Reasonable question when meeting someone for the first time, I suppose. People what to know if they can establish a connection – common ground for a discussion. I am guilty.
“I grew up in Canada” is my stock reply (cleverly leaving out ‘where were you born?’). “I have an aunt who lives in Winnipeg”, “I lived in Vancouver”, “I did my undergrad at the UofT”, “I worked in Montreal”, “I was an illegal immigrant working in construction north of Toronto”, are all stories that I have heard (and the last, from a Greek fisherman I met on the island of Donoussa was quite a story!).
But really, I haven’t lived in Canada for over 20 years. Am I really ‘from there?’
Beyond light socializing, the answer to ‘where are you from?’ depends on what nation you identify with, what box you want people to put you in, where you consider home.
Do you feel proud of being a [insert nationality here]? Is that how you want people to remember you? Then that’s probably where you should say you’re from.
Personally don’t feel any need to associate myself with a ‘nation’, I have plenty of great friends that mean far more to me than any country could. I don’t really even agree with the idea of a nation, if we could get beyond nation, perhaps we might even be able to stop slaughtering each other and take care of some common issues (like the planet). But I digress…
I don’t feel well in boxes (even boîtes I am finding claustrophobic in my middle age), although I do love receiving parcels in the mail. Just nothing from IKEA, that’s just work.
Today, Korea is where my home is right now and will be for the forceable future. Of course, I could never say that I’m from here – the light complexion, double eyelids and angular nose would give it all away.
So if you’re trying to figure out who I am, here’s a detailed map of where I’m from-
Maybe in the future I will just ask people where they have been 🙂
-edit- Rick just gave me the idea of asking people “Instead of me asking you where’re you’re from, why don’t you just tell me where are you going?”
The 'Just George' Blog 