In the last few years the face of Friuli has changed considerably.
The departures have been offset by the arrivals, the emigrants by those who are returning and, finally, by the immigrants.
From a reservoir of labourers, our land has become an area of arrival for people, like our own, who had to find life prospects in foreign places because one's own country could not offer them.
For the Friuli people, their own migratory stages have been confined to memory, usually individual, because it seems that the phenomenon has been knowingly removed from the collective consciousness.
These are migratory incidents that, viewing the current well-being, appear foreign and distant, just as the Friuli that has grown outside our borders.
It is a different Friuli that rarely seeks the celebratory homage but instead looks for a land that is deeply different from that of memory.
The people know that they only belong to it in affection because their place is in their adopted country.
Emigrants, people from Friuli in the world, communities abroad and diasporas are labels that indicate a sequence towards a progressive affirmation but, at the same time, a strong and noticeable process of departure from the country of origin.
These labels do not always suit the protagonists because the perception of belonging to an entity, a single culture, is variegated and complex.
The identities frequently overlap but do not cancel each other.
They create a blended species where the parts are so entwined that dividing them would be like distorting everything.
The day of reckoning undoubtedly presents a positive balance not only because the Friuli people and their descendants are a complete part of the society where they have planted new roots but also because they can count on multiple cultures, languages and horizons.
Of this enrichment they have made a fortune.
Friuli could do the same if it intends to have an equal relationship with its diasporas.
Even the numerous cultures that are brought here by the immigrants represent a possibility for growth and comparison for Friuli.
Rereading the failures and successes in our emigration could help us understand this other Friuli which is so different from the stereotype and which could slowly become one hundred percent Friuli.
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