Living in different countries taught me to learn different languages, to adapt and to accept life as the locals themselves, and most importantly to discover something unique in all of them. I could never take the “truths” of my own culture and put them above someone else’s, because I know my “truth” is as real and authentic as someone else’s “truth.”
And that’s why when people ask me: Where are you from? I don’t quite understand what they mean. Are they asking where I was born? Are they asking me which country I love the most? Are they asking me why I speak English? Are they asking me why I speak Spanish? Are they asking me where I took the plane that brought me to Japan?
Maybe I sound too “drama queenie,” but for me, this is not an easy question to answer, because after living and visiting different countries, I can’t just pick one. Because I love all the cultures, I have lived and “discovered.” I have taken with me different “gifts” these cultures have granted me, I’ve taken in me the universe they showed me. And some of them are memories that are tattooed in my soul, and they belong to me, although, some people might think that they shouldn’t, these memories are part of me. They are mine, and they will remain until my last breath.
So, forgive me if I look puzzled when you, if you ever, ask me: Where are you from? I prefer to think of my myself as a nomad of this beautiful earth, and to think of all of us, the human race, as a family.
Yoneko: Writer and consultant 