My family immigrated to the UK from Poland when I was six. I’m 20 now, speak much better English than Polish and feel like this is my land/culture. However I have a Polish first and last name, Polish passport and “unique” accent everyone picks up on, so despite this I’m usually perceived as an outsider. It makes me really sad because I don’t “belong” in Poland anymore either. Everything seems so complicated especially as I’ve gotten older with having to get the right documentation for work and opening a bank account and etc also… Not even sure if I can vote in the next general election even though I feel like I should be able to?
I’ve had a few nasty instances of being told to go back to my own country, even had a conker thrown at my head while a boy yelled Polski at me in year 11, and tbh even just been seen as a novelty and being asked to say something in Polish has gotten really old. I guess I’m just wondering if I’ll ever truly fit in. For some context, I grew up in North England and now live in Wales
I know the feeling. I’ve been in the USA for decades, almost my entire life, but as soon as I say anything, everyone can immediately hear that I’m not American. People who ask me about it are well-meaning and curious. I still don’t like it, but I try not to show it.
That well meaning curiosity is the America I know.
I was born in North Carolina, I speak with a textbook Piedmont white guy drawl. I’m as American as high fructose corn syrup, no question. Here’s some hell I’ve caught: Europeans struggle to cope when I describe myself as “German and a little Scottish.” To me, that’s my ethnic background, to a lot of Europeans I’ve argued with, it’s stolen valor. “You’re not personally from Germany, you aren’t German.” Then explain my genome. Or my surname.
I think us who live in the New World have a whole different understanding of diaspora.
Say you have German and Scottish ancestry. Omitting that part makes it sound like you’re saying you’re culturally German and Scottish.
I knew they’d come out of the woodwork to make my point for me.
I mean, if they’re being an asshole about it there’s no excuse - it’s just imprecise wording that may cause confusion.
Well, imagine you meet a guy travelling through the US. He’s wearing lederhosen, has a freaking feather in his hat, and speaks with a heavy German accent. You ask where he’s from, and he says he’s American/Italian, as his maternal grandfather was born in the US and his grandmother on his father’s side is Italian. However, this is his first time outside of Germany, and he speaks no Italian and hardly any English.
This is what Americans tend to look like to Europeans.
See what I mean? And I bet Herr Wernher von Bianchi would have way more interesting stories to tell than most genuine Germans.
Reminds me of Japanese drivers licenses, which don’t have a field for eye or hair color the way Western ones do. Not pertinent information in Japan where virtually everyone has black hair and brown eyes, it’s like having a field for tongue color. The answer for everyone is “What? Reddish pink I guess? Why?”
Now imagine you’re making a form for people to fill out about their background and personal history. Europeans apparently cannot imagine needing more than one line to answer the question “Where are you from?” because of how short and boring their own answers always are.