What is the meaning of 自分はいつからここにいるのか in English, and why is it phrased this way?


I translate this sentence literally as "from when did I(myself) be here?" and
I extrapolate that the speaker is implying "when/how did I come to find myself
here?" I feel pretty confident that this is generally what the speaker is
saying, I'm just confused why it would be written this way. For instance, why
{{JP:自分}} and not just {{JP:私}} or some other form of "I"? Why {{JP:から}} and
not just {{JP:に}}? Is this the way a native speaker would ask this question?
Or would something like {{JP:どうしてここにいるのか}} be a more natural semi-equivalent?




自分 is not an uncommon first-person pronoun. For example please see: [Use of
自分【じぶん】as a personal pronoun in direct
speech](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/979/5010)

いつから only means "from when", and it is clearly different from いつ ("when"), なぜ
("why") or どうやって ("how"). Do not "extrapolate", please. It's possible that
someone who understands "why" and "how" does not understand "from when". For
example, imagine you just woke up and found yourself lying on a hospital bed.
You clearly remember you were involved in a traffic accident, but you do not
know how long you have been unconscious. In this situation, you might ask
いつからここにいるのか, but certainly not どうしてここにいるのか.




自分 is not an uncommon first-person pronoun. For example please see: [Use of
自分【じぶん】as a personal pronoun in direct
speech](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/979/5010)

いつから only means "from when", and it is clearly different from いつ ("when"), なぜ
("why") or どうやって ("how"). Do not "extrapolate", please. It's possible that
someone who understands "why" and "how" does not understand "from when". For
example, imagine you just woke up and found yourself lying on a hospital bed.
You clearly remember you were involved in a traffic accident, but you do not
know how long you have been unconscious. In this situation, you might ask
いつからここにいるのか, but certainly not どうしてここにいるのか.

