Hacer is a student from Bandirma in the northwest of Turkey - She moved to north London in May of 2007 and previously taught English to primary school students. 

Although percieved from the outside as a very united nation, Turkey is in reality a patchwork of many very different regions and ethnic groups, each with their own varied traditions and customs (Hacer herself is Cherkess, a people originally from the southern Causasus region displaced in the 19th century by Russian imperial expansion and encouraged to settle in the old Ottoman empire). It’s a large place; the west and south being decidedly more western in focus, the north and eastern parts of the nation lean rather more staunchly towards the middle east with a very traditional outlook towards life. 

Turkey is a modern and secular state, but this depends largely on upbringing and family life - in much the same way as the rest of Europe (though the dominant religion is Islam here, again stronger in the rural North and East). Being a nation that sits across two continents, the question arose of her opinions on Turkey and EU membership - She thinks even though changes have been rapid and improvements vast - Turkey isn’t ready for Europe; “perhaps the south and west, but not all of it.” 

Turkish people have relatively little help from the government to achieve their goals; it’s commented that where British people have all the support but a lack of ideas, Turks have no shortage of ideas but a lack of support to turn these dreams into a reality. There is no guarantee of any kind of income in Turkey so people must work hard to achieve their goals in a way that instils tremendous work ethic from a very early age. Hacer is a little disappointed at knowledge of current and world affairs here in the UK too - Turks “always want to talk about politics” and have a very outward focus. They like to stay abreast of what’s going on and to keep up with events across the globe wherever possible.

Her message is “don’t just watch the news, go and see what’s really out there.” The news can be altered to suit who is telling it, but everything is different on the inside.

Maja is Macedonian, a woman from the Balkans but having lived here since 1995 and with such an attachment to this city she considers herself “a true Londoner”. “London is my kind of city, big, cosmopolitan, dynamic, full of opportunities and ideal for individualists.” She arrived in London to work for the BBC World Service as a political journalist soon after Macedonian independence. I didn’t come because I didn’t have a job in Macedonia, I was already working for the UN there. I came because I felt that the World needs to learn about Macedonia and I saw it as my vocation to tell everyone about it.

Macedonia is a small country of just over 2 million people and although independent for over 20 years, people still are not sure where it is and often confuse it with Montenegro.”  The Balkans may evoke a negative connotations in British minds due to their history of ethnic conflict but the region is a fascinating one. “The nature is beautiful, the weather is nice, Macedonia has 265 sunny days per year and people are generally friendly and relaxed, albeit with a “small town mentality” that prevails even in larger cities. Every body minds everyone’s business, but more importantly everyone looks out for each other.”

Maja’s love for her homeland is all encompassing and she has “spent years writing about Macedonia, going to conferences, debates, giving interviews and briefings to diplomats and the military, writing to ambassadors, MPs, lobbying. I did my masters studies at the European Institute of the London School of Economics researching the reasons for the dispute between Macedonia and Greece and wrote my thesis on the subject. I can say that I have spent a huge chunk of my professional life raising awareness about Macedonia, but recently I decided to focus on other things. While the survival of Macedonia was questioned in the nineties, it is now an established country, which has it’s problems but is firmly embedded on the European map.”

She founded the London European Club (http://www.meetup.com/London-European-Club/) in 2010, who better to take part in such a multicultural experiment! “My interest in the debate on Europe is very strong and I wanted to introduce European topics to a wider audience of Londoners in a fun and relaxed way. We go for political debates, watch European movies, we travel around Europe, drink Turkish and Italian coffee…I have met some amazing people through the Club and I have learned a lot about Europe. I thought I pretty much knew it all as I have travelled extensively and have covered it as a journalist, but I’m still learning, sometimes from the most unlikely people or attending events that I would have never heard of if it wasn’t for club member suggestions.

Her advice to others would be to “know yourself well, before you give advice to others - stand up for yourself, never let anyone make you believe that you are insignificant or that your opinions don’t count. Don’t let anyone speak in your name, but know what you want to say, before you open your mouth.”

