The concept of home

A friend sent me an email with two essays. Both dealt with what home was but with opposing points of view.

• Roger Cohen: www.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/opinion/cohen-in-search-of-home.html
• James Wood:  www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n04/james-wood/on-not-going-home

We expats, especially those who have spent a major part of their life outside their passport country, can never be "we expats". Our reactions are too varied.

When meeting other expats no matter where they were from originally, I like to ask what nationality do they think of themselves as. Some may say their passport country even if they've only spend a fraction of their lives there. Some mention two countries, others say they are internationals or any combination.

I will never be able to deny my American roots, but the country where I grew up no longer exists. There are major economical and social shifts that hurt to read about.

Probably in terms of identity I was always more a New England Yankee than an American. Boston is still in my heart. The bricks and mortar are still there. I will never be allowed to live there again, and I accept the choices I made.

I did not grow up in the Swiss culture, but I'm comfortable saying I'm Swiss, despite having many American characteristics, which I have no desire to shed. I'm comfortable in the French culture. I am not comfortable in the American.

The Wood essay asks where you would want to go if you only have a few weeks to live. 

Whether in Geneva or Argelès, I'm home.