The European Question

Europe you say.
Peace, I answer.
Bureaucracy, money, corruption.
Liberty, Justice and Solidarity.
Your Europe, my Europe. Worlds apart.
I am a European Citizen.
You call me a foreigner, an international.
There is no malice in your voice, but it rips me apart.
Those words, the boundaries you put between me and you.
I am welcome here, am I not?
This is my home as it is yours, is it not?
My Europe, your Europe. Ours?
And I wonder why you are not like me, why you are not like the others.
Why do you not share our dream of friendship, equality and ONE Europe?
Is it my fault?
What did I do wrong that you cannot believe in that future that looks so bright to me?
I speak your language. I value your believes.
I made concessions, I argued, I pleaded, I reasoned and I screamed.
And now you stand there, as my dream shows cracks.
As things get hard you stand there and you mock.
And I wonder why you have to kick me when I am down.
Why do you threaten to leave, when I need you most?
And I wonder.
When Britain, when did we leave you behind?

....

Coming to live in Britain was a shock to my systems, raised in post-Schengen Europe and fuelled with experiences from Erasmus to the European Voluntary Service and a Youth Exchange, a united Europe was my reality. My friends from Italy, Ireland, France and so many other countries shared my view. We were proud of our roots, but Europeans for sure, no questions asked. We lived in the promise of prosperity, freedom , peace and friendship. I don't feel foreign among friends, I am no stranger in their country.

In Britain, I am. I am the foreigner, the non-Brit or sometimes I am European.

European - that is for so many British the very thing that they are not. They are Brits, not European, they speak English, not European (whatever that language may be) and they make up their own laws and decisions, thank you very much.

And I want to scream at them, I want to scream and shout: "But you are Europe, you are a part of us." I roll my eyes each time someone asks me how things are done "in Europe", I scowl when asked how my visa application went, but most of all I wish I could find people who join in the spirit of Europe.

And it's not that they are not friendly to me, Grenzerfahrung Europa, that isn't a story of prejudice and racism. I have met amazing British people, made friends and generally feel quite welcome here, as a guest. And there, just there lies the border, the boundary that I cannot cross and I cannot jump for lack of the right passport.

I have joked before that should Britain leave the EU, I'll be the first at the border. But I don't want to leave, I like living in this country despite my moaning about the weather, the healthcare and the rain. I find myself defending all three to my friends at home and in "Europe".
I like living here although Britain is not Germany, especially because it isn't Germany.
So my dear British friends, we Europeans don't want you to become like us, we want for you to join us, to make our Europe, your Europe more diverse, more beautiful. I want my life in Britain not to be an experience of borders and boundaries, but one of European Unity. And I want you to share this experience, because despite all the trouble, problems and adversity to stand together in friendship and solidarity is a most powerful feeling and it is hope.