Their Experience
Living in Boston
Settling
After getting married in Miami in 2001, the Lasics lived in three places in greater Boston before settling down. In 1998, they lived in Brighton, MA. After getting married and in preparation to start their family, they moved to Newtonville, MA, in 2001. In 2006, to support their growing family, they finally moved to Needham, MA, where they still reside today. They kept their apartment in Brighton and still have it today.
Struggles
Assimilation
Helen and Igor's main struggle was about "fitting in" with American culture. They found that they just didn't understand some things about the culture, and because of their ostracization, their kids faced it too.
"We really went out of our way, always, and maybe that was too much," - Helen
Helen recalled a time when their neighbor hosted a party for the kids of the neighborhood and the Lasic's kids all climbed on the fence, peeking over to see the party, and the neighbors didn't invite them.
Coping
After having lived in America for some time, Helen and Igor grew accepting of the fact that there are differences between them and their American neighbors/colleagues and are have found a place in the middle where they are comfortable.
"I never assimilated ... It's okay now, it used to not be okay" - Igor
Helen and Igor found themselves making friends with mostly other immigrants. Their friends immigrated from a range of places including Croatia, England, Serbia, and Mexico.
"There’s a common denominator where, you know, you don’t have that with Americans," -Helen
Connections to England and Croatia
The family frequently travels to both England and Croatia, as they still have family in both places.