Ayse Yilmaz was born in Turkey, but moved to Switzerland in 2011 along her husband. She found it difficult to leave those for whom she cared, but she understood that life would be better for her husband and her in Switzerland.
“The arrival in a new country, is a fresh start. It is a new chapter of your life. It is a new place you have to turn into a home,” Ms. Yilmaz said.“It’s hard to leave those for whom you care behind, but I had to understand what was best, and that life would be better here.”
What the Word Home Means
The term “home” has become embedded into the vocabulary of people worldwide. It’s resonance stems from the versatility of this word, which possess multiple meanings, and not a definite one.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the word home may be used to refer to one’s residence, such as a house, or an apartment. The term can also mean an institution for those who require special care, or even the type of family from which one comes.
However, there is definition which stands out from the others, one where a home is not attributed to a locality, but to an emotional state, to the feeling of belonging.
A home can be described as “the place where a person feels like they belong”, according to the Cambridge Dictionary.
To Leave Your Home
According to the United Nations, as of 2021, 281 million people have migrated at least once during their lifetime, due to reasons ranging from finding employment abroad, to being forced to immigrate, on account of violence, persecution, conflicts, or even human rights violations.
For many immigrants, as for myself, their country is not all they have to leave behind. Most of them are forced to forsake their families, treasured belongings, traditions and festivals, and in some cases even important aspects of their culture, in order to take a chance at. improving their life conditions and to fit in in their country of destination.
But how exactly do immigrants turn an unknown place into their homes? What difficulties must they overcome, in order to integrate themselves in a new culture?
A New Language
Difficulties in communication often arise during the process of acculturation, due to language barriers. Ms.Ylmaz described how these language barriers provoked feelings of loneliness for her: “While I couldn’t fluently speak the language, I was not fully able to explain my thoughts, to express myself, to ask questions when in doubt. Overall, I had no chance to speak my mind, and so I was just alone with my thoughts.”
Furthermore, Ms.Yilmaz commented on language courses, saying that some weren’t helpful enough, and that the good were quite expensive.
Marina Braga, a Brazilian who moved to Switzerland in 2022, has also experienced language barriers. “Not knowing the language makes me less independent”, she said. “I have to avoid going to certain places to which I’d like to go, just because of the language”.
“I am also not allowed to pursue a career here in Switzerland in what I love doing (veterinary medicine), simply because I do not possess a language certificate,” she added. “Not knowing the language makes it harder to be immersed in the culture and to become integrated in the country.” Being integrated in the country, she explains, actually makes it easier to feel comfortable and to develop a sense of identity with the culture.
Benefits of Integration
Professor John W. Berry, an expert in psychology of the University of Queens, explains in his paper “Immigration, Acculturation and Adaptation”, that evidence suggests that integration is indeed the most successful and “adaptive acculturation strategy”, as those who opt for this strategy become immersed in two cultural communities and thus have access to two “social support systems”.
Ms.Yilmaz agrees that working and interacting with Swiss colleagues helped her adapt to the country. “When I started working, I began chatting more with my Swiss co-workers, and at that point, I think I started feeling less different from them”, she said.
Yee Ling Willems, a high school teacher who was born in Malaysia and came to Switzerland later in life, pointed out that as a minority, immigrants have to make the effort to accept and learn about their new country’s culture. “You cannot expect the majority to conform to the minority,” she said.
“Learning and practising a country’s tradition helps us feel more comfortable in it,” added Ms. Willems
“Every time I interact with a local, I feel a bit more adapted, as I get this feeling that I am learning about where I am. That’s reassuring,” said Mrs. Braga when asked about her process of integration in Switzerland.
Keeping Traditions
In his paper, Professor Berry defined integration as an acculturation strategy, where one maintains their own culture, while in daily interaction with groups of other cultures.
Practicing tradition from their place of origin is often beneficial for immigrants, especially during the process of integration. These traditions provide immigrants a chance to have a sense of belonging somewhere, even during the toughest times.
