Testimonies List Api

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[
    {
        "id": 3,
        "title": "free elections!",
        "keywords": "freedom, elections, democracy",
        "text": "I was 11 in 1989 but I remember it very well. The tension, the joy, the changes... I went with my parent to vote on the 4th of June. It was the first democratic elections where not only the communist party could take part. there was so much hope and excitement around, just being able to vote for more than one party was incredible, it wasn't even about the results, but the political pluralism and freedom to choose was important.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-03-08T12:27:03.275452Z"
    },
    {
        "id": 4,
        "title": "Crossing borders in 1989",
        "keywords": "border control, Hungary, UK, travel, Romania, Ceaușescu",
        "text": "In the late summer of 1989, my parents, my sister and I were making our way in our trusty red Škoda from Budapest to Southampton. We were to spend a year there, thanks to my father’s appointment as a visiting academic at the University. We had already lived in West Germany for a year due to his work, and he had also been to Japan. Prior to that, he had successfully applied to a series of fellowships on the other side of the Iron Curtain, only to be refused permission to leave the country by the Hungarian government. Hence, in 1989, we were a family with international experience, but the possibility to travel to the UK or anywhere else was still precious and far from self-evident.\r\n\r\nHaving embarked from the ferry in Dover, our car was surrounded by border guards and customs officials. We were held up for long hours, as my mother and father were required to fill in various forms, one after the other with no end in sight. They watched another car, also from a Communist country, being almost taken apart as the guards searched for whatever they were searching for, ultimately with no result. My parents had an appointment to sign the rental agreement for our house in Southampton, and they grew more and more anxious that they would miss it. They felt isolated, humiliated, and immensely stressed.\r\n\r\nIn the end, we did make it to Southampton, and the year we spent there turned out to be one of the best years of my childhood, leaving me with an enduring desire to return to the UK one day. Around Christmas, we flew home to spend a couple of weeks with our family. It was the Christmas of the Revolution in Romania, and the constant repetition of a news clip of Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu being executed overshadowed the festive offerings of the Hungarian state television. We flew back to the UK in January and finally returned to Hungary in the summer of 1990. When we were leaving, our car was held up again, but this time the officers at least apologised for the inconvenience.\r\n\r\nI remember the Ceauşescus, their bodies tumbling down like sacks of sand, again and again, as if on a loop. I remember going back to school in Hungary and being perplexed by how things had changed. Pictures of Communist heroes had been taken down. We still had to participate in strictly organised, solemn celebrations on certain holidays, but we celebrated new days and new people and recited new political slogans. I remember all this; nevertheless, I have to admit, I have no memories of being held up at the UK border. I was a child. I may have slept through it. As the Iron Curtain became a distant memory, the searches ceased. Before 2004, the year Hungary joined the EU, we had to fill in a landing card; from then on, we only needed to show our passports or IDs. I always felt an unease when filling in the landing card, and there is still a lump in my stomach whenever the chip reader at the airport malfunctions and does not let me pass on the first try. I will gladly acknowledge this is irrational. But I do believe it is a vestige of the stress my parents once felt, transferred to me, even though I had, at the time, no understanding of what was going on.\r\n\r\nWhen freedom of movement comes up in today’s UK political discourse, most of the time it is talked about as if it only went one way, as if it was only about immigration (more specifically, us pesky immigrants coming here and taking your jobs, while living the high life on unemployment benefits). But being able to travel is a fundamental freedom that can enrich everyone’s life. It is a great privilege not everyone has, it does not come automatically. It is something that has to be treasured, because everyone can lose it; everyone, not just us. I think this is something Central and Eastern Europeans in the UK can bear witness to – if anyone cares to listen.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Hungarian",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-03-09T08:58:47.300475Z"
    },
    {
        "id": 5,
        "title": "My mother and her habbits",
        "keywords": "money, economy, home life, children, communism",
        "text": "It is not necessary my own experience; I was was only 3 in 1989, at the same time it is one of those strange family story that somehow got stuck in my head. My mother, a teacher in a public elementary school was a heavy smoker. She often used government issued stamp cards to purchase her cigarettes. When they run out, she would use other cards; designated to purchases food and household products, and exchange them with her neighbours for cigarettes. This often left us with no food on the table; yet at the same time this participation in local, and ungoverned form of economic exchange allowed us to be in a community. Live and be cared for in the 'village'. Never too alone.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-03-10T16:12:00.885393Z"
    },
    {
        "id": 6,
        "title": "Jew in Czech",
        "keywords": "which wave of migration",
        "text": "My wife is from Prague, we got married there. On my mum's side my family come from Poland, Germany, Russia and Turkey. On my dad's side my family come from Wales and Ireland. I have walked through Terezin. I don't think any of my family died there. They did die in Auschwitz. When I go on family holidays in Czech we often walk through gaps in towns where my people once lived. When I was in Berlin I felt anger seeing where my family's existence was destroyed. On family holidays in Cezech sometimes my in laws fight with me in some sort of oppression olympics about who had it worst, my family under the Nazis or theirs under the Russians.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Britishish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-03-10T16:43:02.337587Z"
    },
    {
        "id": 7,
        "title": "Shoes too small",
        "keywords": "Poland, communism, Russia, regime, hunger,",
        "text": "I was born just after communism collapsed, but my parents told me many stories of their life under the regime, They never had proper shoes to wear, they were always second hand and too small. Because of that very often people had disformed feet.\r\nMy grandparents were farmers, in 1950's they were better off than people living in towns, but the government was taking 50% of their produce, so everyone was hungry all the time.\r\nThere was always a lot of vinegar and sugar, but toilet paper was a luxury! Villagers were bribed with that for meat and other foods.\r\nMy mother studied Russian language. She was granted a scholarship in Moscow. Because she has never been abroad before (and villagers were not mixed with any other nationalities) it was then when she saw a man of black race for the first time. She was over the moon!",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-03-10T17:30:08.543475Z"
    },
    {
        "id": 8,
        "title": "Living through the system change",
        "keywords": "system change, poverty",
        "text": "In 1989 I was 10 and watched my father celebrating the collapse of Communism more than anything he ever celebrated. He had fought Communism his entire life and had great hopes for the free Poland. In reality, the free Poland brought a lot of uncertainty to our family. Both my parents were artists and, despite their grate hopes, they never managed to make a living as artists on the free market. My mum emigrated to the US and my dad tried all types of unsuccessful business ideas. This time was very hard for my family. We experienced deep poverty and isolation. \r\nI think that this experience defined me and also gave me an incredible resilience. I think that living through the system change was an experience that made me believe that system changes are painful but definitely possible, and it gave me strength to fight for better systems later in life.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-03-10T17:54:35.820047Z"
    },
    {
        "id": 11,
        "title": "In Birmingham I learned to hate capitalism  and to love cultural diversity.  I meet the friendliest, kindest people but I was also struck by the great cultural differences.",
        "keywords": "Birmingham, cultural differences, Anglo-Saxon world, Eastern Europeans,",
