I've finished the first draft of my radio essay, and I think I'm happy with it.
My radio essay is on my research paper, as I discussed in a previous blogpost. In a nutshell, I'm discussing how I've lived in the Netherlands for the past eight years, now I live in America and not only is the transition between cultures hard, it leaves me asking the question, "Where do I call home? Where can I say I am from?"
Through my research paper I decided that it is ok to have a national identity comprised of both cultures, however this personal struggle of national identity is ongoing. I don't know where I belong--the Netherlands, or America? When people ask me "Where are you from?" it's not as simple as "Oh I'm from Nampa," or, "Oh, I'm from Colorado." I have actually been asked this enough to have it memorized: "I'm American, but I've lived the past eight years overseas in the Netherlands. Why Boise? My grandparents live here, and I have residency in Idaho. Boise is my 'home' in the States."
Personally, I find that my personal national identity is made up of both American culture and European culture, and that is ok. But as I write this radio essay, I feel like it deserves a solid, concrete ending saying "Yes! I am American!" or "Yes! I am European!" that I cannot give it.
You could say that your are Ameriopean or Eurocan.
ReplyDeleteIf you identify with both cultures, they why try to shove yourself into a box that doesn't fit you? Why can't you be both?