Louis is 44, a clinical psychologist and was born and raised in New Jersey, USA. He’s lived in New York and California before taking a post working with the US military at their air force bases around the world - taking him to the midwestern states, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and Hawaii before he finally arrived here in London in 2009. His family is of Italian American extraction and like most other Italian Americans he feels a very strong link to Italy and Italian culture. “American” isn’t an ethnic identity as such so American nationals quite often refer to themselves as being “Italian” or “Irish” based on their ancestral origins, however long their families have settled in the states.

He doesn’t think he appreciated all the modern conveniences that were on offer or the “status” of being American whilst growing up.  He was taught in school that there were NO disadvantages of being from the USA at all, though he’s been able to learn for himself exactly what it means to be an American. He definitely feels less of one than he was after almost three years in the British capital and doesn’t think he could resettle back in the states after his more cosmopolitan experiences across the pond. A lot of Americans see Europe as a single entity (at least politically) and are a little in the dark as to the delicate nuances of the myriad nationalities on our continent - with relatively little knowledge of what goes on here as opposed to the blanket coverage of home affairs. When he arrived “there were many things very similar to the states; and yet it was all so unfamiliar! I expected there would be cultural differences, but could not envision how different it would be.” There are definitely things in the UK that could benefit from taking a little more from America - particularly “dealing with snow and customer service!”.

Even though the states are traditionally known as the “melting pot” of diversity Louis is certain that London is dramatically more diverse than anywhere in the US. “The quality of life in the UK is much more focused on leisure time, and there seems to be much more equality. Also, everyone seems to know at least one additional language here!” He’s planning to do his part and has become determined to learn French (I’m sure if anyone reading would like to help him with this I can put you in contact).

His wisdom for the world developed over time, combining his own experiences with his work with individuals and couples in therapy is that you should “appreciate the people in your life, while they are in your life” and “prioritise relationships and experiences over material things”. He’s seen that “people are lonely when they don’t have satisfying relationships with friends, families and partners no matter where you live, that’s probably the one thing we all have in common.” He’s very keen to encourage everyone reading to “embrace the diversity of the UK and the benefits of living near so many beautiful countries, there are so many interesting people out there to get to know!”

Lucia is 34 and from Madrid. She works on a help desk and arrived in the UK in 2005, after periods in Cranfield, Newcastle and Southampton she made her way to London in September 2010. Madrid, even though the capital and largest city in Spain (also the third largest in Europe) is quite a condensed and small place, quite some difference to her new home here in London! She feels that Spanish culture is much more abrupt and direct than the local equivalent, there’s an obvious disappointment in the non confrontational style of speech and decision making that leads to quite some confusion to someone so unfamiliar.   

Spain is a fairly Catholic, conservative and orthodox place but that’s changing rapidly. Although an atheist herself she says it’s somewhere “people believe in god, not the church”. Spaniards grow up with religion (they marry in church and almost all are baptised), but it’s not a large part of daily life and very few people still go to mass on a weekly basis - particularly amongst the younger generations). Most people consider themselves to be “European as well as Spanish”, even after recent events have somewhat tarred the political system. 

She didn’t really have much of a moral to give initially, but after a run through of some of our other participants’ thoughts she was very happy to put her name to “living every day as if there is no tomorrow”.

I met Rachele, Claudia and Antonio in a Farringdon bar on a Friday evening and they very graciously agreed to throw their hats into the ring and represent their home nation for this, Italy. Rachele is 36 and from Varese - has lived in the UK for seven years, though previously Dublin before that for eight. Claudia is 33 and from Verona. She’s moved back to Italy now and is visiting but lived here in the UK from 1998 to 2009. Antonio is from Bologna and has lived here for four years, though again has come from Dublin where he stayed for seven years. They all summed up their move to London in one word - “Jobs”. Britain is a place for them to work but definitely not any kind of a home. They consider themselves Italian to the full and don’t feel like they have become any more British in any way by their time here. They love the city of London and consider themselves lucky to have been able to spend years here, but have never lost sight of where they were born and the nation they grew up in. 