        "text": "I still remember vividly the astonishment I felt on my arrival in Birmingham. Just out of Digbeth Coach Station, after a long and tiring bus journey from London Luton, the surroundings are not exactly what one wishes to see. Particularly, because, like all Eastern Europeans, I knew I was coming to a better world. \r\n\tFour years later I am still not sure if it is indeed a better world. But I do not hate Birmingham anymore. I learned to love it. I got used to its bad parts and I truly enjoy the good ones. Like most of the foreigners coming to England’s second biggest city, I knew nothing about it. I even had very different expectations, thinking I am going to a sort of bigger Cambridge: cobble-stone alleys, bordered by old, tall trees and red-brick buildings, pedestrian streets with cyclist, students and families going quietly out and about. But of course, the shopping-centred, car-reliant, architectural jumbled Birmingham is not an exception in this country. \r\n\tThe best advice I would give to an Eastern European coming to the UK is to forget everything about everything. To learn life from scratch and in this way nothing will be surprising anymore. \r\n\tOn a more positive note, Birmingham is a thriving, prosperous city, which anyone feels welcomed to call it home. In Birmingham I meet the friendliest, kindest people. I saw the most beautiful parks. I studied at a wonderful university. The sense of community is great, the can-do attitude is inspiring and the way the city is developing and improving is energising. I also had my bike stolen, my phone stolen, I was harassed in traffic, and there are areas I would not walk alone in the evenings. But indeed, there is no garden without its weeds. \r\n\tIn Birmingham I learned to hate capitalism (a similar thing could have happened to Marx when he wrote Das Kapital in London?) and to love cultural diversity. I am also much more attentive with the idea of cultural differences. One might not feel it in the Global Anglo-Saxon bubble, but it is a real, sometimes painful thing. In this respect, Eastern Europeans probably feel the best the cultural differences. They are the biggest ethnic community in the UK, outside the Anglo-Saxon world (I know it is problematic to see Eastern Europe as a common ethnic group but for the sake of clarity…) and in this respect they are the link between this country and the wider world. Albeit harder said than done, increasing engagement with Eastern European from the UK communities will be of immense benefit to everyone. The locals will make steps to break the Anglo-Saxon cultural bubble. The Eastern Europeans will contribute even more to the British society.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-05-02T16:48:58.636935+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 12,
        "title": "How life has changed since moving to the UK",
        "keywords": "migration, belonging, home",
        "text": "I've learnt to appreciate my surroundings a bit better. Life is not just work/drink/sleep cycle...Also visiting home feels good, and I'm trying to see more of it, travel around and such. I've never felt homesick, but living in the UK and visiting home for holidays always makes me happy learning things of my country that I never thought exist. All because I left home. Bit ironic...",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-05-22T21:07:19.464624+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 13,
        "title": "Remembering Yugoslavia in Britain",
        "keywords": "Yugoslavia, family, Brexit, borders",
        "text": "I was very young when Yugoslavia disintegrated, a transition that happened relatively smoothly in Slovenia compared to the tragedies that unfolded in many other parts of the country. I have a few sense memories from that time that I may or may not have fabricated, including seeing a lorry pass by loaded with uniformed soldiers, associated with the feel of the sun on my skin. When my younger brother was born, I was smug that like our parents, I had still been born a Yugoslav, while he was this entirely new creature: a Slovenian. As I grew older I became more and more interested in how other people my age felt about socialist Yugoslavia, which we'd missed by such a narrow margin. If things hadn't gone the way they had, if the country had democratised without splintering, what would things be like today? Would I be travelling the world (as Yugoslavs had even during the Cold War) as the citizen of a multi-national project that predates the EU?  \r\n\r\nThe day after the Brexit referendum, I met my brother in town. We always speak English to each other and 'pass' easily as British (quite posh British, even), but that day it felt important to speak Slovenian, to send a signal: not to our fellow shell-shocked Londoners, but to all the other non-Brits on the tube and city streets, that like them, we'd had nothing to do with this tragicomic fiasco. \r\n\r\nBut to be honest, it's hard to feel very excited about the EU, either, when it's been so busily putting up walls and letting countless people die at sea. An anti-racist project, it is not. I still feel ambivalent about walking past windows displaying massive European flags, or people assuming that as an EU migrant living here, my contribution to the Brexit debate counts only as long as it stems from my concern over losing my Treaty rights. I'd rather have the bigger conversations: what does it mean to be 'from here'? Whose stories get to count? And whose free movement are we fighting for - only Europeans'?",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-05-27T16:32:29.061516+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 14,
        "title": "memories of parents",
        "keywords": "communism, life, money, migration",
        "text": "I was born after 1989, so I don't have any memories from communist times, although my parents used to tell me some stories about life in '80s. \r\nThey both mentioned stability, which has disappeared after 1989. After 1989 y Dad has gone to Germany to work as a factory worker- he used to send money to Mum. I remember I was getting brand new Barbie dolls from him which were so expensive in Poland back then. On the other hand, the fact that Dad had to go abroad to work, affected my relationship with him a lot. He was working abroad for a few years and every time he was visiting us I treated him like a stranger. I remember I was hiding behind my Mum's skirt. \r\n\r\nI moved to UK because of various reasons- I was always fascinated by British culture, art and music. I was learning English since I was 6 years old. UK is another part of my journey. I have nomadic soul and I don't want to stay for long in one place. I have been enjoying it so far, but what gets me scared is growing hate towards Eastern Europeans. If the country I am learning to love now, won't give me this love back, I will probably move somewhere else. Somewhere, where I will feel appreciated and safe. Will that be UK? I can't tell now.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-06-03T14:30:11.622468+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 15,
        "title": "Opportunities for Artists",
        "keywords": "migration; art; positive stories",
        "text": "Coming here to do my BA in Fine Art I realised how little opportunities there are for artists in Bulgaria. I think that my decision to move here has been the best decision I've made about my practice and life in general.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-06-04T15:29:23.613392+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 17,
        "title": "From Poland to UK",
        "keywords": "Poland, United Kingdom, emigration, identity, research, future opportunities, Brexit",
        "text": "I was born in 1977, so for me the period preceding the roundtable talks in Poland means the first of all my childhood, spent in small town named Racibórz in southern Poland. Nevertheless, I remember quite well communist school, empty shops and places named PEWEX where you could acquire some “goods of luxury” like LEGO or Matchbox cars, but only for dollars…For me, and for many other people of my generation these toys consist still the symbol of those distant times…I remember also 1989 as I was 12 years old, nevertheless I couldn’t assess yet the meaning of what was happening… If we look at this period after 1945 and its infamous end almost 45 years later from the hindsight, we can really comprehend how devastating communism was for the Central and Eastern Europe, including economy, politics, but also mentality of inhabitants. After 1989 I’ve travelled a lot, and I got some knowledge about the Western world quite early, as I was living in France during one year (1993 – 1994). Since that time I love this country, its language and culture, but after my return to Poland I haven’t thought that I could live Poland forever in order to live abroad. I thought it was my place, and I wanted to accomplish my historical studies there and write books about the history of Polish interwar period. And I did all of that. But in 2012 I got the research grant in Switzerland and moved there for a year. For me it was a kind of turning point in my life. First of all, from the scholar point of view, this stay significantly broadened my research techniques, especially in the area of international relations, opened my eyes on many research fields until now neglected by me, such as cultural diplomacy or collective memory. I was literally “devouring” huge piles of books and articles in French about cultural diplomacy. And I have dealt there for the first time with the thriving, interdisciplinary researches, which was in the initial phase in Poland. Hence, it broadened my horizons, but also allowed me to understand how backward my own country was, where none of my colleagues historians ever dealt with such problems like soft power policies or the meaning of collective memories in international relations. In Poland the history of international relations still means the first of all the history of diplomatic relations, whereas e.g. in France thanks to such acknowledged historians as Pierre Renouvin this research discipline has substantially expanded in the last forty years or so on. In Switzerland I also comprehended how different people we are. Polish mentality is really different than that of people in the Western Europe. And after my return to Poland I knew that I wanted to leave, that I didn’t fit in. Interestingly, it was not only my problem, as I’ve met at least several persons with the same “adaptive” problem after their return from Switzerland, Germany or United States. For me Poland along with the whole Central Europe consists the fascinating object for my researches. But I’m really happy to live abroad. Since 2013 I feel really like European citizen, and now this identity prevails over the Polish one. That’s why Brexit is so weird for me, as it’s against the common sense, my worldview and all my deepest convictions… Why Great Britain? There are several answers. But first of all, I was just curious. I love English language, I’ve been raised on English popular culture, films, music etc. Before I’ve spent a lot of time in French speaking country. So this time I wanted to explore something new and confront images with reality. And I’m impressed. This is not the ideal world, and among serious problems I’m really worried about some economical discrepancies which are still increasing… But this is the only country that I know which provides so many opportunity. Here in UK you can really be whoever you want to be. And you can get really well paid for it! And British society is so open, there are people from all over the world and they live together. I think UK is more peaceful than France torn by social turbulences and it’s not only my own opinion. Briefly, I really feel good here, this country is so interesting and people are so open-minded and friendly, but I’m also afraid of Brexit with all its populism and right-wing rhetoric. Nevertheless, I intend to stay here, as I see a lot of fascinating opportunities for me, my wife and my two daughters. And I want them to join me here as soon as possible.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-06-15T23:47:12.452494+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 18,
