In my class on Monday the professor opened by asking each student where they work and where they are from originally. Of course, about eighty percent of people are from Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, or Nebraska, and the remaining twenty percent are from outside the United States. I found that, since I was born in Arizona, I am the only natural-born American citizen in the class who wasn't born in the general area.
Later in the night, an example was being discussed about the "rust belt" in Ohio and Pennsylvania. A question was asked regarding whether anyone in the class was from the Pittsburgh area. As I raised my hand I wondered if anyone was thinking of me as a liar since I had earlier said I was originally from Arizona.
There are few questions I hate answering more than where I come from. This is because it isn't a short answer. It is also because I more or less feel like I am not from any one place. When people find out that I have only lived in Kansas a few years then ask where I am from, I usually reply that I come from Pennsylvania. I have lived in Kansas about the same amount of time I lived in Pennsylvania, though, so I am not really more of a Pennsylvanian than a Kansan. I have family in both regions, so I guess I could consider myself from both places.
Even these two states don't fully describe where I am from, though. The time I have lived in Kansas and Pennsylvania doesn't even add up to half of my life. I have also lived in Arizona, Michigan, South Dakota, and Missouri for extended periods of time, but none longer than five years. This has kept me from thinking of myself as from anywhere in particular.
I think there are advantages to this. This history shaped a lot of my perspectives. It was also a little hard on me, though, because I preferred things not to change and I preferred to not have to leave old friends and make new friends as much as I did. That's probably how most kids feel. It could have been a lot worse, though, so this is something I need to avoid complaining about.
So, if you want to know where I am from I'll tell you. It just may take some time.
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6 comments:
I think the perspective you get from either living in different places or from family who has lived in different places really opens your eyes up and helps you to not be as closed minded. (In my opinion.) As a kid I prayed almost every day that we'd move outside of Indiana, but we never did. I just wanted a new experience. Now I understand what it takes to move a family with kids in school, I'm not as eager for the new experiences! :)
I'm with you on this. It is hard to answer when I'm asked where I'm from. I've lived in Virginia, Florida, South Dakota, Califorina, Iowa, Kansas, and Oregon.
I like to hear were people are from, especially if they have moved around a bit. It makes for good stories.
Also, I think family vacations and travel will give you the new experience and cultures to open your mind to the world around you - for those who decide to stay put.
So, I guess we aren't moving any time soon. : )
There are lots of ways to open your mind. I would never assume that moving was the only way.
I lived in Pennsylvania longer than you did, so I usually claim there. But I still have difficulty with this question, as well.
A friend I have out here has lived here his whole life, went to school with pretty much the same group of people from kindergarten on up and is still friends with a lot of them. That's such a foreign idea to me. Actually, not having to be around people that can remember all of the sordid details of one's awkward growing up years seems like a major benefit of not living in one place to me! Remembering all of those stories is what family is for. :o)
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