Saturday, May 19, 2012

In the old days, when people immigrated to America, they couldn't skype, call, or fly back to the old country.  They had committed to making something of their dreams in this new country and they bought into the whole dream.  Yes, they gravitated to places where there were already people from their home region, who spoke their home languages and dialects, but they lambasted their children if they didn't learn English and learn it well.

After living several months with an exchange student, it occurs to me that to really LIVE in another culture, you need to cut off your old one to a large degree. No skype, facebook or e-mail.  Perhaps an occasional package or letter, but no "constant contact."  I think the act that requires the most bravery for an exchange student is to live with strangers.  And you never get to understand another person's point of view if you can hang on to your home country values and views.

Tomorrow -- how can China innovate without freedom?

4 comments:

Sweet Tea said...

Interesting perspective. Hadn't ever thought of that, but it does make perfect sense.

The Bug said...

You know, I often lament the lack of email when I was in Zambia over 20 years ago. But I think you're right - I would have had one foot in each place if communicating with my mom would have been that easy.

Mary said...

You are so right about that. When we had our FES last year, he never had that break, so he wasn't truly immersed in our culture. It was really too bad that he didn't really get to know our culture.

Robin said...

I tend to see the other side of the coin. Having moved to another country on the opposite side of the world myself, and knowing what I've given up even in the age of technology and cheap international phone calls, I often think of how unbearably painful it must have been for those people who emigrated to another country in earlier centuries, not knowing if they'd ever get so much as a letter ever again, not knowing if their loved ones were even alive or dead. I may have retained a lot more "American-ness" this way, but I gained so very much too.