I've heard some people saying they feels like they're foreigners in their own country because of the high amount of immigrants and refugees settling in their country. So I asks because I'm curious on how many feels like that on GAG.
I don't feel like a foreigner since the majority I meets are Norwegian like myself. But I've noticed there's more immigrants and refugees plus more new languages, cultures etc. It's a lot more common now than for some years ago. My country that had a mono-culture is leaning more to multiculturalism and I don't need to go far to see foreigners. If I walks five minutes outside my house I sees one. A citizen and immigrants.
Not at all. Switzerland has always been the home of many foreigners and I feel like that is a part of our culture. Contrary to other European nations, Switzerland was founded on the principle of "will". We often call our country "a nation of will". What this means is that our forefathers have united and created this country not because we speak a common language or because we share common religious views or because we have the same culture but because we chose to become one big, happy family. The right-wing in Switzerland tends to forget this sometimes but this is where our roots lie. So I don't mind living among people from far-away places. There is not one single set of "true" Swiss values everyone has to religiously stick to. All it takes to be a good resident of this country is the genuine desire to be here, the respect for the constitution and the laws and some motivation to integrate yourself culturally and socially. Everything else will fall into place.
As for refugees: Switzerland has always been the home of refugees, some of which were famous too (Einstein, Lenin, Büchner etc.). During WW2, we have often failed our humanitarian responsibility and made ourselves guilty of the murders of thousands of Jewish refugees. Such mistakes shall never happen again. Switzerland is a tiny country with an already dense population but I believe we should accept as many people seeking political asylum as we can afford.
And finally, I also enjoy multiculturalism quite a bit. How lame would it be to eat the same few dishes all the time. I'm thankful to the Italians who brought us pasta, the Japanese who brought us sushi, the Arabs who brought us this wonderful Lebanese and Moroccan cuisine. I'm not scared by foreign languages. As somebody who has studied linguistics, I find it a great enrichment. There is so much to learn from other cultures.
Not all foreign immigrants are pleasant. Nor are all locals. A good mix is the best. I am married to a foreigner who also happens to be the greatest person I've ever met.
You've made a very welcoming statement. As a non-Swiss I have no idea how accurate your assessment of your society's roots are, so I will accept them as you stated them, although I would question what the unstated assumptions of your founding fathers were. They were most likely unstated because they were so universally accepted that they did need to be stated *at the time*
Be that as it may, your statement is inconsistent.
You say, "... our forefathers have united and created this country not because... we have the same culture but..." You later state, "All it takes to be a good resident of this country is... some motivation to integrate yourself culturally and socially."
On a separate issue, I congratulate you on having found a wonderful companion. Have you ever considered how much of what you admire and enjoy about her/him is a product of his/her culture?
I'm norwegian too, writing in English now so everyone understands. No, I do not feel like a foreigner, but I do feel like my social, public surroundings are more foreign. I just moved to a larger town, and it seems to me that half the people I pass are African, Asian and middle eastern. I wish them well adjusting. My mother works at the school here where they learn Norwegian, and says they are so nice, polite and grateful. I must however admit that it's sort of intimidating, to go from only Norwegians around here, to people you don't have a clue what background they have. I had a pretty bad experience with a Turkish guy in my block who was supposed to give me the key to the apartment, but rather ridiculed me and tried to trick me. God knows why. I had payed for that key and everything. That wouldn't have happened with a Norwegian. It's just something about the attitude towards strangers.
They are for sure just people, but we are socialized very differently, and it takes time getting used to. If we get the guts to talk to each other we find they have humor, love being social and want to treat people good, almost always :)
Same here. I sees a lot of Africans, Asians, Middle-eastern etc. too. I can tell by the language they're speaking and how they dress. I thinks it's a bit intimidating too. Especially when they're talking loud in their language which sounds a bit angry for us more silent Norwegians and when many walks around covered in veils. I understands we're taking in refugees from wars etc. But I'm not surprised if we're going to experience a culture crash (Kulturkræsj). So I see both the pros and cons. But I can promise you not all African and Asian looking people are foreigners. Some are adopted from abroad by Norwegian people and since they're raised in Norway they lives like other Norwegians. "Verdens Barn" is an organization with adopting experiences.
Sure. I just go along. What has happened in Sweden is way more extreme, and shows what might happen when conflicting cultures are forced together too fast. Obviously people need to get away from war, and with the stupid system human kind has made for itself with laws, borders and states it's all a big mess. A big mess that I hope will calm down with time. It's an important question you ask.
Not at all. In most countries, the "original" inhabitants are still the largest group. Only exceptions are places like the USA, where the europeans are the majority while the native americans have become a discriminized minority. Same for australia.
"Original" is still between " " because if you look back far enough, homo sapiens all came from africa and a bit more recent but still prehistorical, homo sapiens pushed out the neanderthals in Europe until they went extinct. Lots of moves have happened prehistorically, to the point where nobody is really "native" to the place they live in. So for practicality I focussed on the past 500 years only.
