In the last nine years, I have lived in Walnut Creek, Santa
Barbara, Vienna, Barcelona, San Francisco, Zurich, London, Berkeley and New
York City. I have had numerous backpacking trips through South America,
holidays in Asia and weekend trips to [insert European country here].
Having been forced outside my comfort zone on numerous occasions,
I am super sensitive to culture differences and also have a better understanding
of my own. Yet what is my culture?
I have friends all over the world. I
can relate to multiple nationalities in a way that when I am interacting with
them I never think you are this and I am that. My personality, many would also
say my accent, just subconsciously adapts. Differences based on where someone
is from are broken down and discarded so that I see an individual’s, not a cultural,
trait. But I cannot never know all these differences. My understanding will
always be imperfect; I will never fully understand another's culture.
Now back in California, I still feel like a foreigner. I don’t
quite fit. It’s strange to have left, experienced and seen so many things, only
to come back to a place just how you left it. My views, opinions, and desired way
of life have all changed – I am no longer a typical ‘Californian’.
This summer in New York City I met hundreds of colleagues at the company
I was working for and I was the only Californian. Even though I was back to
City life, which I am more accustomed to, I still didn’t fit nor could I see
myself there.
And of course, outside the U.S., by definition alone – I am
a foreigner.
So now the question arise; "Where am I not a foreigner?"
I have now realized – I don’t think there is one.
