Why do I have to call ONLY ONE country "home?"

I am Brazilian, from Brazilian parents. I have however lived all over the world, due to the nomadic nature of my father's work.

Having spent only five years of my life in what is supposed to be my home country, I wonder whether my lifestyle has in any way compromised my sense of national identity.

I am sure I speak on the behalf of many when I say that it is both a blessing and a curse to bee able to live all over the world and experience every culture. You're capable of analysing each country from an unbiased perspective, while at the same time absorbing bits and pieces of their culture.

I happen to be in an interesting situation at the moment, living in London whilst having spent the last 6 of my 25 years in Australia. The time I spent in Australia made me inevitably become a little bit Australian, some of my Aussie friends indeed argue that I am (and sound) as Australian as any other Australian they know. As a matter of fact, most of my best friends live in that country.

However I often wonder when people ask me "What country do you call home?" Does there have to be an answer, I say. Can't I have them both. Who is anybody to tell me where I am from? I didn't have a choice in the matter, did I.

Can I not be a true citizen of the world, keen to embrace any culture that I wish at anytime I want? Shouldn't everybody have that right if they wish to have it?

Of course, there will always be those Brazilians who will acuse me of selling out and there will be Aussies who will call me a try hard. But are those people really worth wasting my breath (or typing) on?

I have decided to free myself from the shackles of country and culture. I am above the CONCEPT of "country". I am a man of the world, and I encourage everyone caught in a similar tug-of-war to come forth. Don't be afraid of challenging those obsolete ideas. The future is US.

"...Every being in the universe is tied to his birthplace by tiny invisible force tendrils composed of little quantum packets of guilt. If you travel far from your birthplace, these tendrils get stretched and distorted. This compares with an ancient Acturan proverb, "However fast the body travels, the soul travels at the speed of an Acturan Mega-Camel." This would mean, in these days of hyperspace and improbability drive, that most peoples' souls are wandering unprotected in deep space in a state of of some confusion and this would account for a lot of things."

"The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" Radio Programme, Episode 10

It's hard to disassociate yourself from the place you 'came from'. After all, we all want a bit of stability in our lives -- that's why we seldom try the Wasabi, even though everyone says we should. We don't know if we'll be able to handle it.

Many people in the world move many times throughout their lives, but it is a select few who actually leave a country to be in another. Moving from city to city or state/province/district to state/province/district isn't quote the same, in all fairness -- when you change national bounderies you become more acutely aware of your roots when you come free of them. The change in language, climate, accent or people does something, make a part of your mind start working overtime.

I've lived in United States for more than half my young life now, and I'm 'at home' here, but this isn't home. Perhaps it's simply a desire to be different and define myself, but I still think of my soul as being Canadian.

I'm unwilling to give up that part of me because, for me, this defines my heritage. Many people are able to move past this and become a 'citizen of the world', but I'm not comfortable enough with my identity to do that.

It's not like I go back often, and my accent is slowly fading (not without a fight, though), but It is acomfort knowing that, through anything, I know where I 'came from'. For me, it drives on the saying "To know where you're going, you must first know where you've been".