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The Ups and Downs of an International Background

The Ups and Downs of an International Background

 

Have you ever had this happen to you? When somebody asks you where you’re from, and suddenly more than one question pops up in your mind – “ You mean like … where I live …or … my passport … where I was raised … what? “. If yes, what is your answer to this question? Which nation do you identify yourself as part of and where exactly is home?

I have been dealing with these kinds of dilemmas my whole life and I am more than sure there are many others out there in the IBCoM family that can relate. ChEWnksVEAA2We1

Born and raised in Moldova, educated in Italy, have a Romanian passport and just moved to the Netherlands. This is my story at least, but there is no doubt some of you have crazier backgrounds than me.

Having an international background can be unbelievably rewarding and satisfying –
you get to look at things from an international prospective and have a broader view on what’s going on, have friends all over the world and brag about how you can speak 2, 3 or even more languages – but things get blurry once you question yourself where you really belong.

If asked where I belong right now, I really couldn’t give a clear-cut answer, cause when you move from country to country there are things that are better and things that are worse, and homesick no longer has a meaning.

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Home – that has once been a place – is now only just a feeling for most of us and rather than a spot on the map, it is in the people that make us feel safe and loved.

We may be lost now, with no clue about who we really are and we may not yet be able to answer all the questions I mentioned above, but if you’re like me – a person who cannot be still for too long and who is always longing for something else – one way to deal with this is of course embracing the definition of ‘ citizen of the world ‘ and stop settling ourselves in stable forms and fixed identities.

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