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mr oCean's avatar

This has me imagining a cross-stitch depiction of a cottage with a cosy garden out front, and the text: home is where I can legally remain indefinitely.

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Peter Bone's avatar

Another very interesting piece, James and, being half-German and having spent a number of years in my twenties living there, one with which I can empathise. I’m never quite sure whether the sense of detachment I feel is due to my dual heritage, or whether it’s down to the fact that, growing up in the 60s I, like many others at the time was always wary of nationalism of any kind and therefore more inclined to think of myself as a ‘citizen of the world’ than of one country. We were brought up (and to some extent taught) by people with memories of world war and a determination never to let it happen again. We were also influenced by the ‘spirit of 68’ - protests against US war in Vietnam, the student movement, CND, etc. Sadly that spirit has all but disappeared for most, but not all of us.

That knowledge thing is interesting as well. I’ve often felt that the UK has an anti-intellect/knowledge/education bias, as encapsulated by Gove’s infamous comment that we’ve had enough of experts, whereas German culture has always held those things in much higher esteem.

But these are all things most of us learn to live with, sometimes less than comfortably, and ‘home’ becomes more of a best-fit for our lives than anywhere else.

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