5 ms·

My great-grandfather was traveling to USA for work back in 1912. He came back after 6 years and settled in his village becoming its head. Almost everybody in my

My great-grandfather was traveling to USA for work back in 1912. He came back after 6 years and settled in his village becoming its head. Almost everybody in my family knows this story and it's indeed fascinating, because at that time people rarely moved anywhere. And now we are fascinated by a man living in the same place all his life. It's funny how the concept of norm changes in 100 years.

aeternum 5y ago
A man living in the same place all his life has no basis for comparison. I would be more convinced that your great-grandfather's village is something special since he experienced elsewhere yet still returned.
- sverhagen 5y ago
  Don't most migrants have nostalgia for their country of origin? Where their roots are, no matter how much of a globetrotter they were. Sure, if the country you grew up in a beleaguered place, you wouldn't think of going back. But I've heard so many migrants say things along lines of: "oh, man, once I'm retired... <fill in blanks>". "Disclaimer": migrant myself. Not necessarily my dream to go back "once retired". But my wife yearns for her motherland. And so do many.
  - raverbashing 5y ago
    Yeah, it's funny how that feeling happens even if you're not coming from an "idyllic village" Though not necessarily yearning, but more like "yes this was part of my history and you have a feeling of nostalgia"
  - tshanmu 5y ago
    What I found that is as migrants we have an idealistic nostalgic image of the homeland in our minds but in reality our homeland also changes quite fast so much that one is left with disappointment mostly....
  - znpy 5y ago
    I moved within my country but besides sharing the same language, it mostly feels like living in a different country (for good). Sometimes I feel a bit of nostalgia, but along life I've learned that you tend to remember the good things and the bad things get opaqued by time. So when I feel a bit nostalgic I have learned to get a bit rational and think back to when I was there, and to the times I've come back to visit parent and relatives (holidays etc). I then rationally remember all the reasons why I left and all the reasons why I decided to stay where I am. And nostalgia vanishes, almost immediately.
  - jawns 5y ago
    My father grew up on a rural Irish farm, then came to America as a young adult. At age 78, he hatched a plan to move back to his family home, where his brother and a nephew still lived. After three years there, he came back to the US, complaining that it wasn't the Ireland he remembered.
- DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
  > has no basis for comparison I have lived in the same place only once in my life for 7 years and it was an exception because we raised kids, even then we ripped our kids out of school to move them to a different country just for the sake of "experience" and so we wouldn't get bored and comfy (as parents). In my whole life (close to 50 now) my average years in 1 place was 3-5. I could numerate _all_ the countries I lived in but it would look ridiculous and make boring reading (but it includes some crazy places one seriously wonders what could bring one from A->B). Only last night I sat on the terrace of my an old friend from childhood. We downed a few Guinness (imported and considered a novelty where we are). It led us to exactly this conversation because he doesn't like anything "fancy" or imported but makes an exception knowing I love it and knowing I'd come he bought it. He is the exact opposite of me