To ask what you think of Eastern Europeans living in the UK?

[Bananasinpjs7]

I have lived in the UK for almost 10 years which is pretty much a 1/3 of my life. I never thought I’d stay this long but met my partner here and decided to build a career in an industry that we don’t really have in my home country... yet.
I’m trying my best... language wise I think I’m pretty fluent. English is the language I speak 95% of the time.
I try to fit in as much as possible, learn as much as I can about the UK to understand it’s history and culture...
But I feel extremely left out ... I feel people look at me and think ‘she is from eastern eu’ as if it has some sort of stigma. It feels like if you are from somewhere glamorous like France or Scandinavian countries you are much more accepted... I’m so tired of constantly feeling like this

Chip on my shoulder? No, just 17 years of misconceptions and listening to ignorant comments like yours.

OP one of the ladies i work with all the time is from Hungary and she is the sweetest funniest loveliest people i have ever worked with, her husband works 12 hour days her daughter is at Uni , but funnily enough you aught to hear what she has to say about certain EE migrants coming to England working minimum hours or no hours to get benefits, she has me in stitches her family have never claimed a penny in benefits and have worked for everything they have and went through the british citizenship process which cost them a fortune

@isseywith4vampirecats that’s lovely to hear!
And I agree with her... as I mentioned in my last comment I got to know a few of those type of people when I moved here... it was awful, they were moaning about the brits yet tried to take as much advantage of the UK as they could... but I guess some brits do this too.

Just to clarify my colleagues have been lovely and I haven’t experienced any negatives from them... however in my last job I had a colleague who liked to give me a wee poke when she got the arse. I guess that was the only thing she could ‘use’ against me.

I also agree that many (definitely not all but unfortunately many still) central/eastern Europeans can be racist... it’s sad really... but smaller towns in my home country to be fair you would have to really look to find any other nationalities and many people choose to live their lives in their home town bubble and never educate themselves re race/racism... again I guess there is plenty of racism everywhere in the world unfortunately 🙁

@GimmeAy

I too have found EE to be racist towards black people. I'm Irish and about 10 years ago there was a Czech guy who moved into our village. My DP became friends with him on FB. I could see what was going on from my FB, but this Czech guy added KKK as his friend on facebook. I asked/told my DP at the time to delete him as a friend and to never speak to the cunt again. Yes - they are in my experience very racist towards black people.

In your experience of one person?

@Alongcameacat It’s not snobbish to say you’re not from Eastern Europe when you’re... not from Eastern Europe, it’s geography. Poland is Central Europe.

@GimmeAy

I mentioned a Hungarian colleague - is there a prize for me? I also had Hungarian housemates. They are lovely friendly people so I don't view Hungarians like I view Russians for e.g.

There’s a word for people like you

I think it's really hard to generalise though. Like I said earlier no matter where you are from some people are nice and others aren't.

Europe is massive and it's has many countries all of which are unique from the next and even within each country there's big differences.
Look at the uk each country within the whole are very different from each other. Within each there are nice and horrible people and the uk is tiny compared to Europe, even compared to one country within Europe!

Banana just like I said earlier I'm very sorry, you belong here, you work here, you are raising your family here. I hope things change for you. You deserve to be happy and be part of this community and country. No one on here has the right to tell you otherwise.

I have found them to be extremely hard working With a fantastic work ethic.
What has always annoyed me is the terrible attitude some English people have towards them, particularly towards the Poles. I don’t know if it’s some kind of jealousy or heaven knows.

I was once in a shop with an (ex) friend, a couple of men walked in to buy some lunch, they did absolutely nothing wrong, we’re simply buying lunch but we’re talking in a foreign language.

I asked my ex friend what she thought when she saw the men and her reply was ‘Oh God, not more bloody Poles’ I understand enough Polish to know they we’re definitely not Poles and told her so, she couldn’t are less. As far as she was concerned if they were white and we’re not speaking English, French, German or Spanish then they were obviously Polish.

