Identity is such a fascinating thing. How much is in our blood, how much in our minds? Our kids have German and US passports. My wife managed to get dual citizenship just before we made the move. Now I’m the only one with just one passport. I’ll always feel American, but I’m thinking I’d also like to get dual citizenship at some point. We’ll see.
Thanks Lee, much appreciated. There's gotta be a story with your surname, right?
You should be good to go in Germany since you're married to a German. My American friends have lived in Germany for over 10 years now and they're still struggling with the language requirements but as long as they're employed and sponsored, they're fine.
Daniel I’m thinking I might be your only reader that knows the Tufts mascot (Go Jumbos!). Also, my last name is German but me and my sisters (and our dad who we got the name from) have all done dna tests that show we are zero percent German. So weird.
That's funny/weird re: the dna. My father did a test last year and it turns out he has - which means I have - tiny bits of Arab and east African dna! (I forgot to mention that in my post)
Go Jumbos indeed! (but I'm afraid to report that a few of my college friends do subscribe - in fact, the Bado who also commented on this post was my freshman year roommate!
Wowee, you have such a interesting story. I knew it was interesting, but I didn't know it took this many twists and turns. Are you drawn to stories and novels about identity? Just curious...
Thank you! I might have a few more twists and turns to share, don't worry.
I've read Identity by Milan Kundera, that comes to mind first, but otherwise...my mind is blank. What are some stories on identity? I've probably read a few without even realising it.
More twists and turns?! I dunno eh, your life is sounding pretty generic to me (or whatever it was that person said in that Note 😂)
You made me think more about my question with your question 🙃 I think I was thinking about identity as something present in a novel (perhaps via the author), versus directly addressed as a theme maybe? Like post-colonial literature, post-modern literature. Also with multilingual writers and their writerly identities when they write in multiple languages. I dunno, I was thinking about how identity as a topic has always been something that’s interested me and I’ve been drawn to, but my life hasn’t been even 10% as transnational as yours. So I was wondering if maybe if it is something you live, you don’t feel so much of a need to read about it. Or the opposite, it helps you makes sense of things.
Interesting ramblings, here are my late afternoon Saturday...musings:
I get what you mean now - the Jhumpa Lahiri book written in Italian immediately comes to mind, I think the identity and language thing plays a huge role there (I haven't read it). One of my favourite authors, VS Naipaul very much has identity as a lingering presence in his books, with his Indian background, upbringing in Trinidad & Tobago and then move to the UK all featuring in his works (A Bend in the River and The Enigma of Arrival in particular). I'm still missing a few, and certainly there are Ukrainian works here that are relevant. Kundera also grappled with this in his life and books.
I fear my ramblings are incoherent. It's been a long day of editing!
Interesting. I've heard of others having similar experiences - a friend of mine with Italy, for example. You'll have a chance to explore your roots then!
Ughhhhhhh!!! The Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveller - I fucking HATED them 😖 I also had a distinct distaste for The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and The Bare Naked Ladies. I attended high school in Georgia and all of the above were aaaaalllll the rage there ("All the Rage Back Home" is an Interpol song - just came to me as I wrote that 😅)
But anyway, I was part of a small elite crowd that preferred bands from across the pond 😌
Wasn't Dave Matthews South African?! His/their (was it a band or is Dave like Florence in Florence and the Machine where Florence steals everyone's thunder and no one really gives a shit about "the Machine") music makes me cringe to this day...
I'm a little triggered that's why I'm all over the place... Still really enjoyed the post though👍😁
Sorry! Didn't mean to trigger you, yikes. Those are some painful music memories you have.
You said it better than I could re: Dave M and Blues Traveller. There were some other terrible bands that tortured me but at least being in Boston meant some decent local bands (I loved Belly and Tanya Donnelly, for example) plus one of the massive silver linings, as I already boasted to you I think in the comments of Faith's post, was getting to see my favourite British bands in smaller venues.
I'm with you on Barenaked Ladies, but with the Bosstones, that's kind of funny - they're from Boston, of course. But in high school in England a friend of mine was really into them and I swear, not a single soul in our school knew of them and I listened to their album and liked it. I think it was the novelty factor and I probably listened to Someday I Suppose on repeat my senior year. Please, I beg you, don't unsubscribe! 😭😂
I love Interpol, btw. And plenty of other American bands - Smashing Pumpkins, Postal Service, Rilo Kiley come to mind.