        "title": "Once a refugee, always a refugee?",
        "keywords": "Refugees, displacement, childhood, Greece, Poland, UK, childhood, work,",
        "text": "Migration forms part of my DNA. Displacement runs through my family history. It constitutes an inextricable part of my identity. I am a great granddaughter, a granddaughter, and a daughter of refugees. Maybe this is why I often feel like a refugee? Unlike my ancestors I had a choice and I have chosen to leave the country, in which I was born. \r\n\r\nMy grandfather was born in Kars, a town close to the Turkish/Russian, to a Greek father (a soldier in the White Russian mother) and a Russian mother. My grandma was born in Smyrna to Greek parents. The Turks killed her mother during the Balkan wars. Both families had to move to Greece as part of the Greek-Turkish population transfer after the wars. My Greek grandparents both grew up to be communist and met during the WWII in the Greek resistance movement. They fought in the civil war and when Stalin betrayed them and struck a deal with Churchill and withdrew his support for the Greek communists, they had to flee Greece. They became homeless and stateless, stripped of their citizenship by the Greek government for their role in the civil war. Despite the withdrawal of military support by Russia, socialist states were ordered to open their borders and offer help and support. My grandparents were shipped first to Uzbekistan, and then transferred to Rumania, where my mother was born, and finally to Poland. \r\n\r\n30000 Greek refugees found a new home in Poland. I was told that the Poles, having just been through a huge population transfer themselves, welcomed the Greek refugees with kindness and generosity. They gave them homes, jobs, and education. I have never felt discriminated or excluded in Poland, although I always felt different. People were curious rather than hostile. Many Poles admired antiquity. For poets such as Herbert, Miłosz, and Szymborska Greek history, philosophy, art, and literature constituted crucial points of reference in trying to understand Poland’s position and role in the world. Greece, like Poland, belonged simultaneously to the West and to the East. Many people knew who Kazantzakis or Ritsos were. I don’t think they know anymore. \r\n\r\nWhat was life really like under communism?\r\n\r\nFor a child born in Poland in 1978 to a middle class family life under communism was very happy. There was free childcare and education provided by the state. We did not have great amenities, but I had extremely devoted teachers throughout my formative years. After school, there was a huge number of extra-curricular activities, most of which were for free. Those who showed skill and interest could join maths, physics, chemistry, and geography interests groups after school. We had a theatre group and run a school newspaper. Sport clubs were subsidised by the state. There was not enough time in the day to use all educational opportunities. Education was valued and supported more than anything else. Admittedly, access to educational opportunities was not equal across Poland. I was lucky to be born in a big city, in a middle class suburb, surrounded by the so-called intelligentsia. But the standard of education was generally high and access to it wide.\r\n\r\nOf course, there were trade-offs in other areas of life. I remember not having a passport at home and having to apply for it every time we wanted to travel abroad. There would be an interview, and a thorough check of hundreds of documents. And there were queues! Anticipating delivery of basic items, such as meet, butter, cheese, or… toilette paper people would form queues at dawn and wait for hours, and sometimes even days (there would be a list of the queue members to enable them to go to work and not lose their spot). There was no real coffee or chocolate, and I can still feel in my mouth the insipid buttery taste of the chocolate substitute. There was no exotic fruit and we saw oranges or bananas only at Christmas. I was only a few years old, but I remember the empty shelves in the shops and the struggle for medicines, when my grandma got ill. I remember no real colours on the streets; everything was rather black and white. Many years later I learned, to my surprise, that life in the 1970s’ north of Britain was not very different. Perhaps this is why Poles and Brits share similar abstract and surreal sense of humour?\r\n\r\nWhat happened in 1989?\r\n\r\nEverything changed. My mum and dad lost their jobs almost from one day to the next, although she was an architect and he was an art historian restoring old buildings. Brought up under the socialist system they were not really prepared for the neo-liberal free-market economy rules. The adaptation process was tough and incomplete. During the first few years my mum had to keep three jobs to keep the family afloat. Fortunately, thanks to generous help of a family member my mum got a good job as a project manager and we were fine, better than fine, actually. I was able to spend summer holidays at a language school in the UK, travel, and pursue different interests. But my mum never went back full-time to architecture, which was her passion. At first, there was too much elbowing, too much corruption, and then it was probably too late. We were the lucky ones. \r\n\r\nPoland became a democracy and the Polish society tried very hard to reinvent itself. Recent political events might suggest that these attempts were much less successful than originally thought. Millions of working class Poles lost their jobs, their livelihoods, and subsequently their dignity; women lost some of their fundamental rights; and the Catholic Church replaced the Polish United Workers’ Party as a hegemon. \r\n \r\nWhat is your experience of moving to the UK?\r\n\r\nHonestly? Easier than anticipated and pretty liberating, but not entirely straightforward. I left Poland because due to endemic nepotism at Polish universities at the time, it was made clear to me that it would be difficult for me to find a job. I also wanted to escape the growing influence of the Catholic Church and the conservatism of the Polish society.  But I never thought I could find work in the UK and I was shocked when I got my first job offer in a Law Department at the University of Exeter.  I got many jobs afterwards and I felt valued in most of them. And yet, I still feel like an impostor. I did not study here, not did I complete my PhD here. So how can I possibly teach English Law? My husband – who is English through and through - says, it’s because I am a woman and a refugee. Perhaps he is right. How many refugee women ask themselves the same question? \r\n\r\nTo my surprise I found most British people, especially working class people, blue and white collar workers, extremely warm and open, very straightforward, unpretentious. I found friends here, I found love, and family. I guess, with my family history, it is only natural that it is easier for me to feel at home in many places, Poland, Greece, in the UK... as long as I have people I love by my side. \r\n\r\nThere was only one moment during the last 10 years, which made me doubt all of this. My mum was dying in a hospital in Warsaw and I was at the Manchester airport, trying to catch a plane. I had been told my mum could have only hours to live. Although I had packed my suitcase long in advance (just in case), I had too many liquids in my little plastic bag.  I still remember the cold empty stare of the airport worker as I was going through security. She seemed to move in slow motion. I tried to plead with her, but she followed the procedure to the latter, moving slowly and methodically through my clothes… In that moment, I hated her and the British obedience and respect for the law and for the rules… I hated every distance that ever existed between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, who for some reason got separated and could not say goodbye to each other. Fortunately, I got there in time and I did say goodbye. But I will never forget that feeling of complete powerlessness in relation to state institutions and frustration with geographical distance that refugees must experience more than once in their lives. \r\n\r\nOnce a refugee, always a refugee.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish, Greek",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-06-19T23:51:19.388910+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 19,
        "title": "Life in the UK",
        "keywords": "East Germany; Migration; Identity; Entanglement; Privilege",
