Home is Where the Heart Is, or Where Your Shoes Are?

When people ask me where I'm from I never really know how to answer. Growing up in New Jersey I just assumed that people meant what my ethnicity was, since it was so diverse and I look pretty ambiguous. But when people asked me where I was from while I was living in New York I always said New Jersey, since you're pretty much either from New Jersey or Long Island if you live in New York City. But when I moved to California it started to get a little dicey. My first intuition was to say I'm from New York, because that's where I lived the previous 7 years. But since my parents are still in New Jersey, and that's what I still use as my permanent address, is that where I'm from? Because I haven't lived in NJ since 2001. If people still look confused then I say my parents are from India, because I guess I need to clarify that I'm not Mexican.

Coming to Hong Kong completely messed me up. Now my first intuition is to say I'm from California, since that's where I'm studying. But I only lived in Cali for a year so far, so is that really where I'm from? I mean, if you really want to dig deep, I'm actually from Waterloo, Iowa, since that's where I was born. But I have no connection to Iowa since I left when I was 2. So I've been switching between New Jersey, New York, and California while in Hong Kong, whatever state I feel closest to that day. One of my professors is convinced that I'm a Buddhist straight from India, since I'm the only Indian in the class. I'm also the only American in the class, but he chooses to look past that since I'm brown.

I recently visited Singapore and Malaysia, and this time when people asked me where I was from I got all flustered. My first response was Hong Kong, because that's where I flew in from. But when they looked confused since I clearly don't have a Hong Kongese accent, I said California. If they still looked confused then I would say my parents are from India, and then the strange look on their face would usually disappear. Singapore and Malaysia are probably the most diverse countries I've ever been to, with Indian, Chinese, Arab, and Malay people making up the majority. And since I look Indian, but could also pass for Malay, or even half Indian and half Chinese, I confused the hell out of people when I said I was from Hong Kong with an American accent.

If you really want to know, I was born in Iowa, grew up in New Jersey, studied and worked in New York City, am doing my MBA in California, and am currently an exchange student in Hong Kong. And my ethnicity is Indian. There. But to simplify things, I'll just say I'm from California. Because that's where most of my shoes are, currently in the trunk of my car.