Our participants were fiercely proud of being made up of 100% Italian ancestry throughout, with a complete consensus between them on what it means to be an Italian. All three knew instantaneously that to be from Italy meant they had a good upbringing that centred on “family, food and children.” Support and strength is derived from a group culture and shared respect. Italians are passionate people and rely on continuous engagement to cement their relationships with each other. There is a great degree of face to face conversation and shying away from the use of mobile phones whenever possible. Italy is a relatively conservative and homogeneous place, remaining almost unmixed until even the late 80’s - unlike the more multicultural United Kingdom.

As is fair, each of my three volunteers gets to give their message to the world and we have three very varied responses - Claudia insists that “you shouldn’t listen to advice, do your own thing and be yourself”. Rachele is a little more succinct and just says to “be good”, whilst Antonio in perhaps a nod to the Italian love of good food wants to make sure that “you should never sprinkle Parmesan cheese on seafood”.

Christian is 31 and works as director of marketing for a mobile gaming company based here in London. He is originally from Siebengebirge, a region of Germany to the east of the river Rhine. He moved to the UK in 2008 with a brief 6 month stint in Korea and prior to that lived his whole life in his home nation (though again with a small 6 month foray into Bulgaria). His family on both sides have similar heritage with ties to the Rhineland as far back as can be remembered. He enjoys Britain, in consideration of everywhere else he’s been this feels like home to him - though he admits that he’s never lost sight of where he’s from. The people he has grown up have a common ground and a shared past that although you can meet many people later that you will become firm friends with, nobody will ever be able to catch up with that and be able to look at things in the same way that these people can with you.

Christian freely admits that he’s not experienced all of the UK and has not seen the full spectrum of life here (he’s lived in London and Brighton) but he feels that the British people are the closest to common understanding with the Germans. They have a shared philosophical core of European principles due to the similar experiences that these nations have undergone in their histories; they may have peripheral differences but along with France - they shaped and in turn form the heart of modern Europe. 

Germany has a very high quality of life and Germans are never happy with their lot. They constantly strive for improvement, with a near unparalleled work ethic in their attempts to do so. There was a deal of surprise at the positivity in prejudice towards the German people -  their efficiency and punctuality being more exaggerated observations, true to an extent (a few minutes here and there would mean nothing but being late by half an hour would be considered very rude) but very much a product of a more formal way of living and working. Reflective of this formality, many terms of address have two forms to show deference and familiarity with the subject; there is a far larger divide in society based on seniority more than any kind of class or social standing.

 When pausing to reflect on what best to say to the world and making sure what he says is most appropriate Christian notes that he’s applying his lesson even at this point. He says to “Look for yourself first before you look for others”. Not in an egotistical sense, but that you should have reached the position in which you are able to give advice before handing it out. By doing that you ensure that you have a position of strength and knowledge on a subject and it’s less likely to be “the unasked doctor who ends up causing more damage than he attempted to repair”

As a nice little counterpoint to the last posting we remain with the antipodes for another moment. Nadine is 20 and works here as an Au Pair (she’s also a qualified child psychologist). She was born and grew up in Gold Coast, Queensland until she turned 18 - then moved to UK for work. She’s due to go home for six months next week and is undecided about her return. She wants to try life in the US, but she’s pretty sure that London is the place for her now, which she noticed accidentally when talking about moving back and where she subconsciously placed the term “home”. Her mother was originally German, but her father is from a long line of Australians. 

She feels a little sorry for people in Britain growing up when happily reminiscing of her own childhood; her youth was full of going to the beach, camping, travelling outdoors and barbecues. The snowy & rainy days that banish everyone to the indoors are a curse, particularly at Christmas when nothing can ever come close to their sunshine celebrations. There’s an agreement Australians are relatively forward, matter of fact and some would even say blunt, a set of traits that doesn’t seem to be taken as negative in the slightest. Everybody is friendly irrespective of age and she’s baffled by how closed the British people are when it comes to pleasantries or conversation. Her confusion at how a shop assistant couldn’t return a “happy new year” several days prior was a particular talking point. This sort of thing is second nature to Australian culture.

