When I’m asked “where are you from?” I never know how best to answer. The question is similar to “Where is home?” but it is not the same. Home is an emotional place, it’s where your heart is.
I spent my entire childhood in Geneva, Switzerland and most of my youth in Tehran, Iran. If I hesitate to answer, people usually follow it up with “what’s your hometown then?” That’s not easy either. Should I say,”Geneva”? After all, it’s where I was born and lived until I was sixteen; but I have no remaining links there. We left in 1965, and I’ve never been back. I don’t feel I’m from there .
When I was a teenager we moved to Iran where I finished school and went to university. I lived in Tehran for a mere ten years in total, but they were my most formative years. As an Iranian in Switzerland I was raised according to Persian culture and custom, and in a home where only Persian (Farsi) was spoken. My parents and forebears were all born and buried in Iran, and it’s also where my sister and other family members still live. I may have grown up in Europe, but it was always drummed into me that I am Iranian and that my “home” is Iran But I don’t feel I’m from there.
I managed to leave Iran after the Revolution and begin a new life in Scotland, and this is where I feel I now really belong. If asked “where are you from?” For a quick answer I’m often tempted to reply “I’m from Edinburgh”. Of course, considering my earlier life it’s laughably inaccurate, but I’m light-skinned with good English somI can get away with it. However, given the opportunity I’ll launch into an explanatory spiel during which the polite person who posed the query probably wishes they had never asked!
Ultimately, home is where your loved ones are, so for me it’s Edinburgh where I live with my husband. It’s also where we worked, raised our children, and where after forty years we still live today. At last I feel this is truly home.
