Scattered All Over the Earth

On a rainy day in Copenhagen, Knut sits in his apartment and watches TV. He pays so little attention that he does not even notice when the programs change, but he soon finds himself watching a panel featuring people from extinct countries. The first speaker is a woman from East Germany who speaks about the cultural shift that happened when East and West Germany reunified. She says that the East German culture and way of life completely disappeared. After her is a woman who reminds Knut of the heroine from an anime show he likes, who says she is from an island nation near China. She speaks a homemade language that combines vocabulary and grammar from multiple Scandinavian languages. She cultivated the language while she traveled from country to country, failing to find permanent residence. She came to Europe as a student but when her country disappeared, she could not return home. She now works at the Märchen Center, teaching folktales to immigrant students to help them assimilate.

Knut, a linguistics student unhappy with his research related to video games and language, calls the station and asks if he can meet this woman. They tell him to wait, but soon call back after the show ends saying that the woman,

Unlock all 50 pages of this Study Guide

Plus, gain access to 8,650+ more expert-written Study Guides.

Including features:

+ Mobile App

+ Printable PDF

+ Literary AI Tools

Unlock Full Library