While growing up in my hometown I was often asked what country I was from. This started happening more when I was in High School. Once someone I knew who was the manager of a store would not let me apply for a job there, because he said that the store's owner would fire me for not acting American enough. In North Carolina an employer does not have to give a reason for firing someone. One summer I went to France for a summer school abroad program. We were in Paris for four weeks. I felt more at home there than I did in my own country. Sometimes French people would stop me and ask for directions. Some people did think I was German, but I was not treated like an outsider as I was in my own country. I also felt very much at home in Prague when I was there in 2004. I did not know the language very well, but I learned enough to communicate in stores and on the street. Usually people there thought that I was European.
The city in the United States where I have felt most at home is Lawrence, Kansas. It is the most liberal city in that state. I still have friends there, and I miss them very much.
I am not saying that everybody in the U.S.A. treats me like an outsider, but I felt like I fit in better wen I was in Europe. Usually I can communicate most easily with people from other countries. Not everybody from other countries treats me well. Some of the more conservative people from Latin America whom I met at my most recent job were not very nice to me at all.
I am not saying that how other people treat me effects my value as a person, but I do like being in places where I feel like I fit in. I also feel "at home" at furry conventions and when I am with my fellow furries.
I really should learn German, because people often think that I am German. I like the sound of the language too.
I am starting to understand more why my heart is touched more by the flags of other countries.
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