Korean Job Discussion Forums

[JacktheCat]

The ongoing pissing match in another thread about who is a true "North American" and Canadians moaning about being mistaken for Americans got me thinking.

What about those of us without a country?

My passport says I am an American. But I was born in Indonesia and have spent less than three years of my thirty on this earth actually living in America.

I grew up in Indonesia and Africa and attended mostly British "public" schools in Africa. After putting it off for far too long I finally got a university education in Germany and the U.K. My accent has been discribed as an unholy mix of American, British, and South African.

After years of wondering exactly who I am or what country I was from, I've come to except that I am ... a man with no country.

Who else out there is in the same boat as me?

I mean there's got to be more of us out there. I can't be the only one?

[The Lemon]

Even if you are the only one, interesting story!

[itaewonguy]

emmm well...

let me see.. I hold two passports.

born in Itlay am from Italian stock.. lived there 5 years..
schooled in NEW ZEALAND and AUSTRALIA spent around 10 yrs NZ
7 years OZ. spent 7 years in korea...

where am I from???? its a hard question to answer sometimes in bars etc... I just go with what ever one I feel like at the time..
they are all my home...
of course not korea

[rapier]

[Tiger Beer]

I attach American to myself.. but struggle with identity in it.

That infernal question, "but where in the US?" and I just say Michigan.. although I haven�t lived there in 12 years. At other times I�ve told people the last State, Oregon, New York, California, or whatever.. but realized the states and countries were adding up too much so my answer would change too often from year to year.. and when it really got down to meeting someone else from there.. I didn�t have the high schools, middle schools and all the rest to back it up beyond just a few recent adult years having been there at whatever time.

In addition to that.. even now in Spain.. someone recently said "where do you permanently live, and I�ll later send you an invite". Phrased that way I was at a lost for words.. where do I permanetly live? Spain of course. But of course the reality is I�m only living here in the here and now.. its ultimately temporary.

Someday I�ll pass through the States again.. but it�ll never be Michigan I am sure.. and definetely will be a brand new city that I�m completely unfamiliar with. So still rootless and still figuring that part of the identity.

In addition.. my now catch-all "Michigan" has no real meaning to me. Just a place I spent my childhood but doesn�t really exist in any adulthood kind of sense and nowhere I�d ever return..

I suppose my Michigan might be like JacktheCat�s Indonesia or Rapier�s Rhodesia.. they existed.. but not much more than that as a constant stream of new cities and environments came up and took their places..

[eamo]

I'm Irish and British.

I was born and raised in Northern Ireland so I have been exposed to both cultures.

Most of my TV, music, fashion have come from the UK(maybe 80 percent) but I still feel a strong pull to Ireland because my family are historically Irish.

For example, my grandparents would have been about 20 percent culturally British. They were much more connected with their Irish roots. My generation are much more influenced by Britain.

Throw in the Korean influence and I'm just darned weird!!

[chinook]

while i'm not stateless, I can relate to the "but where are you from in Canada?"

I grew up outside of toronto in a small town i very much disliked. Then i went to university in kingston. then i spent 3 years living in scotland. then i moved to vancouver just for a laugh. so i'm canadian, but to go any further than that is difficult.

in scotland i had to fill out a crazily involved form for our letting agents to get our flat. They wanted 10 years of addresses to the month. See, when I say i lived in kingston during university, what i mean is that for 8 months a year i lived there. my summers were spent all over the place. On of my entries on the form was: tent in a farmer's field, stymfalia, near corinth, greece, one month. The agent was highly amused, but then made me find someone to guarentee my form. I was quite pleased that my boyfriend's parents were ex police officers as that made the agent happy.

and the permanant address thing! god, i get that all the time. If it's just someone who wants to keep in touch and knows i move around a lot, i just give them my parents address, since they are unlikely to be going anywhere else anytime soon. and that can be fun, occassionally my parents will forward on mail from people i haven't seen for years and i can be interesting to catch up with them again.

[chinook]

while i'm not stateless, I can relate to the "but where are you from in Canada?"

I grew up outside of toronto in a small town i very much disliked. Then i went to university in kingston. then i spent 3 years living in scotland. then i moved to vancouver just for a laugh. so i'm canadian, but to go any further than that is difficult.

in scotland i had to fill out a crazily involved form for our letting agents to get our flat. They wanted 10 years of addresses to the month. See, when I say i lived in kingston during university, what i mean is that for 8 months a year i lived there. my summers were spent all over the place. On of my entries on the form was: tent in a farmer's field, stymfalia, near corinth, greece, one month. The agent was highly amused, but then made me find someone to guarentee my form. I was quite pleased that my boyfriend's parents were ex police officers as that made the agent happy.

and the permanant address thing! god, i get that all the time. If it's just someone who wants to keep in touch and knows i move around a lot, i just give them my parents address, since they are unlikely to be going anywhere else anytime soon. and that can be fun, occassionally my parents will forward on mail from people i haven't seen for years and i can be interesting to catch up with them again.

[jajdude]

I think it's pretty cool not to be so attached to any one country. Nationalism has done a lot of damage. Maybe it's better to not have strong ties or roots.

[Tiger Beer]

[Harin]

What are you trying to run away from, son?

[TheUrbanMyth]

Given the amount of times he's been to South Korea, I'd say maybe a bad employer

[dutchman]

[Butterfly]

I met a guy like you in Tokyo, expatriate British parents living in Indonesia, so he had a British passport but had never ever lived there and knew nobody there. Lived all over the place through his life.

I didn't get to know him very well, so didn't ask the questions I wanted, but since you have invited others to comment or ask, I'm curious.

What do you think of national pride as a concept? Do you think it is silly or is it something you envy in others?

Do you find it makes your horizons broader than others, or do you feel your foundations are shaky so that is not possible?

Are you very adaptable to new environments or find new environments irritating due to your constantly having encountered them through your life?

Are you happy?

Your answers may well be interesting for those thinking of bringing up their children in Korea under different nationalities or those already doing it.

[Ody]