Multiple moves: ‘Can we just settle down somewhere?’

As illustrated in Table 6.1, many of the adolescents had moved several times, both among different countries and within the UK. While this chimes with findings that suggest at uncertainty, it runs contrary to Trevena, McGhee and Heath (2013), who suggest that mobility of families once in the UK is relatively limited.

One adolescent who had experienced such multiple moves was fourteen-year-old Marek. An only child, he left Poland with his mother at the age of five; as in the case of Anna, Marek’s father remains in Poland. Marek has lived in several locations: moving from Poland to America and then onto Sweden before coming to the UK, where he and his mother lived in a one-room flat above a pub in a large town before settling in

Fieldstone. When I interviewed him individually, I was able to explore a little more with Marek how he felt about his experiences. Part of that discussion is presented below.

Extract 6.4 (S5: individual interview – Sara (SY); Marek (M))

506 SY: um. have you found it quite difficult moving around all the different places?

507 M: no. most. most of my life I spend in a car! pretty much/ travelling with my 508 Mum most of my life/ quite a lot of my life.

509 SY: <laughing>

510 M: literally! I was like – and sometimes I just got fed up and I’m like. Mum. when 511 will we settle? I don’t want to move all the time! and it was like. I remember 512 some of those – I kept asking questions like. when will we move? can we just 513 move somewhere where we will stay? seriously. I’m just like tired of all my 514 stuff being moved EVERYwhere. then we sort it out. and then we have to 515 move again and buy this thing all over again! unless we can have the space 516 to – move the stuff I own. like my desk and stuff/ and then we set it up again.

517 and then we just put it back in the truck again. and then. then – I’m like.

518 what’s the point! can we just settle down somewhere? seriously. I don’t want 519 to – <laugh a little together> – spend the rest of my life in a car! seriously.

520 come on!

Marek initially gives a literal answer to my question, wryly noting that ‘no’, travelling is not difficult, and that he has been in a car for ‘pretty much’ his whole life (line 507).

However, Marek’s tone changes as he starts to talk about the constant moving:

‘sometimes I just got fed up’ (line 510). This shifts into agitation as he recalls the questions he kept asking his mother: ‘when will we settle?’ (lines 510-511); ‘when will we move?’ (line 512), by which point Marek sounds weary and frustrated: ‘I’m just like tired of all my stuff being moved EVERYwhere’ (lines 513-514). His voice drops as he pauses briefly in his account, unsure how to continue: ‘and then. then –’ (line 517) before starting again: ‘I’m like. what’s the point!’ (lines 517-518). By this stage, it

appears that Marek’s words are directed less to me than to his mother: ‘can we just settle down somewhere?’ (line 518). Marek’s account can thus be interpreted as indicating his frustration at moving, and arguably at his lack of agency in the process.

His story can also be seen to encapsulate the disruptive impact of moving around, where, it appears, there is not always even the possibility of keeping the same possessions, but having to ‘buy this thing all over again!’ (line 515).

Another problem faced by Marek is that his parents have divorced, with his father staying in Poland. In the extract below, Marek hints at the sense of disjuncture he faces when returning to England at the end of the summer spent in Poland.

Extract 6.5 (S6: individual interview – Sara (SY); Marek (M))

789 SY: ok. um. when you go to Poland. do you miss England. or when you come 790 back to England. do you miss Poland?

791 M: hm – honestly. it’s just I go to Poland then I. it’s – I don’t know. I miss Poland 792 and then I get over it and then it’s back to normal/ it’s just. you know – every 793 year’s similar/ I’ve learned to deal with it. I’m just like. ok. I’ll go and come 794 back and then next year will be the same!

Marek’s disjointed syntax as he attempts to articulate his feelings – ‘it’s just I go to Poland then I. it’s – I don’t know.’ (line 791) may be interpreted as a reflection of the mixed emotions Marek experiences as he must move from one location to the other.

His sense of resignation as he recognises it is something he has to ‘deal with’ (line 793) every summer is suggested by Marek’s final jaded exclamation ‘and next year will be the same!’ (line 794).

Eleven-year-old Yamina has a still more complicated migration trajectory, having moved between Poland and Algeria – her father’s country of origin – and then several times in the UK (see Table 6.1). In an interview with Sylwia, one of her best friends at Grovesham, Yamina describes her situation. The following extract leads on from a discussion about how Yamina’s parents met.

Extract 6.6 (S4: interview with Yamina & Sylwia – Sara (SY); Sylwia (S); Yamina (Y))

928 SY: […] and then they decided to come to this country?

929 Y: actually. we – I was born in Poland. and then my brother – I was alone. like 930 with no brothers. no siblings for four years. or five actually/ my – not. no four 931 – my brother was born –

932 SY: yeah

933 Y: he’s now nearly nine. he’s going to be nine in September/ and then we 934 decided to visit Algeria when he was about two/ we lived there with my – like.

935 we didn’t have a house. we lived with my grandma and went to (…) school.

936 and my brother – 937 SY: um-hm

938 Y: I forgot what I was going to say now/ and we lived there for nine months. only […]

952 Y: and then. erm. we came back. we went back to Poland/ actually. my Mum 953 became pregnant with my brother who is now five years old

954 SY: yeah

955 Y: in Algeria. and then we decided. actually. that. er – we decided to go back to 956 Poland/ and then we lived there in my grandma’s house for five months whilst 957 my Dad was in England/ he went back to Poland with us but literally straight 958 went to England. he went straight away

959 SY: ok

960 Y: and. yeah. I went to school in Poland for five months 961 SY: ok

962 Y: and we moved to here/ but actually. we moved to a house. then to another 963 house. now. and then we moved to another house

964 S: <laughing> that’s –

965 SY: wow. ok and where are you going next? <laughter>

966 Y: I don’t know! I. I don’t want to move/ my Mum says that we’re probably not 967 going to be moving again

Yamina’s account provides an illustration of the father migrating first, and also of the uncertain nature of migratory plans as highlighted in the literature (Eade, Drinkwater &

Garapich 2006; Drinkwater & Garapich 2013). The story of Yamina’s family is also affected by questions of religion; her father was born into a Muslim family, while her mother had converted around the age of nineteen, prior to meeting Yamina’s father.

While this study does not focus on religion as an element of identity (see Chapter 2), it is possible that religion may have played a role in the migration trajectory of Yamina’s parents. The increase in anti-Muslim sentiment in Poland has already been noted (see section 1.5); Pędziwiatr (2011) notes the differing reactions to this amongst the Muslim community: while some wish to conceal their Muslim identity, others appear to have little problem in self-identifying as Polish Muslims. It may be that Yamina’s family experienced difficulties in Poland, hence the choice to migrate, but while she describes the various journeys made by the family, Yamina does not expound on the reason for leaving. Not wanting to explore issues of religion in Poland (see section 1.5), I chose not to probe further. What is however also of interest to this current study is Yamina’s

reaction to the multiple moves: like Marek, she is tired with moving, concluding her story with an emphatic sigh: ‘I don’t want to move’ (line 966).

The stories of Yamina and Marek suggest that these adolescents do not necessarily experience multiple moves as positive, but as disruptive, something which chimes with Block (2006a). Another potentially discomforting element relevant to the younger migrant experience is the practice of language brokering; this will be explored in the next section.