Leaving One’s Comfort Zone. The Story of a Move to Italy
Leaving One’s Comfort Zone. The Story of a Move to Italy

Author(s): Gökhan Kutluer
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Psychology, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, Sociology, Migration Studies
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: biography; Gökhan Kutluer; Italy; leaving comfort; migration; professional; Transnational lives; Turkey;
Summary/Abstract: “Any settlers in the family?” “You don’t look Turkish at all, are you an émigré?” “Where are you originally from?” From an early age, I started hearing these questions. Either in school, during a cab ride, in the office or in my new social circles. I face these questions right after we start chatting… and this happens often. I always expect it. “Gökhan, where are you from?” I evolved: my height, my features, my voice, my gestures, the way I think, and many more but the answer to this question has never changed: “My ancestors used to live in Greece. They were there for a few generations. With the convention concerning population exchange between Turkey and Greece, my ancestors moved here permanently.” What I kept hearing on the grapevine eventually became a solid truth. I came to grasp the fact that my ancestors lived in Drama, Ptolemaida and Eleftheroupoli in Greece. All this longing to flee from my homeland and desire to get to know other places would clearly relate to a genetic interpretation. However, I still couldn’t say it all fit.

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