Place and identity are very relevant topics in my life, and I’m glad that they have been chosen as the themes for our class. I've had the privilege of experiencing many different places throughout my life, and this has had a definite effect on my identity. I've spent a two years of my life living in countries other than the United States. As a 13 year old I spent a year living in central China with my family, and as a 17 year old I lived in the North African country of Morocco for a year. Both of these experiences have strongly shaped my identity in many ways. I've discovered that it’s easy to have one identity in one place and assume a completely different identity in another place; this was somewhat the case for me while I lived in China and Morocco. Not only did my identity change for the time period in which I was living in those countries, but my identity changed permanently in some ways as well. As a result of the places I’ve been, I feel a much stronger international identity than I did previous to living outside the United States. When I hear Morocco or China mentioned in the news or elsewhere, I feel a sense of connection to those countries, and it has caused me to take a much greater interest in events that occur in Morocco and China, as well as in foreign countries in general. The places I’ve lived have had a huge impact on my identity, and I expect my identity to continue to be shaped by the places where I am in the future.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
The Effect of Places on my Identity
Place and identity are very relevant topics in my life, and I’m glad that they have been chosen as the themes for our class. I've had the privilege of experiencing many different places throughout my life, and this has had a definite effect on my identity. I've spent a two years of my life living in countries other than the United States. As a 13 year old I spent a year living in central China with my family, and as a 17 year old I lived in the North African country of Morocco for a year. Both of these experiences have strongly shaped my identity in many ways. I've discovered that it’s easy to have one identity in one place and assume a completely different identity in another place; this was somewhat the case for me while I lived in China and Morocco. Not only did my identity change for the time period in which I was living in those countries, but my identity changed permanently in some ways as well. As a result of the places I’ve been, I feel a much stronger international identity than I did previous to living outside the United States. When I hear Morocco or China mentioned in the news or elsewhere, I feel a sense of connection to those countries, and it has caused me to take a much greater interest in events that occur in Morocco and China, as well as in foreign countries in general. The places I’ve lived have had a huge impact on my identity, and I expect my identity to continue to be shaped by the places where I am in the future.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I hope you got a positive change of your identity from China, and I am interested in the period you lived in Morocco and their culture.
ReplyDeleteI think traveling and spending time in other countries is a great way to expand your identity. I have not personally lived in other countries but I have traveled extensively and that has given me a taste of all kinds of different cultures. I am a more culturally aware individual and I think visiting these places has has an impact on my worldview and identity.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting to me to hear about how you lived in three different countries. That must have made a large impact of who you are as a person. I myself have been to many destinations in the U.S. and that has affected my identity in many ways, but I have never been outside the U.S. and can only imagine how much that would affect my identity and understanding of the world.
ReplyDeleteI think your travelling experience is very interesting, my hometown is China and I am here in America since last year. I have experienced so many different things: food, language, lifestyle, people's way of thinking...and I have learned a lot here. I think travel let us be more open to different things.
ReplyDelete