Who Needs America?
Voices That Must Be Heard, IPA Polish Daily News , News Feature, Marek Osiecimski and Marcin Poznan, Translated by Ania Milewska, Posted: Mar 17, 2006
CHICAGO – After the job markets of Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden — three of the European Union nations — opened to Polish citizens, thousands of young Poles made their way to these countries in search of interesting and well-paying jobs. Young Poles are finding employment in these three countries, work not available in Poland. Making many forego their earlier plans of traveling to the United States in search of seasonal work.
We spoke to young people who are in the position to compare work and living conditions in the United States and Western Europe. They all thought that coming to Great Britain or Ireland is much more rewarding than immigrating to the United States. Even though the United States is a fascinating country, finding legal employment closer to Poland is an argument hard to beat for many young Polish immigrants. Visa difficulties seem to be an even stronger reason for opting to go to Western Europe, as chances of finding legal employment in the United States are relatively smaller. As well, one has to invest quite a lot of money in order to travel to the United States and the risk of staying there on a tourist visa and working illegally is unacceptable for many.
As Michal Chudzik of ITC, a Krakow-based employment agency, told Nowy Dziennik, the waning appeal of the USA-focused Work & Travel program has affected the whole travel industry since May 1, 2004.
Katarzyna Sudak, 24, came to the United States for a childcare program au-pair and served as a babysitter for an American family in Michigan. In the evenings she attended English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. “I have very good memories from the first six months of my stay. I would breathe America in even though I didn’t have too many opportunities to take a closer look at the country,” she recalled.
Sightseeing in the United States had been Katarzyna’s dream since childhood. She was even thinking of settling in the United States for good. However, at some point during her stay here, she started to feel very disappointed.
“I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I would always be treated like a stranger. I also feared becoming ‘illegal’, and I wanted to grow,” said Katarzyna.
She packed her bags and returned to Poland. She later left for Ireland. Katarzyna is now working for an online bank in Dublin. The money she earns allows her to devote evenings to her journalistic passion writing for one of the Polish dailies. She also paints.
“A month ago, I represented Poland at an international art exhibition in an exclusive national gallery. I feel professionally and artistically fulfilled. I am happy. I feel European and I feel at home here,” she added. She thinks the United States would never offer her this level of self-fulfillment. “But America has taught me how to be mentally strong. I will definitely go there again, but only as a tourist.”
“America was supposed to be the biggest adventure of my life,” said Monika Gorka, 30, who came to the United States in April of 2005.
From the first week of Monika’s stay in the United States her American Dream was overshadowed by extremely hard work. Even though she knew what hard work is from helping her parents on a farm, as a child, Monika still feels disappointed. “I feel disheartened mostly because of the atmosphere in the local Polish community – jealousy, lack of interest in taking initiatives together and complete anonymity. You want to get away from it all,” she said.
Monika is now thinking often about going back to Europe.
United States? Why? Pawel Braun, 29, despite his young age has, six years of experience in the administrative sector. Two years ago he was promoted to the position of the vice-president of a library in Gdansk (a city in the north of Poland near the Baltic Sea).
“Unfortunately the opportunities to further my career reached their end at that point,” Pawel said. “My professional future would have depended on local politics and I am fed up with politics in this country.”
The first country he thought of was England. “It is close, offers great employment benefits and possibilities of getting good experience,” he said in one breath. He also added that he doesn’t regret the social status he earned over the years (in Poland).
“My earnings will compensate for that, even if I were to work just as a librarian,” Pawel explained.
Although Pawel came to the States through a Work and Travel Program, he remembered it was a great experience. However, he never thought of immigrating to the United States or even extending his stay here.
“Why do that? The times when everybody would dream of America are long gone. I don’t understand why I would have to beg for a visa and then live in fear of deportation, and most of all, as an illegal [immigrant] feel like an outcast,” he explains.
An important factor in Pawel’s choice of staying in Europe is the proximity to Poland and the expanding network of cheap airlines within the European Union. “I can fly round trip with my girlfriend for 290 PLN (Polish Zloty — 290 zloty equals approximately $100) whenever I want to. I know of people who are in the United States and are constantly homesick. They know that they can’t just come home because either their visas are expired or the airfares are too high and they never have enough money in their accounts. I don’t want and I don’t have to have this type of dilemma,” he said.
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