Thursday, March 29, 2012

Differences

Kilts and TGI fridays. two worlds coming together.



Almost every day I am introduced, 
or re-introduced,
 to the differences between the UK and the USA.

I write about some of them in my "conversation" posts..
where Stephen and I awkwardly struggle to reconcile and understand these differences.

But often times I forget to write them down..

But today i was reminded of one..

One of the biggest is the question of "nationality"

A woman came to my door today to give me some papers to fill out for council information
(government stuff for voting etc.)

She asked me "what nationality are you?"

And I  had to pause for a moment and remember where I am..

Because, when asked what Nationality you are in the USA, usually, 
and by usually i mean 99% of the time,
 we would answer with our heritage..
"Oh, I'm Russian, German, Scottish, a little bit of Italian, and 1/16th Choctaw Indian"

But here, when asked your nationality,
you answer with where you were born..

If you were born in America, you are American,
if you were born in Northern Ireland, you are Northern Irish..
If you were born in Scotland, you are Scottish..
Which makes a lot more sense actually..

Stephen cannot understand for the life of him why Americans don't say "I'm American"
when asked their nationality..
because to him, being American is something to be proud of..
and if you and your parents were born in America..
that makes you American..
not, Scottish, Italian, native American, and German..

But can you imagine if someone came up to you (in the states) and was all,
"hey what nationality are you?"
And you answered 
"I'm American"

duh.

they would probably turn and walk away muttering "a-hole" under their breath.

But here, in the UK, 
if someone came up to me and was all "hey whats your nationality?"
and i said "I'm Russian, German, Scottish, a little bit of Italian, and 1/16th Choctaw Indian"
they would laugh in my face and be like 
"no, you are American"

However, no one is usually walking around in the USA going
"hey, what is your ancestral background dating back to your great great grandparents on both sides?
Which is the question we are actually answering.

There is a reason we ask this question,
and answer it the way we do..
I'm sure.
And it's not wrong (to us)

Just make sure you don't do that over here..
 unless you know for sure they want to know your heritage..
and not where you were born.


 What is your nationality?




*this post is a by- product of me having to wake up before 9 am. my apologies

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67 comments:

  1. never thought about all this! how weird... I'm half Romanian half Hungarian.. First person in my family to be born in America! But I guess according to Stephen that makes me American (and my older sister Romanian). Interesting :)

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  2. I'm so glad you brought this up because it's always a confusing question to answer as an American abroad. It's also funny that we Americans typically refer to our cultural heritage first, despite the fact that in most cases the Scottish, Dutch, French, etc. ancestors immigrated a few generation ago. Maybe because in culturally in America we're always trying to put forward the aspects that make us unique from every other American? Hmm...

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  3. Well, my passport says I am British, so I am British. I agree that your nationality is where you are born, but if for example you have two passports of different nations, then you could say "I am British and Australian". I understand why people in the US say "Oh, I'm part this and that and that", because it wasn't that long ago their ancestors settled there, but it does make me wonder when people just become "American". Like, how many generations of being born in the US will it take?

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  4. This is so interesting. James is obsessed with being American. So he'd probably answer that question right. But I have always had this complex where I'm obsessed with being even the slightest "Italian". I don't look Italian. At all. But my last name is. On the other hand, James looks very italian, but he's last name is Irish. I guess that adds to American's complex, over here, not many people have "American" last names. Having different nationalities links you to "foreign and exciting" countries. It also could get you a better chance of getting certain jobs or into colleges. It allows Americans to be more competitive than they already are "I'm more Italian than You!"

    What weirdos we are.

    GOD BLESS AMERICA - James

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  5. @lily: "Maybe because in culturally in America we're always trying to put forward the aspects that make us unique from every other American?" yes. so true.

    @mizhenka: i guess that two passport thing would mean dual citizenship? Like my friend out here, who is american, married a scottish girl, so will eventually have an american and british passport, but i dont think he would ever say he was british, since he wasnt born here..just lucky to marry into the british family ;) Such a good question though, how many generations of being born in the USA will it take for us to just answer "im american." I think a lot. lol

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  6. Hmm yeah I'm with the American answer to this question. I'm Australian, I feel that's obvious to anyone from any country who spoke to me but my nationality is Egyptian, New Zealand and English. Which just confuses the shite out of people. Or they think they're the first person to ever say 'Wow that's a strange combination!'

    I'm probably just going to tell people I'm 1/16th Choctaw Indian now just for the fun of it. Bet that blows people straight out of the water.

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  7. I was born in Africa to British parents but do not consider myself African. I am Brtiish. But I only lived there for 6 years before moving to Canada. But i'm not Canadian.