No worries, I have no intention of unsubscribing 😂 Reading 'Dave Matthews Band' just immediately took me back to my 9th grade Economics class where I was surrounded by cheerleaders in uniform on pep rally days, passing notes written with glittery ink pens to each other while humming the melody to that horrid Song "Crash" 🙈 That was a cheerleader band for sure and I was no cheerleader 🙄 But that's my past trauma and you and your post carry no blame 😅
I haven't heard of any of those Boston artists, but will see if I can find something as I'm curious now. I still envy you for the opportunity to see some of the pioneers of britpop in small venues 😊
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were an acquired taste, I think 😂
Interpol is definitely one of my favourite bands! I do love a lot of American bands, despite some bias due to being an Anglophile 😉
Believe me, I suffered through a lot of bad music during my university years. I had one too many nights of 'chilling' with people (often in the fraternity - haha, serves me right!) listening to Phish, Dave Matthews, etc and it was like torture. 'Hey guys, a bit of Radiohead?' Not a chance...😭
I wrote music reviews for The Tufts Daily and could never resist a dig at Dave Matthews and others and would often get letters written in (and a few prank calls!) bitching about me and my bitching about this terrible music! 😂
Interesting what you say about 'Crash' (what a gawd-awful song!) and Davev M being a cheerleader band. Because I'd never heard of them until college, I never experienced that side of them. Pep rallies at Tufts were a far different thing and I barely remember any pep rallies in high school. If so, they involved Nirvana and Beastie Boys (which was perfectly fine).
I've only just got into Spotify, believe it or not. I'm late to everything. Murphy Gray (from humbugsupperclub: https://murphygray.substack.com/p/blogging-on-these-are-the-days-of) made a cool playlist and I'm inspired to make one too. I'll try to put together a Boston playlist this weekend :)
Great story, Daniel, and I look forward to the next part! The Magyar surname rankled me because my Hungarian great grandfather was named Hollander, so I had a hard time proving we are Hungarian and not Dutch (well 1/8 Hungarian). Like you, I have a mixture of backgrounds and passports—although I am Accidentally Austrian, I am a Portuguese citizen yet I speak no Portuguese. If you stay in Austria or not, I hope you enjoyed your time here at least a little bit. You didn’t go down anything too political, but at the risk of offending everyone, I think giant countries like the USA and Russia are kind of meaningless because the people don’t have things in common with each other and the countries function like some kind of giant money-making and military empire. Whereas smaller countries tend to have a lot clearer identities.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. The next part will be me berating myself for my appalling language skills but I've made it this far in life in decent shape and living in Vienna, I hardly need to learn German. Looks like I'll be staying here for the foreseeable future, I doubt we'll be returning to Ukraine anytime soon, especially because my daughter is doing well here and has started school and all that.
I hear what you're saying re: USA and Russia. I didn't get too political in this post (unlike my previous ones) but in either part 3 or 4 I will be - I'm going to attempt to explain a few lesser known historical things about the US that sort of explain the way it is. (I don't think that sentence is very clear or makes much sense, you'll see what I mean!)
Ah, the great question of identity... I've given a lot of thought to this, and to what 'belonging' really means (and I've written about it too, of course!) My kids love to list all the countries they're 'from'. And you're absolutely right, a British passport is nigh on useless in the EU now in terms of right to work/live without additional papers ... oh, for those sweet pre-Brexit years! I should apply for my Irish passport too, but I know the paper trail is going to be a headache! At least I have 'permanent residency' in Greece (although my ID card says valid till 2031, which doesn't feel that permanent...)
If I may ask, are you British? (or rather, English or...?) I love knowing more about people's backgrounds - I forgot to add a question at the end for people to share their stories, I often forget about that (oops).
Honestly, the Irish passport application wasn't too onerous, apparently it's among the easiest in Europe. I had trouble with my first application because the rules are unclear (I was actually in Ireland last October and so had my witness form signed by the local police and I posted everything in Dublin, but the witness has to be in the country you reside in, so had to send it all in again).
