Italy(I.P.S.C.T.P. “S. PERTINI - CROTONE)

COMENIUS-Biography

Diana Kuzuk

(UCRAINA)

UKRAINE

• My Parents and Family• Origin: Ukraine, Ostritsa about 500 km far from Kiev, the chief city.

• Mother: Veronica, 38 years, the last but two of 8 children. Her father was an asfalter; her mother a housewife. She attended secondary school and got a diploma. Her brothers and sisters all live in Ukraine.

• Father: Vasilij, 51. Smaller family, parents (farmers), three brothers and one sister. One brother emigrated to Portugal.

• 1991: Mum and Dad got married. Mum worked as a tailor in a factory. Dad was a driver.

• 1994: I was born. Mum lost her job.

• 1994: Born in Ostritsa. I'm the only child of my parents.

• 1999-2004 (6 to 10 years): Attended primary school in Ostritsa.

• 2005-2007 (10-13 years): Attended junior high school in Ostritsa.

About me

• School life: Good relationship to classmates and teachers. Strict rules. Good at all subjects, I won prizes at local and regional competitions.

• 2005: 1st prize for Drawing

• 2006: 3rd prize for Physics, 3rd prize for Ukrainian Literature

• 2007: 1st prize for English, 1st prize for Biology

• 2002: My parents divorced. Mum looked for a job but it was hard to find one.

• 2003: Mum came to Italy in search of better opportunities asking her sister to take care of me in Ukraine. She found a job as a baby-sitter.

• 2008: I joined her in Crotone where I started secondary school. Now I am attending the 2nd year of Istituto Professionale per il Commercio, Turismo e Pubblicità S. Pertini in Crotone. I am in the Tourism Department.

• Mum married an Italian man. We live together and he treats me as if I

• were his daughter.

•Immigration of my family

Life in Italy• Mum speaks Ukrainian to me. She

doesn't want me to lose our language. I prefer to express myself in Italian.

• We try to keep Ukrainian traditions at home (food, religion) but I am attracted by Italian culture too:

• I get dressed in the Italian fashion• I listen to Italian music• I love Italian food• I like their sense of family unity, very

strong especially in the South of the country

• I have a lot of Italian friends. We go to parties or to the cinema together. We also invite each other home.

• I like the school I'm attending. Large, modern, equipped with computer rooms and sports facilities. It gives us a good training in new technologies and to stay healthy.

• My relationship to native mates and teachers is positive. (I feel accepted by them).

Life at school

• Positive aspects: extracurricular activities (drama, sport) which are attractive to students who lack motivation.

School involvement with European Projects: good opportunity for students to compare their way of living with that in other countries.

• Negative aspects: general organization (no mid-morning break, no sanctions for breaking rules).

• Special courses: for migrant students and their families would help integration into the new culture.

Advantages and disadvantages of an immigration background

Advantages:• Learning a new language and culture• Being tolerant to diversity• Open-mindedness to changes in society• Helping people with immigration

background Disadvantages:• Missing your home and family• Language problems on arrival• A racist attitude from a part of Italian

society towards immigrants• Some immigrants refuse to integrate into

society appropriatelyBandura, symbol of Ukraine