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  8. It's true how the nationality convo is different over here! Before I moved to Spain, I'd always claim being 1/2 Mexican 1/2 American, but here it just makes more sense to say "I'm American" to avoid that confused, side-ways glance. :)

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  9. My boyfriend is Irish and hates it when people say they're "Irish" when even their grandparents have never visited the country. My Grandad is Irish, and many people I know in England have Irish heritage, but they would never say "I'm part Irish and English, etc". I think it's okay, and understandable, if you're still connected to the culture of your ancestry - if that makes sense.

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  10. BRILLIANT! I've run into this question a few times living here in Germany and literally wanted to be like "umm what? do you mean like am I American or do you want the whole shabang?" Most of the time they want to know if I'm American, but my first instinct is to say I'm half this and half that...because you're totally right, if someone asked me that while I was standing on American soil, I'd never say I'm American!

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  11. Hahaha. You Americans...
    Anyway, that's quite interesting.
    I'm German. And that's about it.

    Booooring. It would be so much cooler to be at least 1/100 Choctaw Indian (anything more exotic would work)... in that case i would always include this information to my replies to the nationality question!

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  12. @Mizhenka- my bf feels the EXACT SAME WAY. and that totally makes sense to me.

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  13. My siblings and I are the first generation to be born in America. Then that makes us American. Our family is from Liberia, West Africa. So then I guess I am a true African-American, if that makes any sense.

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  14. This is SO true! I am half croatian and half slovenian but born in Canada.
    When I'm in croatia, I am Canadian. {those last 3 words may or may not be from a beer commercial. truth.}

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  15. Way to make me think at 9AM. Very interesting though! I'm American, yo.

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  16. I knew an Irish-exchange student at college who had the same frustrations with Americans saying that they were Irish. I'm Swiss-German, French, and English. My husband is Polish, German, and Lithuanian. With that mix, I guess my little guy is European?

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  17. I'm a longtime lurker/reader of your blog. I think if more people here in the US simply thought of themselves as Americans and not Black/Native-American/Jewish/and a bit French, we may not have some of the issues that we are currently facing. I'll be sharing this post dear :-)

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  18. I have always had a hard time with questions like these because I was born in Trinidad but moved to the States when I was 6, so for the most part I consider myself American. However I still have a lot of family in Trinidad and visit often so the culture is still a big part of my life...and then I also have dual citizenship, so I guess that makes me both?

    I also tend to get the infamous Mean Girl question "But if you're from Trinidad, then why are you white?"...so to avoid answering stupid questions and explaining that yes, there are people of different nationalities in Trinidad, I just tell people I am American.

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  19. Very interesting. Usually when someone asks me, I tell them I'm part American, Chinese, Filipino, and Spanish. I get a lot of interesting looks and just figure I'd tell them, I'm human, born on planet Earth. =)

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  20. I love reading posts like this. Makes you realize how different things are in other countries.

    Is it weird that I'm bothered when people say they are from "America" when in a different country? I don't know why, but there's something so 1900 about it to me.

    I say "the States" ...does that make me an a-hole? Haha.

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  21. I think that naming multiple nationalities is a way to connect to something, besides the general American, Canadian or Australian melting pot. Chances are you have differing backgrounds from most people you know, so saying that you are "English, French, Scottish, Dutch, Native, etc." gives you roots and a sense of deeper history than the past few hundred years. Because really, those few hundred years are just a blip in time and for a much longer period before that your ancestors would likely have been rooted in a general geographical region. I don't think that people should say "I'm Irish" when they have an irish last name (because legally you are not), but maybe preface with "I'm Canadian, but I have some Irish heritage".
    I'm a bit of a family history nerd, so looking at that tree and imagining the formerly living people who have directly influenced where I am in my life, I feel like it would be unfair not to at least acknowledge them and where they came from. People in most other parts of the world have deep roots, so maybe they can't understand that sense of displacement that comes from being from a country of migration. It will take hundreds more years to build that deepseated connection to the "colonies".
    -Michelle

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  22. Ah well then you get am I British or English?

    Well I think I'm English because I'm also an eighth Irish as my Grandfather's Grandad (I think) was from Ireland

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  23. I'm American? Is that the right answer? Shit, did I just fail?

    I'm half Chinese and the rest is British and Italian :)

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  24. If I answered the nationality question the way the UK expects you to, I'd say "I'm Brazilian". Since I was born in Brazil. Which is confusing, since I look German-Scottish-Irish-English and sound very much Iike an American.