Haha I bet ANYTHING would feel easier than wading through Greek bureaucracy! I'm actually British (English, Irish grandma, Scottish further back ... No Welsh, but I lived there for 5 years, so diolch yn fawr for the memories 😉), and my 'real' surname (not the one I stole from my Greek husband!) was Keeves, which is of Scandinavian origin. I've never actually been there, but the DNA says Norse and Danish ... I like to think, way back when, my ancestors were vikingr, but that's speculation!
It’s complicated isn’t it ! Very jealous of your EU passports. I’m also from an Italian background (great grandfather) from Naples (I also have an Italian surname) but I don’t feel very Italian at all. When we left the EU my niece and nephew found out we can all get Italian passports but something happened , I can’t remember what , maybe some discrepancy around Giuseppe having 2 birthday dates ? Or did I make that up 🤷🏻♀️ My kids are dual heritage, Chinese and don’t like to identify as British.
BTW I also went to Westminster university, from 1997 -1999 the Regents Street Campus. Thanks for the thought provoking post 😊
Wow, I had no idea you were from an Italian background - Frazzledate doesn't strike me as very Italian, but maybe it's pronounced like 'Fratz-z-lay-dahtay'? 🤣
Interesting re: your kids - is there a story as to why they don't like to identify as British? I'm fascinated by stories like this and would love to hear more (if it's not too personal - perhaps in a future post?).
I was at Westminster in 1996, same campus! I lived near Victoria Station, I think Eaton House or something like that (halls of residence).
Hope you're not going to report me to Sig Ep for spilling the beans on Eat it Drink it Wear it. By now the statute of limitations has passed and we can share all, right?
Identity is such a fascinating thing. How much is in our blood, how much in our minds? Our kids have German and US passports. My wife managed to get dual citizenship just before we made the move. Now I’m the only one with just one passport. I’ll always feel American, but I’m thinking I’d also like to get dual citizenship at some point. We’ll see.
Excellent post!
Thanks Lee, much appreciated. There's gotta be a story with your surname, right?
You should be good to go in Germany since you're married to a German. My American friends have lived in Germany for over 10 years now and they're still struggling with the language requirements but as long as they're employed and sponsored, they're fine.
Daniel I’m thinking I might be your only reader that knows the Tufts mascot (Go Jumbos!). Also, my last name is German but me and my sisters (and our dad who we got the name from) have all done dna tests that show we are zero percent German. So weird.
That's funny/weird re: the dna. My father did a test last year and it turns out he has - which means I have - tiny bits of Arab and east African dna! (I forgot to mention that in my post)
Go Jumbos indeed! (but I'm afraid to report that a few of my college friends do subscribe - in fact, the Bado who also commented on this post was my freshman year roommate!
What was your mascot?
Arab & African? Cool! We were the Bombers 😄
I had to look that up - Ithaca, am I right?
You got it!
Wowee, you have such a interesting story. I knew it was interesting, but I didn't know it took this many twists and turns. Are you drawn to stories and novels about identity? Just curious...
Thank you! I might have a few more twists and turns to share, don't worry.
I've read Identity by Milan Kundera, that comes to mind first, but otherwise...my mind is blank. What are some stories on identity? I've probably read a few without even realising it.
More twists and turns?! I dunno eh, your life is sounding pretty generic to me (or whatever it was that person said in that Note 😂)
You made me think more about my question with your question 🙃 I think I was thinking about identity as something present in a novel (perhaps via the author), versus directly addressed as a theme maybe? Like post-colonial literature, post-modern literature. Also with multilingual writers and their writerly identities when they write in multiple languages. I dunno, I was thinking about how identity as a topic has always been something that’s interested me and I’ve been drawn to, but my life hasn’t been even 10% as transnational as yours. So I was wondering if maybe if it is something you live, you don’t feel so much of a need to read about it. Or the opposite, it helps you makes sense of things.
Friday ramblings :-)
Interesting ramblings, here are my late afternoon Saturday...musings:
I get what you mean now - the Jhumpa Lahiri book written in Italian immediately comes to mind, I think the identity and language thing plays a huge role there (I haven't read it). One of my favourite authors, VS Naipaul very much has identity as a lingering presence in his books, with his Indian background, upbringing in Trinidad & Tobago and then move to the UK all featuring in his works (A Bend in the River and The Enigma of Arrival in particular). I'm still missing a few, and certainly there are Ukrainian works here that are relevant. Kundera also grappled with this in his life and books.
