Saturday, May 12, 2012

Family Culture


If there were a major disaster in the United States and I had to relocate with my family to another country, I would be devastated.  Being allowed to bring only three small personal items would be very difficult.  As I look around the room right now, there are so many things I have that I take for granted.

I think the first thing that I would take with me is my mp3 player.  Music is an important part of my life and culture and I would want to have all of my music in the new country as it would remind me of my former home.

The second thing I would take with me to a new country would be my photo album.  Having pictures of all of the relatives and our homes would help me remember the good times that we celebrate here.  In my new country having these pictures would bring a sense of security.

The third thing I would bring with me would be my Kindle.  I love to read and having books in my home language would help me feel at home in a new country where they will probably not speak English.  I would find comfort in reading stories about my home country with characters that are similar to me.

If when I got to the new country I was told that I could only keep one item it would be the mp3 player.  Music for me makes an emotional connection.  Memories are tied to music for me, and hearing those songs would help keep my past alive for me.  I would be very sad to lose the books though, It would be a tough choice between music and books, but it the end I would have to go with music. 
This exercise made me realize that there are many things in my life such as music and books that I take for granted.  Yesterday if someone had asked me to describe my culture I would not have said anything about either of those items, yet in this exercise, they are the two things I could not leave behind.  Interesting.

6 comments:

Janille said...

Stacie,

I never thought about the idea of gathering my music. I posted that I would gather my photos also. Its a relief to know that you and I hold the same things as important and valuable.

Janille

Rebekah said...

We almost picked the same things! Photos, music players--I would love to bring a Kindle/Nook too (if I had one :). I love to read also, but I don't think bringing a collection of books would be easy to tote around. Enjoyed your blog!!!

Julie Rand said...

Hi Stacie,
I think that you picked great items! I chose music (Ipod) as well. Music is some important to many of us in this country. I think that music is a great representation of many of our cultures. I do not have a Kindle, but I am sure it would be very nice and handy to bring sooo many books in one device! I agree that I would not have described some of the items if I were asked about my culture previous to this assignment. Interesting insight...Thank you for your post!

Ginny said...

Stacie,
I found you choices to be rather interesting in that you chose electronic items. I had thought about any of those type things as I chose books. I do enjoy my music and I thought about a hymn book, but I don't actually own one. Like you I chose my photos there are so many memories there. You have some good choices. This was a difficult assignment only in that it required some deep thinking and soul searching. I pray that none of us ever have to endure this type of scenario. I find reading what each of us would take to be very interesting. I also, found it sad thinking of people that do have to escape from countries with sometimes only the clothes on their back. This is a sad world we live in even if we are not faced with terrible instances ourselves.
Ginny

DeWana said...

Stacie,
I said that I would bring my pictures too. I would want to remember the good times and have history for my kids to be able to follow.

Barbara2 said...

Stacie,
Music is important in every culture that I have had any experience with. I learned to love the African music and I miss it. Some of the music you hear in US that claims to be African is not like I heard. I so enjoyed the video with all the different musicians. The one from Cameroon made me feel very much at home.
Thank you for your post.
Barbara