Abstract

Notes of an Alien Son

The article presents the author's experiences. After having been in the United States for nearly thirty years, I am only an immigrant when people want me to talk about it. Paradoxically, it was a recent return to Romania, my native country, that caused me to re-evaluate my experience in the United States. Until that time, I considered myself a model American, drank Jim Beam, wore Converse hightops, quit smoking on tax day. When I returned to the United States, I reeled about for a few days in shock. Everything was so new, so carelessly abundant, so thoughtlessly shiny, so easily taken for granted. The little corner store with its wilted lettuce and spotted apples was a hundred times more substantial than the biggest bare shelf store in Romania.