Integration
I got to think about integration this
afternoon while walking in a park. As a person who’s lived in 4 countries on 2
continents, I feel that full integration is impossible. Yes, it’s nice to get
along and have common interests, perhaps common background but is that really
that important? I remember it used to be important for me to “fit in”. Then
again, even in a more tolerant to diversity country such as the USA, I used to
be a bit on the side. Yes, I was successful but how many American friends did I
have? Zero. I was aware of the differences.
Now in London, living around
blocks of social housing, I got to think about diversity, society and
integration. The people who live next to where I live don’t seem integrated at
all, they basically live in their own little society. Maybe there’s nothing
wrong with that but shouldn't there be at least some connections, communication
channels? As a foreigner as well, I feel that maybe I don’t have the passion to
“fit in” anymore. I have friends, expats as well that suits me just fine now. I
never felt discriminated in the UK, but I don’t feel I will ever be accepted
either.
A French friend of mine who’s
lived in London for 16 years, recently told me that he feels happy here but that
“we (perhaps he meant people from continental Europe) and they (the British,
the English) will never quite be on the same page – we’re simply made of
different dough!”. “Hm, so true”, I said – I always felt the same way.
Nothing personal though, I don’t
have a problem with the British. I didn't have any problems with the Americans.
Neither with the Portuguese. Everywhere people are formed in line with the
society within which they have been raised. Yet, in all these locations, I’ve
experienced different levels of “integration”. Perhaps that’s how things are.
We choose our friends (within our own nations), we choose who we want to hang
out with so it only makes sense that integration is a concept achievable to a certain
degree. The other day a British colleague of mine stated that he used to work
in country-side England and found it unbearable that his co-workers used to
talk all day about cars and other subjects that were of no interest to him. He
said that he found work environments back in London much better (due to the
diversity). I used to entertain similar dissimilarities with teens when I was a
teen living in my own country. I was happy to be an individualist. Then in
later stages of my life, I wasn't so happy, especially after seeing the staunch
individualism in the American society. I felt it’s not the right way.
So maybe we’re so concerned about
integration because we live in nation states. They amplify the notions of “ours”,
the known and the “foreign”, the unknown. If we lived in one world borderless
society, nobody would have cared.
The only important thing is that
there is dialogue, understanding and to build bridges with the “unknown”, never
ostracize and ignore.
