Every time I go on a trip to Poland, I am struck over and over and again by its mono-ethnic monotony. Given that I am very short-sighted, the greyish white faces that surround me there make me feel as if I were swimming in an ocean of dirty milk. It might seem weird, but I even indulge in a silly game of spotting people of non-European appearance in my city. During my usual summer holidays I feel lucky when I encounter several African or Asian brethren in the street. Yes, I must confess I am an anthropologist who gets excited by ethnic/ cultural diversity. And if that is what you are after, then London is the place to be.
I did my first undergraduate ethnographic fieldwork in London more than six years ago, on the British politics of multiculturalism and the construction of Black British cultural identity. This was also my first ever visit to the University of East London. I spent some time in the Centre for New Ethnicities library reading Stuart Hall and Paul Gilroy, among others. As it was summertime, I visited various West London community centres involved in organising Notting Hill Carnival and I took pictures of some fantastic costumes in the making. I did some research in the Institute of Race Relations, just five minutes away from where I was staying at that time, and I made numerous trips to the Commission for Racial Equality resources centre near Victoria Station. And of course I recorded my first interviews with members of Afro-Caribbean communities exploring their multi-layered identities.
I was so mesmerised by London that I kept coming back here every summer for three-months student vacations, regardless of constant problems with going through the ‘Non-EU/ All Other Nations’ gate in Dover (recalling this, I must admit that I am really happy that I have EU passport now even though I am not a supporter of the European Union as a political construct). Visiting the British capital also meant working as a cleaner in order to support myself but I did not mind, especially when I ended up cleaning the house of a Jamaican dancehall queen in South West London. The woman, an absolutely amazing dancer, was also a hairdresser and I was honoured by having her fix my dreadlocks in the room she had turned into a hairdressing salon. Later on, through a Polish DJ who was distributing bhangra albums in my home country, I established contacts with musicians from the so called Asian Underground, a politically charged fusion of South Asian, Arabic and African sounds with a punk rock spirit. We spoke about Islam smoking shish; it was a great learning experience for me.
My MA dissertation went back to my Caribbean interests, this time in the context of body and gender in Jamaican dancehall culture in London. I did my participant observation working as a leafleting girl, handing out flyers all night for reggae basement clubs. I used to go to sleep at 5am, but I could go to raves for free (and wearing trainers which was a real privilege taking into account strict dress codes), had a chance to hang around and interview DJs (who called me ‘Dr Natalia’), and I met a wide range of interesting people associated with this music scene and night life in London generally.
And then, having finished my studies in Poland I decided to stay in London. Following my interest in migration processes I began my research on asylum/ refugee issues in the UK, and I started volunteering in the refugee sector. There I met my Iranian boyfriend and by moving in to his room in a hostel I entered the gloomy world of rejected asylum seekers. One year ago I was awarded a fee-waiver bursary at the University of East London and I became a student again (what a wonderful state it is!). I decided to take Refugee Studies in order to pursue my anthropological interests in ethnic/ political conflicts and social justice. I have just graduated.
I have now been living in London for three years and a half, and during this period I almost did not have any contact with Poles at all. The only time when I regularly speak Polish is with my mum on the phone. I don’t eat Polish food because I am a vegetarian, and contrary to the stereotypical image of a Slav, I don’t drink vodka. I am not a nice Polish girl that everyone wants to marry because I am a feminist (and I can’t cook). I am not even blonde or blue-eyed, and many people don’t believe me when I say where I come from. Having lived more than twenty years in Poland, I do not see a reason why I should search for my co-patriots here: frankly speaking I had enough of these xenophobic, narrow-minded, conservative Catholics. There are about thirty eight million Poles back home, and if I had missed them, I would have been back (I am not a refugee). I do enjoy London’s vibrant cultural hybridity. And when on my last trip to Poland my aunt asked me if I did not mind ‘all those foreigners living in London’ (she seemed not to have realised that I am a foreigner here myself), she was deeply shocked when I replied that’s exactly what I like about this city.