Where do you draw the line? Are second generation immigrants still immigrants? What about 3rd gen? 4th? Or is anyone automatically a foreigner if their skin colour or religion differs from yours, even if their family has lived in the same country for over 50 years and they were born there too?
One last thing to think about: my neighbors got their son on a holiday in germany. Now the boy has 2 passports, just because he could and because they thought it would be nice for him to have that. They were there for a few weeks and he doesn't even speak german. Is he an immigrant in his parents' country?
I'm seen as a foreigner in my country not because of high amount of immigrants, I'm a foreigner because 1. I don't look Swedish 2. I seem to give off an incredibly un-swedish vibe, meanwhile my mum who is supposed to look far more foreign than me isn't treated or seen as such 3. My accent is very difficult to work out because it's such a mix of things. 4. My fashion isn't very Swedish...
(What I mean by seen as a foreigner is that they speak English to me rather than Swedish, meanwhile they speak Swedish to the rest in my family right away)
There's some people who believes I'm not Norwegian because I was made [produced by two people] in China, although I'm raised in Norway by Norwegian parents and my whole family is Norwegian. That's how adoption works.
I know, I've read it another time when you mentioned all that.
Point is that the politics adopt this stance with all the big parties making a big nationalistic shift to the right. So it's also on the streets but also a sentiment growing nationwide which is my main problem.
According to the "perpetual foreigner" stereotype, Asian-Americans are often branded as "foreign," regardless of the amount of the time on one's native soil. To make matters worse, some Asian-Americans may have ancestors who moved to the United States earlier than some European-Americans, but because of their physical appearance, they are deemed as "foreign". The underlying assumption is that America is a white person's country.
I think this also base on social status of Asian. Asian are branded as foreigner because we are taking over white collar job whereas other minorities are working blue collar jobs.
I know what you mean. It's like that in Canada. I have a Japanese friend who'se family has been here longer than most whites, but everyone thinks of him as a foreigner
That's absolutely true but i think it is also depends on the individual. Most Asians are shy compare to other race. There are many factors come in to play when talking about taking executive position which is another story.
I could be because of the fact that eastern Asian cultures are mostly xenophobic (I love it, the don't have muslims to ruin their country), which will lead to Asians marrying Asians.
I actually think about this all the time. I definitely feel like a foreigner in my own country. I live in a city thats actually referred to as little india because there are so many indians here. I may not see another white person the whole day here. It makes me really uncomfortable and I know I stand out like a sore thumb because of all the stares I get. I don't mind immigrants, but I hate this.
I live in the US. It bothers me because nothing is familiar. No one looks or acts like me and their way of life is just totally different then what Im used to. I don't have a problem with Indians being here, but people like to be with similar people.
My city has become much more multicultural on the past 50 years. I am not accustomed to this and I do not like it. Younger people don't understand and think that older people are intolerant but, when you get older, you will live surrounded by changes that you don't like.
I believe this is going to follow to the generations after yours and mine. Ergo the younger ones today will probably be the same as you about it later when they get older.
@Unit1 Yes, they would probably vehemently deny that if you asked them now but that is a part of human nature to which none of us are immune. As we get older, we get more resistant and less accepting to change.
Ohhh! I am also an example of it! I remember when 5 years ago things were a lot different and the changes didn't come yet as they are today. 5 Years ago we didn't have the influx of the immigrants and the internet wasn't restricted or banned. Those were times. Now the government is more control and power hungry than ever.
Legit information and truths are banned today in certain parts of the world.
I only ever kinda felt this way after moving to my current city where there is a high amount of immigration. It doesn't bother me but there are a few crowds that I sorta stick out in.
I don't really care about facial appearance or genetics that much. But when it comes to attitudes and behaviors, I'd say that I begin to feel that way even with locals who've been here their whole lives!
No matter how high the mantle of morality is lifted, the minute you stop lifting, it sinks straight to the bottom. With no new immigrants or ethnic groups necessary, I've seen classy neighborhoods become trashy ones.
It's a simple case of abandonment of decency. No one seems to believe in it anymore. And with it gone... poof!
Add to that, government policies favoring third-world rat holes over nations that have actual morals and solid ideas on how to improve industry (and any president who dares see how that's wrong becoming the target of an incessant smear campaign by CNN and the other fruitcakes), and the immigrants have no hope either.
If an entire neighborhood was upright, I could be surrounded by blacks and Asians on all sides, and feel completely okay. But start throwing in human locusts from literally anywhere, and it all goes away.
I do sometimes feel like a foreigner in my own country but not in the sense that the country that I know is changing. I've always lived in places with a lot of different cultures, went to a school with kids of like 12 different nationalities. It's more that I often get treated like a foreigner or looked down upon.
The sentiment against us 'allochtonen'(people with at least 1 parent born outside the Netherlands) is increasing, especially with the massive growth of the FvD and PVV. PVV (extreme and vocal disdain against i. e. Moroccans, Turks and the lot) is about to become the biggest. Luckily, they won't govern
Anyway, people series say I should sod off, think I'm not Dutch and soforth. If people ask me from which country I'm from, I usually say the Netherlands in my perfect Dutch, then they act all surprised and act as if I cannot be from here because I don't look (insert stereotype).