I fear my ramblings are incoherent. It's been a long day of editing!
Musings 😂
Exactly re. all everything you said.
Also re. the editing. I saw an event about serialising on Substack. I’ll DM you the link…
I have recently acquired an Irish passport, too. This feels especially weird since I’ve never been there. I plan to go this fall.
Interesting. I've heard of others having similar experiences - a friend of mine with Italy, for example. You'll have a chance to explore your roots then!
Ughhhhhhh!!! The Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveller - I fucking HATED them 😖 I also had a distinct distaste for The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and The Bare Naked Ladies. I attended high school in Georgia and all of the above were aaaaalllll the rage there ("All the Rage Back Home" is an Interpol song - just came to me as I wrote that 😅)
But anyway, I was part of a small elite crowd that preferred bands from across the pond 😌
Wasn't Dave Matthews South African?! His/their (was it a band or is Dave like Florence in Florence and the Machine where Florence steals everyone's thunder and no one really gives a shit about "the Machine") music makes me cringe to this day...
I'm a little triggered that's why I'm all over the place... Still really enjoyed the post though👍😁
Sorry! Didn't mean to trigger you, yikes. Those are some painful music memories you have.
You said it better than I could re: Dave M and Blues Traveller. There were some other terrible bands that tortured me but at least being in Boston meant some decent local bands (I loved Belly and Tanya Donnelly, for example) plus one of the massive silver linings, as I already boasted to you I think in the comments of Faith's post, was getting to see my favourite British bands in smaller venues.
I'm with you on Barenaked Ladies, but with the Bosstones, that's kind of funny - they're from Boston, of course. But in high school in England a friend of mine was really into them and I swear, not a single soul in our school knew of them and I listened to their album and liked it. I think it was the novelty factor and I probably listened to Someday I Suppose on repeat my senior year. Please, I beg you, don't unsubscribe! 😭😂
I love Interpol, btw. And plenty of other American bands - Smashing Pumpkins, Postal Service, Rilo Kiley come to mind.
No worries, I have no intention of unsubscribing 😂 Reading 'Dave Matthews Band' just immediately took me back to my 9th grade Economics class where I was surrounded by cheerleaders in uniform on pep rally days, passing notes written with glittery ink pens to each other while humming the melody to that horrid Song "Crash" 🙈 That was a cheerleader band for sure and I was no cheerleader 🙄 But that's my past trauma and you and your post carry no blame 😅
I haven't heard of any of those Boston artists, but will see if I can find something as I'm curious now. I still envy you for the opportunity to see some of the pioneers of britpop in small venues 😊
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were an acquired taste, I think 😂
Interpol is definitely one of my favourite bands! I do love a lot of American bands, despite some bias due to being an Anglophile 😉
Believe me, I suffered through a lot of bad music during my university years. I had one too many nights of 'chilling' with people (often in the fraternity - haha, serves me right!) listening to Phish, Dave Matthews, etc and it was like torture. 'Hey guys, a bit of Radiohead?' Not a chance...😭
I wrote music reviews for The Tufts Daily and could never resist a dig at Dave Matthews and others and would often get letters written in (and a few prank calls!) bitching about me and my bitching about this terrible music! 😂
Interesting what you say about 'Crash' (what a gawd-awful song!) and Davev M being a cheerleader band. Because I'd never heard of them until college, I never experienced that side of them. Pep rallies at Tufts were a far different thing and I barely remember any pep rallies in high school. If so, they involved Nirvana and Beastie Boys (which was perfectly fine).
I've only just got into Spotify, believe it or not. I'm late to everything. Murphy Gray (from humbugsupperclub: https://murphygray.substack.com/p/blogging-on-these-are-the-days-of) made a cool playlist and I'm inspired to make one too. I'll try to put together a Boston playlist this weekend :)
This is hers (not sure if you can link to it like this - did I mention I'm new to Spotify?): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7EoBUQNFR31Fm11sxAzYBf
You're not the only newbie, I still listen to my music over the YouTube Music App most of the time 😂
Pep rallies with Nirvana and The Beastie Boys as a backdrop?! I'm jealous 😌
Great story, Daniel, and I look forward to the next part! The Magyar surname rankled me because my Hungarian great grandfather was named Hollander, so I had a hard time proving we are Hungarian and not Dutch (well 1/8 Hungarian). Like you, I have a mixture of backgrounds and passports—although I am Accidentally Austrian, I am a Portuguese citizen yet I speak no Portuguese. If you stay in Austria or not, I hope you enjoyed your time here at least a little bit. You didn’t go down anything too political, but at the risk of offending everyone, I think giant countries like the USA and Russia are kind of meaningless because the people don’t have things in common with each other and the countries function like some kind of giant money-making and military empire. Whereas smaller countries tend to have a lot clearer identities.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. The next part will be me berating myself for my appalling language skills but I've made it this far in life in decent shape and living in Vienna, I hardly need to learn German. Looks like I'll be staying here for the foreseeable future, I doubt we'll be returning to Ukraine anytime soon, especially because my daughter is doing well here and has started school and all that.
