When I read expat posts (and I read a lot of them, because I am always curious to see how people adjust), I understand that the common problem for any expat, regardless of their origin or destination, is that we look for people just like us and gravitate towards those that speak the same language. Even those who try to swim upstream eventually end up with a circle of friends that reflects this almost subconscious need to be with those that are just like us.
That's not what I want to say though... what I noticed is that I am a person without a country. I gravitate towards the Soviets, not Russians... My eyes don't lock with the new Russians, I seek out those people from the late eighties-early nineties - the "soviets"... They can be Russian, Ukrainian (I am married to a Ukrainian Jew), Georgian, Armenian, Belorussian, Latvian, Estonian, .... I have no animosity towards Georgians despite the war... I have no dislike for Ukrainians supposedly stealing Russian gas... As an expat, I am preserved in my emotional time warp and feel completely cocooned in my circle of Soviet friends from different backgrounds that are completely bewildered by the newly found hatred, newly found faith, newly formed coalitions. When I follow the Olympics, I still sum up all those medals that are won by former Soviet Union Republics and feel great, because normally we, the Soviets, come out on top (ahead of China and the US!) I know how silly and infantile this sounds, but I can't help it.
5 hours ago
3 comments:
Oh, I completely understand! And this explains why it was difficult for my friends of Greek and Australian descent to grow up in 80s/90s Australia, when their parents had come from the homeland with the ideas of how children are raised there.
BTW, Gordeeva & Grinkov...still the best!
Thanks, Gabrielle! I definitely agree about Gordeeva and Grinkov! Cheers!
Hey I really second that emotion: it would be damn stupid to bite the bait that politicians throw us and start hating our former compatriots. "Divide and rule", indeed. Ain't gonna buy into that! :)
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