INTERVIEWS

Canada

 Sonia Choquette. (first generation born in the USA)
"The first thing to say about the experience of an immigrant is that people are like a tree whose roots have been cut off. Fortunately the human spirit is regenerative but only if you acknowledge that you have suffered a major psychic wound, even if you move under the best of conditions. So you can build new roots." Read more...

Germany

 Katja. (USA via Germany)
"I also wanted to say that everywhere you go, if you have a positive attitude you are always going to be alright." Read more...

Great Britain

 Nick. (USA via Great Britain)
"I get nostalgic over walking to places, walking in the street. I miss the book shops. You find a lot less best-sellers and a more personal collection of the shop owner. On the other hand here you can find a lot more books that you’d never see there. I used to spend a lot more time with my friends and had time to go out, talking, talking with each other, every weekend. I miss the English chocolate. " Read more...

India

Fai. (USA via India)
"Everything was fine with me. Coming from Bombay… New York and Los Angeles combined, I think, compare to that… I really didn’t have any shocks. But people talk differently and behave differently, and I did notice change. It was a good change." Read more...

Israel

Carmit Levité. (USA via Israel)
"If you read “Hamlet”, in the whole monologue that starts “To be or not to be”, he talks about reasons to live or not to live and for the reasons not to he talks about one he calls “insolence of office”. Which to me, translated, are bureaucracy and the incompetence of government workers. From small things like waiting for two hours to get the answer that you came to the wrong booth. The wrong stall. The wrong person. Or that you don’t have a certain application and you need to come back and wait another three hours. To me going crazy not knowing if I’m going to get this green card or not." Read more...

Isaac. (USA via Israel)
"It’s calmer here and it makes more sense. Life makes more sense in America." Read more...

Mexico

Matt Amar. (USA - of Mexican ancestry)
"I think I always knew that I had a little more than them and I was a little more fortunate, and that I had to be kinder and gentler because when you look at it, for what it was, it was wrong. But when you look underneath, below the surface, it was still this person probably feeling insecure about where they were. I think we’re in an era where it’s not even about race anymore. It’s turning into being about economics." Read more...

The Philippines

 Hillary. (USA via the Philippines)
An immigrant teen talks a little about her experiences in the United States. Read more...

Romania

 Sonia Choquette. (first generation born in the USA)
"The first thing to say about the experience of an immigrant is that people are like a tree whose roots have been cut off. Fortunately the human spirit is regenerative but only if you acknowledge that you have suffered a major psychic wound, even if you move under the best of conditions. So you can build new roots." Read more...

Russia

Mark. (USA via Russia)
"The experience of running away from your own kind is devastating forever. Thus personal happiness is gone and the only possible equivalent would be the happiness of the children. We live for them. Our primary goal is for them never to experience fear and run. Thus we have a responsibility to watch and preserve all freedom-supporting institutions in the country even if it means to jump into the pit like Aesop. Our children have to be alive, liberated and free to choose. There is no other goal." Read more...

The Ukraine

Ilya Talman. (USA via the Ukraine)
“America is the place, from what I gather, to build big dreams but you must be willing to work very hard. Take risks. And realize that whatever you think it’s going to happen, if it does happen, it will happen much later than you planned. And it will take much more effort. From my own experience… it took me five years to break even with the business when I first started.” Read more...