This was really good, Minh! I can relate in a way, as I live in a big city now (Atlanta) but am from a much smaller place (Augusta, Ga.). Even though it's only two and a half hours away, it might as well be across the world in terms of the difference between the two cities -- politically, socially, culturally, etc. There was a long time when I didn't feel at home in Atlanta, even though I'd already lived here for years. But there came a shift when it became more "home" to me than the home I grew up in -- even though Augusta is still very much a home-feeling-like place for me. Great food for thought.
Your attitudinal change and description of reverse culture shock reminded me of something. People who don't fit neatly into the dominant cultural setting of the country (or countries) they grew up in tend to have a more itinerant disposition, even if by passport they're indistinguishable from their peers - it's not just a Third Culture kid phenomenon.
I've noticed a general rootlessness, even if close with their family; they won't decorate their homes with little trinkets, they'll demonstrate a preference for renting over a mortgage unless the financial incentives are very lopsided, they'll be happy to be relocated to another office halfway across the planet by the very-untethered-seeming corporation they work for, and they tend to stick around in large cities even when most of their age cohort has decided to move out to the suburbs.
I relate so much to this, feeling the same anxiety catching up as I’m going to fly back to Vietnam this year for the first time since before covid.
Hope you’re enjoying and having a cosy time there 🫶🏼
Thank you for sharing :) Rooting for you
This was really good, Minh! I can relate in a way, as I live in a big city now (Atlanta) but am from a much smaller place (Augusta, Ga.). Even though it's only two and a half hours away, it might as well be across the world in terms of the difference between the two cities -- politically, socially, culturally, etc. There was a long time when I didn't feel at home in Atlanta, even though I'd already lived here for years. But there came a shift when it became more "home" to me than the home I grew up in -- even though Augusta is still very much a home-feeling-like place for me. Great food for thought.
Thank you Terrell! This means a lot coming from you, I have only been to Atlanta once but heard its a good city for running
Your attitudinal change and description of reverse culture shock reminded me of something. People who don't fit neatly into the dominant cultural setting of the country (or countries) they grew up in tend to have a more itinerant disposition, even if by passport they're indistinguishable from their peers - it's not just a Third Culture kid phenomenon.
I've noticed a general rootlessness, even if close with their family; they won't decorate their homes with little trinkets, they'll demonstrate a preference for renting over a mortgage unless the financial incentives are very lopsided, they'll be happy to be relocated to another office halfway across the planet by the very-untethered-seeming corporation they work for, and they tend to stick around in large cities even when most of their age cohort has decided to move out to the suburbs.
I can actually resonate with a lot of this, laughing at the renting over mortgage thing and city living vs. suburbs.