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FOMATPLAY okay um so thank you very much for allowing us to interview you um let's start with some questions um can you tell us about your journey? how did you get here? and what prompted your decision to move to Italy? YAELLE ok, so I study at the university in Strasbourg and I study linguistical mediation. And I had the opportunity to go on Erasmus, which uh was a a program that really inspires me because I really like to travel; and studying abroad for me is an opportunity. so I took it and I chose Napoli because um ... I had other choices of cities but Napoli is a city that intrigued me because it has like a good and bad reputation and it permit me to see a little bit more of southern countries in Italy FOMATPLAY okay are you happy to go back to your home country? will you go back to your home country? YAELLE yes, but for example I went home for Christmas and festivities but I was happy to go there because I know that I will go back here and I really enjoy here and I'm thinking about do a master , a double master: one year in France and one year in Italy. because Italy is a country that I really enjoy and I don't know if I came back to my home country it will not be in my home city because, I don't know... I grew up there and I've seen enough so I want to see other things FOMATPLAY okay uh did you come to Italy with your family or alone? YAELLE like the accommodation? but it was more like a personal decision. It was my family, was just a support but they accompanied me in my journey to go here; but it was more like... FOMATPLAY okay, and how was it for you to adjust? YAELLE um... in terms of general life, everyday life... it was uh easy because people here are really friendly and they like helping people. And they are also very welcoming so I was really well welcomed a but not the same thing with the scholar thing. It was a little bit more tricky because we had a lack of information and we have to do a lots of things in research alone. So it was complicated but it's formative, I think FOMATPLAY so besides the locals also of being very welcoming and helpful, did you find some sort of a support network? like other French people, I don't know, moving to Italy? YAELLE yes because on the Erasmus program there is a lot of association like ESN for example uh, which helps students who want to study abroad and it's an association which is recognized in Europe, maybe, uh outside of Europe, but Europe for sure. And it's-; for example, they organized events where I can talk to other people, not only French people, but also Italian, English; and all the people that I can meet and I can also visit other cities; who went on a trip in Tuscany. And we-; so I have support also from them FOMATPLAY okay. so good support. um, okay. what aspects about primary or secondary education in your host country do you appreciate the most? YAELLE French school system is really exigent and we have a lot of retain exam and exercises. So, for example, my accent in English is really bad. So I'm better at writing English instead of speaking it but um.. I'm really good um... educated on the theological thing and in France there is a lack of like too much theory and no practice FOMATPLAY no practice. what about in Italy? YAELLE in Italy it is completely different because, for example, the exams are mostly oral and I really, I'm really not used to it. So, it's a little bit complicated for me to express myself other than writing. but it's a different exercise that I appreciate; but at the same time I find it complicated. FOMATPLAY hmm okay um. what do the people in your host country think about EU citizens? so what do the people in Italy think about EU citizens based on your experience? EU citizens living or working here? YAELLE okay. so, I'm not quite sure I understood the question. okay. that's I think that's EU and people is also a form of humanity a lot of differences inside but, for example, if I have to compare with the non-EU people there are more like stereotype there are more um bothering yeah those people so I feel a little bit more included as a EU citizen here than if I was not FOMATPLAY okay um... and um how did you-, how do you feel about the attitudes to migration in Itay? have you ever experienced-, sorry. I'll continue with the questions have you ever experienced any kind of hostility from people here because of your different nationality different linguistic background cultural background , hate speech, for example? YAELLE Yeas and no. because, for example, people can recognise that I'm French because of my accent. So sometimes I'm like okay but let me express myself please I can do it and.. but there are a lot of stereotypes about French and other countries so sometimes people before really being interested in you are like...oh wow but they put you in a special case of your culture and you can't... you are judged on what you represent of the country and not the individual. FOMATPLAY: like in a box okay um... have you ever experienced hate speech in online or offline conversations? YAELLE for example, I have a friend who is from the association ESN he sent me some memes on WhatsApp and one of them was oh what's the best thing to do in France? leave okay and so for me it's funny, so that's not really hateful. it's more like kind of joke that are oh your country sucks a bit but we accept you it's ok okay FOMATPLAY: now let's talk about Brexit do you have any memories of the Brexit referendum in the UK in 2016? um did this affect you in any way back then? were you surprised about the results? YAELLE I was not really surprised because it made a lot of noises in the EU space . but it's not something that really impacted me personally it was like okay good or bad for them but maybe on the EU culture, maybe because United Kingdom was part of the