I am a citizen of the world. Born of a nation that would have seen me dead in a ditch. Kidnapped (in the nicest way) to Northern Europe where my mere presence was an embarrassment. Palmed off to an ally that accepted me like all refugees to that country, as requiring assimilation. And assimilate I did. You wouldn’t know me from a native Brit, but I’ve never really belonged there. Though my accent is pure London I am all too aware that it’s a borrowed tongue.
Recently, I had reason to think on this issue in a larger scale. What if you were a citizen of planet Earth, roaming worlds like some of us roam countries.
Language has no correlations to anything in your experience, so understanding the words doesn’t mean understanding the meaning or the intent.
Imagine culture shock when you’re not even the same species as your hosts. Gestures take on a whole new meaning when there’s more digits to express them.
Food and drink that may be incompatible. Bali Belly would look like a mind stomach complaint.
No embassies to run to , hardly any other travellers to ask advice. Like early explorers into untouched lands, you are alone.
And you, unable to obfuscate, the glaring fact that you do not belong.
Of course, if we can travel to these amazing worlds, so can residents of these worlds come here. Getting a better view on the scale of border control? Maybe you already met some of these visitors.
Did that Japanese lady who asked directions to the beach have gills? The gentleman in the all you can eat restaurant, was that double chins or double mouths?Was that a hooked-nose the guy in the bar was sporting actually a nose or was it a beak?
So, what sort of host are we being to our interplanetary visitors? And, maybe a more interesting question, what incompatibles are they bringing with them?
A Strange Life 