My Family Culture

            If I could only take 3 small items to represent my family culture, I would take our family Bible, my college diploma, and a book we created about our family trip to Disney World.  I would take our family Bible for two reasons.  One, it contains our family tree and other important information regarding our family.  Family is extremely important to me so it would be important to have a piece of that written down so I could pass on to future generations.  The second reason is the most important it is the Bible.  My family and I are Christians and our faith is of utmost importance to us.  The Bible is a representation and guidance of our faith.  The new country may practice a different religion so I would want a representation of ours so we could continue practicing our faith.

            I would want to take my college diploma because I worked hard to earn it and my education is important to me.  I am proud of it and want to keep it as a reminder to myself and son to work hard and you can accomplish anything.  Plus, I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, which is also important to my family since my husband and I are alumni.  The Hill holds special memories for us.  Also in the new country, education may be equally important as in the United States or even more so.  Therefore, I would have proof of my education level that could enable me to get a job.  Obtaining employment would be crucial to our survival in the new country because we would need to the money to get a place to live and food to eat.

            The book about our family to Disney World is special to our family for two reasons.  We love Mickey and Disney and the book would be a representation of that love.  Also, the trip was very memorable to our family and even though it happened two years ago, we still talk about it like it was yesterday.  It was a wonderful stress free time that we will never forget.  The book also contains many pictures of my little family.  I love pictures and since we could only take three items, I would try and grab something that would have the most pictures.  The book is filled with some of my family pictures of my little family.  It would be nice to take a keepsake to a new country to remind us of potentially happier times.

            If I were told I could only keep one of the above items, I would be devastated.  It would be so hard for me to choose and I am not sure I could.  Each have a special meaning, importance, and could aid us in our new country.  It was agonizing narrowing my decision down to three items, I could not imagine having to give up two of those. 

            This assignment took me several days to complete.  It was hard to narrow down my family into three items.  I kept changing my mind on which three to choose.  I realized that I have lot that represent my family culture and simply cannot be summed up in three items.  I had to choose the three that was the best representation of our life.  As a result of this assignment, I can see what immigrants go through when they come to our country.  Many have short notice and can only take the things they can carry.  Somehow they have to pick and choose the most important items to their potential survival in the new country and what represents them so they can keep a piece of their family culture.  Also it was hard for me to choose because I did not know what to expect in the new country and what I could bring that could aid me in survival.  The same is true for immigrants.  Yes, they do know they are coming to the United States and have heard stories, but they do not know what to expect and what items could aid them in their survival in our country.  This assignment has made me realize some aspects of what immigrants go through and to remember that when interacting with them and their children.