culture. so I think that on the economic factor , political is totally different that we cannot really detach themselves from the cultural aspect of EU. FOMATPLAY okay, okay. um and um... what was your personal reaction to the fact that the UK was willing to withdraw from the EU and reject the possibility of freedom of movement for their own citizens and the rest of the EU citizens? YAELLE hmm I didn't have a reaction like oh no. but it was a little bit bad for them. it's limitating like the rise of circulation and it's, it's a shame that people cannot be free to move in the EU space but I understand also because they want to detach themselves so it's normal FOMATPLAY okay um... okay let's move on how do you feel EU institutions may have a bearing or influence on your everyday life as a citizen in Italy? in Italy? YAELLE I don't really know but I can answer that by comparing it to Strasbourg, the city I came from because there is the European Parliament there. So there are a lot of, for example, activities of sensibilization about that but here it's not the same spirit because I don't know really how to describe it but eh..I don't know FOMATPLAY that's okay, that's okay. but do you think you can trust the EU institutions? because you are a European citizen do you trust the EU institutions? YAELLE yes I trust them but it's not like if I want help I will not come okay okay okay clear enough. um which values FOMATPLAY which values of Italy did you find it easiest to assimilate to or to accept? YAELLE the love for food, good food. it it was really easy to accept uh... I'm happy and but at the same time there is a weird competition between France and Italian... culinary FOMATPLAY the cuisine. YAELLE hat's not like food or there's a lot of, for example, my roommates is really attached to his mom and family and Italy is more traditional, I think, than friends and we detach ourselves more from our parents so I can understand it but for me it will not work FOMATPLAY okay so this is something that is different. YAELLE Yes, the difference is a richness for me so it's great. FOMATPLAY okay, how active are you in your contribution to or participation in the community you found here ? in the network you found here in Italy? YAELLE I participate a lot because without my contacts here. I'm alone to begin with and I want to live the life like uh... the same way a person from here can live it to live my experience of Erasmus fully and I want to go back home and say ah I lived in Napoli for one year but just not in figuration I was participating in random events and like that FOMATPLAY like a real citizen in a way. um so do you feel you can rely on your network of relationships here? YAELLE yes FOMATPLAY: and how do you define yourself as a person meaning how attached or unattached do you feel to your home country? to your host country? so here and more generally to Europe to the EU? YAELLE here I found myself a little bit surprised with my behaviours regarding my home country. because in my own country I'm not really uh I'm French but here it's like not a real vindication the word is a little bit too much but it's part of me that in French I tend to forget and I don't know my nationalism or love for my country I don't know it's showed more here than in France hmm okay but it's not something that define my personal being just like I'm French it's part of me so here it's more obvious to say than in French FOMATPLAY okay um... which languages can you speak? um and can you speak Italian? YAELLE I can speak English, a little bit of German; but just a little bit; and Italian. I can speak Italian but because I study it in my uh university FOMATPLAY: oh you studied Italian in your university YAELLE it was also why I choose Italy to go for an Erasmus because it makes sense when you study languages to also know part of the cultural thing that do these languages. FOMATPLAY: why did you decide to study Italian? YAELLE um I had choice to study between Italian and Russian as a beginner and I chose Italian because first it's a beautiful language and when my teachers spoke Italian. I was wow! so beautiful. and it's a language that is easiest to learn than, for example, Russian. and I can actually speak it and use it in my future professional life after. FOMATPLAY: and do you speak it with an accent in your opinion ? YAELLE I think so. I work on my accent but I think that maybe my Italian accent is better than my English, okay. FOMATPLAY: and how do people react to your accent? YAELLE here it's also different because in Napoli there is another accent which is not the same as the regular or standard Italian. So, sometimes they are not even understanding me because they have a whole different way of speaking and pronouncing the same language. but I also struggle to understand them but it's interesting FOMATPLAY: and how do you feel when you speak French here? YAELLE um I'm feeling like I'm being a little bit stereotyped if I understood well the question is what's other FOMATPLAY: no what do you feel for example here you I don't know you speak French with your other French Erasmus students I guess? how do you feel when you speak French here? if the question makes sense to you YAELLE it's a strange question maybe it doesn't make sense to you but I I can try to answer. but I'm not feeling like I'm more feeling like a tourist when I speak French than Italian and I don't know for me when you are in the country it's important also to respect the culture and also try to learn the language and practice it and when I feel like guilty when I'm speaking French because I can speak Italian so why I don't do it ? FOMATPLAY: okay that's, that's interesting. speaking of which, what makes you feel you belong to a country or a community? YAELLE for me it's a lot of cultural aspects of the way of speaking for example in my