Where are you “from”

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Bident
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Re: Where are you “from”

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jkbarnes wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 11:08 pm On a more serious note, the son once commented that to his American friends, he’s English, but to his English cousins, he’s Americans. He’s complained of not fitting in anywhere. I’ve heard a similar thing from students who were born here while their parents are immigrants - feeling like an outsider in the States despite being born here and an outsider back in the home country for NOT being born there.
Yeah, I think every kid in my situation, being part of a first generation immigrant family, feels that way. But it never bothered me not fitting in anywhere. The challenge was dealing with racism, both subconscious and malicious. It was one of the biggest reasons why I moved to California. I didn't want my kids to be subjected to what I faced and California having such a large Asian population afforded the possibility of escaping all that. I'm pleased to say that's largely been the case.

Sorry if I'm getting this thread sidetracked.
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Re: Where are you “from”

Post by jkbarnes »

Bident wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 11:59 pm Sorry if I'm getting this thread sidetracked.
Not sidetracked at all. Questions of race are absolutely tied in to perceptions of identity. It makes this a topic that can be both fascinating and frustrating.
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Re: Where are you “from”

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jkbarnes wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 12:16 am
Bident wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 11:59 pm Sorry if I'm getting this thread sidetracked.
Not sidetracked at all. Questions of race are absolutely tied in to perceptions of identity. It makes this a topic that can be both fascinating and frustrating.
:thumbup:
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Re: Where are you “from”

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jkbarnes wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 11:08 pmOn a more serious note, the son once commented that to his American friends, he’s English, but to his English cousins, he’s Americans. He’s complained of not fitting in anywhere. I’ve heard a similar thing from students who were born here while their parents are immigrants - feeling like an outsider in the States despite being born here and an outsider back in the home country for NOT being born there.

I can identify with this, both my parents were Polish. As children they survived a brutal Russian Gulag to eventually finding passage to England via many challenging ports, it’s a long story. Their home in England was to be a Resettlement Camp for Displaced Poles, it’s where my parents were to meet. This was to be my first home too, an upbringing that was rooted in the Polish language, customs and culture. I certainly don’t feel British, as said in a previous post I’m an alien. That’s what the Aliens Restriction Act 1919 said my parents were. As a child, each week, I would accompany them to a police station to sign in. This is where I witnessed xenophobia for the first time, something that has not really left me despite my British birth certificate.

I have documentation that proves my Polish parentage but I’ve been thwarted in trying to obtain a Polish passport. The process is simply too bureaucratic to entertain further. At least my children have opportunity to travel, work and make a home anywhere in the EU even in Poland and without restriction. The reason, I was widowed young and my first wife was Portuguese.
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Re: Where are you “from”

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I'm a Londoner (North not cockney).

With regards attachment; I've lived and worked in many places and the more I moved about the less attached I feel to the UK and more to Europe, which for the time being is rather a dilemma.

My younger daughter was born in California but has largely grown up in Yorkshire and is currently working in Hull. I don't believe she feels any great attachment to the USA. Nevertheless, she has a US birth certificate and SSN which will come with a future tax liability as and when the IRS decide to track her down. So perversely I guess she'll become more attached than she might like.
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Re: Where are you “from”

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timor54 wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 1:42 pm I'm a Londoner (North not cockney)
:lol: :lol: That made me laugh, purely on the basis that it reads like there are only two Londoner categories
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Re: Where are you “from”

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Kansas City Milkman wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 2:09 pm
timor54 wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 1:42 pm I'm a Londoner (North not cockney)
:lol: :lol: That made me laugh, purely on the basis that it reads like there are only two Londoner categories
Well I was brought up to never go south of the Thames... :lol:
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Re: Where are you “from”

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timor54 wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 3:30 pm
Kansas City Milkman wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 2:09 pm
timor54 wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 1:42 pm I'm a Londoner (North not cockney)
:lol: :lol: That made me laugh, purely on the basis that it reads like there are only two Londoner categories
Well I was brought up to never to go south of the Thames... :lol:
I spent a couple of years commuting from Saaarf of the Thames/Surrey to Southgate/ Cockfosters and the North Londoners' dislike of Saaarf London was obvious!
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Re: Where are you “from”

Post by Mikkei4 »

Kansas City Milkman wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 2:09 pm
timor54 wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 1:42 pm I'm a Londoner (North not cockney)
:lol: :lol: That made me laugh, purely on the basis that it reads like there are only two Londoner categories
No most definitely not - there's 4. :D

....East, West, North and South, usually identified by support of the football teams in each area.
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Re: Where are you “from”

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Mikkei4 wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 4:49 pm
Kansas City Milkman wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 2:09 pm
timor54 wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 1:42 pm I'm a Londoner (North not cockney)
:lol: :lol: That made me laugh, purely on the basis that it reads like there are only two Londoner categories
No most definitely not - there's 4. :D

....East, West, North and South, usually identified by support of the football teams in each area.
I didn’t realise that Liverpool and Manchester United were teams near London :lol:

Make it 5 categories - I think I would add Cockney as a London category.......
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Re: Where are you “from”

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^^^^^ As a northerner, I thought everyone from just south of Sheffield was a cockney.....
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Re: Where are you “from”

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iain wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:10 pm ^^^^^ As a northerner, I thought everyone from just south of Sheffield was a cockney.....
No. I think you maybe getting mixed up with Estuary.
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Re: Where are you “from”

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Kansas City Milkman wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 4:32 pm
I spent a couple of years commuting from Saaarf of the Thames/Surrey to Southgate/ Cockfosters and the North Londoners' dislike of Saaarf London was obvious!
Southgate is outside the North Circular. That’s barely London.
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Re: Where are you “from”

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iain wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:10 pm ^^^^^ As a northerner, I thought everyone from just south of Sheffield was a cockney.....
As a south westerner I thought everyone north of Bristol was from a different planet.

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Re: Where are you “from”

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

scooter wrote: Wed Jun 02, 2021 7:40 pm As a south westerner I thought everyone north of Bristol was from a different planet.
They were. Earth.
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