Then there is the fact that the government actively separates us 'allochtonen' from the ethnic Dutch with the words and statistics. De facto, this is based on skin colour.
Frankly, I get where the sentiment is coming from but it's very annoying for me. I often hear I have to integrate, that all of us lot are criminals (with my semi-moroccan background) and don't contribute anything.
Very annoying but you learn to get a thick skin because of all the shit I've heard and/or seen.
So it's not because of immigration but simply the fact that I was born, raised and have always lived and probably will always live in the Netherlands, did participate in Dutch culture and soforth and because of how I look never get treated as Dutch
I'll share a story with you. I live in a very populated city with many individual who are immigrants. I am not one. not every immigrant is like the men i will mention in this story.
When I was working in a grocery store we often had those client who do not speak English (main language) or French (2nd main language) and more than often they try to get us to answer their question in their language which maybe 2 % of the population talk.
There was that one time where this individual tried us to answer his question to our clerk. The clerk tried his best to understand him but he couldn't. He told the guy to leave her alone. He proceed to grab her arm very tight. he told him to stop but hit him on the head 3 time before walking away. the security guard caught him and the cops were called.
A couple of month after the incident the grocery store was hit with a lawsuit over this for not giving the guy service in the aggressor language. He lost his lawsuit but the groceries store also lost a lot of money in this lawsuit.
I don't think people are saying that because of immigration per se. I think people are saying that about immigrants that want to bring a culture drastically different from the one of their host country. And let's face it the most prominent example of our time are immigrants from muslim countries into the west
And no I don't feel like that but I see how it concerns people.
no, I feel like a foriegner in the human race, but that's another issue, I had the fortunate experience to grow up in an area with a diverse population, and have worked with people from many parts of the world. it's unfortunate that too many people are forced to flee bad situations in their home countries but the world is a better place for the opportunity to learn about and experience multiple cultures and peoples. my family is originally from Norway and Finland, but I'm third generation American. the world gets smaller every day, and people who try to isolate themselves from change and new ideas are going to be left behind. I for one embrace the idea of mingling with people of other cultures, just so long as we can respect each other, and allow ourselves to broaden our world view.
Not really, there are very few immigrants/refugees from outside Europe in Finland and most of them are concentrated in or near the capital area, so more than 100km from where I live. Apparently a lot of the refugees that came with the huge wave a while ago decided to leave because Finland is too cold and dark.
Norway is also cold and dark, but there's still a lot of immigrants and refugees. Especially in Oslo and Bergen. There's increased so much that East-Oslo is known for being the immigrants' city, but West-Oslo is a more Norwegian part of the capital city. Is Finland colder than Norway?
I'm pretty sure that the Oslo area at least is warmer than even the southern capital areas of Finland, though I couldn't answer by how much. But otherwise I'd say they are pretty even.
No, I don't. Canada has always been a nation of immigrants, ever since the days of New World colonialism. Everyone here who is not Native American is technically a foreigner. Most of my family was not born here in Canada, but they feel at home in this country and are grateful for the numerous opportunities that were available to them here.
@qristhe1 People started settling in Canada in the 1600's, much like the US. We became an official country in 1867. My dad's family came here in the early 1970's, so I'm not sure what you're getting at?
@qristhe1 No, they aren't because they came more than 100 years after we became an independent country. Settlers are people who move from one country to a region that is governed by that country. Immigrants are people who move from one country to another established country with a separate government.
you said the Canada was a nation of immigrants. clearly your family just recently immigrated to Canada. However clearly the nation isn't a nation of immigrants. A lot of them are settlers. and a lot of them are native born.
@qristhe1 What I meant was that people have been coming here from other countries for centuries. Of course, as they stayed more and more people were born here. So yeah, most of the population is born here. Most of them are not Native Americans (or First Nations as we call them here), which means that their ancestors were either settlers or immigrants if they came more recently.
because the Native Americans did not form Any Nation. Nor did they have any property rights that was a foreign concept to them. in fact the Native Americans for several centuries behind in technology they didn't even invent the wheel.
so the Native Americans didn't have the ability to create a nation. so therefore Canada is not a nation of immigrants. their nation of settlers from Europe. and eventually allowed immigrants to come to their country.
@qristhe1 Quit your silly semantic tricks. You know exactly what she means and it doesn't change anything whether you call the early immigrants "immigrants" or "settlers". It doesn't matter whether there was an official government, the social and cultural atmosphere was exactly the same. There were people who enjoyed the fact that they were surrounded by people from many different countries and there were butthurt people who complained and hated on the rest of the people who decided to live on that soil.
this is not a semantic tricks. those specific words have completely different meanings!
it changes everything about the statement. those words have completely different meanings. an immigrant is going into a country a settler is establishing a country. Those are two different positions.
And I don't think it's a wrong complaint you live in the poorest areas in the country. And you try to get a job at McDonald's and you can't get it because you're not bilingual.
