Neither Foreign nor Familiar
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by: andrewbeene
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Word Count: 516
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 Time: 2:46 PM
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As the world becomes smaller and smaller because of the phenomenon of globalization, the world Diaspora is becoming more widespread and universal than previously imagined. I myself am a part of this breed of international citizen. I lived the first part of my life in my homeland China. Once I reached university level, I had the rare opportunity of getting to study in a foreign country. I was granted a scholarship in one of the most prestigious schools in the world: Harvard University. For a long time, I stayed in Boston. I learned the American culture, the language, and the people; I accepted the views and attitudes and incorporated some of them to my own. After a long while, I realized something: I could never be fully American as I had too much of my homeland in me and ironically, at the same time I could never be fully Chinese because I had been permanently changed by the American culture.
When the time had come to graduate, the slow painful realization crept up to me: it was time to go home. I had to call up numerous Boston moving services to get quotes for my packages. I had to buy boxes, packing tape and other packing supplies in Boston. Finding a moving company in Boston wasn’t too much of an issue; the problem was which one to take. There was several Boston office movers listed in the Yellow Pages as well as furniture movers in Boston. Finally I had to choose one and stick with it. It was final: I was going home.
Stay positive I thought to myself: everything was going to be alright. What I experienced in America is going to be different to what I will experience back in China. In America, I looked different, spoke different and was just different, full stop. Sometimes I couldn’t understand what some people were trying to say when I am engaged in a conversation. Sometimes, or come to think of it, most of the time they couldn’t understand me! I had too much of an accent to speak clearly. Anyway, I became used to it and in time I had learned to speak correctly as well.
When I got back, as soon as I got out of the plane, it was vastly different. As I recall, even the atmosphere in the plane was different. Of course the plane was mostly full of Chinese passengers but I felt it was a little bit familiar and a bit foreign as well.
Now, as I am continuing to live life here in China, I still get surprised how much I had changed. People don’t understand my views and sometimes I to them. Truly, I had become a different breed, neither fully foreign nor fully familiar.
About the Author
Movers In Action is a moving company in Boston. For more information, visit http://www.moversinactions.com
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