Natalia Paszkiewicz recently completed her MA in Refugee Studies. Her academic background is in ethnology and cultural anthropology. She is currently working with asylum seekers as a volunteer.
Young Easterners have never been or seen anywhere as cool as London: that’s why they would rather come here than anywhere else, isn’t it? Not according to Ms X, a 25-year-old student from Poland who has lived in Ireland, the USA and now East London.
I only know a few Eastern Europeans in England, but what you usually hear is that they come here for a shorter period of time either to learn the language perhaps while working as an au pair, or just to study. Then some of them decide to stay for a while longer.
I personally came here because since being a teenager I had been keen on learning English and travelling to English speaking countries. Before I came to England I had lived in Ireland as well as in the United States. What motivated me most was an incident I experienced when first travelling abroad. When I was 15 years old I visited my sister in Norway. There, I found myself in a very irritating situation. I could not speak either Norwegian or any language such as English with which I could make myself understood. I felt dumb because my sister had to translate what others said to me all the time I was in Norway with her. So, that is how I decided to prevent such a situation from repeating itself.
Living in Ireland was my dream, but influenced by others’ opinions and having the chance to work and study English in the United States, I chose first to travel to the USA instead.
What impression did you get about the USA and Americans? Was it similar to what you might see in the movies?
America to me was just like in the movies; it was beautiful. First I went to New York and there fell in love with the place. I was absolutely addicted to it. Unfortunately I wasn't meant to stay their but to go to Seattle. I did enjoy staying there: it is a very clean city, but even though people were very friendly, their friendliness seemed to me only a mask disguising their lack of concern. They didn’t care about others, just like the people of London. Once you were there you would know what I’m talking about. For example, when they ask how are you?, they don’t care what your answer will be. So, if you say something other than ‘I’m fine’, they don’t even pay attention. I could never tell what exactly they thought about other people.
General knowledge on the part of Americans seems to be very poor too. Most of them don’t even know where Poland is, some of them have never even heard of such a country. My host father was a very good example for this. He had the general idea that I come from a very poor country and believed that people in my country would never be able to afford the kind of car he had, a Chrysler convertible. Such attitudes just made me feel uncomfortable. Some people thought that there were no bikes in Poland either.
They also had the idea that living in the States was every foreigner’s dream come true, which was very surprising, since it wasn’t my dream at all. It is true, I wanted to continue my studies and enrol at an American university, but I found it too expensive. So, after a year of working as an au pair I decided to return to Poland.
Still, I hadn’t given up my plans about Ireland. By that time, Poland had already joined the EU, which is how I managed to find a job and attend college at the same time.
I personally enjoyed living there, but it actually depends what one’s expectations are. During the first week I didn’t really like being in Ireland. It was very different from life in the States. It is a very rural country where people are laid back, very friendly and more genuine too: you could tell they really mean what they say. They were stopping me on the street saying we were very welcome and asking if we were alright. You could also easily tell if they like you or not. If they did they would be as helpful as Eastern Europeans. However, some young people could get nasty, but you can find that everywhere. Sometimes their general attitude could get irritating. It seemed they can’t really be bothered to do certain things. For example in certain banks they wouldn’t be able to answer some basic questions they should know.
In Ireland I was studying graphic design and I wanted to carry on studying it at university. Unfortunately, in that country there wasn’t really an opportunity to do so. That is why I chose to come to London. I applied for six different courses, randomly selected from the range of universities.
Since my aunt had been living here, I had many souvenirs from England and somehow I already felt part of this place. Still, when I got here I was shocked. It was way different from America. I was disgusted by the country, particularly London which was dirty and people were unfriendly to me, not like in the States or Ireland. The diversity of the population was also unbelievable, I had not seen people from so many different nations in America. It must be the most cosmopolitan city in the world.
