Balancing two cultures as an immigrant

It is always a challenge for immigrants to assimilate into a new culture.  The children of immigrants, moreover, often feel torn between two cultures.  The Associated Press recently had an interesting article about some of the choices being made by the children of immigrants in Europe.

As Europe goes through a wrenching debate over integrating immigrant populations – and at a deeper level about what it means to be European in a globalized age – the children of those immigrants also find themselves grappling with issues of identity in an environment where tensions are complicated by jobs scarcity and distorted by the fear of terrorism.

The article includes some enlightening interviews with young people who bounce between two different cultural worlds.  Here, for example, is a quote from a 21-year-old South Asian woman who touches on some of the cultural differences that center around family:

“I come from quite a large family,” said Bhatt, who grew up in Manchester, England, and studies in London. “My aunt and uncle are seen like my mum and dad, and my cousins are brothers and sisters. I remember at school, friends who were not Asian found that type of relationship weird. In high school, I remember my friend turned 16 and said she was going to start paying her mum and dad rent. I found that really weird.”

Or, this 23-year-old Moroccan man who struggles to balance the freedoms of the West with the moral strictures of Islam:

“I don’t want the freedom of Europe – to drink, tell my sister to go out and have free sex before marriage. I want to have rules,” he said. “I accept the rules of democracy, but I’m living the rules of Islam.”

The article provides a good perspective on the challenges of trying to live in a new culture while maintaining at least some of the beliefs and traditions of one’s homeland.

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