My ex friend was always making nasty about Eastern European people and whenever I tried calling her up on it she couldn’t care less.

I would ask her why she has this attitude she replied that “They’re white so I can get away with it”.

Hence why she is an ‘ex’ friend.

In your experience of one person?

I didn't write the comment you're responding to, but we're a mixed family in London. Only racism I've experienced has been from Eastern European people. Thats my experience. Now, I know not all EE people are racist...I am friends with a lovely Hungarian lady who is married to a black man. I do wonder though if perhaps racist words and comments are not considered socially unacceptable in EE countries? I'm not sure.

Russia is both in Europe and Asia so not sure how they get categorised.

Generally Western Europe countries are not thought of as one blob, U.K. is very different to France, etc. But Eastern Europe seems to be perceived as homogeneous.

I suppose in this case the OP didn’t want to reveal her country of origin so said EE but that in itself says something and not about the OP.

Also Austria and Switzerland are seen as Western countries and not part of Central Europe.

I was born in 'glamorous' France and even after 25 years in this country and having British citizenship, yet I still get a negative reactions and comments sometimes.

Thankfully it is rare in London where I currently live as people are used to mixing with people from all over the world and of various ethnicity but it still happens and it is really sad when it does.

I completely understand why it affects you. I think Brexit has not helped and there are part of the media that feeds that type of petty behaviour.

Most immigrants are here to live a peaceful life, to contribute to the community and we stay because we love the country as much as someone who was born here. But some people will never accept that.

I don't have family in my birth country and nothing to 'go back to' and the UK is my home. I try not to worry about those who don't understand that...thankfully there are not the majority.

All the Polish and Eastern European people I have met in London have been friendly, smart, hard-working and highly educated (I even had a Polish boyfriend for a while who was incredibly smart :) and successful in his IT career). They bring value to any country where they choose to settle I think. Keep your head held high...

No problems at all. i remember my mother telling us how much we owed to the Poles for example (also Catholic) who fought with the British forces on our side during world war II. We stand beside them as friends.

I have a problem with anyone who isn't silent at night and who leaves litter and who begs and takes state benefits. So as long as people of all colours and races avoid that and do not bring any sexism or homophobia over here they are welcome.

I remember my daughter's best friend at school would only speak Polish when they started (as she had just spent the summer with her grandmother back home) and those two became best of friends and went to each other's first communions when they were 7 (they were at private school together). It was interesting going to the girl's Polish church for the ceremony back in the early 1990s.

@Iwalkinmyclothing

My husband is Polish. Some people are shitty to him. Some people are lovely. He has struggled with the rise in expressed xenophobia since the referendum in 2016 (and I have struggled with the legions of people who insist there has been no such rise) and he does not feel particularly welcomed by the government. We used to live in a shitty Fenland town where it was much, much worse but even in a big, famously multicultural city there are still idiots.

Fuck them, I say. I would much rather have you and my DH than all the small minded natives who are so threatened by and hostile to 'outsiders'. I feel far more kinship with you than them. They can say this is 'their' country and think that, but they are wrong and stupid and not worth our time.

And if anyone reading this is offended by it, good. If you share the opinions of those who have made life so hard for people like the op and my dh and pur friends, I am very glad to offend you and I always will be.

What she said

I'm of Eastern European descent (both parents) but born in the UK. Definitely felt the hostility after the Brexit vote when I was out w my mum, speaking Polish. Op I know what you mean about some european immigrants being the glam ones: french, Spanish, italian, and the eastern European ones being sort of a second tier! I experienced xenophobia in the 1980s at school and still get asked where I'm from when I meet someone and they learn my v foreign name.

I am of Eastern European descent. U grew up in England the went back to study. Now I'm back in the UK, I never really experienced that much prejudice ( more for being Catholic). However even amongst my own countrymen there is a stigma. There is a general consensus that low skilled workers or people that just can't cope with life in the old country leave.
The other thing I have noticed is the difference culturally. A lot of my friends and the new family I have gained comment that we Eastern Europeans are more direct and borderline rude in our communication.
Amongst my friends who are also Eastern European I notice many of them don't really want to mix with British. They tend to stick together and when we are together all they do is complain about how shit things are here compared to home!
I think the issue is multi-faceted.