and I've always looked up to him because he got the roots (and everything that comes with it discussed here) that I lack. I'd love to have roots and in my most romantic day-dreams wonder what it would be like having never left and still among the same people. (and with my siblings not spread around the globe but in the same town) He has also often wondered what it would be like living like me, hearing about adventures from Asia, sometimes war zones, or more recently South Eastern Europe, always "trying to make it in a different way", sometimes thriving but quite often literally just surviving. Despite knowing another quite well, we're only able to look at each others reality in a romanticized / idealized way because we have no idea. "The grass is always greener ...." most importantly I totally lack the basis for comparison to _his_ life as much as he does to mine, because I've been wired and set up to be me very early in my childhood (and so are my kids who also had no choice but had to endure going through the experience of getting ripped out of school and moved to a new place every couple of years). I think we are creatures of habit. And braking them is very hard regardless if the habit is to never make any changes, or must shake things up every few years to avoid going nuts.
  - jonnycomputer 5y ago
    For me this has always been the struggle. Only one life to live, so many lives that could have been lived.
  - mleonhard 5y ago
    My parents moved me between countries throughout my childhood. It resulted in lower quality of life, for my whole life. I'm 40 now. Trading your children's good childhood for your own adventure is a selfish choice. I urge you to move to a good place for your children and stay there until they are ready to live independently.
- dinamic 5y ago
  In fact, it wasn't. Just a regular distant village in Carpathians. I guess the main motivation to return was that his wife and kids stayed there.
- 74d-fe6-2c6 5y ago
  This is exactly the way of thinking lying at the base of unhappiness. Thinking you have to see everything to make a choice. Spoiler alert: with that attitude you'll never make a choice and always search.
  - aeternum 5y ago
    I prefer the mathematical option: spend about 1/3 of your total available time exploring and then 2/3rds at the place that made you happiest. Statistically it's pretty much the best you can do.
- elgfare 5y ago
  There is no need for comparison when there is no need for improvement. He is content, he doesn't need anything else. I wish I was that content.
sateesh 5y ago
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. -- T.S.Eliot
- dfboyd 5y ago
  Die Ball ist rund. Der Spiel dauert 90 Minuten. So ist alles klar. Alles anderes ist Theorie. -- Sepp Herberger
  - 74d-fe6-2c6 5y ago
    Those are the facts ... here comes the manual: Das Runde muss ins Eckige.
    - pixxel 5y ago
      DeepL translation: The round must go into the square https://www.deepl.com/en/translator#de/en/Das%20Runde%20muss%20ins%20Eckige https://www.deepl.com/en/translator#de/en/Das%20Runde%20muss...
  - pixxel 5y ago
    DeepL translation: The ball is round. The game lasts 90 minutes. So everything is clear. Everything else is theory. https://www.deepl.com/en/translator#de/en/Die%20Ball%20ist%20rund.%20Der%20Spiel%20dauert%2090%20Minuten.%20So%20ist%20alles%20klar.%20Alles%20anderes%20ist%20Theorie https://www.deepl.com/en/translator#de/en/Die%20Ball%20ist%2....
lostlogin 5y ago
> now we are fascinated by a man living in the same place all his life. It's funny how the concept of norm changes in 100 years. And then most people spent a year at home. Strange times.

