Nicola Wendt-Lucas

Spatial Story

“Where are you from?” This is often one of the first questions one gets when meeting a new person – may it be at a party, the coffee machine at the new office or the passport control when crossing a border. “Germany” is my simple, one-worded answer. Yet, the simplicity of this reply sometimes makes me feel uncomfortable. I do hold a German passport; I was born there and so were my parents. I prefer being at the airport hours in advance, love bread, sauerkraut and Fischbrötchen and Christmas time without a Christmas market or wishing someone a happy birthday in advance feels like criminal offenses to me.

What the answer does not reveal, however, are the numerous pieces that have equally become a part of me. These pieces include habits, memories, quirks and even one or two skills that I picked up along the way while studying, working and living in different parts of the world. Like it is impossible to unlearn a language once you have spent years on grammar books, subtitled movies and reading-comprehension exercises, it is also impossible to erase these imprints of lived experiences from places other than the one printed in golden letters on your passport.

Today, the smell of cardamom and cinnamon signals happiness to my brain, I have learned to make decent vegan scones, praise my dog with “bon chien” and like to put chocolate sprinkles on my toast in the morning (and manage for them to stay on the toast). Of course, I am far from alone with these small complexities that we all carry with us. Depending on the person, the context, they can be both a blessing or a curse, obvious or hidden, come with obligations and/or rights, privilege or disadvantage.

As a social scientist I have learned to embrace these complexities that make us human and that form our societies. I am glad that my spatial story brought me to Nordregio, where I will be able to pick up some new habits, memories, quirks and skills while further exploring the complexities that follow in the wake of the digital transition in the Nordic region and beyond.