Section 2
Week 8
Love, Money, Prison, Sin, Revenge by Andrew Lam was a moving story about those first wave of Southeast Asian immigrants. We can try to be sympathetic and understanding as much as we can for them but only they will know how it feels to go through what they had gone through. War, genocide, and poverty tainting their early lives and forcing them to leave their home nation and come to the USA. I thought changing schools as a kid was tough. This is nothing compared to what these people had to go through. A massive culture shock, and like many immigrants they had to start at the bottom and hopefully climb their way through blood and sweat to somewhere in the middle to give their family and kids a better live than they had. Although my parents and grandparents immigrated from Mexico, they had family in the US and sizable Hispanic communities that at that point provided a strong support system. For many of these immigrants they likely were the first of their region in certain US neighborhoods.
One thing I took from this article is that we shouldn't just lament the struggles of these immigrants but remember that refugees exist today, especially around the Middle East and Eastern Europe with wars and political upheaval taking place. Also, there are probably a lot of people in our immediate worlds coming from other nations or even other parts of the country trying to adjust to the culture here. The internet and social media has made it easier to experience and understand foreign cultures from afar, so adjusting is easier but it still takes time. I will look out for those people whenever they come into my life and to make sure they have a friend in me because that's a key first step and a gesture they will cherish.
How can we help someone new to our community adjust and feel like this is a home away from home?
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