaft. Mach weiter so!
Marie
14-04-2010 18:17
10th April Smoleńsk was tragic. But much more tragic is what is happening in Poland right now. RIP was yesterday. Now, it's fight club!
Luise
11-04-2010 23:17
Lech Kaczynski wird uns auch in Deutschland fehlen. Der tödlich verunglückte Präsident war mehr als die eine Hälfte eines Zwillingsduos an Polens Spitze.
Chrissi
11-04-2010 12:27
I'm sending my love, prayers, and DEEPEST sympathies to the people of Poland. May God be with you through this tragic time.
Peter
10-04-2010 20:11
Es wird vermutet, dass das Flugzeug von Kaczynski beim Landeanflug im dichten Nebel Baumkronen gestreift hatte. Mein Beileid an Polen.
Tom
10-04-2010 18:23
Polish president killed in plane crash in Russia..... This is just tragic. My prayers go out to the entire country.
alan
10-04-2010 17:09
ich bin kein Fanatiker der PIS, dennoch der Zusammenhang mit Katyn ist schockierend für mich.
Yaro
10-04-2010 16:47
President Lech Kaczynski wanted to revisit the past. He did it unwillingly. I am sorry for Poland for loss of the President and much of the nation's ruling elite.
Joline
10-04-2010 16:45
Tragedy in Russia: President of Poland and many important politics are dead in plane crush. Poland, we pray with you!
CLX
10-04-2010 13:04
I still can't belive. Polish president Lech Kaczynski and other important people died in crush plane near Smolensk. It's Polish tragedy.
Raik
10-04-2010 12:56
#RIPLechKaczynski My condolences for families of Lech Kaczynski and other victims of the plane crash near Smolensk, Russia. Poland, we pray with you!
(E) migrants