I wouldn't call them butthurt. I would think that would be a legitimate concerned. but are you so Cosmopolitan that you can't see the problems of the little people!
@qristhe1 Native Americans did actually have their own nations (tribes) with their own simpler systems of government. But I'm not going to bother going any further with that, as it's clear that you're either being intentionally obtuse or you don't know how to read properly. Maybe both.
@qristhe1 Wow, now you understand what a settler is. The very earliest immigrants to this land are referred to as settlers. Anyone who comes to the country after it is officially founded and has independence is an immigrant.
They were tribal group who had no concept of property rights.
they had no idea that you could actually own land. Some of them were cannibals also. and they didn't actually form any particular Nation. They didn't have any particular borders. these things were complete foreign to them!
it's not like the Europeans even had to conquer the land. they just settled there cuz no one was specifically living there they claimed the land and formed the nation out of it! something that the Native Americans given possibly another eight hundred years might have formed their own Nation. but because of the violent battles tribes most likely that would have never happened.
@qristhe1 You're putting a lot of words into my mouth. I never said they owned property or had borders or any of that. They had primitive systems of government amongst tribe members. Once again, you're splitting hairs and arguing semantics, now over something that has strayed so far from the original topic.
@qristhe1 That's what I've been trying to get across to you for the last 2 hours. Never once did I say they were exactly the same. I tried to tell you that my family were not settlers of this country. They came long after it had been established. You then told me that meant they were settlers.
You're absolutely right - this is a hard concept for some people to understand 😂
@qristhe1 Immigrant --> from Latin "immigrāre", "travel/depart into". This is exactly what the early immigrants did and what immigrants do IN GENERAL. They EMIgrated out of Germany or Ireland or Russia and IMMIgrated into Canada. The act of traveling is called MIGRATING.
And yes, I do understand the worries the small people but look, this is free market capitalism. It's the system that conservatives love to defend all the time. If you don't get a job, you have two option: - offer your labor at a lower wage or - improve your skill set
If you're not willing to do either, someone else will get the job. Foreigners are not stealing the jobs, they simply happen to be better qualified or they are willing to work for less money. If you think this is meany and unfair, be angry at capitalism, not at foreigners. If there are any real "enemies" to the small people, it's the 1% who set up this system of competition, not the folks who are forced to compete against you.
oh come on check with the program! capitalism has the most economic migration out of any system! that's why the old saying was that the streets are paved with gold in America because the opportunities were there for anybody!
capitalism saves lives yes there are some economic winners and economic losers! but socialism kills I don't know how many countries have to continue to make the same mistakes and millions of people died for people to learn that!
and yes I agree that uncontrolled immigration has been a real problem especially in America. the right wants cheap labor so the imported from South America and the left wants new voters they can put on their Plantation!
and the idea that Americans don't want to do certain jobs is ridiculously untrue and is racist! they don't want to be paid slave wages.
so that being said you're right both left and the right are guilty of importing slave labor from other countries under the guise of illegal immigration.
and only one man the big beautiful orange God emperor Donald Trump is willing to talk about it and prevent it
@qristhe1 I've read through your replies and you make one strawman fallacy after the other. You keep putting words and whole sentences in our mouths, which is frankly quite annoying. I haven't said any of these things that you talk about in your lengthy reply.
Furthermore, I don't remember praising socialism (yet another strawman of yours!). All I did was explain capitalism to you. And your claim that socialism always leads to death is ridiculously untrue. Most western democracies have some amount of socialism as part of their economic system and they're actually doing very well that way. Canada would be one example.
so your only argument is that it's a strong man but you don't want to actually specifically explain why it's a straw man.
Also it's very easy to see socialist countries that have completely failed! whether it's countries of years ago like Russia or Nazi Germany. or it's modern-day Venezuela or Cuba. socialist countries turn into authoritarian regimes to redistribute the wealth. it's impossible not to function that way. look what happened in USSR or Venezuela when the state started to take property like farms and businesses. The people tried to hide the property. and the people were either killed or thrown in jail.
in Venezuela the government is Distributing flour to the baker's. for the bread lines (which socialism is the only form of government that has bread lines) . now they killing the baker's because they feel that the makers are not making enough loaves of bread.
that doesn't happen in any other form of government.
@qristhe1 I can't even get to dispute things because you claim so many things I've never even said. I'm sorry but I can't do this. Your way of arguing is completely illogical and unstructured. Plus I'm sick of having words laid into my mouth.
you can't even dispute anything I'd say you don't have a logical argument so just stop it! all you can do is build up with a straw man that my argument is a logical but that's not a point.
that is such a cosmopolitan, holier than thou. I'm superior to you in every way attitude. you haven't disputed any of my arguments. all you said is my argument are wrong.
@qristhe1 Both of us have explained our points pretty well but never gave any indications that we thought we were right. That's not to say you're right, either.
This whole thing started with YOU questioning how MY family came to Canada and if they were immigrants or settlers. Anyways, I'm muting this question now and I hope that you have the decency to spare @curiousnorway from anymore notifications on his question. Bye.
and you're absolutely right I pointed out how your country is not a country of immigrants but rather of settlers using the words that you specifically used. you can't arbitrarily change the meaning of words when you want them to to mean different things
Of course not. I grew up in a big city, but the specific neighborhood and larger area I grew up in was primarily dominated by Asians. I'm white by the way.