        "text": "When I was asked to contribute to this project, as someone has who lived in the former GDR, I wasn’t even sure whether I would fit the bill – clearly I don’t really see myself as someone who could testify to GDR and Eastern European history, but then how do I see and understand myself? I was born in Leipzig shortly before the fall of the wall into an almost exclusively Eastern German family of largely Eastern European descent, but my connection to the GDR and Eastern Europe has never been a lived one. I has always been shaped by other people’s memories, history books and mass media. These memories were mostly my mother’s, since most of my grandparents died before I was born or when I was still very little, and I don’t really have a deep connection with my father’s side of the family. To make this link even more tenuous, I should add that I grew up in Berlin, which I have always perceived as neither East nor West, with a stepdad from Peru, and my childhood memories are very much shaped by my family’s Latin American friends – their languages, foods, celebrations and customs. I guess for a long time my identity was something very chaotic and entangled, made up of all these various elements and more, grounded not in abstract categories, but in subjective memories and anecdotes as well as everyday experiences and embodied practices. \r\n\r\nHow did this change when I came to the UK in 2013? Coming here probably forced me to reflect on these questions of belonging more than I had to before – it very likely made me aware of the tangle of identities in the first place. No-one ever questioned my Germanness and whether or not I belonged where I was before, both because I owned a German passport and because I looked and spoke like what most people (wrongly) imagine a German to look and speak like. In the UK, my belonging was constantly questioned, often from the minute I opened my mouth to reveal an accent. Some say it is strong, whilst others insist, with a lot of conviction, that it is barely there which sometimes makes me wonder whether they see it as something that I should, ideally, strive to eradicate. While I find it annoying that the first question I often get when it speak to people is “where are you from?”, I generally believe that this reaction is often based in curiosity rather than maliciousness. I am also aware that I have so far been shielded from the much more violent reactions other migrants can get. All of this made me realise that I had probably taken belonging somewhere, or at least a certain kind of belonging, for too granted. At the same time, and maybe paradoxically, things became easier and more untangled when I came here, because the web of identities described above was replaced by simpler labels that came from the outside, such as “German” or “foreigner” or, more recently, “EU national”. The question of whether I am Eastern or Western German, or none of these, became less relevant for how people perceive me (and potentially for how I perceive myself). \r\n\r\nGoing back to my initial question, I must say that I probably still don’t know with certainty how I see myself and whether I should contribute to this project. After six years of living in the UK, I sometimes feel like I have reached a state where I belong neither here nor there, which I currently perceive as a positive thing (this might change after Brexit). I am very aware that this freedom to not choose a clear-cut identity – and to not be violently forced to choose one or have one chosen for you – has a lot to do with privilege, even though everyone should have this freedom. One thing I have definitely learned in my time here is so make no assumptions when I meet people and embrace the entanglements and the messiness at the root of most people's so-called identities.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-06-20T09:50:03.503361+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 20,
        "title": "Moje życie zmieniło się w 100%",
        "keywords": "migration; differences; positive stories; belonging",
        "text": "Moje życie zmieniło się w 100%. Nauka dzieci w szkole / przedszkolu jest inna niż w Polsce. Regularne godziny (każdy dzień tyle samo godzin). Opieka lekarska jest na średnim poziomie. Mają dobry sprzęt, ale procedury często hamują diagnozę. Życie społeczne jest lepsze. Ludzie nie oceniają cię za wygląd. Uśmiechają się. Są mili. Zawsze jest coś, co jest na NIE. Tutaj jest to pogoda, przypomina mi Irlandię. Mimo to, nie wyobrażam sobie mieszkać gdzieś indziej. \r\n\r\n[My life has changed 100%. Learning for children at school / kindergarten is different than in Poland. Regular hours (each day the same hours). Medical care is on an average level. They have good equipment, but procedures often inhibit the diagnosis. Social life is better. People do not judge you for your appearance. They smile. They are nice. There is always something that is NOT [nice]. Here it is the weather, it reminds me of Ireland. Still, I can not imagine living somewhere else.\r\n\r\nGoogle Translation]",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-06-20T20:03:21.329237+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 21,
        "title": "A lesson",
        "keywords": "migration; diversity; positive stories",
        "text": "My name is Tomasz and I was born in Central Poland. After living, studying and working in Warsaw - the capital - in which I fell completely in love with for nine years I decided to move abroad to broaden my personal and proffessional experience.\r\nI don't think there's anything unusual about my story. New city - I didn't know anybody here. After a year I have a group of friends. I miss my old friends, but am happy that I met people with roots all around the world and that I can learn about Kenya, Philipines or Romania from people who were born there - an experience that I couldn't have in Poland (or at least it would be much less likely). I miss my family, but I'm happy I can talk and see them on everyday basis using social media and communication apps. When I fly to Poland I feel strong emotions towards 'my' Warsaw, but I have had a chance to visit 20 cities in the UK.\r\nAll of my new experiences, new friendships, new emotions and places brought me something that I've always valued the most - being able to imagine other people's lifes. Docks in Liverpool let me imagine how people lived 100 years ago. A play in Birmingham's REP gave me a chance to imagine life of immigrants from Africa on the own way to Europe in an epic and metaphorical story. Story heard from me Philipino friend has taught me how visible is the issue of dieing coral reefs. This is what the experience of moving to UK is to me. A lesson.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-06-20T20:14:37.270731+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 22,
        "title": "Move under the radioactive cloud",
        "keywords": "Chernobyl, move, communism",
        "text": "End of April in 1986 was important change for my family, we were moving from a tiny flat in block of flats near hospital where my parents worked to our new house. The house was mostly finished inside and was in a new district of terraced houses with mud roads and other investment in infrastructure abandoned. But it was all exciting, more space, our own small garden, my own room!! The day was long and we were working hard taking boxes from the 5th floor to the van. Out of the blue the rain came and there were strange yellow rims around puddles. We had no idea that two days earlier there was a disaster explosion in Chernobyl and what we see and experience is radioactive rain. \r\nWe had to complete the move regardless but that was our ignorance to implications of that day, that rain. Few days later we had to take part in 1st May parade. Presence of all of the school children was compulsory and we all had to march waving flags and demonstrate how happy we are and well looked after by the communist system. That year was just more exposure to radioactivity. It was one of the last compulsory parades, following years my school made it optional for students to attend.\r\nNo amount of \"lugola liquid\" we had to drink was able to save my thyroid but I have learned that the hard way many years later. We were all very confused, nobody knew what Chernobyl meant to Poland. All of the actions to protect population by giving lode solution ... it was all too little too late. Poland has been warned by Swedes and not by \"friendly communist party\" of USSR when it mattered, because they were all busy to cover it up.\r\nI suffered a thyroid cancer many years later, I had to have it removed and I am on hormonal medication for life. \r\nPropaganda of success and swiping up the bad stuff under the propaganda carpet is what we used to live with on daily basis. \r\nEven historical facts were twisted and \"corrected\" in history books as the history is usually written by the winning side - possibly material for another story.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-06-24T11:39:41.528756+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 23,
        "title": "Back to 1989 (in a way)",
        "keywords": "Communism, Freedom, the EU",
        "text": "The life under communism... it was like window shopping when I saw pictures and postcards from the West. It was sans freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and freedom of movement. The passports were taken from people. It was like a prison. It was behind the Iron curtain. 1st May 2004 and I’m standing with my children ages 4 and 12 on the bridge in Slubice/Frankfurt an Dee Oder at midnight, listen to the Ode of Joy, and cross this border without showing the passport for the first time. That I will never forget. 2006 relocation to the UK. Reason: squash of my eldest. First half a year mostly tears and homesickness, but later we discovered a land of opportunities. The eldest graduates with w BEng degree the youngest is smashing it in squash. 2016 - shock and disbelief. We became those “fucking Polish immigrants” in a blink of an eye.  The far right party rules in Poland. Where do we go? The eldest moves back to Poland claiming that Brexit won’t bring anything good (history was his hobby, so he did some thinking). We stayed. The youngest becomes the U19 European Squash Champion and gets the full athlete scholarship at Drexel University, USA. We, the elders, are torn now. Should we stay or should we go back to Poland? Poland will prevail at the end, because the UK is not the garden of Eden unlike some may think. Oh, and I published the book. I will keep fond memories of my British period of life.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "It was a good time here in the UK, but the time is up now. Thank you British for this opportunity to experience you. It was a blast.",
