After my life in England and France, I found that not only was I an American at heart, but I was also a bit English and a bit French. After 20 years of owning a vacation home in France and spending time there every one of those years, I am even more so and feel my life is enriched by this. But in my 20’s, it was a distraction and in many ways a burden since I did not feel at home in any country. In England I was not English. In the US, I was not fully an American. In France(especially since my French was and is a sacrilege to that language of the poets) not French. I did not feel I belonged anywhere and did not have the network of friends or community that most of my classmates had leading back to their family, town and previous schooling. Did others of you have any level of this same experience and if so, did you find in the end that it helped you grow or inhibited that growth? Was this limited to personal relationships or did it affect professional pursuits as well? Did it influence your choice of professions? Spur you to choose a mate from another culture?
Peter D'Aprix '64-'66
David Dick:
ReplyDeleteJuly 26, 2006 at 12:21 pm
Congratulations on setting up a blog for us, Peter. I hope it will be successful in getting more of us back together. I’ll look forward to hearing from some of those folks in my distant memory and read their comments on living in Paris for a special year or two.
I recently ordered a dvd called “Brats: Our Journey Home.” It’s a documentary about the idea of growing up in a military family but I suspect anyone who grew up moving around all the time can relate to the film. It is narrated by Kris Kristopheron, the singer/songwriter, whose father was a General in one of the services. It’s available through http://www.bratsourjourneyhome.com for $34.95.
It starts out with a series of military brats talking about their lifelong problem of answering the simple question “Where are you from?” It pays special attention to those of us who also spent time overseas. I did three years of elementary school in Germany and graduated from high school in Ankara, Turkey. After a year in Turkey, I went on to Paris for my first year of college. I still have a problem with the “where are you from” question. I usually tell them I grew up in the military and we moved around a lot. Most folks can’t relate to that and will go on to insist I tell them where I’m from. About then, I’ll tell them I was born in Oklahoma, left there when I was nine months old and graduated from high school in Turkey. At that point, their eyes usually cloud over and they change the subject. I’m sure we all know the feeling.
OK, let’s see if this blog works. This will be its first test. I’m retired now in California, where it’s 11 a.m. and I just got up. Those of you still working for a living
have my sympathies. I am only on my second cup of coffee, watching CNN and Court TV for my daily dose of hard news and the latest in crime. I’ll be back later to talk about some of your other subjects.
Again, thanks for the blog and good luck. If we all send the url to the few we’ve stayed in touch, I’ll bet we can get good participation.
David Dick '64-'65
Glenda Johnson Cooper:
ReplyDeleteJuly 26, 2006 at 4:38 pm
Like David, I am a military child/brat, so this question can’t be separated from that experience. I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere. When I left Europe the summer of 1965, I remember dreading going back to the States because Europe had become my home and I wasn’t familiar with American culture anymore. Living in Paris was a marvelous experience and one that left a lasting impact on me for the friends, the culture, the travel, the teachers, and the freedom. I think we grew up faster, matured faster than our conterparts in the States who were busy with fraternities and TV. More later. I’d love to hear from Chip, but we haven’t been able to find him. Too bad we didn’t have a yearbook. I’m having trouble placing names without pictures. David doesn’t seem to have that problem, but I moved every year from the 7th to 12th grade. I tend to lose memories without the pictures. gjc '64-'65
Phil Strub:
ReplyDeleteAugust 28, 2006 at 11:54 am
Well, growing up, even while attending a predominantly “civilian” high school in Sacramento, enough of my peers were in the same boat, routinely moving each time a military parent was transferred, that I don’t ever remember feeling particularly out of place. I must even have developed some affinity for the lifestyle, because when we left For Germany in the summer before my senior year, I looked forward to it, notwithstanding our destination of Bitburg, a name that did not encourage optimism. No, my real Ice Age of transition came immediately after that eventful year in Paris, when I transferred to a school in St. Louis and noticed how many of my classmates were in Olympic competion for smug provincialism. So I necessarily responded to questions about my freshman year education not by name, but by the inoffensive description “a small, little known junior college.” Now that retirement is something I am – unbelievably – actually considering seriously, I think back to those St. Louis days, and wonder where it is that I can enjoy the same sort of cameraderie that I recall of Paris? San Francisco? New York? Bayonne? (No disrespect to Bayonne!)
Phil Strub '64-'65
David Dick:
ReplyDeleteOctober 1, 2006 at 5:49 am
Hey, Phil. Nice to hear some of your thoughts. It’s been a while, huh?
We’ve probably discussed Bitburg before but I don’t remember it. I was there, too. A couple years in elementary school that are still firmly wedged in my mind. That was back in the early 50s for me. My most special memories of that place involved exploring the woods for memories of WWII. We found lots of stuff — rusted guns, helmets, foxholes, even some unexploded things. For a kid, that was lotsa fun. I’m glad I didn’t kill myself digging up that stuff.
My father was a wing commander at Bitburg for a couple years. I think it was the pinnacle of his AF career. He claims credit for leveling out the runway and using the dirt to build a football field. Sometime before he died, there was a big reunion of the 39th — fighter squadron? — and he went back there. They gave him the game ball after that. Home team won 39 to something, very memorable. It was a highlight of his life, before he died around 1990. I have vived memories of Bitburg and, as I said, I’m sure we discussed it way back then.
But I didn’t know you did Sacramento, too. I live there now. Where did you go to school here? I like the place but I’ve lived in some more awful places. I’m not sure I could recommend a more friendly play. Everywhere is cold now. Nothing will replace Paris. It’s too late. Be glad we enjoyed it. If you think St. Louis was provencial, you should have visited Ohio State and Columbus. Thanks for hosting me for a brief St. Louis visit. It was so much better. It only gets worse from there.
Retirement is wonderful. I recommend it. I bailed out in 1996. And I love it. I’m scraping by. From what I’ve heard, you’ve had a fascinating career.
David Dick '64-'65