"The 1994 World Cup brought football to the United States of America. And also me. Straight after university, I moved to Chicago, finally completing a three-generational odyssey. According to our family myth, my "great-grandfather the butcher" had originally intended to move to Chicago, the great "Hog Capital of the World," when he boarded a boat in Odessa and headed for the promised land at the turn of the twentieth century."
"When the plane landed at O'Hare Airport, I felt the urge to mark the weight of the moment and dropped to my knees dramatically on the tarmac, a move I had seen Pope John Paul II execute many times upon arrival in a foreign land. I was momentarily overcome by a surge of adrenaline but, unsure what to do next, quickly became self-conscious as the other passengers pushed their way impatiently around me with their carry-ons."
Roger Bennett, co-host of Men in Blazers, chronicles his arrival in the United States in 1994, coinciding with the World Cup tournament held in America. His move to Chicago completed a family odyssey spanning three generations. According to family lore, his great-grandfather intended to emigrate to Chicago from Odessa but mistakenly disembarked in Liverpool after seeing tall buildings he believed were New York City. Eighty years later, Bennett fulfilled the original family plan by relocating to Chicago. Upon landing at O'Hare Airport, he attempted a dramatic gesture mimicking Pope John Paul II's arrival ritual, kneeling on the tarmac before self-consciously rejoining other passengers.
Read at Fast Company
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