Anyways, I never once felt alienated by any of my neighbors. Many of them were fresh immigrants who spoke predominantly their native language and had super broken English, yet they were still over the top friendly with me and didn't treat me any different than Asians.
People who feel alienated by foreigners only feel alienated because of their own bigotry and prejudice. The reality is, foreigners aren't going to mistreat you. If you don't feel at home with them, just because of the color of their skin, then YOU are the problem. Not them.
I was myself a foreigner in Saudi Arabia and that's where i was born and raised so obviously i felt like a foreigner because I'm not Saudi and Also because there are more immigrants living in saudi Arabia than there are Saudis.
Anyway, the women in the photo you put are not immigrants, they look like white women converts to Islam.
@zagor Yeah I know some white Muslims from those countries myself, but the ones in the photo really have nordic feautures, they don't really look like they're from Bosnia or Albania or the Balkans in general
The point with the picture was that it wasn't looks that I associate mostly with foreigners, but it's their culture. There's many Asian and African people in my country who's fully Norwegian with fully Norwegian parents because they're adopted. They've been in the country their whole life and have a Norwegian culture. So not every foreigner looking are foreigners and not all Norwegian-looking are Norwegian.
@anoddtod I was in Bosnia in the sixties. Except for all the gun toting and pivo consuming people it was civilized. Then in the eighties some western governments thought it was a good idea to break up Yugoslavia and the big problems started. Old WW2 hates surfaced again and Yugoslavia became a powderkeg.
All the time. Because I am white and live in South Africa we are told all the time by some black people we are not welcome and must go back to our European countries. We have been around since the 16th century in SA but yet we are apparently foreigners who must go if we are not happy with how things are. I would GLADLY go but unfortunately I don't think European countries will buy the story of me saying I am supposed to live there and am a national citizen. So basically, I belong nowhere.
That's the problem with mass immigration, majority of them are not about integration. They suck the life emotionally and mentally out of those rich resourceful countries.
Not every immigrants and refugees are like that, but some are and it's a good thing to questioning their culture. Some also wants to covering themselves with veil and is skeptical to gender equality.
Multiculturalism is a disguise to bring muslims in. Guess what when they reach 2% the country will start rapidly becoming monocultural again. And the only culture to dominate all will be islam
What I'm worried about is my country is losing the Western values like equality between genders, sexuality etc. and I wants to keep the democracy system we've now. I also would like to keep some Norwegian culture. So I'm skeptical to some things I admits. But I'm fine with people believing in God regardless if they're Christian, Muslim, Jew etc. I just don't want a conservative culture.
I'm agreeing in that. But Norway takes in a lot of immigrants and refugees like many other European countries. I supports the country helping refugees from wars etc. But I can see the cons like how I can see the pros.
Single young men are not refugees, they are islam fighters. women with children are real refugees. Also even women with children are allowed into the country they hate and despise us white people.
@Megalyssa, from what I've observed is that they're skeptical to our culture like how we're skeptical to theirs. They're not hating us for our appearance, but just our culture. I'm not saying it applies to everyone, but it applies to a few immigrants.
Religions: Roman Catholic 28%, Protestant 19% (includes Dutch Reformed 9%, Protestant Church of The Netherlands, 7%, Calvinist 3%), other 11% (includes about 5% Muslim and fewer numbers of Hindu, Buddhist, Jehovah's Witness, and Orthodox), none 42% (2009 est.)
@Megalyssa, Some cultures in the Middle-east and Africa have a tradition where getting many children is a thing I've heard. Some gets 3 - 5 children. Yes, Islam gets more common in Europe.
@jacquesvol Your statistics are old. Percentage wise Muslims haven't grown not even 0.2 percent since the second generation of Muslims get approximately the same amount of kids as the non-muslims.
@curiousnorway Natality is influenced by the existence of social security more than by religion. If family has to care for for its old and sick, family NEEDS to be numerous to spread the charge over as many persons as possible. Once there is social security, it takes two or three generations to get rid of that tradition.
Yeah right first generation happened in before Christ era. I only hope that people will realize what is going on and put stop to in. Just like moslem invasion in Spain in 6th century
I guess everyone can feel a foreigner in their own country. But it's probably not the multiculure as much as it is isolation. Immigration is good for a country if it leads to more understanding across the cultural lines, as long as the origin of the countrys culture are maintained propperly. As we both know, Norwegians are proude of their history, and won't let it go... Some things maybe they should let go tho, such as pizza grandiosa, smalahove and janteloven. ;)
Don't hold your breath for it, tast good, but have a nasty look. But joke aside, it is probably a nice tradition, and in gastronomic ways a nice identity of vestern Norway.
As time goes by, I feel more like a foreigner in my country, not so much because of the different races, but because these immigrants have no interest in learning English or learning to leave their ways behind and become Americans. Instead, I'm being told I need to have an open mind and be more accepting of diversity. Somehow, it's being forced on me, and I'm supposed to 'like' it.
