Search for: [Abstract = %22Repatriation%2C understood as a return to the country of ancestors%2C does not always look like people%E2%80%99s initial mental images prior to departure. The realities often differ from the dreams and after arrival it turns out that everything is different%2C unknown%5C-foreign. The reality is disappointing but the lack of alternatives is the starting point for the difficult process of cultural adaptation%2C which is not always successful. In 2000%E2%80%932008 I conducted field research focused on the experiences of Poles returning from Kazakhstan to the homeland of their ancestors%2C who as a result of forced deportation to the USSR in the years 1936%E2%80%931946 were abroad for many years. Their situation was extremely complicated and it was only after the year 1990 that repatriation became possible. Meanwhile%2C after their arrival to Poland they had to face a number of challenges%2C includ%C2%ACing public debate about their identity and a questioning of their right to Polish self%5C-identification. In the research it transpired that the %E2%80%9CPolishness%E2%80%9D of repatriates does not fit the romantic vision shared by some of their compatriots for whom they were too Soviet. The %E2%80%9Cuprootedness%E2%80%9D experienced by the descendants of Poles deported from the country which they longed for many years was much more severe than the one they felt in Kazakhstan. In this paper I discuss a number of issues related to the impact of specific imaginations and expectations preceding their decision to migrate on their later life satisfaction and cultural adaptation%22]

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