Just like many Americans, I too come from a tradition of immigrants and refugees. On my mother's side, my grandmother Maria was Polish and came to Sweden after WWII through the White buses after surviving two prison camps. On my father's side, further down the line, we come from France, escaping the Revolution against nobility. To make it even more varied, my Dad's mother was Belgian and we also have long lost relatives in Germany, Finland and the United States.
Here in Sweden, immigrants are on the increase too, but while the United States has made it into their own raison d'etre, their purpose, including with their sometimes haltering system of abuse by the border and hidden offenses inside, they still are a country build on immigrants and proudly so. Sweden, on the other hand, has its roots with Vikings since thousands of years, yet it has become a little politically incorrect to say that you're an original Swede. What happens then with our culture? Now, for example, the US celebrates Thanksgiving - something I treasure that I have experienced when I've visited. Sweden doesn't. And shouldn't! Yet, all the stores are celebrating "Black Friday sale". How crazy is that? I'm living in a conflict between the two. I love much about the United States but Sweden shouldn't try to become it. Sweden should be Swedish. Now it isn't.
Would I be allowed to immigrate to the United States, I would be able to adapt and grow. I would simply just be anew without any of these culture clashes, because I would be their culture. I would continue to work with translations and try to start my business, including working as a Lifecoach and sell my books, and I would hopefully get married. So, we'll see how it goes.
8 months to go for the ban to be lifted.
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