Not really, i have had people from other countries literally watch me out their window when i was a kid for some reason. and whenever I tried to make friends with their kids they'd call them inside and they'd all watch me play on my scooter around the little circle in our neighborhood until i left.
Asian American guy here. I was born in the USA. I'm 100% American, I speak English at home, I celebrate American holidays, and am in tune with American culture.
Yet I can't tell you how many times I've been told to go back to China, people say "Wow, your English is so good!" Basically, no matter how much time I've spent here or how well immersed I am in the US, a good number of my fellow Americans will never accept me. It's unfortunate.
@Oram52 I've lived in NYC, San Francisco, and now I'm in Minneapolis; all relatively large and diverse cities. But it's happened in all 3 places. Just because a city is diverse doesn't mean the people are accepting.
people always assume that English is not my first language and praise my English ability. foreigners don't even ask me for directions and i sometimes overhear them saying "she probably doesn't speak English, how about that girl over there” and they ask some other japanese.
@Oram52 It happens quite often. It's not always malicious, like the whole "go back to China" etc. But oftentimes, just an example, I find people would rather talk to my white European coworker (whose English is shaky, as she says herself) before talking to me (or ignoring me completely) on the basis of how we look. It's easy to tell it's a racial thing, trust me. The whole "you speak English very well" happens once a week or so, which gets pretty annoying after a while.
Well I was born in the USA but for the past 4 years we live in South America. My family has dual citizenships. US & Ecuador. So I'm an EC citizen but am the gringo boy... not a racial thing. But yes I do feel like a foreigner because technically i am. Only not in a bad way. It'sall good tho...
yeah on my course there are way more foreigners than English many people coming for three years from Africa, China several European countries. I've been in a class of 20 where there was one other white person and about 4 English, everyone else is foreign.
Yes, people always think I'm from a southern European country (like Italy or form the Balkans) because of my dark hair and light eyes. I have very dark brown hair (most French have a light brown) and I have turquoise eyes when most have light brown eyes. Which always make me stand out. I also have very soft feature, full cheek and my body is different. Most girls have big legs and small breast and I have thin legs and a big chest which is really uncommon.
I don't know if I'm the minority in my city but Hispanics are the vast majority in my school at like 56%. I am of the hwhite vaRieteh and I don't feel like a foreigner, just not as cultured. Maybe I try out my neighbors food truck food, it's looks authentic as fuck.
It depends on where you live. Where i live now no I don't, there's no multiculturalism here, only a few foreigners who mostly talk and act the way we do. When I lived elsewhere (in another city) however yes I did, in many places there are no white Brits and the people have their own completely different culture.
In response to your reply, no I don't think so. Despite many people mixing with people of other races nowadays, people more often tend to date and prefer people of their own race. It's perfectly natural to want to have children with someone of similar genetic stock, with a similar culture, and without all of the potential problems that inter-racial relationships can bring.
What we see now is nothing new. In good times everybody gets along relatively well and many people stop being so tribal. The thing is humans are tribal by nature, for thousands of years it was how we survived. Race is of course only one form of tribalism, within a race you'll have different nationalities that will side with each other also. Then you have political groups, even supporting different football teams. People need to have a "we" and "them" if that makes sense. Even if we did all mix, we'd still be tribal, especially in harder times which I think will come. I think racism will always exist.
No. Britain is a mongrel nation, we're already immigrants ourselves. I like the diversity, I can get any kind of food I want without leaving my street xD
I see it as a benefit to have access to so many cultures.
Britain is composed of Celts, Angles , Saxons (Angles and Saxons moved out of the area called Poland today to Germany) , ancient Scandinavians immigrating from Normandy where they had settled and started to speak French and more recent. Scandinavians. In 1066 the immigrants from Normandy won the battle of Hastings. There have also been Frisian immigrants in Britain. Mongrel , indeed. But so is the rest of Europe. History makes the EDF ao nationalists in any country look ridiculous.
definitely. Ny has changed so much over the last 20 years. It feels like a 3rd world country in many parts surrounded by rich people. Everyone else got the hell out of here.
I feel like a foreigner because I have to practice a religion I don't want to. Everyone looks at you like you're a fish out of water, which I am. I hate it.
Why do you have to practice it and who force you to do so? US is a free country. I admits I'm guilty in judging people wearing such clothes and thinks many of them are against the Western culture because of stereotypes. I didn't know some are forced to in US and Europe. Next time I should try to see the person behind the veil instead of thinking fear.
@jacquesvol Yeah, I know that but the law also doesn't protect minors against forced religious practices. I'm turning 18 in two weeks and I plan on moving out soon.
I do, but not because of immigrants, because most of them are light-skinned and have assimilated pretty well, but because of my attitude. My family is English, but British humour is way too offensive and brutally honest for Canada, so sometimes people look at me like I'm a monster when I say something kind of macabre that would be considered funny in England. Honestly, I find my countrymen's fear of offending anyone kind of annoying, because it saps the life out of all humourous people like me.