I hear what you're saying re: USA and Russia. I didn't get too political in this post (unlike my previous ones) but in either part 3 or 4 I will be - I'm going to attempt to explain a few lesser known historical things about the US that sort of explain the way it is. (I don't think that sentence is very clear or makes much sense, you'll see what I mean!)
Ah, the great question of identity... I've given a lot of thought to this, and to what 'belonging' really means (and I've written about it too, of course!) My kids love to list all the countries they're 'from'. And you're absolutely right, a British passport is nigh on useless in the EU now in terms of right to work/live without additional papers ... oh, for those sweet pre-Brexit years! I should apply for my Irish passport too, but I know the paper trail is going to be a headache! At least I have 'permanent residency' in Greece (although my ID card says valid till 2031, which doesn't feel that permanent...)
If I may ask, are you British? (or rather, English or...?) I love knowing more about people's backgrounds - I forgot to add a question at the end for people to share their stories, I often forget about that (oops).
Honestly, the Irish passport application wasn't too onerous, apparently it's among the easiest in Europe. I had trouble with my first application because the rules are unclear (I was actually in Ireland last October and so had my witness form signed by the local police and I posted everything in Dublin, but the witness has to be in the country you reside in, so had to send it all in again).
Haha I bet ANYTHING would feel easier than wading through Greek bureaucracy! I'm actually British (English, Irish grandma, Scottish further back ... No Welsh, but I lived there for 5 years, so diolch yn fawr for the memories 😉), and my 'real' surname (not the one I stole from my Greek husband!) was Keeves, which is of Scandinavian origin. I've never actually been there, but the DNA says Norse and Danish ... I like to think, way back when, my ancestors were vikingr, but that's speculation!
Congratulations fellow Irish citizen. I will get back to you when I have had time to read this 😎
It’s complicated isn’t it ! Very jealous of your EU passports. I’m also from an Italian background (great grandfather) from Naples (I also have an Italian surname) but I don’t feel very Italian at all. When we left the EU my niece and nephew found out we can all get Italian passports but something happened , I can’t remember what , maybe some discrepancy around Giuseppe having 2 birthday dates ? Or did I make that up 🤷🏻♀️ My kids are dual heritage, Chinese and don’t like to identify as British.
BTW I also went to Westminster university, from 1997 -1999 the Regents Street Campus. Thanks for the thought provoking post 😊
Wow, I had no idea you were from an Italian background - Frazzledate doesn't strike me as very Italian, but maybe it's pronounced like 'Fratz-z-lay-dahtay'? 🤣
Interesting re: your kids - is there a story as to why they don't like to identify as British? I'm fascinated by stories like this and would love to hear more (if it's not too personal - perhaps in a future post?).
I was at Westminster in 1996, same campus! I lived near Victoria Station, I think Eaton House or something like that (halls of residence).
🤣🤣🤣🤣 I don’t have to spell out the obvious that is not my real name do I ? 🤦🏻♀️🤣🤣🤣 I was once asked on here where it’s from
I always get told I look Italian ! Re the kids , I think they just think it’s cooler to be Chinese 😃 no great story there 😂
I'd be curious to know if any of our Welsh ancestors knew each other. Maybe they were roommates or half-brothers.
Wow, you read my nonsense!
Hope you're not going to report me to Sig Ep for spilling the beans on Eat it Drink it Wear it. By now the statute of limitations has passed and we can share all, right?
I enjoyed this. I am envious of your EU status. Love ya bro. 👊
That’s right boyo
What’s right?
Raasaaaaaaay