I am
Brazilian, from
Brazilian parents. I have however lived all over the world, due to the
nomadic nature of my father's work.
Having spent only five years of my life in what is supposed to be my
home country, I wonder whether my lifestyle has in any way compromised my sense of
national identity.
I am sure I speak on the
behalf of many when I say that it is both a blessing and a curse to bee able to live all over the
world and experience every culture. You're capable of analysing each country from an unbiased perspective, while at the same time absorbing
bits and pieces of their culture.
I happen to be in an interesting situation at the moment, living in London whilst having spent the last 6 of my 25 years in
Australia. The time I spent in Australia made me inevitably become a little bit Australian, some of my
Aussie friends indeed argue that I am (and sound) as Australian as any other Australian they know.
As a matter of fact, most of my best friends live in that country.
However I often wonder when people ask me "What country do you call
home?" Does there have to be an answer, I say. Can't I have them both. Who is anybody to tell me where I am from? I didn't have a choice in the matter, did I.
Can I not be a true
citizen of the world, keen to embrace any culture that I wish at anytime I want? Shouldn't everybody have that right if they wish to have it?
Of course, there will always be those Brazilians who will acuse me of
selling out and there will be Aussies who will call me a
try hard. But are those people really worth
wasting my breath (or typing) on?
I have decided to free myself from the shackles of country and culture. I am above the CONCEPT of "country". I am a man of the world, and I encourage everyone caught in a similar tug-of-war to come forth. Don't be afraid of challenging those obsolete ideas. The future is US.