Hi everyone! For Assignment 2.3 I will be discussing ideas of home from blogs by Grace, Jade, Coco, Emilia, Nargiza, and Nicole. I have read through all their blogs and below is a summary of my takeaways and insights on our collective sense of home.
Nicole, Grace, Emilia, and Jade all described their childhood homes, defining home as a physical space which shelters them and where they lived with their families. Emilia, Jade, Nicole, and Coco all described Vancouver as their second home after moving from a different city. Emilia and Jade both grappled with having many different places to call home. I myself call Vancouver my second home and identify with their stories as I myself have gone through this struggle, as well as homesickness similar to what Coco described.
Jade going to ballet class and picking up bagels with her childhood best friend, Nargiza’s weekly Saturday family dinners at 5:30pm to beat the rush, Coco cooking with new friends in Vancouver, and Nicole’s “Saturday morning cartoons and Sunday brunches” are all intimate examples of traditions that define home in our minds. Routinely doing these things creates memories that we will cherish forever, an important part of which are the people we spend our time with. Grace and Nargiza mentioned their siblings and parents and Jade tells about listening to her grandma’s stories. Coco talks of making new friends in Vancouver and spending time with them after moving here from Taiwan.
Coco’s story of home resonated with me because I also moved to Vancouver from where I was born and raised when I was 17. I also at first found it difficult to make friends but am glad that I found people whom I enjoy spending time and going on adventures with. Moreover, I like that Coco mentioned food and how they would make noodles from back in Taiwan whenever the homesickness hit. I feel this very deeply as I have found myself craving and eventually whipping up some Filipino food many a time.
I thought Emilia’s example of home as a feeling of belonging was unique because she explains she felt it most when visiting where her ancestors were from and hearing them speak their native languages, Italian and French. Jade, together with Emilia, also talked about her ancestors’ journey from Europe in the mid-20th century, describing home as where on this Earth your bloodline is originally from.
Nicole, Coco, and Emilia all described home as a feeling: home is a feeling of love, more than a tangible thing. Nicole, Coco, Emilia all described home as where you are most comfortable and feel a sense of belonging. If I were to choose one definition to assign to the word “home,” it would be this. I believe that home is where we feel like we are loved and we belong, and where our soul is happy. The beauty is that what evokes this feeling can be anything already mentioned: people, mini traditions, food, and whatever else!
Works Cited
Alimova, Nargiza. “Assignment 2.2.” 28 Jan 2020, https://blogs.ubc.ca/nargizaalimova/2020/01/28/assignment-2-2/. Accessed February 03, 2020.
Brandoli, Emilia. “Assignment 2:2: Home.” 29 Jan 2020, https://blogs.ubc.ca/emiliabrandoli/2020/01/29/assignment-22-home/. Accessed February 03, 2020.
Dean, Mary Elizabeth. “Relocation Depression: When Moving Makes You Sad.” BetterHelp, 30 Aug 2019, https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/depression/relocation-depression-when-moving-makes-you-sad/. Accessed February 03, 2020.
Diaz, Nicole. “Sense of Home.” 28 Jan 2020, https://blogs.ubc.ca/nicolediaz/2020/01/28/sense-of-home/. Accessed February 03, 2020.
Greer, Jade. “Assignment 2.2- Stories, People, and Nature: What Home Means to Me.” 29 Jan 2020, https://blogs.ubc.ca/jadegreer/2020/01/29/assignment-2-2/. Accessed February 03, 2020.
Han, Coco. “Assignment 2:2- My Sense of Home.” 28 Jan 2020, https://blogs.ubc.ca/cocohanengl372/2020/01/28/assignment-22-my-sense-of-home/. Accessed February 03, 2020.
McAndrew, Frank. “Home is Where the Heart is, but Where is ‘home’?” Psychology Today, 03 Aug 2015, https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/out-the-ooze/201508/home-is-where-the-heart-is-where-is-home. Accessed February 03, 2020.
Owens, Grace. “Lesson 2.2 — Sense of Home.” 27 Jan 2020, https://blogs.ubc.ca/graceowensengl372/2020/01/27/lesson-22-a-sense-of-home/. Accessed February 03, 2020.