Arriving in London I started looking for accommodation with my boyfriend. On our very first journey on a city bus, we asked the driver where to get off. He said he would let us know. Later he was mumbling something under his nose, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. A second later he jumped out of his cabin and started shouting swear words at us which I don’t want to recall. He said: ‘Don’t bother me if you don’t want to listen!’ We were astonished. We didn’t know how to react. I started to cry...
Honestly, I cannot remember any. In fact, was it not for the university, I would move out from London within a month.
First when I came here I found it not nice at all, but I have got used to it. East London is not as rich and developed as for example the West or North-West part of the city which is rather posh, but the rent there is higher too and not everyone can afford it. There are a lot of poorer people living in council hoses in East London. It is rather dangerous, a place where you could be easily attacked. Actually, I was sort of attacked.
It was one of my worst experiences in England. It happened in the middle of the day. I was standing at a bus station waiting for the bus to come when a man came up to me. He didn’t hurt me physically, but he started to abuse me verbally. He was threatening me with rape. I wanted to call the police, but I didn’t have my mobile with me. So, I went up to a bus driver who was taking his break. I told him that the guy was frightening me and asked him for his mobile, but he refused to help me. He seemed to think I was talking nonsense and didn’t want to pay any attention to what I was saying. When the other guy came up to him they looked at each other and immediately “clicked”, if you know what I mean, like they were on the same side. Then the bad guy turned to me and started abusing me again. So, the driver could see there was something wrong with him and said he would lend me his mobile if the other guy didn’t stop frightening me. I told him I would complain because when I asked for his help he wasn’t helpful at all. Luckily, the bus arrived soon and I got home safely.
It happened near UEL, in Beckton. In fact, there have been other frightening incidents that happened to me since I moved to London. For example someone was stalking me twice going home from the pub I used to work at.
My impression is that most of them believe that they would have a better future in this country, but in my opinion they wouldn’t. For example when I overhear other Eastern Europeans talking on the bus what I usually hear is that they think England is a much better place than their home country. They say there are so many opportunities here and they want to stay for the rest of their lives because there’s no life for them back in their country. However, when they carry on with their stories it comes to light that what they do is actually either cleaning or some other poorly paid jobs. Generally, the people from my country would grasp any kind of job opportunity in England, but would never do the same, underpaid work back home. The most obvious reason is that because of unsatisfactory knowledge of English they are not qualified for well-paid positions.
What I miss the most is my family, the traditional Polish food, places where I used to go: the forests and lakes surrounding my home town where you could go for a walk without any fear and just relax. I find Poland very beautiful. It has a variety of great mountains and sandy beaches. Whereas here the seaside is covered with pebbles everywhere.
For a long time, I wanted to return to the USA and live there, but now I only wish to visit my friends there. The people I knew in Ireland are no longer living in the country. At the same time, I don’t think there would be many job opportunities for me. I doubt that the advertising industry would be as developed as in the UK. London would be the best place to find a good job once I have graduated, but I’m not really keen on staying here.
My boyfriend really wants to return to our country, but I’m not sure about it yet. As I grow older I become more family centred. I would like to live somewhere in Europe, somewhere close to my parents, but basically I will go where my job takes me.
Definitely! If I could get a job in London I would be happy to live somewhere near, but outside of the city. I wouldn’t mind spending twenty or thirty more minutes travelling to work everyday, because at the end of the day I could still go home and just relax.
Ms X interviewed by Andrea Sinkovics Terezak, who is a student at the University of East London.
© 2004·06
My skull was thrust backwards into the headrest and we were away, leaving our opponent standing:
Welcome to this issue
Contents of this issue
Editor’s letter
Academic
Debate
Entertainment
Essays
Journalism
Feedback
This page has been archived.
For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link: Link to general description
For further information on this web site's accessibility features please follow this link: Link to accessibility information
The following message does not apply to screenreader users:
You will still be able to access all the essential content of this web site, but it will not look, or function, exactly as intended.
