For this week's blog we are to imagine our family going through a major catastrophe and having to relocate to a different country with a completely different culture. With this trip we are only allowed to bring three small items.
The three items that I would bring would be a one book from my bookshelf, a picture of my family, and my cell phone. I chose these items because I consider them important to me and significant in my life. When choosing a book from my bookshelf I would have to just choose a random one because there are so many that I would want to bring. I chose to bring a book because I love to read and I think it would help me to deal with the situation of moving to a completely different country. Reading book and getting away can help to ease stress, which is what I would imagine to be a stressful situation. I would also choose to bring a picture of my family. This item can help me to feel more "at home". Having pictures of those that I love is something that I like to display in my house. Those that I come in contact with would be able to see just who I consider most important to me. The last item that I chose was my cell phone. While i know this item may seem a bit obvious, I chose it because I feel that it could connect me with the new country more. I could look up and discover different aspects about the culture as well as connect socially with the people that I come in contact with. I think this could help me become more at ease with being in a different country and culture entirely.
If I was told that I could only keep one item upon arrival it would be difficult to give up the other two. While it was hard to think of three items, suddenly telling me I had to give up two of them would make me upset and extremely hard to think of which to keep. From my three items I'm not sure which item I would choose to keep. From this exercise I was able to gain insight into what would be important during a stressful situation. I reflected on my own culture and what certain items mean to me. I was able to reflect on how I might deal with being in a completely different culture from my own. It helped me to understand how people around me may feel if they were coming from a different country.
Heather,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post, I love the idea of a good book. Even if you get to take only one, a book can be read a million times over with something new learned every time! I didn't even think of a cell phone as an option but what a great idea! I love the way you'd use it, to learn more about the new culture you were entering! What a sensitive and wonderful idea. Thanks for the great post!