D AILY R OUTINE

These older migrants still have to make decisions once they are in the host country, and their experiences of daily life are going to have an impact on the next stage of their life course trajectory. Zygmunt (59) has considered his options and he has a plan. At the moment he cannot afford to buy his own house, but he intends working until retirement at sixty-five so that he can combine both UK and Polish pensions when he retires. He just hopes he is healthy enough to work until that time, but then he wants to go back and live in Poland. This is not dissimilar to plans made by many other individuals, who work abroad and then return to their own country to retire.

Davies & James (2011: 68) acknowledge that some migrants move back to their home country upon retirement as they want to be near families and friends as they grow old. However, Ganga’s (2006) study of older Italians living in Nottingham finds that increasingly they are not returning; they may have had the intention of doing so, but social, family and economic relationships are formed and they find it too difficult to relinquish these.

There is no doubt that many migrants are gaining from their experiences, picking up new skills and new knowledge. Leuner (2006:176) quotes a statement from a Polish migrant to Australia, who recognises that the young have psychological strength which enables them to adapt more easily and accept the differences, but for older people other aspects of life become of great importance. Instead of turning these into a negative experience, some older migrants are looking at the positive aspects of their achievements in adapting to a new way of life. Jakub (45) is proud of the fact that he can now answer the telephone in English. This may not seem to be a big achievement but it is a big step as it takes courage to answer a telephone in a foreign language; telephone contact does not allow clues to be picked up through body language, and it requires skills plus confidence to carry out this task.

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When he arrived three months ago, Wieslaw (55) had no problem finding a place to stay and within three weeks found a job working night shifts in a factory. He acknowledges that this has been a shock to his system and intends looking for something else, but regards it as a starting point for him. The financial rewards make it worthwhile for him as he was in low paid work In Poland. Julia (45) is very happy with her life in England. She came to the UK to be with her new partner.

We have a bigger house and it’s working out well. I was sitting there in my armchair just reading, all alone in Poland. I am happier now. I used to live my children’s lives, but now I have a life of my own. We might go to Cornwall this year, to see the UK. You have to know where you live.

Being older does not mean that new skills cannot be gained. Henryka (68) is on a pension and she decided to come to the UK only one year ago. She spoke no English when she arrived, yet has already managed to find herself housing without any help. Although she admits her English is very weak, she has learnt some language and she still prefers living in England. “I read books, newspapers, go for walks. I have a library card. There are fantastic parks here, fresh air, and I feel very good here.”

Kosic (2006:116) suggests that for young migrants a re-interpretation of their situation is used to preserve their self-esteem; they prefer to present themselves as gaining rich and cultural experiences which help in defining them. Although Ward et al (2001) argue that older people have fewer psychological resources to cope with transition to a new culture and cite Padilla’s (1986) study indicating that older migrants have lower levels of self-esteem, there has not been evidence to support this. It appears that older Polish migrants have a more pragmatic approach, and are more accepting of their situation, looking at the benefits to their lifestyle. They are not looking for personal development, rather for contentment with what they have gained from moving countries.

Leisure activities tend to be simple. Few participate in organised activities. In his free time Zygmunt (59) is learning English and he finds this is a way of relaxing. He also enjoys other very ordinary everyday activities. “I like watching English television, going to the park, going to a pub or cafe, talking to people.” Many are not involved in outside activities at all, preferring to stay at home and enjoy Polish television. This is usually linked to a comment on housing, as that is where they are spending most of

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their time. Home is familiar and means security, so they feel they can relax. Piotr (50) says that in his free time: “I watch television. The housing is very good.” This combination of housing with relaxation activities shows that they feel comfortable with their ordinary lives. Casmir (50) likes watching television, and is quite content with his lifestyle. He does not feel any need to take up any new leisure activities, and this relates to the way he lived in Poland, where he never went anywhere outside his own village. “I watch Polish television at home which is my main interest outside work. I work as a builder and it’s been very easy finding work.” On a daily basis many do not have much time for leisure. Krystyna (49) describes how shift work can disrupt possible activities.

We used to go to the swimming pool but now we don’t have a pool near our home. We often go walking, but we don’t go to the club. When I have the second shift, the afternoon shift, then it is the same time as classes are in the club.

Wikter (55) works long hours as a manual labourer but he has no complaints about that as it is easy to find such work and it pays very well. In describing his leisure activities, he expresses simple everyday activities. “I enjoy beer, cigarettes, friends, shopping and cooking. I work too hard to join anything here. The housing is very good.” The inclusion of housing when asked about leisure activities again shows the importance of this in their lives. Its significance is in the security it offers them. Some do make the time and inclination to get involved, and find that they then identify opportunities of integrating with English people. Teresa (50) loved sport in Poland and continues to be involved in sport in the UK. She meets up with English people outside work through playing sport. Mateusz (45) had lots of interests in Poland such as cycling, water sports, canoeing and car racing but has not yet found those in the UK, though he hopes to do so. He is in the process of setting up his own business and he has been meeting lots of English people.