        "created": "2019-06-26T21:10:36.146524+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 24,
        "title": "Mój pobyt w UK zaliczam do udanych",
        "keywords": "migration; improved life; positive stories",
        "text": "Mój pobyt w UK zaliczam do udanych. Moje życie diametralnie się odmieniło, stopa życiowa porównywalnie z moimi Polskimi (piszę za siebie), ponieważ ludzie tu przybywający kierowani są z różnych powodów. Atutem w UK jest na pewno łatwiejsze znalezienie pracy, Anglia daje wiele możliwości rozwojowych. W tym kraju czuję się swobodniej, łatwiej się żyje. Mentalność tych ludzi powoduje, że (?) się „spowolnić tępo życia”, mniej stresować. Nabywamy umiejętności relaksu i znajdywania na wszystko czasu. Zatem mój pobyt do udanych i zawierzam się realizować.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-02T15:08:11.851458+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 25,
        "title": "Niestety uważam, że w UK nigdy nie poczuję się jak w domu",
        "keywords": "migration, diversity, home",
        "text": "Dzięki wyjazdowi do UK udało mi się poznać wielu ludzi. Nie tylko z Polski, ale też z całego świata. Moja historia zaczęła się w 2009 roku. Niestety uważam, że w UK nigdy nie poczuję się jak w domu. Z biegiem lat tęsknię już dużo mniej, ale nadal bardzo. \r\n\r\n[Thanks to a trip to the UK, I managed to meet many people. Not only from Poland, but also from around the world. My story began in 2009. Unfortunately, I think that in the UK I will never feel at home. Over the years I miss much less, but still very much.\r\nGoogle Translation]",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-02T15:09:41.674145+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 26,
        "title": "Wielka Brytania to piękny kraj",
        "keywords": "migration; diversity; positive stories",
        "text": "Wielka Brytania to piękny kraj z cudowną linią (?). Mnóstwo ciekawych miejsc do zwiedzania, ludzie różnych narodowości – ale tutaj nikogo to nie dziwi. Kraj mógłby być troszkę czyściejszy :-) - mniej śmieci i butelek na chodnikach. \r\n\r\n[Great Britain is a beautiful country with a wonderful line (?). Lots of interesting places to visit, people of different nationalities - but here no one is surprised. The country could be a bit cleaner :-) - less rubbish and bottles on the sidewalks.\r\nGoogle Translation]",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-02T15:11:33.558016+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 27,
        "title": "Language challenges",
        "keywords": "migration; language; home",
        "text": "Living in England was a bit challenging for me as English is my second language. At first, I was feeling quite depressed because a huge part of my family was far away from me. I had to leave my friends, school and change the way I used to live. Now, it's better as I met new friends and got used to new language which I had to learn in order to communicate with others.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-02T15:13:23.052071+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 28,
        "title": "Queue for coffee",
        "keywords": "Coffee, ration card, foodstuffs, queue",
        "text": "I was born in the early 1980s in communist Poland and I have vague memories of the last years of communism. But there is one thing that I remember the most, namely queues everywhere. Also in the mid 1980s, the ration cards were introduced because many goods (meat, petrol etc.) were in short supply. I remember one day, I was five or six then, and my mother put me in the queue for coffee in the district where we lived, a typical communist-style cluster of apartment blocks built of prefabricated housing units in a small town in south-western Poland. I was waiting in this queue to buy a pack of coffee. I bought one and then I was surprised that my mother put me in that queue again. I bought another one. And again. I think that I made it six times and bought six packs of coffee. My mother did the same. They sold only one pack per person, but they didn't mind it when you returned to the queue. Only later did I realize that my mother swapped a few of those packs for other goods or foodstuffs that were in short supply and that we didn't have a chance to buy.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-02T15:31:08.027580+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 30,
        "title": "Being a child in Communist Bulgaria",
        "keywords": "childhood, communism, carefree years, happiness",
        "text": "Аз съм от България,родена през 1971г.и голяма част от съзнателния си живот съм изживяла в така наречения комунистически строй.Родителите ми бяха членове на комунистическата партия и като такива имаха своите превилегии,като например да си изберат марката на колата(лада или москвич) и да бъдат поставени в началото на списъка за чакащи,да подават молба за почивка с предимство и други т.н. облаги.А моите мечти като дете се свеждаха до шоколадово яйце и дъвки с картинка то \"Кореком\"(магазин за западни стоки)и в очакване на Нова Година,когато добрия дядо Мраз ще донесе банани и портокали на послушните деца,за които родителите ми чакаха на километрични опашки.Но мога да кажа,че имах едно спокойно и щастливо детство.Всичко беше някак много добре организирано и имаше дисциплина.Възпитаваха ни да изпитваме респект към родителе,учители,възрастни хора.Като деца живеехме в приказката на комунистическия строй и с гордост носихме червените си връзки(символ на социалистическата младеж)Живеехме добре от гледната точка на дете,но родителите ми биха казали друго.Липса на информация за живота на запад или изкривена такава ,ограничаване в пътуванията.Дезинформацията води до невежество и ние бяхме щастливи в своето невежество.\r\n\r\n[I was born in 1971 in Bulgaria and spent a large part of my conscious life living under the communist system. My parents were members of the Communist Party and as such, they had certain privileges- for example they had a choice about the type of car they wanted to drive (either a Lada or a Moskvitch), they were put among the first on the waiting list for those who wanted to sign up to go on a holiday as well as other advantages. My own dreams and wishes were as small as getting a chocolate egg or a chewing gum with a picture from \"Corecom\" (a shop for Western goods which only a few could afford) for Christmas, when \"Dyado Mraz\" (\"Grandfather Frost\", which is how we called Santa Claus back then) was going to come and bring all good kids delicious bananas and oranges (for which my parents had to queue for hours in order to provide for us). I can say, however, that I had a calm and a happy childhood. Everything was somehow well organised and there was discipline and order everywhere. We were taught to treat our parents, teachers and the elderly people with respect. As kids, we lived in the fairy tale called Communism and we wore our obligatory school uniforms and red/blue neckerchiefs- symbol of the socialist youth, with pride. We lived a happy life from the point of view of a child, although my parents would probably disagree. The absence of information or at least accurate information about the West and the inability to travel resulted in some kind of ignorance. This ignorance and perception that someone else is taking good care of your well-being led to a happy and carefree life, at least for the children who had no idea about the struggles of their parents.]",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Bulgarian",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-04T13:17:51.231349+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 31,
        "title": "Kelias",
        "keywords": "Lietuva, tai tėvų ir protėvių žemė, kurią reikėjo laikinai palikti išvykus gyventi į Angliją.",
        "text": "Man pasisekė gimti Lietuvos Respublikoje, TSRS sudėtyje. 15 Socialistinių Respublikų sudarė Tarybų Sąjungą. 1991 gruodžio 9 Tarybų Sąjunga nustojo egzistuoti.\r\nKeitėsi santvarka, politiniai įvykiai, suirutė, ekonomis nestabilumas ir t.t. ir pan.  Tačiau nukritus \"Gekežinei užtvarai\", atsidarė vartai į platų pasaulį. Žmonės ėmė laisvai judėti, keisti savo gyvenamą vietą, pažinti gyvenimą kitose pasaulio dalyse ir tautose, ne vien tik Tarybų Sąjungos ribose.\r\nDabar mes gyvenam Europos Sąjungoje, kuri susikūrė pokario metais, ir vėliau į tą Sąjungą prisijungdavo vis daugiau narių, kad palengvintų tarpusavio bendradarbiavimą. Tačiau Europos Sąjunga dabar išgyvena labai svarbų pasikeitimą, vietoj naujų narių prisijungimo, vienas iš seniausių narių, UK planuoja išstoti iš Europos Sąjungos. \r\nAr tai bus Europos Sąjungos žlugimo pradžia? Laikas parodys. \r\nGalimybė keliauti ir gyventi kitose šalyse, yra labai geras reiškinys. Tai niekada nėra lengvas sprendimas, išvykti kitur, patirti nežinomų įspūdžių, bandyti įsitvirtinti kitur, kurti savo namus ne tėvų žemėje, o svetur. \r\nKeistas reiškinys, kada visas pasaulis globalizuojasi, UK atsiskiria, gal būt turėdama kitą planą. \r\nMigracija visai nepaprastas reiškinys. Daug keblių problemų susikuria ten, kur atrodo smėlis smėliškesnis, žolė žalesnė, duona skalsesnė...\r\nNemalonu, kada politikų sukurti nesklandumai, įtakoja žmonių tarpusavio santykius. Atsiranda nepasitikėjimas, įtarumas kitataučių atžvilgiu, susiskaldymas, netgi fašistinių išsišokimų eskalavimas.  Tai vis noras apsibrėžti ratą aplink save, kad niekas negalėtų prieiti ir dalintis džiaugsmais bei vargais. \r\nAtsiskyrėliai turi tik vieną likimą, jie neturi draugų džiaugsmo valandą ir paguodos netekties laiku. \r\nDžiaugiuosi galėdamas gyventi Londone, kalbėti anglų kalba, skaityti literatūrinius kūrinius originale. Šaunu turėti tiek daug naujų draugų ir pažįstamų iš visų pasaulio vietų, nes Londonas pritraukia žmones iš pačių netikėčiausių pasaulio kampelių. \r\nBūtų labai gaila, jei suirutė ir betvarkė imtų rastis ir čia, dabartinėje Europoje, kaip ir griuvus Sovietų Sąjungai. Nusikalstamas pasaulis netvardomas reiškėsi tuomet santvarkų pasikeitimo metų buvusioje TSRS.