There was a case where an Edmonton magazine publisher was arrested for reprinting those Danish cartoons that offended Muslims. Fortunately public outcry led to the case being dropped.
Also, possession of some Japanese Anime and Manga is prosecuted as child pornography there, in spite of having nothing to do with any real person.
@zagor well the Japanese stuff I get why they banned it, but the case of that guy in Edmonton was wrong. I think I heard about that. And our pretty boy prime minister paid that convicted terrorist $10.5 million. Canada unfortunately has gone way too far being politically correct
In addition to the anime laws, there is also the "Crime Comic" law which forbids depictions of violence in graphic novels, apparently due to the 1950's era notion that comics are only for kids. So, though not generally enforced that tightly, theoretically you can go to jail for a Batman comic.
When I was last in Germany in 2015 I felt 100% home and comfortable. I miss being in Germany. Whether immigrants are in Germany or not (and most of them are in Germany) I do feel like part of the folks. But for some weird reason the government grants more privileges to the outsiders than it does to us.
Which is very typical and expected from the government.
Unfortunately yes. Atlanta is very much a city of Africans, Mexicans, Arabs, Indians, central Americans... very few people Americans.
And no, the USA was not a nation of immigrants... it was a nation of settlers, who almost exclusively came from Great Britain and Germany. It wasn't until almost 75 years after the Declaration of Independence that we had waves of irish and italian immigrants--and the waves of Africans and central americans started only 50 years ago.
I don't feel that way because I live near a big city in Germany and there were always many immigrants so I grew up with their children. It's always exciting to learn something new about other cultures.
i live in Germany and some (mostly Idiot) people also say that. in my City we have many turkish people, refugees and many others but ITS still a German City with mostly German culture s and many Well integrative immigrants who try to Take Part in the "German" society. so i dont Feeling so and There is No Problem with Integration of There are enough welcoming people who Integrate the immigrants
Not really im Canadian so im acustomed to seeing new people and from what I've learned talking to people from all over is that your never that different.
As someone who's half Norwegian, half Canadian, not to mention that I grew up in the Middle-East, I sometimes feel like a foreigner here in Norway, but for completely different reasons.
Well, due to the fact that I didn't actually grow up in Norway, I missed a lot of experiences my friends had. Then there's also the food I enjoy and was brought up on, which was a very wide variety of both western and Eastern cuisine.
Despite being Norwegian by blood, spending over a decade of my childhood in the Middle East and my Canadian blood makes me very different from my from most people around me.
Very hot most of the time. Incredibly normal. Most western people don't think about just how normal Arabs and Muslim are. Was part of a Norwegian community down there, and even went to a small Norwegian school.
I lived in Qatar, and no, women are not forced to cover themselves or wear Abayas there. You need to cover everything between your shoulders and knees in public, but that goes for everyone (like t-shirt and shorts). Though wearing bikinis/swimsuit at the beach/pool (at least most of them) is fine.
That depends on who you are and where you're from. If you're a white/western expat, it's pretty good. If you're, Indian/fillipino/etc, (especially poorer) it can vary wildly. Unfortunately, Qatar has had some issues with Human Rights at times, when it comes to work hours and ethic.
It's definitely more strict than most western countries, but it's not so strict that your can't do anything. It's pretty progressive compared to its neighbors.
I don't feel like this way. There's a lot of immigrants and minoriteis where I live but I don't feel any different. I certainly don't feel like I don't belong and I don't feel like they don't belong. We co exist as it should be
It's up to you to decide if that feeling is a problem or not. I don't feel like a foreigner, so it's not a problem for me yet. But why do you feel like that?
I do. I live in Hawaii and most of the people I go to school with are "local" (Asian, Filipino, Hawaiian, etc..) and I'm as Northern-European as they come. 15% of my school is white.
No. There are more immigrants, sure. I've never felt like being hospitable would need to involve completely abandoning my own culture+beliefs to conform to their own. So no. I don't feel like a foreigner.
My question is if someone feels like a foreigner in their own country. If it's positive or negative is up to the individual. In the description I wrote I don't feel like a foreigner, but I knows some people does. However I'm a bit skeptical to some new cultures.
Im American and America is 99% foreign despite what people want you to think. (The 1% is Native Americans not white people). So I can't really answer this question if all of America are foreigners.
Thats cool. I guess it would feel different if suddenly your country has new kinds of people in it. The change would definitely be noticeable, but I dont think I would suddenly feel like a foreigner. But im usually more interested in other cultures I think everyone has an interesting background and its fun to hear their story and argue about ideas and stuff, so Im different that way i guess.
I think the problem is that the foreigners at least the majority of them do not want to adapt to the culture and traditional values. Especially when it comes to religion.
The majority of muslims living in Germany do not adapt to the Christian values. Religion is a big problem for immigrants. They want to have all the rights that Germans have , but they do not change anything about themeselves. Of course there are different ones as well. I worked with very decennt muslims. But yeah the beliefs are in my opinion the biggest problem with foreigners.
