Read at least 6 students blog short stories about ‘home’ and make a list of BOTH the common shared assumptions, values and stories that you find and look for differences as well; look to see if you can find student peers who appear to have different values than yourself when it comes to the meaning of ‘home.’ Post this list on your blog and include commentary, please.
Shared assumptions and values
Home is a sense and feeling related to one’s memory and history
Although some people identified home with a physical area that was specific, lots of people accompanied memories from their childhood and feelings to describe home. As I described defining home by the familiar sense of the smell, I found that many other people have also used a song, sound or smell to describe their sense of home which were intertwined with their memories and history. Dana tells a great story of her memory from childhood describing the smell of linden tress in the street, her Grandmother’s bread from the oven and crayons from kindergarten.
Home is fluid
I found that it was a common experience among the classmates to have moved to Canada from a different country and that experience looks different for each person. Kynan has experienced assimilation for the first few years but got engrained in the Canadian culture like myself, where else J.T has never felt connected to either Canada or his home country Korea. For people who have experienced movements, I think idea of fluidity commonly exists. Home moves with where you are, it is not a fixed state and it has the ability to change and adapt.
Home is a community
While everyone has different stories of their sense of belonging and what home means to them, a very common description of home included parents, siblings or significant other. It was rare to see one describe home and finding a home within oneself only. Like myself, others described through their experience that people that were important to them were what made them feel at home. Minhye describes her home as a sense of where her heart is, and her heart is with her parents. I think feeling of home is made up of a community with people or person they love and care for.
Differences
All of us have different experiences and unfortunately some of us describe feeling of homelessness and still being unable find a home. J.T is similar with me as he is from Korea, but he does not feel home at either Canada or Korea. I learned from moving and traveling where my sense of belonging is and where my home is but for some, it was the opposite. For Tamara, through her travelling and moving, she has not found a one single place that gives her deep sense of belonging to call it a home but rather home can be everywhere for her. I personally think although home can change and adapt, there is only one place I can call home at one time.
Final thoughts
The assignment of writing about my values about home was a time for me to truly sit down and reflect on my life. I think many other fellow students felt this way as some described this assignment to be rather difficult. Having to share my personal stories and experiences was a bit nerve-wracking because I tend to be rather a private person but reading through other people’s blogs made me realize I wasn’t the only one who experienced moving, alienation and getting used to a new country. Reading other student’s stories made me feel connected to each one of them and their insights also comforted me.
Works cited
Bae, J.T. “Home.” UBC Blogs, 20 Feb 2019. https://blogs.ubc.ca/golgiapp/2019/01/30/home/?fbclid=IwAR0KpbBcdYeOE_T5y3uzsMezdWut1OLzCgUaq4gkw3mVYxtYh_A2E351TXU
Ensor, Tamara “2.2 Home…….” Canadian Lit EH. UBC Blogs, 20 Feb 2019. https://blogs.ubc.ca/canadianlittme/2019/01/29/2-2-home/
Han, Minhye “2.2-Where I belong: My sense of home.” Minhye’s Engl470 Blog. UBC Blogs, 20 Feb 2019. https://blogs.ubc.ca/minhyehan/2019/02/04/22-where-i-belong-my-sense-of-home/
Pereira, Kynan. “2:2 Feels Like Home.” Kynan’s English 470 Blog. UBC Blogs, 20 Feb 2019. https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl470kynanpereira/2019/01/28/feels-like-home/
Truhar, Dana. “Assignment 2:2-My Home Story.” Dana’s CanLit Blog. UBC Blogs, 20 Feb 2019. https://blogs.ubc.ca/canlit470dana/2019/01/28/assignment-22-my-home-story/