From a political standpoint, Gray feels people were mislead. He believes people were fed up with inequality and divisions, but those who were supposed to lead them out of that quandary, leaders such as Boris Johnson, were representing the right wing and not the average worker. Personally, he is worried that his son, who is studying engineering in the Netherlands will not have the same benefits he had as an EU citizen while living outside of England. Will this make it more difficult for him to find a job since he will now be considered a foreigner?

Agnieszka Iwanowska-Kędzierska(38) is from Warsaw and has been living in Bonn since 2011. She, too is sad about the outcome of the referendum and feels that people didn’t do their fact-finding before voting. “All together, it’s bad for Britain, and bad for the EU. There are no winners in this situation. It’s a huge shift in the European power balance, all previous times we had a shift like that, it ended with a war, and that’s my biggest fear,” she laments.

British national Mandy Cryer woke up “shocked and disappointed this morning.” Living in Germany, with a German husband, she is now uncertain of their future. She writes on Facebook, “ It is a worrying time, having just been offered a job at a German company I wonder if my employment will continue for a long time or will they not like a non-European employee.” Owen Elias (44) is also from England but he has lived outside of the country for more than 15 years so he was not allowed to vote in the referendum. He said when he awoke to the news this morning, he “was shocked by the reality of what had happened and still trying to process it.” Of course, he had considered that a “leave” vote was a possibility but never expected it would really happen. He said he was devastated.

For some, a sense of belonging isn’t defined by national boundaries. Michael Borgers (18), a graduate of Bonn International School and student of Politics, Law and Economics at the University of Amsterdam is a case in point. He feels much more like an EU citizen than a German, “More than my home country Germany, the EU has shaped who I am and was,” he explains. He writes this “is a dark day for our union (I say ‘our’ because I still very much feel connected to it).” He sees a tough road ahead for Britain, and says his fellow students are worried about university admission in the UK and the future of the EU. Robyn Carrack (20), who is English and has been living in Bonn for 18 months, comments on Facebook, “The majority of young people didn’t want this and now we have to live with someone else’s decision.”

Americans living in Bonn are quick to draw a parallel between what is happening in the U.S. presidential election with Donald Trump and the vote for the Brexit. Lori Kent Rothman (51) is from northern Virginia, and came to Bonn a year ago, her husband working at the United Nations (UN). She comments, “Between Brexit in the UK and Donald Trump in the US, it’s apparent a good chunk of the English-speaking world has lost its mind.” Jocelyn Brannon (44) of South Carolina, holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and came to Bonn as the wife of a UN employee in 2015. She finds it interesting to be living in Europe at this time, but to her, the Brexit vote is just one of a series of events, including Donald Trump being a presidential front-runner, that leaves her feeling, “The world is turning upside down.”

Although there is no taking back the vote, there is an overwhelming sense in Bonn’s international community that together is better than apart. As Michael Gray sums it up, “I can’t see how it benefits us. We’ve always benefitted from alliances.”