@iwillascend2 Ohh I get it. I am from Georgia Europe. People here are Christians but in the South there are some Azerbaijani and Armenian people, who refuse to study our language and demand to have schools with Official Armenian language. What an ungratefulness! You give them living places and they don't even try to learn your language. I believe the problem is that there are mostly Armenian villages, where they can communicate with each other without learning Georgian. I believe we should do something to change it, laws should demand that every citizen should know our language and respect our traditions and laws. What about religion, I don't really care that much. We can't demand from Muslims to become Christians just because Georgians are Chrstians, but they shouldn't do things that are permitted by their religion but prohibited by our laws.
I am originally from Kabardino-Balkaria. I believe that might tell you something. Anyway I totally agree that if you live in a country that you immigrated to, then it is your duty to learn the language. Learning a language is not as difficult as it seems. The interest and will has to be there. But if they refuse to do so, then you already know about those people a lot. Armenians are not necesserily ignorant , but they have a very bad reputation. They are being compared to jewish people. Basicalöy very cunning. Again this is just a say. And there is some truth to it. In the world we live today it is somewhat wise to not trust at the beginning. But it is also important to be able to admit that you have been wrong about something.
Yes we are. But I was not raised as one. My mother has been living in the udssr. Religion did not have any meaning back then. Besides the muslims back then were different. They got along with everyone. Nevertheless religion should not be the basis for one's actions. Marx decribed religion as a place with a “spiritless“ spirit. So in the end I do indentify myself with any religion there is.
I feel like a foreigner in my own county simply because even though I was born and raised in America and my parents and grandparents are America I get mistaken as a foreigner all the time
@ikarp66, I'm agree. The US is the country of immigrants. The first settlers were the Native Americans. Then European people settled down. Later on they bought slaves from Africa. Immigrants from Mexico, Asia etc. also settled in the US. So yes, some Americans needs to take history lessons.
It depends. I feel like a foreigner in Italy because I really am what 'locals' (white people) would consider a foreigner even though my mom is a white Italian. In Brazil I don't feel like a foreigner at all. No matter where you come from, who your parents are, what's your religion, Brazil embraces all kinds of people and celebrates the miscegenation.
I love living in a big city that has people of all different backgrounds. And it's awesome that we have enough jobs & opportunities that draw people from other countries to live in our area.
the west in general is slowly getting that more and more "Diverse" it's only a matter of time before the west will fall into chaos like the middle east that we keep letting Savages come from
I've been in a neighborhood where I have not see a single white person and I feel like I'm not in my country anymore. Only few of them respect the rules to cross the road or to drive.
Part of the France is close to the South-European area, so it's not weird there's many non-whites in France. Many French people looks like Spanish people because of where the country lies. But I can see the culture crash conflicts. When immigrants immigrates to a new country they've often a different culture than the citizen themselves.
I swer this neighborhood I'm talking about feels so foreign. I've never seen that many muslim specific stores (halal food, praying carpets,...). I really feel invaded there.
Yes, I understands that. It's not so bad where I lives. But in Bergen and Oslo (Especially East-Oslo) a lot of immigrants, refugees. etc. have settled. Many of them are Muslims. So I gets the culture conflicts and the feeling of being a foreigner because of that. There's many French people with dark hair and brown eyes, so that don't automatically make them foreigners.
My problem is not about ethnicity or race, it's about culture and religion. Our ancestors spilt their bloods to get human rights and freedoms, women have fought for decades to get equal rights. Letting this alien culture grow would waste these efforts, especially for women.
Yes I do.. Sweden isn't Swedish... It wasn't Swedish from the beginning we don't have any culture or our own language.. Well that's at least what the leftist goverment is telling me..
That dislike.. She must not know that Swedish politicians from the socialdemocrats and the green party and the left party has all 3 had politicians who have said we have no culture... Truth is harsh but we cannot deny truth nor facts.
I don't feel like a foreigner living in America cause we built this country on immigrants. Our ancestors was immigrants who came here from multiple countries , ranging from Scotland, Hungarian, Germany , France etc.
well I live in America and we're a nation of colonists and immigrants so *shrugs*
I mean just an hour from my lies the biggest I think it's Korean population in the world outside of Korea itself complete with Korean markets and everything.
I lived in Mexico from birth to age 4ish then moved to the US. I sometimes miss Mexico but not because I feel I don't belong here. I feel at home in both places :)
I do, I am from Canada, in my city we have a lot of muslims and Indians, and I also feel like there are more of them than us, I feel like there is too many of them, like my people are becoming a minority. I would support closed borders and mass deportation
Oh. I didn't know that. Now I learned a new thing about the UK. I'm more worried about culture crash to be honest than which hair color etc. people have.
If I truly focused on it, I'm sure it would look like another country. But I choose to not focus on that. I refuse to live my life in fear watching the foreigners every move.
I am Canadian, we are the most multicultural country in the world. A trip to the store, on public transit, or to work is like a trip around the world. We have people from all over the world here and we all get along fine.
This is a documentary website using one neighbourhood here in Toronto as an example:
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