    I wonder how many UK-ers (now I don't even know if I can call them Brits or Scots or Irishmen or whatever. Gah.) families have been in the UK for centuries. Because not too many Americans can say that about their families. We're such a baby country, and all of us did originally come from somewhere over there. And I wonder if we'll ever get to the point where we quit referencing our origins and start just talking about where we are.

    You sucked me in to your philosophical reasoning. I blame sleep-deprivation too.

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  25. um im american BUT my grandparents were french, irish, italian and german. but my dad gets really, really pissed that people don't say "i'm american" because you are. so he is in agreement with stephen.

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  26. I feel just the same way as Stephen. Why do you Americans not just say that you are American :D While living in the US I always thought it was funny when people told me (after hearing that I am from Germany) that they were German but when I asked them where in Germany they had lived they told me that they are German because their great grandmother was born in Germany :)
    Although I think it is a little weird I would say it's just one of those cultural differences that we might not fully understand but that we have to accept non the less :)

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  27. I think it's probably different in the US because the country is so young compared to the rest of the world. And especially since it is such a melting pot of cultures. I wonder if that means it will change after a few hundred years when people are more removed from their original settler ancestors.

    I am supposed to be of Italian and Sicilian heritage,hour who really knows. I just got back from visiting Italy and looked absolutely nothing like the people there. When abroad, I usually get approached by people thinking I'm Russian.

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    Replies

    1. Hour was supposed to be but. Don't you just love autocorrect?

      Delete

  28. I'm Scottish, Dutch, French, Cherokee, Choctaw, Irish, and German. So, when people ask what I am, I usually just answer American because I'm so mixed. It's just so much easier to answer that way.

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  29. I am proudly South African!!!!

    But my heritage is a melting pot of Celtic love between the Irish and the Scots.

    My younger brother has chosen to embrace the Scottish side of our family while I one 100% embrace the Irish.

    Having said that I am as South African as can be!!!

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  30. @anon(michelle), Emily, Lyndsay- totally true point, we are so young as a country, so we like to feel connected to something deeper, whether it be because we think its cooler, or long for a more "rooted" connection to something...but stephen made a good point..when it comes to being the "best" and "freedom" and "war" we are all so quick to be like "IM AMERICAN! GO USA!" but then when asked our nationality we dont say american..

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  31. @Kristina- Stephen has the same view point as you..and is prepared to have it happen to him when he comes to the US..i mean i already can list the people in my head who will be like "im irish!" when they are definitely not. lol

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  32. It is the same here in Germany! And I don't even need to tell them I'm american because my accent is so bad.

    I've got German coming from all four of my grandparents so I'm actually over 50% German even though none of my grandparents/parents are full-blooded. I also know I'm about 25% french and the rest is a swedish/english mix.

    My husband's mom is 100% Danish and his dad 100% German, so I am actually more German than he is! Irony is great.

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  33. I had no clue about this! I was always taught that my nationality was American because I was born here. I don't know who told me that, but it's just something I've always done.
    People have often told me that I'm not American because I'm not white (MANY people have told me this, including adults). So when people ask my nationality, and I tell them American, they would sometimes say, "No, you're nationality is not American because you're not white."

    I always thought they were screwy so in my head I always separated nationality and race into two categories.

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  34. Me and my husband have had this convo many times. I've decided that often here the question has to do with your looks, like someone wants to know why you have red hair or something, "are you scottish?" would be a more apt question, but often it's just "where are you from" instead. We're also such a YOUNG country that there is no way to look American since it's such a mish-mesh of cultures right from the get-go.

    That being said I HAVE had people in the UK ask me where I'm from, I say American and then they go on to ask about my ancestry because my last name is uber English.

    Oddly enough ancestrally speaking I am WAY more English than my husband!

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  35. So true! I feel like most people in America are so mixed that all that really matters is that you're America anyway...in fact, I'm not even entirely sure of everything that I am but I *think* (or what I've always told people) is that I'm Dutch, German, Irish, French, and a teeny bit Native American (because that's clearly obvious with the blonde hair and blue eyes!)

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  36. I love this post because i never really thought about it that way, but you're totally right. I'm 100% italian, and even when I tell people this in the US, they look a bit surprised because i don't have a thick, jersey-italian accent like the rest of my family (went to college in West Virginia, now residing in Washington, DC, "so i must have lost it along the way...i guess." is what i usually tell them haha) My grandparents came over to America in their 30's. I actually did a guest post on my heritage on Jenni-Austria-Germany a few weeks ago, and i'm quite proud :)
    http://jenni-austria-germany.blogspot.com/2012/02/this-post-is-awesome-and-i-can-say-that.html

    xoxo
    Erica

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  37. um, you were describing my heritage like perfectly. down to the 1/16th choctaw indian! that is crazy!

    nah. irish, english, german, ukranian. for reals.

