tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116970480938811901.post1869969730315245869..comments2023-05-26T06:15:41.128-05:00Comments on Julie Tries ...: Defining HomeJuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15814564551103003567noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116970480938811901.post-64608503118079125782009-01-17T10:45:00.000-06:002009-01-17T10:45:00.000-06:00I agree, Jason. Home is definitely much less about...I agree, Jason. Home is definitely much less about a physical place in this case and more about the feelings and memories that go along with it. <BR/><BR/>To an extent, I think it may be easier to feel like you fit in when you live in a city, because so many of the people around you are transplants too and you're less likely to be singled out as an outsider. At the same time, though, living in a city can be so much more impersonal that for someone who grew up in a very small town where you did know everyone, that would be an adjustment too. There's something to be said for going to the store and recognizing or knowing most of the people you see, of knowing with certainty almost every time you run errands around town you'll see someone you know. That's not always the case when you live in a city and you're one among so many. At the same time, in cities, there's more camaraderie precisely because you all originated from so many different places and come with your own stories or memories.<BR/><BR/>Your question about whether things change when you have kids is an interesting one I hadn't considered. I expect that it's easier to consider yourself "home" in a different place than you previously considered home when you have children because you are, as they say, putting roots down. I would say my mom still occasionally identifies herself as a Montana native, but from what I recall both of my parents (my father is from South Dakota) have lived in Wyoming long enough that for all practical purposes they are Wyomingites. That, again, may be a result of raising children there. And I suppose a lot of it is time.<BR/><BR/>Should I still be here in 20 years, I may think very differently about the matter. But we're young and in our 20s tend to be a bit at loose ends about who we are and where we're going anyway, so it's much easier to hold onto what we know and what is comfortable and safe when it comes to thinking of home.Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15814564551103003567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116970480938811901.post-51262947330764760732009-01-15T17:07:00.000-06:002009-01-15T17:07:00.000-06:00I know what you mean. When I go home (10 years aft...I know what you mean. When I go home (10 years after leaving) I don't know what's going on or what's new there. But here I still don't feel 100% home. I think it takes a long time to feel "home."Cara Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02180301553792942408noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116970480938811901.post-88365806409282126862009-01-14T17:59:00.000-06:002009-01-14T17:59:00.000-06:00House. Home. Birthplace. Residence. Domicile. Abod...House. Home. Birthplace. Residence. Domicile. Abode. Dwelling. Home town. Origin. Country. Homeland. <BR/><BR/>We have a lot of words that express variations of the same basic concepts. I say concepts because, as you point out, there isn't one single determining factor. If home is where I live, then my home is my apartment in Minneapolis. I was born in Eau Claire, WI (great French name, screws with the out of towners), but it was never my home, and would never think to say "Eau Claire" if asked where I am from, though if "birthplace" is specified (applications and such) I do. If home is where the heart is (to be trite), then I would have to say Chippewa. Then again, even that name is just convenient shorthand, since I barely remember living in the one house we had that was actually in Chippewa Falls. <BR/><BR/>I think you're right that "Home" for us tends to become this big, nebulous thing, bound up in residence/domicile (probably the most straightforward of the above), time, personal development, family, and memories. I still go "home" to see my parents, but they now live in a house (the fifth, and fourth on the same street) what I never lived in at all, and their last house the longest I lived there was the summer after freshman year at Drake. So for me "home" has become pretty much wholly detached from "house" but still has a connection to a physical location. <BR/><BR/>I sometimes wonder if Minneapolis will ever be "home" as opposed to just where I live. I think it is far easier to do with a larger city, but the thing is, growing up, Minnesotans were the bad guys. I don't think I'll ever much care for the Vikings. And it isn't really all that far, distance wise. Hell, if this was Illinois, I would tell everyone I was from here. We're such a big country that borders matter, oddly, both more and less. If you're a citizen of the United States, you can be a citizen of any state you choose, no application necessary. At the same time, we tend to identify with the states where we grew up. I wonder if having children changes that. One of your parents is from Montana, right? What is his/her perspective?<BR/><BR/>I ramble.Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08798245408062139607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6116970480938811901.post-34272622113871075612009-01-14T17:56:00.000-06:002009-01-14T17:56:00.000-06:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08798245408062139607noreply@blogger.com