region Alsace we also have a dialect which I do not speak because it's something that is fading but, for example, I use some words which are specific to my region so it makes me part of that region and that community but also the culinary taste or so and I don't really know YAELLE but there's some random thing you do that make you part of the community even if it's like unconscious hmm but it's not that you act like this so you're a part of this but I feel like I belong to that community because I learn a different like linguistic variation, specific vocabulary, grammar structures and also cultural things FOMATPLAY: okay do you feel you belong to the EU? and if so how? if not why? YAELLE yes because I was raised in a EU country uh more in Strasburg which put the accent of the open minded the way of thinking EU and France as part of something bigger and I, I don't know, I don't like really, for example, I don't find myself like some common I don't think with American culture it's really different. FOMATPLAY okay, okay. um... was there a specific moment in which you felt you belonged to where you are now? do you feel you belong here in a way? YAELLE here right now? here no but yes because I studied to go here and like I said, before in my formation I, I tend to know more about languages so for me it's normal it's part of my job to go and see by myself and have my own experience with that language FOMATPLAY okay um what do you know about uh your freedom of movement rights as a European citizen? YAELLE um I know that in the Schengen space I have the rights to move freely and staying also because, for example, if I was not a EU citizen, I had a lot more procedure to stay here in Erasmus and for me it's really a liberty of.. yes, just a liberty and I like it hmm FOMATPLAY: and how would you feel if somebody told you that your freedom of movement is to be revoked? YAELLE like the UK citizens? FOMATPLAY yeah. like the UK citizens. YAELLE yeah um... I will not be happy and I think they are not happy no FOMATPLAY: okay um uh... how would you describe freedom of movement? what image comes to your mind when you think about it? YAELLE it's... for me it's to encourage the intercultural community for example, to be more aware of the other and to create some connection in Europe to be more united, to create a NEW mindset community FOMATPLAY okay. Have you ever felt mistreated here or discriminated against? YAELLE no, just my friend's jokes. FOMATPLAY: nothing more than that okay do you think it is easy for a foreign person to get a job in this country? in Italy? YAELLE yes because if I remember well, my lessons about Italy and work world and as a young person I struggle not because the active population the people who are working are in the... in French we say uh in the flower of age they are really mature so all the posts are occupied and people have to go find other job, other opportunities outside of Italy. so I think that if for the Italian people it's complicated to get a job for the foreign almost more. FOMATPLAY: what are your experiences of everyday bureaucracy? YAELLE um oh no a nightmare, I don't like it . no no no. and I was speaking on French administration before but I came here and I realized that French administration is okay compared to here because there's a lot of... I just have the experience of university so I think it's a little bit different if I was not a student. But I have to go to one place who in the person there told me I have to go to another place and it's just like there is so much thing for one little paper and with no information. it's complicated to just deal with all of this FOMATPLAY so bad experience YAELLE bad experience FOMATPLAY okay, can you please define freedom of movement in one sentence? YAELLE I'm supposed to *inaudible* no it's a it's a chance to have the liberty of movement FOMATPLAY: okay how would you sum up your freedom of movement experience across the EU so far? YAELLE nice. easy and practical. FOMATPLAY okay, in a few words how would you feel if your freedom of movement was removed? YAELLE um I think I will not be happy but I feel like my rights is like you give me rights and then you no. ogive me my rights I want to move freely FOMATPLAY: okay where is home and where do you feel you belong? YAELLE home in the first sense is where I was born where there is my family but uh for me home is a place where I feel welcome and I feel at ease. For example, I feel like home because I like the city. I like the people and I also find myself great with the values of here and enjoy it FOMATPLAY how do you feel in Italy? YAELLE I like it, you know ? I really like Italy it's... compared to France it's less strict and I think people are a little bit nicer stereotypes about French but it's true it's true. FOMATPLAY: okay and what do you miss the most about France? YAELLE food FOMATPLAY you miss food. YAELLE yes oh okay FOMATPLAY would you take the same decision today to come here and why? YAELLE um because I think traveling and most and and most importantly when you study it's a way of building your own opinion and discover some things about yourself that you weren't aware of. For example, my capacity of finding information or I don't know... but no. I will do it again for sure FOMATPLAY last question. who are you? could you define yourself using three or four words? YAELLE it is not an easy question this one and... I don't know, it's complicated to define myself with no not with three or four words. In general it's complicated to... because I could say that I'm a young student girl who wants to discover the world and be a little bit more human. I don't know if that makes sense FOMATPLAY yeah it does, it does. okay, I think we're done thank you very much for your time. we really appreciate your contribution to this project. thank you FOMATPLAY: okay okay