Oh no, its that moment again. A pause at the question, a split second to consider the answer. You know the answer, of course. You also know it will take more than five minutes to cover just about everything. You’re tempted to just scream “I DONT KNOW!” but you’ll end up scaring this nice new person away. You might scare them away if you answer anyway. So you begin.. “Well, have you ever heard the term TCK? No? Well, a TCK is….” Then its black or white. The “Oh, ok.” vs. the “Wow, thats awesome!” that determine whether or not the newly forged relationship will surpass an introduction and last a lifetime, or wither away by the end of the first day. I’m waiting to meet someone who wont ask me where I am from. A person who will simply meet me and need no more than who I am and where I am going. Until, about a year into the relationship, the persons asks “Where are you from anyway?” and it wouldn’t matter if I answered “I dont know” or began rambling on about Sociology terms. Its already been built.
Yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about! Ive lived in a lot of places, and am currently living in Colombia. I speak English as my first language, and by default I am American. I came here from the USA, but I know that even if I had never set foot an American territory, I would be called American. In this case, language is the barrier between me and everyone around me, and as a result I am labeled American. I speak Spanish nearly as well as I speak English, so most of the time I hide the fact that I speak English, despite it being my first language, just to avoid the label. If you know anything about Colombia, accepting the label of American isn’t the best way to go, or the smartest…