My mom, relatives and neighbours tell me that I am at home now.
I don't know. Is home where your family is or where you were born?
Did I consider Germany as home? After all, I lived there most of my life. I can't say that, really. I certainly didn't feel German, but I also don't feel very Turkish.
Do we have to feel like a "nationality"?
I have to admit that I don't understand this concept of nationality. It seems artificial to me.
Is that because I grew up and lived in different countries? But, then, I know people who have lived abroad for 30 years and still think home is where they came from and are still proud of their home country and their national football team.
3 comments:
This post is very intriguing. What indeed is nationality, and is it possible to just be a citizen of the world? I think the people who are are often those who, like you, have lived in several countries. Other people just see themselves as encompassing more than just one nationality. But the vast majority, I fear, identify very strongly with just one country. Nationalism has caused such suffering throughout history, ever since we became able to create nations and then to travel beyond their borders.
Then there is the question of how others see you, even if you have a clear idea of who you are. They may reject the idea that you can claim more than one national or cultural identity.
And where does the English come in? How did you learn such wonderful English? Did you also spend significant time in England?
Nina, I consider myself a world citizen. Did you know that there is an organisation of world citizens and you can even apply for a "passport" there? Unfortunately, it is not officially recognized.
I agree with you that the idea of nationalism has only created barriers and caused trouble. This is also one thing that I am having difficulties with here in Turkey. Turks are very proud of their nation and show this openly - maybe similar to Americans. In Germany, it was the opposite, because of German's history, people do normally not show their pride. Maybe I am too critical, but I sometimes think the idea of a nation was created by politicians to create an artificial group identity. I also believe that you cannot actually be really proud of belonging to a nation because it wasn't your choice in the first place. You were born into it (normally). I think you can be grateful to live in a certain country and among certain people but pride is something different.
The point you raise about how others see you is interesting. In Germany, you have to give up your other nationality (-ies) before they give you the German one. I guess the idea behind that is that you cannot be loyal to two countries. I don't know.
Regarding English, I've spent a couple of months in the US and only recently three months in the UK. I have more of an American accent but not that strong :-)
In San Diego, I had a wonderful teacher who not only helped me improve my English greatly but also inspired me to become an English teacher myself.
Thank you Mike!
Post a Comment