Comments on: Happy 4th of July!

By: Susannah

Susannah — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 23:41:02 +0000

Riza:

“I always say “I’m from the States” to avoid any confusions …”

What States? United States of America? Or Estados Unidos Mexicanos? (That’s “Mexican United States”, in English. And they’re also American, North American, to boot.)

Confusion runs rampant, when it comes to nomenclature. Better stick to city or individual state names.

If you can; I can’t even do that; where do I come from? My place of birth? The country my place of birth has now become? The country I grew up in? Where I spent most of my adult life? Or what feels like “home” to me?

Anyhow, Happy Independence Day, gringos!

By: Jodi

Jodi — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:54:28 +0000

I do the same thing, I say I’m from the States. And then someone will, inevitably, say “Oh really? All of them at once? That’s amazing!” And then I get annoyed because I am trying to be sensitive and they aren’t giving me props. And I punch them in the face. I think that’s fair.

By: riza

riza — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:49:20 +0000

I always say “I’m from the States” to avoid any confusions that may abound, though I’ve been living here for five years now and rarely am asked what my country of origin is

By: Mel

Mel — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:31:12 +0000

I try to be sensitive about the “American” thing when I’m in other American countries. When I’m in Canada and people ask me where I’m from, I either say “Chicago” or “The States.” And I remember that when I went with my youth group to Mexico in high school, our translators taught us how to say we’re from Chicago, or the United States – not from “America,” even though the word is easier for us to remember.

Anyway…interesting to read someone’s thoughts on the subject who has a different perspective than I do. Anyway…happy 4th/belated Canada Day.