Where I Come From
An article found here regarding the subject matter of a book by reporter Colin Woodard says "North America can be broken neatly into 11 separate nation-states, where dominant cultures explain our voting behaviors and attitudes toward everything from social issues to the role of government" and asks which of the 11 Amercation nations you come from.
I didn't really understand that much about America until I was 11. I was born here, and I knew it as "home" but I was only here for a few weeks during the summers. In history class in school I learned about the history of Africa. I couldn't name all of the states or their capitols. To be honest, I could name very few. We moved back to the States just before my 11th birthday, to D.C. and that's when I began to learn about my own country. While my dad would likely claim Greater Appalachia as where he comes from, as he and his family for many generations back was born in West Virginia (or the area that became West Virginia), I do not. I was born there, as he was, but left when I was four to live in Italy. I claim the Tidewater as where I am from. I live in the Deep South now, and have for over 20 years, so I claim both the Tidewater and the Deep South and am proud of both.