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  38. I remember when I got here and my husband introduced me to his friend and I asked where she was from. He said : "She was born here, but I think her nationality is Vietnamese". That sentence didn't make ANY sense for me! I was born in Brazil, so I'm Brazilian! It doesn't matter that my great grandparents were Italian/Portuguese! If you ask him, he'll say he is German. Even though he can't say hi in German and has never set foot in Germany! That makes zero sense to me!

    But I think it makes some sense here since everybody is from everywhere!

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  39. The way they do it makes more sense. I am of the American nation, but us Americans already know that! And saying what nationality is like the nice way of asking your ethnicity. Btw, are you Jewish? I feel like I read something once that you were, but I could be making that up in my brainz.

    ♥Abbey
    Along Abbey Road

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  40. The funny thing is that I was sitting here (in Scotland) thinking, but I WOULD say I'm American, until you got to the point in your post about when someone ctually asks you in the u.s. and I agree...I would say that i am mostly German, etc. etc. I guess I can now consider myself a true expat now? ;). I wonder how I will react to the question once I'm back in the States. Interesting post, but then your posts are always interesting. :)

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  41. I have had this EXACT conversation with many of my English friends- they ask why Americans are obsessed with hyphenating our nationality (African-American, Asian-American, etc) and why we aren't just "American." I've got such a mix in my past I've always said "1/4 Norwegian and a whole lot of European"- so saying "American" is a whole lot easier. I'll give this one to the Brits- I'm still arguing the whole "dipped headlights/main beams", though!

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  42. I have had this EXACT conversation with many of my English friends- they ask why Americans are obsessed with hyphenating our nationality (African-American, Asian-American, etc) and why we aren't just "American." I've got such a mix in my past I've always said "1/4 Norwegian and a whole lot of European"- so saying "American" is a whole lot easier. I'll give this one to the Brits- I'm still arguing the whole "dipped headlights/main beams", though!

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  43. well.. i'm american...

    but my ancestral heritage dating back to my great great grandparents makes me puerto rican, dominican, irish, and swedish... and yes, i prefer to put the latina in me FIRST, because it just sounds fancier...

    i'm sure theres some weird metacognitive reason we answer that way... brains- tricky little suckers..

    (PS i was thisclose to studying neuroscience... because i love me some thinking/brain/mind body problems...)

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  44. Good Post!! It makes me laugh.

    A Good Family friend of ours, whom I call "Auntie" because we've known them forever..Recently got in a fight with her sister over this Topic. They are Mexican and my aunt states "We are Mexican" and her sister says "We weren't born in Mexico...We were born here, We are AMERICAN".....It's a funny little thing what people say.

    I am Irish, Scottish, German, English, and alittle bit of Indian...who happened to be born in America. :)

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  45. It's always been so interesting to me how my friends from the new england area LOVE to tell you their heritage... Italian, Scottish/Jewish blah blah, some even have 'crest tattos.'

    I'm from Alabama & the only thing I've grown up hearing is: My family been in ___ County since the 60s, we're from Atlanta, We're from New Orleans. I don't even know my heritage.

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  46. This is so interesting to me and it's so funny because growing up Canadian, we were always taught that Americans were what was called "A Melting Pot"

    Meaning, when you lived in the states, you gave up your past history and now you are just "an American"

    And that Canadians were like a "mosaic" (seriously, this is the terminology that was used), and that as Canadians you celebrated your history... so we would never actually say "I'm Canadian" you would say "Oh, I'm half polish, half german" or whatever the case may be.

    Ohhhh, the differences between countries are so vast.

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  47. I love it when my husband tells me differences between here and overseas, it's so much fun to learn how different- yet similar it can be! I'm adopted so I have no idea what my biological heritage is...I love to let people guess when they ask me :)

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  48. Wow! This is so interesting! Never even thought of why we answer like we do. I'm German, Dutch and Scottish! And...American :) Love that picture, btw. Awesome.

