Where are you from?

"Where are you from?"

I think this question is normal for the immigrants in Britain, whose look and whose English accent are different from natives. I have worked across the England, from London, Cambridge area, Norfolk, mid land to Yorkshire and Dorset. In London, most people don't care or don't have time to ask that question in first instance. But I was normally introduced with it especially in small towns where I also experienced a couple of people would stare at me as an alien in the town centre.

Ok, what I am trying to say is that I am a British citizen. I am a British tax payer. My pay slip shows PAYE (Pay as you earn) is over £1000 every month. I enjoy British breakfast. Fish and chip is my fav as well. (one time, someone from Norfolk asked me what kind of food I eat). I can drive in most parts of London very well while I have no more confidence to drive in Yangon. England has been my home.

But that question "Where are you from?" desperately reminds me my old country Burma (Myanmar) . In fact, I was raised in Burma. I was educated in Burma. I learnt medicine from Burmese patients in my early career as a doctor. What have I returned to them? What have I paid back to my old country? Are my old teachers still alive. Have I helped the world's poorest elderly from my home town in Burma? These are questions which come to my mind once someone asks me "Where are you from?".