If you want to know what water is like, don’t ask a fish.
A fish has never lived outside it’s blue, watery environment. It can’t explain how it breathes, what water feels like and it has no clue what life outside of water is like.
I kind of feel like a fish out of water for the first time.
My whole life I have grown up surrounded by a common culture. Our tea is sweet, are words are drawn out, and we bless everyone’s hearts. That’s my life.
But what happens when everything in your life changes? When the tea is no longer sweet, but hot with a drop of milk. When the chips are actually fries and crisps are chips. When you drive on the left side of the road, everything is generally a little older, smaller and shorter, and the sun rarely shines. Sure, I knew I was from the south. I knew culture was different in different places. I even knew that not everyone enjoyed a pound of sugar and some lemon in their ice cold tea. But what I didn’t know is how many tiny, inconspicuous things would change.
One thing I have realized more than anything is the demeanor and manner in which people greet one another. If we go back to the familiar waters that I grew up in, we see people walking down the street with a smile on their face, greeting one another with a nod and occasionally striking up a conversation with a total stranger.
I didn’t realize that this wasn’t the norm everywhere else until I was in London with two of my friends. We were being your typical tourists taking pictures in front of Big Ben and Tower Bridge. As we were walking through the crowded streets, I noticed my friends giggling at me. Each time a person would try to sell us something, ask us for money or were just passing by, I replied. I smiled and said a few words, usually getting into longer conversations. To my surprise, this was not the norm for my friends in their northern culture. I was quickly told that people did not make conversation on the subway, and that it was weird to smile at strangers walking by.
This might seem like a trivial example, but it just one of many ways that my culture clashed with the ones around me. We eat differently, pronunciate word differently, interact with loved ones and strangers differently, dress differently, think differently and so much more. But it is exciting. I am learning that my way is not right. It’s not wrong… it’s just different. And as I learn more and more about the people around me, I unknowingly learn more about myself. Like the fish, I knew nothing about my own environment until I saw something different. God has uniquely made each and every one of us and as I embark on this journey of discovering myself and others, I am able to see the beauty in His creation.
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On a side note, no matter how much I try, I CANNOT get over the fact that we drive on different sides of the road. Really, it is a daily struggle to not get hit by oncoming traffic when crossing the street because of my inability to look the right way!