Previously, when people asked me where I'm from, I'd give them one of two immediate responses:
(a) I would cryptically inquire along the lines of "What exactly do you mean?/Where I was born or where I was raised?" As if I had some big secret to hide.
(b) "I was born in Beijing, China, but then I moved to Columbus, OH, and then I went to school in NYC for four years, and now I'm here! Tada!"
It took a city like Berlin to finally get me to condense it to the following lines:
(a) "I'm from Columbus, OH. They like football there. WHOOOOO!"
(I also supplant the above response with an description of Ohio's approximate geographic location in North America upon request. ^^v)
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Columbus is not really a small town per se, as it is the capital and the largest city in the state of Ohio. But among the people I have met here in Berlin, either they know exactly where it is or don't have an utter clue except maybe that it lies somewhere within the Canada-NYC-Mexico-California ring complex.
Is it in fact small? Relatively speaking, yes. Is it boring? Perhaps, but usually if you don't live there. Am I proud of where I come from? Why, yes, but it might take some time to explain why. Granted, I haven't always been filled with pride (e.g. when the state voted red...twice), and it can be more exciting to claim that I'm from a much bigger city.
But I gotta say, when everyone else comes from Beijing/Shanghai/New York/Chicago/Tokyo/Moscow/Paris/London, then coming from Columbus makes me feel a bit exotic!
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