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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Why do people lie about the city they grew up in?  I live in a major city with a very high transplant percentage and it's amazing to me how many people will beat around the bush to say they're from "here" when the truth is they grew up in Duluth, Minnesota or Astoria, Oregon or whatever.  Is it because they want to seem more cosmopolitan?  What is the pathology at play?[/quote]

OP, I was born in Boston and moved almost immediately to Colorado until I was in middle school, followed by 10 years in Wisconsin, and then 15 years in DC. I now live in CA. Where do you think I should tell people I'm from, realistically? I tell people in CA that I moved there from DC, which is true. Arguably, I'm a lot more from DC than I am from Boston or CO. I have no affinity with or allegiance to the state of Wisconsin at all. Why should I claim those places because I was a child there?[/quote]

If this is a serious question, then the answer is quite obvious.  "I grew up in (city name) Colorado and (city name) Wisconsin" since that's where you spent your formative years.  Going to college in DC and then spending some early working years there is largely irrelevant since you spent your time there after you had reached adulthood and were "fully formed", so to speak.  Whenever asks "where are you from" theyre asking where you grew up- it's really not even a complicated answer, in your case. [/quote]

Where am I from, OP? What response could I give (that won't bore people to tears) that "truthfully" answers your question?

My parents were living in Beirut but temporarily relocated to Paris for a few months when I was born for access to better medical care, but returned to Beirut where we lived until I was four. I did K-Grade 2 in Harare, Grades 3-5 in Hanoi, Grade 6 in DC, Grades 7-9 in Bogota, and Grades 10-12 in Tunis.

I spent my "formative years" in multiple countries across four continents. I went to French schools in Harare and Hanoi, public school in DC, a Swiss school in Bogota (where I learned German and Spanish) and an American school in Tunis. FWIW I have a US and EU passport (French and American parents).[/quote]

What would be so bad about saying something like "I grew up all over- predominantly Hanoi, Bogota, and Tunis"?  And if they want more details they can ask?  Even so, it seems strange to act like this is the reality for most people, when you seem to be well aware this is an outlier.  But even in an extreme case like yours, naming the three places you lived the longest wouldn't take more than 5 seconds.  Why are you acting like this a crazy situation that you're truly incapable of handling? [/quote]

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