aeternum 5y ago

A man living in the same place all his life has no basis for comparison. I would be more convinced that your great-grandfather's village is something special since he experienced elsewhere yet still returned.

sverhagen 5y ago
Don't most migrants have nostalgia for their country of origin? Where their roots are, no matter how much of a globetrotter they were. Sure, if the country you grew up in a beleaguered place, you wouldn't think of going back. But I've heard so many migrants say things along lines of: "oh, man, once I'm retired... <fill in blanks>". "Disclaimer": migrant myself. Not necessarily my dream to go back "once retired". But my wife yearns for her motherland. And so do many.
- raverbashing 5y ago
  Yeah, it's funny how that feeling happens even if you're not coming from an "idyllic village" Though not necessarily yearning, but more like "yes this was part of my history and you have a feeling of nostalgia"
- tshanmu 5y ago
  What I found that is as migrants we have an idealistic nostalgic image of the homeland in our minds but in reality our homeland also changes quite fast so much that one is left with disappointment mostly....
- znpy 5y ago
  I moved within my country but besides sharing the same language, it mostly feels like living in a different country (for good). Sometimes I feel a bit of nostalgia, but along life I've learned that you tend to remember the good things and the bad things get opaqued by time. So when I feel a bit nostalgic I have learned to get a bit rational and think back to when I was there, and to the times I've come back to visit parent and relatives (holidays etc). I then rationally remember all the reasons why I left and all the reasons why I decided to stay where I am. And nostalgia vanishes, almost immediately.
- jawns 5y ago
  My father grew up on a rural Irish farm, then came to America as a young adult. At age 78, he hatched a plan to move back to his family home, where his brother and a nephew still lived. After three years there, he came back to the US, complaining that it wasn't the Ireland he remembered.
DyslexicAtheist 5y ago
> has no basis for comparison I have lived in the same place only once in my life for 7 years and it was an exception because we raised kids, even then we ripped our kids out of school to move them to a different country just for the sake of "experience" and so we wouldn't get bored and comfy (as parents). In my whole life (close to 50 now) my average years in 1 place was 3-5. I could numerate _all_ the countries I lived in but it would look ridiculous and make boring reading (but it includes some crazy places one seriously wonders what could bring one from A->B). Only last night I sat on the terrace of my an old friend from childhood. We downed a few Guinness (imported and considered a novelty where we are). It led us to exactly this conversation because he doesn't like anything "fancy" or imported but makes an exception knowing I love it and knowing I'd come he bought it. He is the exact opposite of me and I've always looked up to him because he got the roots (and everything that comes with it discussed here) that I lack. I'd love to have roots and in my most romantic day-dreams wonder what it would be like having never left and still among the same people. (and with my siblings not spread around the globe but in the same town) He has also often wondered what it would be like living like me, hearing about adventures from Asia, sometimes war zones, or more recently South Eastern Europe, always "trying to make it in a different way", sometimes thriving but quite often literally just surviving. Despite knowing another quite well, we're only able to look at each others reality in a romanticized / idealized way because we have no idea. "The grass is always greener ...." most importantly I totally lack the basis for comparison to _his_ life as much as he does to mine, because I've been wired and set up to be me very early in my childhood (and so are my kids who also had no choice but had to endure going through the experience of getting ripped out of school and moved to a new place every couple of years). I think we are creatures of habit. And braking them is very hard regardless if the habit is to never make any changes, or must shake things up every few years to avoid going nuts.
- jonnycomputer 5y ago
  For me this has always been the struggle. Only one life to live, so many lives that could have been lived.
- mleonhard 5y ago
  My parents moved me between countries throughout my childhood. It resulted in lower quality of life, for my whole life. I'm 40 now. Trading your children's good childhood for your own adventure is a selfish choice. I urge you to move to a good place for your children and stay there until they are ready to live independently.
dinamic 5y ago
In fact, it wasn't. Just a regular distant village in Carpathians. I guess the main motivation to return was that his wife and kids stayed there.
74d-fe6-2c6 5y ago
This is exactly the way of thinking lying at the base of unhappiness. Thinking you have to see everything to make a choice. Spoiler alert: with that attitude you'll never make a choice and always search.
- aeternum 5y ago
  I prefer the mathematical option: spend about 1/3 of your total available time exploring and then 2/3rds at the place that made you happiest. Statistically it's pretty much the best you can do.
elgfare 5y ago
There is no need for comparison when there is no need for improvement. He is content, he doesn't need anything else. I wish I was that content.

sateesh 5y ago

We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. -- T.S.Eliot

dfboyd 5y ago
Die Ball ist rund. Der Spiel dauert 90 Minuten. So ist alles klar. Alles anderes ist Theorie. -- Sepp Herberger
- 74d-fe6-2c6 5y ago
  Those are the facts ... here comes the manual: Das Runde muss ins Eckige.
  - pixxel 5y ago
    DeepL translation: The round must go into the square https://www.deepl.com/en/translator#de/en/Das%20Runde%20muss%20ins%20Eckige https://www.deepl.com/en/translator#de/en/Das%20Runde%20muss...
- pixxel 5y ago
  DeepL translation: The ball is round. The game lasts 90 minutes. So everything is clear. Everything else is theory. https://www.deepl.com/en/translator#de/en/Die%20Ball%20ist%20rund.%20Der%20Spiel%20dauert%2090%20Minuten.%20So%20ist%20alles%20klar.%20Alles%20anderes%20ist%20Theorie https://www.deepl.com/en/translator#de/en/Die%20Ball%20ist%2....

lostlogin 5y ago

> now we are fascinated by a man living in the same place all his life. It's funny how the concept of norm changes in 100 years. And then most people spent a year at home. Strange times.