Together we are crunchier

There are several experiences in this life which are akin to crossing the Rubicon; parenthood is one of them. The other is giving up home and hearth for pastures new. Growing up in the EU, being a teenager in a world still dizzy from the fall of the Wall, it was a given that people were no longer tied to that area where they grew up, not even to that country, but could make a home in one of the other European countries.

At the age of 21 the UK felt claustrophobic and I longed for the opportunities of being able to jump in a train and cross a border, without even having to show my passport. A year abroad in Regensburg had already shown me how easy it was to quickly hop to Wien, Cracow or Paris, have a quick weekend getting to know another city, hear another language and drink Turkish coffee in Prague, espresso in Italy, coffee in Vienna and (ahem) more coffee in Paris.  

I was in the Czech Republic when Diana died. In Czesky Krumlov, to be precise. We heard the news on the radio and hurried into town to try and find newspapers with the news. There were, of course, none (the following day, however, you couldn’t turn around without seeing Diana’s face). I have never been offered so many shots of vodka in sympathy. I came back to England with a strange feeling of having been away from my country at a time of national trauma; saw the masses of flowers laid everywhere in London, saw the Japanese tourists taking photos of them. I had my first taste of what it is like to be aware of what it means to belong to the English community. When you are in England, your nationality, your sense of community is background noise. When you are abroad, your nationality becomes a defining part of who you are. Why is this?

It is because you become aware of what it is that makes you different. You become sharply aware of norms that define you that come from your culture, from years of watching the BBC, of standing in queues, of sitting at the dining table watching TV, of enjoying the rather sticky underfoot feeling of an over-busy carpet in the local pub. The feeling of home you get when you hear your accent after a long absence. You realise what part of your personality comes from your Heimat, and what part of your personality comes from your own internal make-up.

In the few months between February and June 2016 I was told more times than I could count that, by dint of living abroad, I had given up being English. I found this strange. My government told me I was not English when they told me I could not vote. I should imagine there are people on the Falklands who have never set foot on English soil who are regarded as being more English than I am by a certain group of people. This jarred strongly with my own self-perception. I felt all the more patriotic and all the more English for being in Germany.

When you leave your country to find a home elsewhere you do not lose your nationality on the border. You do not cease to be a part of that country. You take that country with you and carry it in your heart. But it is amazing how big the human heart can be. My heart also took on the German culture (particularly the coffee drinking part). I looked forward to Tatort on Sundays, my speech became a little bit more direct, I started feeling bad about not being punctual. I understood that the way to a German’s heart was through accepted invitations and once you had found a place there, they took you in as part of the family. I feel English and German in equal parts. It was the threat of Brexit that reinforced the fact to me that the glue that held these two aspects of my personality together was my European citizenship. With my automatic right to be a part of German society, to study and to work here on an equal footing with my fellow Germans, I was able to reskill to be a productive member of this society. My children were born in a German hospital, the costs covered by German insurance. They have gone to Kindergarten with help from the German State, and they have been given extra lessons to help with their language deficit thanks to the German school system; and thanks to my European citizenship all of this has been easier for me.

Living in Europe meant, up until June 24^th 2016, that I was a member of a massive, chaotic, cacophonic, creative, colourful community. On June 24^th 2016 it meant I was a legal alien. Germany hadn’t changed. The people hadn’t changed. I hadn’t changed. My country had. On that day, a part of my moral right to be abroad was stolen by 17 million people. 17 million people whose voice in the internet had told me I wasn’t English. And suddenly I felt more English than ever before. And for the first time in my life, it did not feel good.

Being part of Europe is not like being sugar in a cup of coffee – you do not disappear into a homogenised mass. It is like being in a salad bowl. Everyone brings a new, wonderful ingredient to the mix and every mouthful is tasty, new, exciting. Removing ingredients from the mix detract from the salad. And, if you have had salad in Germany (and potato salad really does mean just potatoes and the occasional onion if you are lucky) you will know – variety is the spice of life.

Together we are crunchier

Gemma is appreciative that the European Union gave her the chance to study, live, love and have a family abroad. She lives in Germany, where the German State is allowing her to retrain, all expenses paid, as a teacher. ‘’Thank you Germany! Thank you, EU!’’ she says. You can find Gemma’s blog at https://medium.com/@gemmaknowles

I believe in the European Union because......

(Created by members of Campaign for Europe)

I never saw myself as a ‘political creature’ in my teens and twenty-somethings. Even though I voted in every UK election that I could, the EEC was ‘just something that was there’. I had no interest one way or the other.

