Countries Beginning with I

^ spring blossoms at Sun’s Menlo Park campus

So I’ve returned to live (and work) in the USA. A number of people, particularly US immigration officers, have said: “Welcome home.” I am grateful for their friendly intentions, but “home” is not what the US represents for me. I’ve lived here only about a third of my life to date.

Having spent many of my formative years in Asia, I tried to come “home” to America once before, when I graduated from high school in India and entered college in the US. Like many third culture kids, I had felt out of place (though not unhappy) in the exotic countries I’d lived in, where I was very obviously foreign even after being there for years. I dreamed of returning to a country where I would feel wholly at ease and be accepted as a natural part of the scenery. It was a rude shock to discover that this homeland, for me and others like me, is a myth. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, I was a “hidden immigrant”: on the surface seemingly a local, but in reality a not-quite-native, which manifested in ways which confused and irritated the real Americans.

Not knowing how else to deal with the problem, I was relieved to go overseas again, to return to my familiar status as a foreigner: in 1991 I moved to Italy with my Italian husband and our daughter. When in 1993 I began travelling to the US for work, I had some cultural misunderstandings with my American colleagues. I didn’t realize at the time what was going on; I only knew that I found it easier to form friendships with non-Americans, or with other Americans who had lived abroad as I had.

Sometime during those years I attended a workshop by David Pollock at a Woodstock School reunion, and read his book on Third Culture Kids. Thanks to him, I learned that in fact I’m not quite American. Neither am I Thai, or Indian, or Bangladeshi, or Indonesian, though some aspects of those cultures (particularly Indian) probably inform my attitudes and behavior.

I also learned that it was my TCK background that had helped me adjust so superbly to my new life in Italy, absorbing the language, culture and history to an extent that sometimes startles Italians, including my husband (who doesn’t realize how much he himself has taught me). I’m not Italian, nor do I play one on television, but I’ve certainly been affected by my 17 years there. Among other things, Americans now tell me I have a “European” accent!

So this new American experience isn’t a homecoming for me. I don’t expect to feel like a native anytime soon, if ever. And that’s okay. I’m happy to approach this as an adventure in a new country, bringing to it the openness, curiosity, and tolerance for strangeness that have served me so well in other places and situations. And, though I’ve spent a lot of time in other parts of the US, Colorado and the west (east of California) are new to me – there’s plenty to explore and discover here.

I expect from time to time to feel frustrated, alienated, and foreign. Every culture has its baffling quirks and attitudes. I also expect that I’ll find much to delight in, as I have in every country I’ve lived in or visited. And I’ll photograph, film, and especially write about it all, because I’m glad to have you folks along on this new odyssey!

your thoughts?

Ten Girls for Me

Another Lucio Battisti classic, this has been part of the Italian pop lexicon for decades, as illustrated in this clip from the film Bianca, starring Nanni Moretti.

Ho visto un uomo che moriva per amore,            I saw a man who was dying for love,
ne ho visto un altro che più lacrime non ha.            I saw another who had no more tears.
Nessun coltello mai ti può ferir di più            No knife can wound you more
di un grande amore che ti stringe il cuor.            Than a great love which squeezes your heart.

Dieci ragazze per me posson bastare            10 girls for me can be enough.
dieci ragazze per me io voglio dimenticare            10 girls for me, I want to forget.
capelli biondi da accarezzare            Blonde hair to caress
e labbra rosse sulle quali morire.            and red lips to die on
Dieci ragazze per me solo per me.            10 girls for me, only for me.

Una la voglio perché            One I want because
sa bene ballare.            she knows how to dance well.
Una la voglio perché            One I want because
ancor non sa cosa vuol dire l’amore.            she still does know what love means.

Una soltanto perché            One only because
ha conosciuto tutti tranne me.            she has known everyone but me.
Dieci ragazze così            10 girls like that
che dicono solo di sì.            who only say yes.

Vorrei sapere chi ha detto            I want to know who said
che non vivo più senza te.            that I no longer live without you.
Matto, quello è proprio matto perché            Crazy, he’s really crazy
because
forse non sa            maybe he doesn’t know
che posso averne una per il giorno,            that I can have one for the day
una per la sera            one for the evening
però quel matto mi conosce            but that crazy knows me
perché ha detto una cosa vera.            because he said a true thing.

Dieci ragazze per me            10 girls for me can be enough.
posson bastare
dieci ragazze per me            10 girls for me, I want to forget.
io voglio dimenticare
capelli biondi da accarezzare            Blonde hair to caress
e labbra rosse sulle quali morire.            and red lips to die on
Dieci ragazze così            10 girls like that
che dicon solo di sì.            who only say yes.