subjective border perception - emotions / experiences at the border:

"when crossing the border to germany, i usually feel strange, since the german officers are unfriendly and indifferent to the person whose passport they are looking at. i often get them confused by speaking english to them despite the
fact that i gave them a german passport. this usually creates some emotion, proving they are alive. antother experience is the us border and trying to enter the country on a greencard. once you enter the us, they take you to a special room,
where refugees, visa holders and illegals are waiting to be processed. you then have to leave your fingerprints and answer questions. once this is over, you feel really relieved and want to get out. this was before 9/11. now: you are tripple checked, have to take your shoes off, are asked a million questions, are photographed and if they want, they can still reject you... and i am thinking: yes security is important but a smile, common sense and a decent attitude would make people feel better and more welcome. i wonder how americans would react, were they treated like that entering europe...."

"i just want to cross the border, after i make it i just feel safe. i get annoyed crossing the border, even when im calm they look at my passport, ask me questions, and last time they examine it with a clamp,"

"By one side, excitement because of the location change, but by the other side, I get tired because of the procedures, check-in and controls, where different people are evaluating you. Also sometimes you realize that those people havekind of prejudment attitudes according to peoples nationality, in the way they look at you according to your passport and destination."

"Because I have two passaports I allways have to pay attention to the fact that I have to get out from a country with the same passaport that a get in."

" I am exited and nervous... the mixture of fear that they might not let me cross the border...maybe there are some mistakes with my visa, maybe they ask for more documents...On the other hand I am exited about crossing over
the other side, to the "other world" ."

" I don't feel confortable with police border faces...we are always suspicious, when we dont have european passport!"

"sometimes it gets really boring while crossing the levels of security and waiting in lines etc....for me suitable would be that every level has a more liquid space to allow free movement. "

"I am always trying to be indifferent but suddenly appears someone who ask for your nationality perhaps your language and than starts a long discurse: I am chilean/german but I live in france.And then they ask and why don´t you speek german? Ja!ja, ein bisschen i answer, but wait my other grandfather was Italian!!..."

" I usually feel OK cause I know I am legal, but in some cases I get really angry when they complicate (asking questions) and I know it is only becaus of my brasilian passport."

"Ich bin immer der, der kontrolliert wird... so macht es auch spass immer im mittelpunkt zu stehen (zumal ich nichts zu verbergen habe)."

"I have never experienced problems at any border control I have come in contact with, therefore I am fairly relaxed when it comes to crossing...and being from the US helps. Although depending on the illegal substances I may have on my person, my emotional context may escalate."

"Becasue our language is quite different and we read from right to left(they start reading the passport from left to right,so they can't find my infromation becasue its on the other side),always the police border is trying to find the 3main
pages (my info and photo,visa and stamps of entry), flipping and flipping,then I have to tell from right to left and then show them the exact pages,most of the time they stamp my entrance or exit in the wrong page of visa.Then look surprisingly at my photo in scarf in passport and try to compare it with me.The only thing hurts me is this devision of EU and NON-EU cues,then some times EU people look at you strange,I dont like it."

" die spanndendste Grenze, die ich je überquert habe, war die zu Weißrussland. da mussten wir sehr lange warten und man hatte Angst, dass irgendetwas mit den Papieren nicht stimmte." "hoffen dass es nicht piepst"

" In Drittweltländer bin ich meistens nervös, da meine Freundin im Senegal rausgenommen wurde und am Flughafen übernachten musste. Bestechung war da auch im Spiel."

"Normalerweise langes, mühsames Anstehen. Nervige, ewig gleiche Fragen über Herkunft etc. Insgesamt Langeweile."