\r\nPabaigai norėtųsi palinkėti visiems, kad taika ir draugystė nugalėtų, nes kito kelio nėra. \r\nDaina Kiss\r\n\r\n[I was lucky to be born in the Republic of Lithuania, within the USSR. 15 Socialist Republics formed the Soviet Union. On December 9, 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.\r\nChanges in the system, political events, turmoil, economic instability, etc. and etc. However, after the \"Gecko Barrage\" fell, the gate opened to a wide world. People started to move freely, change their place of residence, get to know other parts of the world and nations, not just within the Soviet Union.\r\nWe are now living in the European Union, which was created in the post-war years, and later, more and more members joined the Union to facilitate mutual cooperation. However, the European Union is now experiencing a very important change, one of the oldest members, the UK, is planning to leave the European Union instead of joining new members.\r\nWill it be the beginning of the collapse of the European Union? Time will tell.\r\nThe opportunity to travel and live in other countries is a very good thing. It is never an easy solution to go elsewhere, experience unknown experiences, try to get established elsewhere, build your own home on the land of your parents, not on the other.\r\nA strange phenomenon when the whole world is globalizing, the UK separates, perhaps with another plan.\r\nMigration is an extraordinary phenomenon. A lot of troublesome problems where sand seems to be sandier, grass greener, bread looser ...\r\nIt is unpleasant when politicians create problems that affect people's relationships. There is mistrust, suspicion of foreigners, fragmentation, and even escalation of fascist outcry. It is still a desire to draw a circle around oneself so that no one can access and share joy and affliction.\r\nSeparators have only one destiny, they have no friends at the hour of joy and at the time of consolation.\r\nI am happy to live in London, speak English, read literary works in the original. Have so many new friends and acquaintances from all over the world, because London attracts people from the most unexpected corners of the world.\r\nIt would be very unfortunate if disarray and disorder were to emerge here in the present Europe, just as the Soviet Union collapsed. The criminal world was not mentioned in the former USSR when the regime changed.\r\nFinally, I would like to wish everyone peace and friendship to overcome because there is no other way.\r\n\r\nGoogle Translation]",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Lithuanian",
        "notes": "I am an artist. I live in London nearly 20 years. \r\nLots of exhibitions, paintings in my portfolio, if you need I would be glad to share with you.\r\nDaina",
        "created": "2019-07-04T19:00:36.597813+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 32,
        "title": "A West German in the East",
        "keywords": "Germany, Poland, Czecheslovakia, Berlin Wall",
        "text": "I was born in Schweinfurt, Germany, in 1984. Immediatly after birth we moved to Warsaw, then Prague where my father worked in the German Embassy. I have fun memories of Prague where I went to an International School and started to learn English and some Czech. Little did I realise at the time that as the child of a foreign Diplomat I was being “supervised” by nannies, drivers and others who were in fact working for the KGB. The house and car were bugged and we were followed at a discrete distance everywhere we went. How my parents lived with that I will never understand. When the GDR started to crumble, a huge wave of East German migrants swept across Prague and made their way to the West German Embassy where my father worked. He was caught up trying to process tens of thousands of people who were in political limbo, as well as trying to provide for their basic needs. I could not understand what was going on at the time, but spoke about it with him many years later. Once the situation had been resolved we moved to Bonn, the then West German capital. Many years later my father would finish his last posting with the foreign ministry in Moscow, thus completing his cycle of work in the east of europe. I moved around Europe and Asia, eventually settling in Birmingham in 2002. Looking back there are obvious parallels to the movement of east german (“Zonies” as they were derogatively known), and the recent migration of people from Africa and the middle east. Both groups of people are seeking to escape desperate situations and improve their lives, for which they are scapegoated and left languishing under conditions that are at best less than desirable. Regimes, leaders and states will come and go. This is the way of human history. Mutual aid and respect for others are the qualities we as people, regardless of citizenship or belief system, should always put first.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "German",
        "notes": "Feel free to contact me, I have some scans of newspaper articles about the events of 1989 in Prague.",
        "created": "2019-07-07T07:38:47.666180+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 33,
        "title": "A kultúra sokszínű és toleráns",
        "keywords": "migration; diversity; positive stories",
        "text": "A kultúra sokszínű és toleráns. Itt nem nézik meg a másképp öltözködő, viselkedő embert. Vállalkozni is sokkal egyszerűbb.\r\n\r\n[Culture here is diverse and tolerant. Here they don’t stare at people who dress or behave differently. Enterprising is also much easier.]",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-08T16:21:53.707858+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 34,
        "title": "Christmas without a tree",
        "keywords": "migration; differences; positive stories",
        "text": "It was a unique experience. We came on the 1st of December. We spent the christmas here without our family. It was a bit weird. We didn’t even have a christmas tree.\r\nWe enjoy our life in the UK. It is a great experience.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-08T16:22:43.633270+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 35,
        "title": "Getting used to the new circumstances",
        "keywords": "migration; difficulties",
        "text": "We moved here 2 years ago.\r\nMy life has changed as I left a well-paid job for the sake of my family. I am still getting used to the new circumstances.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-08T16:23:29.502522+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 36,
        "title": "Working and happy",
        "keywords": "migration; improved life; positive stories",
        "text": "I’ve come here to work and I’m happy here :-)",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-08T16:24:08.409632+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 37,
        "title": "Never going back",
        "keywords": "migration; improved life; positive stories",
        "text": "Nyelvtudás nélkül jöttünk ki 6 éve, azzal a szándékkal, hogy már nem megyünk vissza. Az emberek segítőkészek voltak, pl. a szomszédok. Szeretünk kirándulni, szépek a parkok.\r\n\r\n[We came here six years ago, without speaking English, and with the intention of never going back. People here have been very supportive and helpful, especially our neighbours. We like to go on excursions and enjoy the beautiful parks.]",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-08T16:24:54.036343+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 38,
        "title": "Suicidal Dog and Laika",
        "keywords": "communism; democracy; politics; immigration",
        "text": "It all started with a slap. At least in my case. A slap that I received after a class mate had decided to stay in Denmark, a country we were visiting in an exchange summer program. After the slap, I was interrogated by Securitate and harassed that I would be expelled from school and my parents would lose their jobs. That was the summer of 1989. In 1998, I decided to leave Romania. Ever since then I have lived in the States, experimenting with exile, and being dual/or more. The play has been inspired by my experience in the ex-communist Romania, ex-soviet Russia, and questionable political practices in democratic societies. I have revisited the slap many times while composing the play. I had to because it was an abuse that ended my childhood. The slap taught me how to protect myself but also how to confront the abuse that exists in certain political discourses and practices so that the slap does not remain a personal encounter but is integrated in larger and more vibrant messages. Because I live in memories of a girl with a home in Romania and I live in the States now as a mature woman and educator, because I have spent my last 21 years in this complex state, the play reflects on that too. It had 4 stage readings, 3 in the States and one in London.\r\nHere's its link from London: http://www.icr-london.co.uk/article/romanian-finnish-encounters-a-european-journey-through-culture.html",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-09T08:05:15.100915+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 39,
        "title": "Killing Ambition",
        "keywords": "migration; improved life; capitalism",
        "text": "It is very interesting to see how prosperity of the society is killing the ambition and motivation to work or change the environment around you. In Poland I would have to work much harder to achieve financially lower output. Luckily Poland now become classified as developed market and people in Poland can have better quality of life compare to UK.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-11T15:53:53.026985+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 40,
        "title": "Hard in the beginning",
        "keywords": "migration; improved life; positive stories",
        "text": "It was hard in the beginning. Starting with warehouse job. Trying to have enough money for day to day living. After that I've moved to London and my life started to get better. I get an internship in cyber security company. I have prosperity for future life and career.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-11T15:55:34.520527+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 41,
