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24 Jul 2011

Introduction and Explanation of the Title

The name of the blog needs explanation, I feel. Unless I explain it, it might sound like something completely blue-sky, such as Tingling Pink Fluffy Cows or Funny Little Prickly Paradise and Its Blurbs and other titles which are desperately trying to be creative but are completely missing any point they can possibly have.

Nowhere, in the Middle of Everything is a reference to my location, both geographically and socially.

If I consider my position on the planet I can safely say that I'm hidden in an obscure little corner. Yes, a globe can have obscure little corners. Thousands of years of civilization have taught us that much. I mean, from this angle, it appears that the busiest, and therefore, the most important, places on the globe are the Americas and Western Europe. Recently, Asia is starting to pop up more and more. Every other part of the world just exists and lies there to keep the Earth from shifting off its course. Most people living in the 'important' areas probably don't even know where such little countries are. And those who do, will associate the country with tiny elements they remember about it. What do you think of when you hear of Romania? If you're American you're likely to say: Dracula! Western Europeans will say: Ceaușescu! or orphanages! The Turkish will always mention Hagi, maybe Lucescu.* And I have to somehow hide the fact that none of these things or people really define me in any way. First of all, because this is not what Romania is all about, and secondly, because Romania is not really what I am all about. Because I'm not even Romanian. I'll expand on that some other time.
The geo-political fact of is that if you're in Romania, you're nowhere. And still, it is a curious corner of 'nowhere', because this place has got some outstanding features. If only there were somebody to make good use of it, this country could be a tourist's paradise. The combination of mountains, seaside, plains, rivers, lakes and you name it is such that you can find almost anything you're looking for. Also, the location of the country is such that it would normally be an ideal place to spend a night or a day (or a week) when travelling from, say, Western Europe to, say, Asia. If only people weren't afraid to get mugged/robbed/raped/sold or just simply disappointed by conditions here. Here, nowhere. In the middle of everything. Does that make sense?

And then there's me in the world, completely regardless of the country I'm stuck in. I am very young, I have a bachelor's degree (which means absolutely nothing, because everybody has one or several nowadays). I have absolutely nothing to brag about in any field. I am nowhere. And then again, the busy, quickly moving world of international writing and media buzzes under my fingertips as I'm typing this.  My other open windows are Facebook, Twitter and Suite101. Neither of these really exists without any of the others, neither would this blog exist without the people I met and the writing experience I got from all these places. And, I have to flatter myself with the thought, they wouldn't be the same without me either. So here I am, again: nowhere, in the middle of everything.

And I promise my future posts will be shorter. And will make more sense.

*No offense is meant by these presumptions. It is an exaggeration for the sake of example. I am perfectly aware that many people are likely to know more about Romania, or about Dracula for that matter.

2 comments:

  1. Found the blog post on Twitter. No matter where we come from people have stereotypes and cliches. Sure they can be annoying, but at least it beats total anonymity (think of Moldova). I'm guessing from your name that you're of Hungarian ethnicity. Am I right? I know an ethnic Hungarian born in Romania who came to Budapest as a child. I'm a Brit living in Budapest and I know they mourn the loss of Hungarians stranded on the wrong side of arbitrary borders.

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  2. Yes, you are right. Thank you for your comment and for reading my post. Yes, one thing we Hungarians are good at is mourning, crying, suffering. I think it's the only nation whose national anthem is not a song of glory/victory/praise, but more like a lamentation. But it is true, we are spread all across the globe and our numbers are diminishing by the minute.

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