The dawn of the European Union in 1992 took my interest. The Union has been foremost in my mind from then on, especially when, as a Brit, I moved to the Netherlands in 2000. That was possible and EASY because of ‘Freedom of Movement’ which had been in place, contrary to popular belief, before 1992.

Dutch law and the social support that they give to those ‘in need’ is second only maybe to that of Scandinavian countries. These countries sometimes give more to the EU than they receive. They also have high taxes, but the wealthy nationals do not complain too much; high taxes mean high tax-relief on mortgages, et cetera, and a higher standard of living for those who have to survive on government benefits; which in turn leads to a lower crime rate in those countries. If you do not believe me, look the numbers up on Eurostat for yourself.

As Facebook friends have pointed out, Britain was ‘the sick man of Europe’ before it joined the EEC in 1973. It had been denied entry to the EEC TWICE before that date. It is a terrible shame that they, by minority IMO, have now decided to leave the EU. (http://sardonic-caffiene.blogspot.nl/). But that is just my own opinion.

What I HAVE experienced in the last nine months is a wonderful collaborative spirit from all over the Union. Isn’t THAT what the EU is all about?

I could not attend the London march on March 25th 2017 in person. But I was incensed that some UK citizens were simply NOT ALOWED TO VOTE in the UK referendum about the EU in 2016, even though the result directly affected them. So I decided to design a placard for SOMEBODY to carry on that march.  I requested photos of those who were NOT allowed to vote; I requested somebody to carry the placard. I live in the Netherlands and a lady from France volunteered to carry the placard; in fact she tied it to the railings outside UK parliament at the end of the march! I received photos of UK citizens from all over the EU who wanted to be on that placard and hence ‘represented’ on the march. Dozens collaborated to be part of the placard. It was designed in the Netherlands, arrived in France, carried to/in London and had pictures on it from all over the EU. Truly a ‘collaborative EU project’ ? :-)

A few days before the EU anniversary on Saturday March 25th, I was inspired by my good friend, Peter Cook, to do a ‘social media storm’ on Facebook/Twitter ON the 25th. So I set up a FB group. The Facebook group had only 173 members on that afternoon, but began ‘trending’ on Facebook because we had ‘reached’ more than 1000 people. Hundreds collaborated to show support for the EU.

I was amazed that only ONE person could get more than 170 people to join them in only 60 hours. AND many ‘shared’ on FB and tweeted pro-EU statements. One person even only joined Twitter on March 25th to show support for the EU; I have to say that brought a tear to my eye! :-)

I was even more amazed that the community, given a vote, wanted to keep the group going beyond March 25th. So here we are now. ‘Campaign for Europe on the 25th’ has become ‘Campaign for Europe’. We welcome your membership and hope that, given enough notice, we can support your own campaigns through our coordinated ‘social media storming’.

People throughout Europe never cease to surprise, whether it be carrying a placard or supporting one of the many pro-EU Facebook or Twitter groups. One thing I know for DEFINATE is that most people support the European Union; I know this for sure by being tearful, emotionally overwhelmed, by positive support for the EU. The EU may not be ‘perfect’, but by remaining within the union we maybe have a chance to shape the ‘superpower’ that has been, and will continue to be. Outside we, as people of any one country, may be impotent. Within we can make Europe be what we want it to be – a socialist society that looks after its ‘needy’ and is also a major economic force in the world.

If I can do SOMETHING with only a few dozen or hundred ‘chipping in’, then together what heights can the EU reach if ALL ‘chip in’?

Sarah is a member of Campaign for Europe, keen EU supporter and 'systems thinker'. https://www.linkedin.com/in/snparkes/

 Her good friend and 'social media' mentor is Peter Cook, a 'keynote speaker' and author: @AcademyOfRock

About us

Campaign for Europe is a pro-EU online community that welcomes anybody, resident of any country of any nationality, who believes in the European Union.

The group was originally set-up as ‘Campaign for Europe on the 25th’. The aim of the group was to ‘social media storm’ on the day of the London ‘protest march’, pro EU march in Rome, et cetera, on March 25th 2017.

The group proved to be popular, so it is now continuing. The aim of the group is now to promote the benefits of European Union membership and talk about the lives of those resident within the EU. 

We have a Facebook group and Facebook page.

We can be followed on Twitter: @Campaign4Europe

and contacted by email: campaign.for.europe@gmail.com

We aim to ‘back-up’, by a ‘social media storm’, approved pro-EU campaigns by other groups. The Campaign for Europe community might not be able to be there physically in person, but they will be there to support an event with online promotion and a live, synchronised online campaign.

Wordle created by members of Campaign for Europe

If you are organising a special event and would like Campaign for Europe to support you with synchronised FB/Twitter 'social media storming' then please let us know at least a week in advance.