tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9202996302446629175.post786727752896772390..comments2023-05-12T05:33:17.326-07:00Comments on Why I May Still Be Canadian: What is an Expat like you doing in a place like this?dglloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07952724753847109831noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9202996302446629175.post-6557416437344307932011-09-03T10:22:37.304-07:002011-09-03T10:22:37.304-07:00David,
There is this Roman proverb "Ubi bene,...David,<br />There is this Roman proverb "Ubi bene, ibi patria" but I don't agree with this idea that the good living makes one feel at home. <br /><br />Considering my own situation, I think you feel at home with a sens of belonging at the place where you spent your youth. And that is especially true if important events took place during that time. I am a Berliner and lived there during the war and the years after. Having reached adulthood, I went to Belgium to learn French and stayed there 20 years. Then I went to France in 1983 and have been there ever since and I am married to a girl from here. But I'll always be German, not French though I feel at home here.<br /><br />GeorgGeorghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05379915142029115257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9202996302446629175.post-26984383222246755842011-06-26T12:10:13.787-07:002011-06-26T12:10:13.787-07:00Rotem, I find what you wrote fascinating, especial...Rotem, I find what you wrote fascinating, especially since you went back and forth a number of times and are still not clearly finished doing so. In doing so, you appear to have a much better concept of what each world has to offer and your own response. I wonder at times whether I made a mistake letting myself become too rooted here, when there is still so much conflict in my mind.<br /><br />You write that, in returning after 15 years, you find much in Israel has changed for the better and that you don't feel as much as an outsider. Do you feel that this is because Israel has changed, or something has changed in you, and the way you respond to life here?dglloydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07952724753847109831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9202996302446629175.post-88628062722473399932011-06-26T02:29:06.581-07:002011-06-26T02:29:06.581-07:00David, I can identify with this post. I was born i...David, I can identify with this post. I was born in Israel but my parents came to the US when I was 14 months old and didn't go back to Israel again until I was 16 years old. So I pretty much spent all of my childhood growing up in the States. When we made an "aliyah" (although it wasn't really an aliyah, since my parents were essentially coming back home), I was more curious than anything else (and my twin sister was simply dead set against coming to Israel but, of course, at 16, you have no choice). <br /><br />I spent 9 years in Israel (until age 25) and even through high school and bagrut, army service, and undergraduate studies at BGU, I always felt like an outsider. I realize now that this was largely due to my attitude (I commend my classmates in 11th grade for trying to be friendly and inviting and acknowledge that I isolated myself from them, so that was my fault). Needless to say, I couldn't wait to finish my BA and get back to the States.<br /><br />Well, I did get back to the States in 1995 and stayed until October of last year. Though I did a lot during those 15 years in the States (got work experience, got an MA, lived in 3 states, developed a teaching career), I never really felt "at home" in the States either - probably because much of my family is here in Israel.<br /><br />I returned in October and I now see Israel very differently at 40 than I did at 16. I still see the flaws that were here 15 years ago but much has changed (MUCH, much, much!) for the better and I no longer feel like an outsider. I don't feel 100% Israeli and probably never really will, but I accept that I am a duel citizen and still feel that US is my home too. I will most likely go back to the States at some point in the future, but probably in the far future.<br /><br />Sorry for the long response :-).<br /><br />RotemAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com