“I do not feel pulled by two different cultures, my Greek cultures prevails the most by far!”

Kostas Makrakis is a certified public accountant.

My experience as an immigrant is not painful as that of many. I came under an intra-company transfer for a two-year period. I did not want to do that. I had a wonderful life and an excellent career in Greece. However, I had to immigrate to keep my relationship alive: to continue my four years relationship with the woman I love, motivated me to leave my birth country.

I remember the last night before leaving Greece. The flat was empty, I used a mattress on the floor for my last sleep in the flat, and for first time I allowed my cat to sleep with me, at the corner of the mattress. Putting my cat in the travel cage, trying to fool him, without knowing that we are flying to another continent, made me feel very cheap and fake.

I traveled by plane. At my arrival I remember my trolley with two bags and the cat cage and my woman waiting for me. I was not sure that I will live permanently in USA, actually, I thought I would return back home after one to two years.

I had my last supper back home with the people I miss the most besides my family—my running friends, with whom I trained to run the Athens classic marathon!!!

I do not feel pulled by two different cultures, my Greek cultures prevails the most by far!!! However, I feel the need to adjust to local culture and align with local customs.

Overall, so far, well YES, for sure it was worth it!!!

My immigrant experience affected my work, it made me more hard working and more responsible, overall a better professional.

Portraits of People on the Move tells the stories of Philadelphia-area immigrants through their own words on the Supperdance.com blog and was first shown as an exhibition June 25–28, 2015, at the Gray Area of Crane Arts in Philadelphia. The exhibition was created as a companion work to Supper, People on the Move by Cardell Dance Theater, a dance inspired by themes of migration.