Andrea: Jami, you have quite a nice flat, don’t you? How did you get it? It’s not easy to find a flat these days.

Jami: Well, we’re just renting it as part of the integration programme.

Andrea: Integration programme?! What’s that?

Jami: It’s this programme of the Government of the Czech Republic, which is for people like us, who get asylum. We asked them for help finding a flat, and they offered us this flat to rent.

Pavla: Well, that’s all right that they helped you find such a nice flat. What else did they help you with?

Jami: Nothing else. We could also go to Czech language courses, but that didn’t apply to me, I learned Czech at school. Mum and dad didn’t get too much out of it… I don’t really know what they mean when they say “integration”.

Pavla: Well, do you think it’s fair that you get all these advantages? Because of you, some Czechs don’t get flats…

Magda: Leave it out! Imagine if you had to flee from your own country, and you couldn’t go back, and you had to leave everything behind. When Czechs emigrated in the sixties, people there must have helped them, no? And on top of that, Jami’s parents pay rent just like everyone else. The only advantage is they got the rental contract.

Jami: Well, we didn’t get that right away. We had to wait for years, staying in horrible refugee camps… but I know it isn’t easy to get a flat, we’re really grateful for it.

Magda: But that integration, that means that you’re supposed to somehow integrate with society or something, doesn’t it?

Jami: I guess that’s what they mean… we’re trying to integrate, but my parents can’t find work, so it’s pretty hard. When you aren’t working then all you’re doing is looking for work, and there isn’t much you can do to integrate.

Pavla: Well I’d say that you should integrate, now you’ve got a flat and you can stay here. You can at least try now, can’t you?

Magda: Hey, don’t pick on him. You’ve got a municipal flat as well, don’t you? It’s the same thing. What are they supposed to do, go live under a bridge? More people should get the same treatment. How can an unemployed person buy something of their own?

Jami: It might not seem like it, but it’s actually pretty hard being a foreigner here. And of course I don’t want to stand out. But why is it always me? There are other “foreigners” here too, aren’t there?!