Any person who lived abroad will sooner or later ask themselves: "So where am I from?"
When you're from an interesting country, the answer isn't simple: who wants to be a nazi for everyone like Germans, a crooked-toothed peasant like Chinese, or a war lover like Russians.
Slovenians are lucky - nobody knows if Slovenia even exists.
When you're at home, the question usually doesn't bother you. What difference does it make who you are when nobody gives a shit.
But when you're abroad, or in a place where being a foreigner is the norm, the question "where are you from" always sounds like a challenge.
Usually from the other person's side, this question is completely harmless. Most people don't know how to talk at all, so "whereareyoufrom" is just the default option for opening their mouth. But once you tell the truth, many people will go off.
Thank God when a Pole is simply told "kurwa mać spierdalaj" and a Russian "suka blyat". But when a couple times someone shares their opinion about communism, tanks and Putin with you, you'll involuntarily think: "so where am I from, so you'll fuck off already".
If you're an interesting person like me, you'll try once to pretend to be Slovak, for example. Won't work, your conversation partner "knew" one Slovak girl in childhood.
Can try to pretend to be Estonian, with such a surname and face. Also won't work, because they'll ask you: "Why are Lithuanians good at basketball, but you Estonians aren't?" (and really, why the fuck, Estonia?)
But a couple times you'll answer correctly, something like "Prague". Oh yes, very beautiful, cheap beer and nice girls. And seems all good, but now they expect you to be a typical Prague person: making porn, smoking weed. Also, in short, not an option if you don't smoke weed.
10 years pass, and you understand: there's no right answer to this question. To feel good, you need to feel good.
If you want to save yourself time and nerves, know the basic truth: doesn't matter at all where you're from, what matters is who you are. And who your conversation partner is matters. Especially important is who you are if you were born in an interesting country. Especially important that most conversation partners are useless morons.
Interesting countries always try to crush an individual person with the size of their ego. And most people accept this game.
If you're going to play it, well good luck. It's impossible to win it.
Therefore the main conclusion for people who will be born in an interesting country in the future:
- you're lucky, many aren't given the chance to think about this question
- your individuality must be bigger than the individuality of your interesting country
- being part of a group of people is normal
- only this group of people must be organized by yourself, not stuck to it like a dog to a leash by place of birth, sex, gender, sexual orientation, underline as needed
- people who can only ask "whereareyoufrom" and make far-reaching conclusions from one answer - are morons
- people who will be interested in a deep answer to "whereareyoufrom" and will make conclusions not by words but by actions - are not morons
Hello, where are you from?
From your mama, you fucking idiot!
Thank you, my friend, I'm also from there.
Then you're not my friend, you are my brother, my friend.