        "title": "No change",
        "keywords": "migration; positive stories",
        "text": "It was ok. It hasn't changed that much.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-11T15:56:15.950818+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 43,
        "title": "Two identities which complement each other",
        "keywords": "migration; belonging; positive stories",
        "text": "I came over 2 years after my graduation. Apart from diploma in my pocket - I brought with me good English and most important from all - my apetite for proffessional experience, strong motivation for work and general eagerness for life as it comes. Looking back from now where I stand - I can confirm London was a perfect answer to all this and it shaped me in a positive way, without loosing my strong Polish identity. Through the years I discovered many differences between England and my homeland - but I never felt any conflict. I acctually feel quite opposite and describe myself as person composed of two identities which complement each other. Perhaps my greatest treasure is admiration for English sense of humor. Brexit will not change it and it will never take it away from me!",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-11T16:03:25.768280+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 44,
        "title": "\"Where are you from?\"",
        "keywords": "migration, belonging, home",
        "text": "I came here straight after high school to study at uni in Scotland. First years were tough - due to weather and lifestyle decline as \"poor student\". Scottish people were always friendly, but the first question was always \"Where are you from?\" Somehow my country of origin was supposed to define me. After graduation I slowly worked my way up. I always wonder if finally landing in London is a blessing or a curse. So much gained, but also big sacrifice of quality. I appreciate London for broadening my horizons and giving more options - but it's funny feeling I would never say \"I live in England\" - I think of pro-EU places (Scotland, London) as home - small town England could not be my place. At the same time I wonder who I would have become if I returned to Poland: maybe poor office worker, maybe MD of successful company.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-11T16:12:09.699213+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 45,
        "title": "Positive Benefits",
        "keywords": "migration; improved life; positive stories",
        "text": "I would say that I have good experience to moving to UK. Since 2011 when I arrived I improved many things in my life. Thanks to staying here I could travel to many countries around the globe and do many other things which possibly I would not do in my country. I received many positive benefits of moving to UK.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-11T16:13:35.977281+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 46,
        "title": "Feeling at home",
        "keywords": "migration; improved life; positive stories",
        "text": "I came in 2006 to London to visit my sister and to help her to look after her daughter. I went to the college as my English was very poor, after a few months I started college and done my ESOL classes. After 6 mths I met my partner and we started living together (he was Polish too). 2 years later I become pregnant and we had our daughter born in London. I was working as a self-employed from the beginning: I have started with cleaning services and then I worked as a nanny for English and French families. Thanks this experience I have improved my English level, I've met people from different cultures and I started feeling at London like at home. 7 years ago I become single mum, but thanks great support from friends and local organisations I've managed to live with my daughter independently. While living in London I become more open-minded, motivated, creative and I believe that I can do great things in life. I am happy to live here, but I miss my country too.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-11T16:18:10.472326+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 47,
        "title": "More choices",
        "keywords": "migration; improved life; positive stories",
        "text": "Moving to UK was best decision in my life. Life changed for better. New opportunities, new choices.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-11T16:18:59.627088+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 48,
        "title": "Life is an experience",
        "keywords": "migration; improved life; positive stories; WWII",
        "text": "I don't remember the old Polish system as I have left Poland when I was 19. I have lived for 6 year in Italy before I finally moved to UK. Since the beginning it was an adventure, United Kingdom offered me a lot of opportunities both work wise and studies. Since year one I have been studying and currently after 13 years still continue my post - good education. I met a lot of valuable people and friends. Despite the fact I live in UK, I am proud of my Polish origin. I grew up in the family where I have been introduced to values, faith and respect for others. Whatever I have learnt from my parents I will continue to pass on to future generation. Poland went threw hard time during II World War, suffer a lot. However was able to help the UK by fighting Germans. It is vital to mention Squadron 303 who fought 126 German Messerschmitt and contributed to UK's freedom over the Nazist attacks/occupation. Polish people are skilled as these Polish pilots, we grew up and learn to be strong and never give up. Life is an experience and home where you make it and values are important for our identity.\r\nAnne H., Senior Nurse at one of London's hospitals.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-12T12:44:55.358329+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 49,
        "title": "Zmiany są zawsze wskazane aby na lepsze.",
        "keywords": "motherhood, children, future, fulfilment",
        "text": "Nazywam się Renata Hryszko. Przyjechałam do Anglii (Londyn) w roku 2003, z zamysłem rozwoju i udostępnienia lepszego życia moim dzieciom. Obecnie mamy rok 2019 i w pełni mogę stwierdzić, że mój plan się powiódł. Mój syn Jarosław ukończył studia na Uniwersytecie w Newcastle na wydziale \"Math and Statistic\", otrzymuje tytuł Master First, natomiast córka Katarzyna pracuje w korporacji obejmując stanowisko Dyrectora do spraw \"challange\" w investycjach i została oddelegowana do Nowego Jorku. Obecnie mieszka na Manhatania. Jako matka business woman jestem spełniona. Gratuluję sobie tego wyboru. Zawdzięczam swoje osiągnięcia dobremu podejściu do życia, mojej mamie Annie, która wszczepiła mi motto życiowe : \"Zmiany są zawsze wskazane aby na lepsze\" . Pozdrawiam.\r\n\r\n[My name is Renata Hryszko. I came to England (London) in 2003, with the intention of developing and sharing a better life for my children. It is now 2019 and I can say that my plan has been successful. My son Jarosław graduated from the University of Newcastle in the \"Maths and Statistics\" department, receives a First Class Masters, while my daughter Katarzyna works in a corporation, taking the position of the \"challange\" dispenser in investments and was delegated to New York. She currently lives in Manhattan. As a businesswoman mother, I'm satisfied. I congratulate myself on this choice. I owe my achievements to a good approach to life, my mother Anna, who instilled in me the motto of life: \"Changes are always recommended but only if they are for the better.\" Greetings.\r\nGoogle Translation]",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-12T12:56:45.850516+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 50,
        "title": "Притворись, что СССР не распался",
        "keywords": "ILR, immigration control, benefits, double drop, shadow cabinet, two required signatures, multiple passports, affirmative action, non-domicile, integration, assimilation, belonging, home",
        "text": "Переезды, путешествия, знакомства и расставания заставили задаться вопросом. Кто я? Не без применения восточных мистиков и культов я разобрался в этом вопросе, однако появилась новая проблема. В своем исследовании я отыскал социологический термин sense of belonging, то чувство что ты кому-то нужен. Эту идею я подчеркиваю в докладе Лондонской Школы Экономики о застройках высокоплотном жильем. Это чувство и стало целью, возможно не достижимой, слегка туманной, эфемерной утопией уроженца города Москвы.\r\nКогда я учился в школе я захотел уехать заграницу. В нашем классе учился сын профессора из Йельского университета и мне было интересно общаться с ним про музыку. В итоге мне удалось уломать родителей. Это был не самый дешевый вариант, но я хотел жить отдельно. Англия привлекала наличием рок сцены и индустрией футбола.\r\nДля поступления я выбрал социологию. Поступить реально и я рассчитывал затеряться на Западе после этого. Это и есть социология, пригодилась. В Британии живу 10 лет и я отработал сезон в отделе кейтеринга Лондонского Олимпийского стадиона, на котором выступает Вэст Хэм. Свободное время в WorkHubs.\r\nНе смотря на то что я не иммигрант первой волны, мое решение было довольно своевременное. За мной потянулись родители, они до Англии не доехали, зато добрались до Италии. За нами планомерно подтягивается и Украина, которая теперь имеет возможность на заработки в Евросоюзе. Репрессии Путинского режима, таки повлияли на мое решение, как косвенные доказательства влияют на исход детективного триллера.\r\nПотому что вокруг одни западные в жизни приходится почти всегда говорить на английском. Хотя, в отличии от первых переселенцев, мне есть с кем поговорить и на русском. Вообще этот город называют современным Вавилоном и говорят на более чем трех стах языках. Здесь, я познакомился с некоторыми игроками сборной Англии по футзалу. В отличии от наших у них только один натурализованный Бразилец, играют они лучше меня, но чемпионат России и Украины гораздо сильнее, чего не скажешь об Английской Супер Лиге, где собраны лучшие по футболу.\r\nКакое-то время мой дом был в Бирмингеме, где я учился на бакалавра в Бирмингемском университете, который и проводит это исследование. Запросили истории переездов из Восточной Европы в Западную после падения железного занавеса. Теперь мой дом в Лондонграде или как я его называю Лондоская Секулярная Зависимая Территория или London Secular Dependency (LSD).",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "British",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-14T09:06:49.191004+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 52,