Danylo Bryhinskyi, a high school student who migrated from the Ukraine to Switzerland, explained how practicing and embracing the Ukrainian culture helps him not feel homesick. “At home we still speak Ukrainian, we eat Ukrainian food, which one one hardly finds here, and we also read Ukrainian books and literature,” he said.
During our interview, Ms. Yilmaz showed me her ceramics from Turkey, a sculpture from her homeland, and talked about Turkish cuisine, which they eat daily in her household. She added that these objects and traditions she keeps bring back memories from Turkey and give her a sense of understanding about who exactly she is. “I might feel comfortable and love it here in Switzerland, but I know that I am not Swiss,” said Ms.Yilmaz.
Children Impact a Parent’s Adaptation
“Sometimes when I am taking walks with my children, they will look at me and say ‘I don’t want to leave this country, mommy.”’, Ms. Yilmaz, a mother of three, said. “Whenever they say this, I remember that Switzerland is where I have to stay”
Mrs. Braga agrees, “One of the reasons we came here was that this experience here would be very beneficial for our daughter. I want to provide her with a chance of having contact with multiple cultures, I want her to learn about them, and I also want her to have a chance of going to school in a country, which has one of the best education systems in the world, as that will certainly open doors for her in the future.”
“I believe that moving to a country where safety is not a concern, such as Switzerland, could help forge a sense of independence in my daughter”, she added.
Providing their children with the best opportunities is undoubtedly a wish that most parents have and for some of them, leaving their homes behind is not an obstacle that would stop them from trying to bring this dream in reality.
One Home, Two Homes, No Homes.
While there are most certainly different acculturation strategies, which assist an immigrant in turning an unknown place into a home, and help them turn a foreign place more comfortable, it is not a certainty that an immigrant will ever have a full sense of belonging to their new countries. That depends on different factors, such as the conditions in which they had to leave their countries, or for how long they have left their homelands.
Mr. Bryhinskyi explained that, while he acknowledges that “objectively speaking, Switzerland is the best country in the world, given its safety, beautiful nature, and the ‘amazing quality’ of its education system,” there are still traditions he can’t practise in his new country, and that many people who are of importance to him aren’t here by his side as they were in Ukraine. Hence he admits that he is not able to call Switzerland his new home yet. “My friends aren’t here with me”, he said. “It’s not the same without them, for example the sense of humour here is different”
Some immigrants say that calling their new countries their homes doesn’t necessarily mean that their places of origin aren’t their homes anymore. “I consider myself very lucky, as I don’t have just one home, I have two: Malaysia and Switzerland,” said Ms. Willems, when asked about where her home is.
Ms. Yilmaz agrees, saying that even though she considers Switzerland a home of hers nowadays, that does not mean that she no longer has a sense of identity and a feeling of belonging to Turkey, her homeland.
Tammy Rossi and her family, who are also Brazilians living in Switzerland, put it another way. “Our home is where our heart is.”
Other immigrants do, however, seem to feel that moving to a new country leaves them feeling rootless.
“I think it is funny, but I actually don’t feel like I belong anywhere, and I think this is true for many immigrants”, said Mrs. Braga.
Her poignant remark led me to reflect my journey as an immigrant, and wonder where I belong.
Upon turning 11 years old, I was told by my parents that we would be leaving our homeland, Brazil, and that we would be moving to Japan. Fortunately there was nothing sinister about our move, as my father had simply found a great job opportunity. Nevertheless I recall thinking at that time, “how am I supposed to abandon home I’ve ever known?”.
Leaving everything behind, that shaped you as a person, and to essentially start a new life over abroad, can be quite complicating. At times stare at a reflection of yourself and wonder who the person at whom you are looking really is.
However, as I reminisce about my time in Japan, and the experiences I’ve had in Switzerland so far, I realize that my Brazilian roots are still part of who I am, but so are the lessons, the laughs and the moments I have had in Japan and Switzerland, immersing myself in their cultures, and each day learning something new, that will stay with me for as long as I remember who I really am.