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  49. so interesting! yes, if someone asked me, "what nationality are you" i would say "american" because i am assuming that they are referring to nation .. but people don't usually ask that question, they say, "what are you?" and that's where the 'english, scottish, irish, italian, german comes in'.

    esp. interesting because my students who "are" dominican, puerto rican, mexican, ecuadorian, etc., even if they and their parents and their grandparents were born in the USA ALWAYS say they are "dominican" or "guatemalan" ... so interesting, they're wanting to keep that piece of their heritage.

    so, putting two and two together, id say it's because people immigrated here wanted their children to remember their original heritage so they promoted the fact that they were italian, german, whatever and it just carried down the lines and that's why we say it like we do ... as opposed to people born in europe, well aren't they really saying the same thing? what are they? scottish! (just like me!) haha.

    also im obsessed with this topic bc i majored in Spanish and my teacher would become irate when people referred to themselves as Irish-american, for exampe .. you can't be irish if you know nothing about ireland was his argument. same way i hate the phrase 'african-american' to denote someone who's black because they weren't born in africa AND someone could be african-american because they were born in africa, came to america, got citizenship and they're white! what then?!

    obvi i might have just a couple thoughts on this topc!! loL!!

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  50. Interesting thoughts... I'm Irish/Italian/Dutch - American!

    Also, KILTS ROCK!!!! I am so jealous of you getting to see them on a regular basis. ONly time I do is at the Renn Faire. ;)

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  51. I would have never second-guessed myself until now! I would always answer 'Irish, Welsh and Cherokee' never thinking someone wanted me to say 'American.'
    Well, now.
    There are moments when people grow and learn, and this was one of those moments!

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  52. having lived in so many different countries all my life AND having a ton of different heritages, you have no idea how hard/confusing it is for me to answer this question...regardless of where it's being asked.

    I think I have an identity crisis hahaha

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  53. Hahaha, this post made me laugh. You are funny and living over there is funny. I love it.

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  54. THIS. POST.

    As someone that moved to the US the whole "I'm half Irish, a third Russian, a quarter Arabian" dealio has always confused me. I always want to stop and be like "DUDE! You're AMERICAN. Take pride and that, geez" lola

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  55. Well, apparently I'm just American, haha. But I think anywhere outside the US those of us born in the US would have to answer "American." Maybe we're so obsessed with our heritage because America has historically been such a diverse place?

    My heritage is half-Hispanic, half-white. The Hispanic breaks down into Lencan {an Indian tribe in Honduras} and El Salvadoran and Honduran {& these last two go back to Spain}. The white breaks down into Irish, German, Luxembourgisch, and Dutch.

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  56. Hi! Been a lurker here for a couple weeks. This post is really interesting. My kids have an odd situation. They were born in Thailand, yet Thailand does not recognize them as Thai. They are American, because their dad and I are...but they spent years without knowing anything about America. They are what is known as "Third Culture Kids"...not totally belonging to either culture. They are white, and yet if you ask them where they are from, they would say Thailand. If you ask their ethnicity, they would say Scottish/Irish. Technically, they are American by acquired citizenship. Confusing!

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  58. love. i finally got used to saying "i'm american" in Germany, when my boyfriend's grandma informed me that if my family came from germany a hundred years ago, i am still german. i think this mindset might be unique to the germans (particularly elderly germans). bless their hearts. and yours, you american, you.

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  59. I suppose this makes me American too but here's my question: If my husband and I have a child while we're living in Japan does that make them Japanese? Because no one would believe that from looking at a product of us!

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  60. After reading your post I finally feel so much better, because now I feel a lot like everyone else and can say I'm American. Haha I'm Navajo/Apache (Native American) and it is like a neccessary point to make when we meet other Native Americans... but when I tell someone who does not know the different tribes, I can just say I am Native American (in the US) but if I do go elsewhere I can finally say American!! haha And everyone is lucky to say they have Irish, British or German blood... *le sigh*

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  61. British according to my passport, English with Scottish and Irish great-great-grandparents.

    So, I guess that makes me: English, Scottish, Irish, English, Norman, Viking, Saxon, Angle, Jute, Roman and whoever they invaded lol :)

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  62. This is so true!!

    I used to work at a summer camp and I remember being on the bus one day heading back from a field trip and listening to 2 kids talk. One of them asked the other what nationality he was and he said American.

    Clearly kids are smarter than we are haha.

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  63. LOL! This was funny and enlightening, Meg. And for the record, I am Hungarian, French, Scottish, English, and Dutch. That I know of. I like to joke and say I'm Euro trash. ;)

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  64. this is a great question actually. my family has lived in texas for at least 4 generations, so generally when people ask "what's your nationality" i just say Texan, because i mean, really. it is its own nation.

    CupcakesOMG!

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  65. I hadn't really ever thought about it but you're right! I'm going to start telling people that but I'm fearful of them calling me an ahole. Ek!

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  66. Haha love this! & so very true!! I'm British (ha;f Welsh, half English) & I'll make sure Whit knows to say 'american' lol.

    M x

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