Home is Where the Birth Certificate isYesterday I was posed an interesting question by an acquaintance. After finding out that I was born and raised on Manhattan (that’s right ON Manhattan—it’s an island. See The High-Minded Highjacker), she asked a question she said she asks every homegrown New Yorker: at what point could she consider herself a New Yorker? One’s hometown is a big part of travel; it’s one of the first things people ask you about when they hear you’re traveling. After all, to be in transit, you have to be from somewhere.
My initial reaction to the query was “never.” She could no more be considered a New Yorker than I could be considered a Hoosier from her native Indiana. She was a bit put off, expecting a more concrete answer of something like “five years” or ”10 years.” My theory was that you cannot be a native if you weren’t born in a place. However, perhaps that is not necessarily the case and it is rather limiting as birth is one of those once-in-a-lifetime deals.
So, I amend my answer. New York is a big place—big enough for the multitudes who flock here after college—and I’m willing to share it. I suppose you can be a native of anywhere that you call home. I commended my questioner on her ability to walk down New York streets—for example, she avoided Canal Street at all costs—a vital skill to a New Yorker. Of course, I only have one home, and for as much time as I’ve spent in, say, England, I’m no Londoner.
I pose the same question to you: Do you consider yourself to be from somewhere other than the place you were born or grew up?
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Comments
Inneresting.
I consider myself a Seattleite even though I'm FROM demonic California (like many fine Seattleites). Thing is, Seattle is my home in ways that nowhere else I've lived has been. I lived in Austria but never would have said I was FROM there or that it was my home, and while I'm a California girl by birth (and in my love for the ocean) I don't even feel like I'm from there anymore.
Place+Identity=So Much Confusion
I've always considered myself a new yorker even though i'm from the suburbs but then after living in the 5 boroughs for several years and moving away and then moving back i did realize new york was always my home even if i was born in the suburbs
When I lived in NYC, I always heard 10 years. I only made it four, and I was pretty darn fluent in the local customs and native tongue, but I never really considered myself that sacred creature, a New Yorker.
I think 10 years is a good rule of thumb. Plus, you have to adopt the local accent.
My birth certificate says Honolulu, which makes me feel more exotic than I am. I only lived in Hawaii for the first year of my life, but I'd like to think there's a bit of Hawaii that stays in me, even though I grew up in Maryland and now call San Francisco home.
I've lived in Cleveland for the past 4 years and now consider myself a Clevelander. I'm just not a "native" Clevelander.
I think in order for a person to claim the new identity, they have to willingly/somewhat succesfully integrate to the new society.
No, no, no...you can only be FROM one place! I'm an uprooted Texan -- I now live in California. When I'm traveling and people ask me where I'm from, I say "I'm from Dallas, but I live in San Francisco." Even though SF feels like home, I will never call myself a San Franciscan. That would be like disowning my favorite uncle.
Interesting post. "Native," as defined in the dictionary, is pretty straightforward: it's the place in which something, or someone, came into being. Not much room for interpretation there. That said, I think it's reasonable and to able to say, "I've lived here long enough to call it home." I've lived in *demonic* California almost my entire life. And yet, I'm still not a native.
I'm with Mike. Where you were born/raised isn't nearly as important as the place you actually call home. I'm from the L.A. area, and although I lived there (and in Orange County) for almost 23 years, many people I knew there have since moved away, and the place itself now feels alien to me.
I think that while the process of defining where you're "from" invokes interesting issues of time, place, and identity, the answer is ultimately what's in your heart, and for me (as cheesy as it sounds), that's where I've lived the past five years: San Francisco.