When you are a hyphenated, straddling two distinct cultures and languages simultaneously, certain relationships at times become a mine field to maneuver.
Taboos, norms, niceties, expectations, and even simple personal liberties in one culture do not necessarily translate into another, which leaves you bewildered, with a dictionary always at hand.
A hyphenated friend who was a parole officer assigned to an ethnic gang of murderers, drug and sex traffickers, once told me that when he met with the convicts’ parents, they genuinely felt that their children were only immature and just guilty of “kids play around the neighborhood”.
I am currently a character out of a Jane Austin novel… trying to manage a difficult situation in the manner of Elinor Dashwood and Mr. Ferrars’ mother. But even more complicated, by the virtues of culture and language. What one considers unkind, manipulative, controlling and egotistical, the other sees as just an expression of nobility, care, and PRIDE (the good kind of course).
Undesired situations seem to take up a lot of my mind share. But what I find each and every time I Mind the Gap, is that I actually end up falling into the hole. Surprisingly, whenever I close my eyes (and ears) and just leap forward towards my destination, whenever I don’t Mind the Gap, I end up arriving whole.
Taboos, norms, niceties, expectations, and even simple personal liberties in one culture do not necessarily translate into another, which leaves you bewildered, with a dictionary always at hand.
A hyphenated friend who was a parole officer assigned to an ethnic gang of murderers, drug and sex traffickers, once told me that when he met with the convicts’ parents, they genuinely felt that their children were only immature and just guilty of “kids play around the neighborhood”.
I am currently a character out of a Jane Austin novel… trying to manage a difficult situation in the manner of Elinor Dashwood and Mr. Ferrars’ mother. But even more complicated, by the virtues of culture and language. What one considers unkind, manipulative, controlling and egotistical, the other sees as just an expression of nobility, care, and PRIDE (the good kind of course).
Undesired situations seem to take up a lot of my mind share. But what I find each and every time I Mind the Gap, is that I actually end up falling into the hole. Surprisingly, whenever I close my eyes (and ears) and just leap forward towards my destination, whenever I don’t Mind the Gap, I end up arriving whole.
It’s like going to the gym. You feel great once you do it, but doing it takes so much discipline!
Comments
Post a Comment