There is always time for holidays and many do go back to Poland to visit family and friends. However, a number are taking advantage of travelling around the UK and getting familiar with this new country. Krystyna (49) is more adventurous. “We are planning a holiday camping in France for two weeks. But last holiday we stayed in England because my husband was a little bit ill. But now I think we have little holidays all over Europe, in England long weekends.” Feliks (47) is self-employed

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and working in a factory. He too enjoys having the opportunity to travel around England at weekends. He says: “I feel much better here, a more peaceful life, quiet, organised.” He has time to himself and time to do other things he wants to do.

These older migrants describe ordinary lives, where personal preferences dictate the level of involvement in leisure activities. This is an aspect of their lives that they can control. They may not always be able to choose where they live or work, but they can make decisions on a daily basis as to what they do with their spare time. This freedom may be expressed by watching television, or by going for a walk, but there is no compulsion to do anything they do not want to do. The ordinariness of these activities should perhaps be viewed in the context of life within the UK, where they may be defined as normalcy. Earl (2004) questions how it is possible to suggest “that normalcy is reasserted in people’s lives for whom there was seemingly little normalcy to begin with”. Comparisons of normalcy are limited by the sociocultural context in which the experiences occur (Crowe, 2000), but Kennedy (1994: 4) argues that members from post-communist societies “want to be something inconsistent with the system they recently overturned” and that their desire for a successful future can be regarded as a normal aspiration. From their narratives of lived experience in the UK, it is evident that many of these older Polish migrants are content with their newfound normalcy. Krings et al (2009) argue that the longer migrants stay in their new country, the more important their quality of life becomes. Their study was of younger migrants in Ireland, but it could also be argued that quality of life becomes more important with age. It has certainly been a significant factor in the motivation of older migrants to leave their homeland and start a new life in the UK. Brygida (42) is content with her current lifestyle. From a two room flat in Poland, the family is now in a three bedroom house. Her description of everyday life resonates with the similarity to an ordinary English housewife’s routine. “I am cooking, cleaning, taking children to school. I work at weekends but sometimes meet with friends.”

It is this very ordinariness of daily living which points to the probability of these older Polish migrants settling in this country. As Lopez Rodriguez (2010) argues, when immigration takes on a more permanent form, families create an environment which they feel is normal and meaningful to them. They feel this is their home. They are not trying to create a new homeland in another country. This has long been the theory behind diasporas (Bozic, 2006), where people move from one country to another and

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bring their way of life with them. Cohen (1997) and others have defined characteristics of diasporas as having a certain homogeneity, but the older migrants have more in common with international retirement migrants. Despite the flow defying the usual northern Europe to southern Europe pattern, the motivation has similarities: “They seek homes more than homelands, only a minority engage with fellow-nationals in group activities inspired by the homeland, and the majority have a general ambition to integrate in the host society or to freely move between territories”(O’Reilly, 2000).

Although these international retirement migrants are considered to be affluent (Warnes & Williams, 2006), they are also more concerned with quality of life (Giddens, 1991; Murray et al, 2003) and many are thinking ahead to retirement, rather than being at retirement age already. Studies have shown that assumptions based on these more active older migrants returning home in later life have proven to be untrue (Warnes & Williams, 2006). This has been a similar phenomenon with the older Italian migrants in Nottingham. Deianira Ganga (2006b) describes how the socialisation of the children of migrants contributes to settlement; because the migrants themselves had not originally considered their migration would be permanent; they had not made efforts to socialise with the host society. However, their children had integrated and had no desire to return to their parents’ homeland.

As the migrants become older, they then become concerned that their children will not be there to look after them if they return to their home country and a compromise is sought whereby regular visits back to the homeland help maintain their links to their place of origin (Ganga, 2006a). A study of older migrants in Switzerland also supports an intention and preference to settle in the host country and make visits back to the homeland (Bolzman et al, 2006).

Seganti (2010) argues that new migration within Europe should be regarded as an expansion from a homeland in search of work. She also proposes the idea that migrants are now using social media as a third home and, although her study focuses on younger migrants, there is some evidence to support that older migrants are finding a virtual third home: in their case this is their dependence on Polish television. Burrell (2006: 138) contends that Polonia, the Polish television station, gives migrants a sense of belonging. As Adamson (2005: 56) finds, the availability of

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satellite television means migrants: “can remain linked to a virtual identity community that transcends any geographic locale”.

In their leisure time many older migrants choose to watch Polish television, and this should be seen as a factor in their acceptance of the host country, rather than in terms of a barrier to their integration. It is a matter of choice, and being able to choose the way they live their lives means that they are more likely to regard the UK as their permanent settlement.