Culture
refers to how individual groups of people live. It’s the way we eat, sleep,
play, communicate,
and care for one another, (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010). Most of
the time, we don’t even notice our culture. However when something changes or
makes us uncomfortable, culture comes to the forefront. When we find ourselves
in the center of another culture, or when we need to interact with people from
different cultures, we learn that our way of doing things is not the only way.
It’s how we react to these experiences that either limits or increases our appreciation
of the notion that there are countless ways to be human.
If
I had to permanently evacuate my home and country, in addition to one change of
clothes I would take the following three personal items:
A box of
favorite family photos. Most of the photos I have taken through the years are from
holidays and special events spent with families. One of my favorite ways to
relax is to look through these pictures, reminiscing on how grateful I am for
the people in my family and the traditions we share with each other.
A quilt my
mother made for me. I treasure this quilt not only for its comfort and beauty,
but also for the fact that my mother hand-made it. My children were six and
eight when the quilt was made and my mom taught them how to sew on it. I love
to look at the corner of the quilt where my children’s sewing is and reminisce
on this wonderful memory.
A collection of
my great grandmother’s crystal stemware. I keep this crystal in my kitchen
where I can readily use it. I love how ornate and fragile it is. It reminds me
of the way my grandmother set the table for holiday meals. When I am holding a
piece of the stemware, I can smell my grandmother’s dining room and hear the
laughter of relatives. I unfortunately lost several pieces of the crystal
during a recent earthquake here in Napa, however I am thankful for the
remaining pieces.
Each
of these treasures is a physical piece of my family culture. None of them have
high monetary value, however they are priceless to me because of the people who
created them or shared them with me.
If I was informed upon arrival to my new home that I could only keep one of my
personal belongings, it would be the box of photos. The pictures create
memories that are increasingly important to me as time passes.
During
this exercise, I was reminded that all the material things I am surrounded with
are just “stuff.” What really matters are the memories of time spent with the
people I love sharing our culture and traditions.
References
Derman-Sparks L.
& Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children
and
ourselves, National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Christine,
ReplyDeleteI, too, chose to bring a photograph of my family. I believe that a photograph speaks immensely of the memories that are pictured. In the wake of a catastrophe, memories can help not only to remind you of your own culture when being forced to assimilate into one that is completely different, but it allows for a clear cut example of where you came from when speaking to new people.