I have a friend from Lithuania and she told me that she, and many EEs, think that people from Eastern Europe are consiered to be the vermin of Europe. I was really surprised at hearing that. I had no idea that was a common feeling/thinking amongst EEs. We both lived outside of the UK at the time.

I have loads of Polish neighbours. They're all lovely. Work hard, keep their gardens nice and have nice kids.

Unlike my skanky white British Brexity neighbours who I can't stand .

I went the other way! I’ve spent a large chunk of my adult life in Central Europe (including Poland before 1989). I’m of Central European descent. People are not very curious why I’m here. I speak the languages with a British accent, but most people assume I’m second generation and have come back or am visiting.

I haven't read the whole thread as I'm assuming it's full of apologists! Where in the uk do you live?

There are plenty of racists in any culture but yes, I would say that some rural areas in particular of Eastern / Central Europe would struggle with diversity. DHs cousin married a guy from Ghana and when her brother wanted to make her godmother of his newborn son, the Church blocked it. She had done her own communion there, but it was a no. Equally my ILs were surprised by the diversity of my own family (my siblings spouses include Korean, Samoan and Chinese). Ironically my great grandmother who fled the Soviet’s and spoke German, French, Serbian, and Hungarian warned me DH might want me for my passport No country is perfect
Also, DH is one of five boys; four are great, hardworking guys, but the eldest is the laziest fecker and has spent more time unemployed than employed... the only saving grace is he can’t afford to leave Poland so he’ll remain their problem

@Bananasinpjs7

I have lived in the UK for almost 10 years which is pretty much a 1/3 of my life. I never thought I’d stay this long but met my partner here and decided to build a career in an industry that we don’t really have in my home country... yet. I’m trying my best... language wise I think I’m pretty fluent. English is the language I speak 95% of the time. I try to fit in as much as possible, learn as much as I can about the UK to understand it’s history and culture... But I feel extremely left out ... I feel people look at me and think ‘she is from eastern eu’ as if it has some sort of stigma. It feels like if you are from somewhere glamorous like France or Scandinavian countries you are much more accepted... I’m so tired of constantly feeling like this

I’m so sad that living in the UK has made you feel like this. I love to see people from around the world come here and make it their home.

There’s lovely friendly people in all countries. There’ll be nasty EEs the same as nasty British.

56 posts in this thread to date, have.spoken about their positive experiences with Polish people with examples such as ‘my Polish shop’, ‘My Polish grandfather’, ‘my Polish boss’, ‘my Polish cleaner’ and so forth in response to the OP’s thread about Eastern Europeans. I was one of the few posts who didn’t wax lyrical about EE and said what everyone else obviously thought ie I considered Poland to be part of Eastern Europe - why else would the majority of examples have included references if not completely about Polish people.

I take a PP’s point that Poland is Central Europe. I have never distinguished between Poland and Eastern Europe. I guess it’s a mindset but one that is shared by most posters on this thread.

I find it strange that so many people have only met positive people with amazing work ethics from certain countries. Surely there are good and bad in every nationality?

All of the Eastern European people that I have met have been really honest, hardworking and good citizens. In fact they're a better class of people than a lot of the English around here! I met a lovely Polish girl 15 years ago we were both working in a care home together, she told me a lot about Poland, when I left she was going home and we wrote to each other for a while, until I moved and lost her address, I hadn't given her my new one and I always wonder about her.

I take people as I find them - some I like and some I don't. Treat my family and neighbourhood with respect and you're OK in my book. Fly tip, leave dog mess, queue jump, speak offensively, etc, and you're bang out of order regardless of your country of origin - Eastern Europeans are a mixed bag the same as the British.