I would bring:
1-My Bible- I will need spiritual guidance throughout this journey and the Bible will help my family and I get through this hardship. If the people of our new destination speak English, I will share a few of my favorite Bible verses. If not, I can only show them what it looks like. The Bible represents the faith of my family and gives us hope for the future.
2- My family photo albums- These albums are my prize possessions. They are the one thing that I can not leave without. These albums hold all of my treasured memories of my wedding day, the births of my children, many family vacations and holidays, and little moments and milestones.
3- A collection of toy figures- This collection of figures I started when I was a young girl. I played with them and my children have played with them. Taking these with us would give my children something to play with and represent a keepsake that has been in my family for many years.
My feelings if, upon arrival, I was told that I could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items I brought with me:
I would be frustrated to know that I left many important things behind in my country and now have to give up two others. I would not want to leave any of them behind, but if I could only take one it would be my family photo albums. Taking my albums with me would help me keep my family culture alive as we adapt to the new culture around us. These are moments that I want to treasure forever and having the album to look at helps me to remember and visualize them. It will also help me to keep the family culture within my own children.
After thinking about experiencing a situation like this, I began thinking about immigrants who come to America not knowing our culture or language. I thought deeply about how frustrating and sad they must feel. It would be frustrating not being familiar with anything in the new country and sad to leave many of your family traditions behind. It gives me a new sensitivity for those people who struggle to learn the English language and adjust to American culture.
3- A collection of toy figures- This collection of figures I started when I was a young girl. I played with them and my children have played with them. Taking these with us would give my children something to play with and represent a keepsake that has been in my family for many years.
My feelings if, upon arrival, I was told that I could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items I brought with me:
I would be frustrated to know that I left many important things behind in my country and now have to give up two others. I would not want to leave any of them behind, but if I could only take one it would be my family photo albums. Taking my albums with me would help me keep my family culture alive as we adapt to the new culture around us. These are moments that I want to treasure forever and having the album to look at helps me to remember and visualize them. It will also help me to keep the family culture within my own children.
After thinking about experiencing a situation like this, I began thinking about immigrants who come to America not knowing our culture or language. I thought deeply about how frustrating and sad they must feel. It would be frustrating not being familiar with anything in the new country and sad to leave many of your family traditions behind. It gives me a new sensitivity for those people who struggle to learn the English language and adjust to American culture.
Tabitha,
ReplyDeleteI know I was able to take more than a few items when I moved to Japan, but can partially understand what it is like for immigrants to come to the U.S. Japan is similar as there is just the one dominant language/culture and very few Japanese people speak English. This is why you see similar culture immigrants grouping together for support. We also do this where we live, and find comfort and support from each other. Items are one thing, but having a support network is more important.