She wants everyone to “live every day like you’ll die tomorrow”. Nadine is the girl that you’ll find dancing at the bus stop, even when I came to meet her she was singing and dancing whilst stood at the underground station exit. You need to speak your mind, party hard, enjoy life and never pass up an opportunity. You should never say no to anything, “you’ll never hit a home run when sitting on the sidelines”.

Bryce is 27 (although he was convinced he was 28 until his wife corrected him a week before this meeting) and from one of the southernmost cities on the planet, Invercargill (once described by Mick Jagger as “the a—-hole of the universe” - a big headline for quite some time to the locals). He’s a professional skateboarder and runs a skate shop, leaving New Zealand in something of a love story five years ago to be with his now spouse, Saida. In a nod to the interconnected multicultural nature of this blog, she’s half Egyptian and he’s of Scottish, Indian, Chinese, Portuguese and Dutch extraction (all of these being in living memory - his mothers side of the family were a long line of spice traders who settled in Singapore)

His former home is very similar to Britain in terms of climate and culture, with the exception of being understandably a little behind the rest of the world and sporting a far more relaxed attitude to almost all aspects of life. His home city was founded by Scottish settlers as opposed to the majority English settlers who made up the rest of the new nation and he carries a slightly altered accent to the rest of his compatriots as a result, in addition to the odd borrowing from Scots language. Before arriving here he had almost no real opinion of the UK with only Coronation street, the queen and football hooliganism as things he could vividly associate with here but now he’s very happy to call London home.

His message to the world is by his own admission the only non plagiarised philosophical idea that he could think of; that you should “see the best in every moment, because you’ll never see those moments again”. He’s accepted this phrase for most of his life but it became his mantra after his move with a frustration of British tendencies to live in shades of grey. People are always “not bad” when asked how things are going, wishing the day away that work would be over or that they earned more money. To him that’s something that could never happen - He lives to get the most he can out of everything in every way possible.

This is Harriet, she’s 23 and was born in the UK, living her whole life in a village just outside Derby in the East Midlands. She’s a hairdresser and I became friends with her as a regular at one of the clubs I used to help run. Part of this experiment is about finding people from every walk of life you can imagine, but as there are those who have come half the world in search of new beginnings - some are fond enough of their surroundings to never feel the need to spread their wings.

She doesn’t feel any kind of particular attachment or patriotism in her upbringing, which seems to be an awfully common feature of the British psyche. She grew up here as has her family before her for generations, but has never really stopped to call herself “proud” of where she is from or ask herself what being British actually means to her. It’s just “a place” to her.

In the way that will become standard for the blog I’ve asked her to impart some form of special knowledge or motto that she’d like to share with the world and she assured me she doesn’t have one. She “just likes being happy” and to “treat others how you wish to be treated”. 

We start our voyage close to home, with my dear Grandmother, Santina Maria - born September 1931 in Tripoli, Libya during the period of Italian occupation. Her parents emigrated from Gela, Sicily before she was born as a response to Mussolini’s promises of a better life in the colonies and she met my Grandfather (A Scottish soldier stationed in the city) whilst working at a launderette, later marrying there in 1951.

They are still both alive and well to this day (you can see my grandfather in the background of the picture) having relocated to the United Kingdom in the early 50’s although they made frequent trips to see the rest of my family in Libya until 1969 when Gadaffi took control of the nation (they were present during the coup in fact). The rest of my family fled Tripoli and returned to Italy in 1970 due to racist government policies leaving them in very real danger.

I wanted to let everyone featured on this blog send a message to the world to compare and contrast our differences and similarities but I know that my grandmother lives hers daily. She hand wrote in a copy of her own life story “From deprivation can come many good things” and I think there’s a little more to it than that. There’s something more beautiful in knowing that if you have found love - somehow, everything finds a way.