Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I actually would love to move to Europe, mainly because European countries have a far superior social safety net to the US. Unfortunately countries outside of the US tend to have extremely strict guidelines as to who can immigrate there. It’s funny that Europeans moved here to the US for a “better life”, and in doing so their descendants don’t have the right to healthcare and have to deal with horrible working conditions.
Speak for yourself. In my family we have wonderful health care and perfectly accommodating working conditions.
Anonymous wrote:Yes, i feel a yearning to return to my ancestors’ land. It’s not guilt but I definitely don’t feel great or proud about being descended from colonizers. I wish my family had maintained Irish citizenship through the generations.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Ha, that assumes Norway would even want to take back a hamburger-eating doofus from Kansas like you.
This "go back where you came from” talk is so toxic, and it's not gonna happen anyway. Let's just figure out how to all get along already.
OP here. It’s not about “getting along.” I get along great with other people. I have a very diverse community and I feel people get along, there’s lots of tolerance and acceptance.
But I don’t feel like I BELONG. I feel like an interloper. Like why am I even here, why did my family move here? It feels random. Like my great grandparents felt bored and were like “America seems exciting” so they moved. It’s like the 1904 version of studying abroad and then deciding to just live there because why not. But why?
I want to feel a sense of deep roots and belonging, of being a part of something bigger than just me. I think the US has a rich and interesting culture and history.
Also, to respond to others: I am not idealizing life in other countries. I don’t think life there is better, in some ways it’s likely worse. I want the belonging, not some idealized version life in Europe. I’m not fantasizing about riding a bike with a baguette and some flowers in the basket. I want to feel more connected to where I live.
My parents live on the other side of the US than me. They are each from still other distant parts of the US, where I no longer have much family. My grandparents are dead and I never met two of them and barely knew the other two. I truly do not feel that I have roots here. Moving to another part of the US feels like more of the same. I don’t want new. I want old.
Since it sounds like you don't have a spouse, you should get a puppy. Maybe foster a pregnant mama dog and pick out a puppy from the litter that you will keep. Also, consider tutoring grade school students or mentoring.
Anonymous wrote:… do you ever think you should move to Europe to “go back where you came from”?
I have started to feel this way. I feel like no matter how much I work to be inclusive and tolerant, there’s no getting around the fact that my presence as a white person in North America is the result of colonization, slavery, and racism. All things I fundamentally oppose.
Sometimes I think it would be better for everyone, including me, if I returned with my family to my ancestral roots (Germany or Norway). Not just because I feel the US really belongs to Native people and the descendants of enslaved people who built the country, but because I wonder if living where my family lived for thousands of years before immigrating to the US in the early 20th century would make me feel like I belonged more.
I just feel like I’m not supposed to be here. It wasn’t my choice to come but maybe it could be my choice to leave.
Does anyone else feel this way?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There is nothing, nothing that Europeans love more than when an American shows up and says “I’m German, I’m Italian…etc.”
OP, you’re American. Embrace your destiny. No one is going to mistake you for a Norwegian or German. Especially with no real knowledge of the language or culture.
I think this is not true. It's in our DNA. We could fit in and no one would notice. Some of us have studied languages and culture.
Anonymous wrote:There is nothing, nothing that Europeans love more than when an American shows up and says “I’m German, I’m Italian…etc.”
OP, you’re American. Embrace your destiny. No one is going to mistake you for a Norwegian or German. Especially with no real knowledge of the language or culture.
Anonymous wrote:… do you ever think you should move to Europe to “go back where you came from”?
I have started to feel this way. I feel like no matter how much I work to be inclusive and tolerant, there’s no getting around the fact that my presence as a white person in North America is the result of colonization, slavery, and racism. All things I fundamentally oppose.
Sometimes I think it would be better for everyone, including me, if I returned with my family to my ancestral roots (Germany or Norway). Not just because I feel the US really belongs to Native people and the descendants of enslaved people who built the country, but because I wonder if living where my family lived for thousands of years before immigrating to the US in the early 20th century would make me feel like I belonged more.
I just feel like I’m not supposed to be here. It wasn’t my choice to come but maybe it could be my choice to leave.
Does anyone else feel this way?
Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone else feel this way?
Anonymous wrote:I actually would love to move to Europe, mainly because European countries have a far superior social safety net to the US. Unfortunately countries outside of the US tend to have extremely strict guidelines as to who can immigrate there. It’s funny that Europeans moved here to the US for a “better life”, and in doing so their descendants don’t have the right to healthcare and have to deal with horrible working conditions.