        "title": "Born in 1988",
        "keywords": "migration; improved life; positive stories",
        "text": "I was born in 1988. The stories about Fall of Berlin Wall I know from my parents and history lessons. What I was told is that economical situation and educational conditions in Poland were very limited. People in Poland had to work hard for little money to rebuild the country after damages caused by war and communist regime. Things changed a lot when Poland joined the European Union in 2004. Thanks to this political change I got a chance to study and live in England. I have successfully completed my degree and was able to get a job. My profession helps me to fulfill myself. I live in England and I feel like at home.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-24T07:51:34.244892+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 53,
        "title": "empty shelves",
        "keywords": "communism; youth; human rights; economy",
        "text": "I do remember communism in Poland as a beautiful time - time of my youth and first love... But it had its second face too - martial law of 1981. I remember the morning without Teleranek - a TV show everybody used to watch. I remember a lot of people were afraid of Soviet army coming to the country. And later - poverty. Empty shelves in shops - the only thing you could get was vinegar. I don't know how people get money and goods back then, because there was literally nothing. You could buy things by using coupons - a coupon for bread, sugar, chocolate etc. \r\n\r\nBut somehow everybody carried on. Under the counter - but somehow, we survived.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-25T13:10:51.319542+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 54,
        "title": "We just wanted human dignity",
        "keywords": "communism; human rights; economy",
        "text": "I remember Polish people living under communism were not treated as full citizens. Human dignity didn't matter at all. I don't think that queues in shops and economical crisis are the most important memories of that time. I would rather say - lack of opportunities which young people have now. We couldn't really express our dissatisfaction with political situation. We couldn't really express ourselves as artists. Which on the other hand was good, because we were far more creative. Anyways, it was a bad time for Polish people who knew that maybe, better reality is possible to achieve.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Polish",
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-25T13:19:23.835871+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 56,
        "title": "Upadek komunizmu w pociągu",
        "keywords": "communism; 1989; lessons",
        "text": "W czasach PRLu życie było szare i beznadziejne. Brakowało podstawowych produktów niezbędnych do życia, nie było papieru i podpasek. W telewizji i prasie funkcjonowały tylko oficjalne kanały informacyjne szerzące partyjną propagandę. Wiadomości braliśmy z Radia Wolna Europa i Głosu Ameryki. Podczas studiów sprzedawaliśmy literaturę tak zwanego \"drugiego obiegu\", czyli taką, która była objęta cenzurą i nie można było jej oficjalnie dystrybuować. Byliśmy zaangażowani także w Niezależne Zrzeszenie Studentów, czyli oddolną organizację studencką. Jednak najgorszy wtedy był brak perspektyw - zarówno ekonomicznych jak i politycznych. Nie było perspektywy ani poprawy standardu naszego życia, ani odzyskania wolności słowa. \r\n\r\nW 1989 ludzie powszechnie zaangażowali się w czerwcowe wybory (pierwsze częściowo wolne). Mimo tego komuniści mieli mieć zagwarantowaną większość sejmową. Jednak nie udało się utworzyć rządu i premierem został nikomu nieznany Mazowiecki, członek opozycji. Dowiedzieliśmy się o tym w specyficznych okolicznościach, bo podczas naszej podróży poślubnej w polskie góry. Cały pociąg dyskutował o nowym premierze z Solidarności i o słabości komunistów. Podczas tej podróży dotarła do nas też informacja o zburzeniu muru berlińskiego. Od razu zaczęły pojawiać różnorodne (teraz dla nas oczywiste) produkty w sklepach. Jednocześnie dramatycznie spadła wartość polskiego pieniądza i praktycznie nic nie można było w sklepach kupić. \r\n\r\nPrzeprowadzka do UK była dla nas decyzją trudną, ale konieczną. Po otworzeniu granic zaważyliśmy, że w Europie Zachodniej wszystko wygląda lepiej i tylko tam możemy zacząć godnie żyć. Tylko tam nasza praca będzie dobrze opłaca i uda nam się zapewnić dzieciom odpowiednie warunki do rozwoju.\r\n\r\n Odzyskanie wolności zmieniło nasz życie o 180 stopni. Wróciła nadzieja, otworzyły się granice, cały świat stał dla nas otworem, otarcie na produkty i kulturę zachodnią. Nie byliśmy niczym skrępowani. Doświadczyliśmy też dużego skoku materialnego. Powoli bogaciliśmy się materialnie. Stopniowo mogliśmy zacząć wyjeżdżać za granicę, kupić samochód.\r\nW 2019 roku 1989 rok uczy nas dbania o wolność i tego, że wszystko jest możliwe, wszystko można zmienić. Nawet największe zło można pokonać.\r\nPowinniśmy o tym pamiętać, musimy uczyć tego młodsze pokolenie na lekcjach historii.\r\n\r\n[In times of the PRL, life was gray and hopeless. There were no basic products necessary for life, no paper and sanitary napkins. Only official news channels propagating party propaganda functioned on television and in the press. We took news from Radio Free Europe and Voice of America. During our studies, we sold the literature of the so-called \"second circulation\", i.e. one that was censored and could not be officially distributed. We were also involved in the Independent Students' Union, a grassroots student organization. However, the worst was the lack of perspectives - both economic and political. There was no prospect of improving the standard of our lives, nor regaining freedom of speech. In 1989, people were widely involved in the June elections (the first partly free). Despite this, the communists were to be guaranteed the majority of the Sejm. However, it was not possible to form a government and Prime Minister Mazowiecki, a member of the opposition, was unknown to anyone. We learned about it in specific circumstances, because it happened during our honeymoon trip to the Polish mountains. The entire train was discussing the new premiere of Solidarity and the weakness of the communists. During this trip, information about the destruction of the Berlin Wall came to us. Immediately various products (now obvious to us) appeared in stores. At the same time, the value of Polish money fell dramatically, and practically nothing could be bought in stores. Moving to the UK was a difficult but necessary decision for us. After opening the borders, we assumed that in Western Europe everything looks better and only there can we start living with dignity. Only there will our work pay off well and will we be able to provide the children with appropriate conditions for development. The recovery of freedom changed our lives by 180 degrees. Hope has returned, the boundaries have opened, the whole world has opened up for us, rubbing on products and Western culture. We were not embarrassed. We also experienced a large material jump. We were slowly getting rich materially. Gradually, we could start to go abroad, buy a car. In 2019, 1989, we are taught to care for freedom and that everything is possible, everything can be changed. Even the greatest evil can be overcome. We should remember this, we must teach this to the younger generation in history lessons.\r\nGoogle Translation]",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": null,
        "notes": "",
        "created": "2019-07-29T21:08:18.470348+01:00"
    },
    {
        "id": 57,
        "title": "GET THE QUEUE TO SAY GOODBYE",
        "keywords": "London, Airport, Budapest, move, goodbye, new life, fate, life balance, coincidence, fulltimegay",
        "text": "MYSTORY: GET THE QUEUE TO SAY GOODBYE\r\n24th February 2017 Friday \r\nWe have competed everything. I left the keys in the letterbox for the flat I sold. The taxi is here, gosh the trunk may not be big enough for eight suitcases. I was upset because, when I booked the taxi, I left a comment about this situation. Our whole life is packed in that luggage. We just had one-way tickets. I was thrilled. The chauffeur was funny but not in a good way, grumpy old man with silly old fashion jokes. \r\nThe BUD airport was crowded. We did not spend much time at the counter, despite the ground crew being surprised at the quantity of our suitcases. We were standing in the queue, suddenly I saw a guy with a familiar face. OH MY GOD this was my EX-boyfriend and his husband. They were in the queue also behind us. I was shocked. I haven’t seen him for ages and the last time I saw him, he was upset about nothing and shouted at me. I used to love him despite the humiliation about everything particularly the English language. And now we are in the same queue at the Airport and how bizarre, me and my LOVE move to London. We will use the English language for the next period of our life and the EX is just standing there and has not got any foggy idea about it. The balance of life has swung back again. \r\nI was triumphant and felt full of energy. Such a symbolic situation we had. This was my true goodbye from Hungary, from my bad and good memories and from my loves as well.\r\nAnd the aircraft took to the air.",
        "image": null,
        "video_key": null,
        "audio_key": null,
        "author_nationality": "Hungarian",
        "notes": "This is a Hungarian gay guy about moving, very beginning to new life to London, and a non-coincidence situation.",
        "created": "2019-08-12T12:50:15.499577+01:00"
    }
]