We come into this world as immigrants! Untertauern, Austria, July 2020 When we are born, everything is new and different, nothing resembles what we have come to feel is home: mother’s womb. So we "immigrate" into “new world.” We also immigrate into a specific setting, which is defined by the culture and community of our family. According to the dictionary, "immigrate" generally means “ to enter and usually become established ” ( https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immigrate ). Hence, if we take this general meaning, we immigrate many times over: when we start school, sport, training, a profession, … . Only specifically does "immigrate" mean “ to come into a country of which one is not a native for permanent residence ” ( see dictionary cited above ). Unfortunately, the general meaning of the word has gotten lost somehow, our view has been shaped by the words “not native.” Yet, d...
