My Family Culture

Scenario:

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

Respond to all of the following:

• A description of the three items you would choose 
• I would take a photo album of my family (either old fashioned album or electronic), A cookbook with traditional recipes of my culture and ones I hold dear from my family, and my grandmother's ring that was passed down.
• How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you 
• I would utilize the cookbook to prepare dishes that represent where I come from, photos to show my family and to teach others of where I come from, and the ring simply represents love, passion, endurance, of the life my grandmother and mother both lived. 
• Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you 
• I would absolutely be devastated, but would hold on to the ring.  This ring represents over 2 generations of woman and my history of where I come from.  The cookbook and photo album are simply material items that remind us of past experiences, interactions, and memories.
• Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise.
• I found it interesting that I am emotionally connected to a ring rather than a photo album or cookbook.  I hold memories of cooking and family members dear to my heart, but the ring represents so much more of my life.... It represents several of my social identities that I have acquired throughout my life.