1. Kündül - my Yakut name (he/him), 23; healthcare student.
2. Sakha Republic -> Russia -> Germany. I lived in Moscow for 4 years, since 2021 I live in Germany. In the winter of 2023 I studied in Paris.
3. 2021 год (Germany)
4. Since I was a child, I dreamed of living abroad. I always wanted to visit Europe and move here. I remember when I was 7 years old, I was reading an atlas book about London and Paris and imagining being there. Later after high school, I enrolled in a university in Moscow for my bachelors degree. I lived there for 4 years. During that time I started looking for ways to move abroad. I found how continuing my masters in Europe could be the easiest way for me. At the time, I was also working on HIV prevention in Moscow. Seeing how support for this field and the lives of queer people in Russia is getting worse every year, I knew that I should go abroad soon. So in Autumn 2021 I managed to successfully get into a university in Germany and then come here.
5.After two years of living here, I finally started to call Berlin my home. For me, home is my community. I need friends and people who I can trust around me. Receiving their love and warmth I can feel safe and calm. This year these people have appeared in my life in Germany. It makes me very happy.
6. Living far from my homeland, I start to really miss it. I miss the magic of Sakha language, the landscapes of our region, my mom's special noodle soup and smell of alaadjy (sakha pancakes) on summer mornings. I started appreciating all these things only after coming to this foreign land. Now I try to speak clear Sakha, write in my language and study the history and culture of our nation. When I meet people here from my region, we always happily talk in Sakha and cook dishes from our childhood.
7. Later, I want to go back to my homeland. Me studying here and living in Europe is not just a result of my diligence. Behind it there is a monumental work of my parents, teachers and the government of Sakha Republic. When I was in middle school, they would invite teachers from Moscow to prepare us for scientific olympiads. It helped us eventually to successfully pass the national exams and get enrolled in western universities. I really love my homeland: its nature, people and vibrant culture. After finishing my studies and getting experience of working in Germany, when it is safe to return, I will go back to my Republic to contribute to its development. I will return all the hope and kindness which was put on me.
8. I was the first person in my family to (e)migrate. Since then, it has become more dangerous to stay in Russia, especially in the national republics facing destructive colonial policies from the federal government. When the mobilization started, one of my brothers fled to Turkey with his family. They were unlucky to stay in the south-east region of the country. A few months later they were affected by the earthquakes and had to move again. Now they are finding refuge in southern Turkey.
9.A song from Yakutia about the migrant experience and longing for one's homeland: Анатолий Бурнашев - Суоллар.
Berlin. A multilingual electronic song from the 80s. It's in French, English, and German - the languages of my emigration. The very unsettling melody and lyrics about the Cold War remind me of my relocation experience: Guerre Froide - Demain Berlin.
I have a couple more songs on the theme that I often listen to.
A song from Brazil about the loss of one's homeland. It's an incredibly cool song. During the dictatorship in Brazil, it was forbidden to write protest and sad songs. Only cheerful ones praising the country. Chico Buarque wrote the lyrics for the song based on Canção do exílio, and Antonio Jobim composed the melody, which never fully resolves throughout the song, even at the end. So the music always keeps you in tension. In this way, he embedded his protest into the melody itself: Antonio Jobim - Sabiá.
An Italian song about the senselessness of war: Fabrizio De André - La guerra di Piero.