become as a child

I've been thinking about previous experiences in my life that might apply to the experience I will have going on a field study and one experience stuck out.

When I was in second grade, my dad got a job offer as a school dentist in Neuhausen, Switzerland. My dad left a few months before the rest of my family joined up with him in February of 2000. We lived there until August of 2001. So I was eight years old and for the first six months or so I went to a class at the elementary school where they taught me and other children German. The next school year I was put into the regular class with all the other kids my age. I was kind of forced to pick up on the language quickly because that was the only way for me to communicate in class and make friends. I quickly immersed myself in the culture as well, as I learned the different customs at school and went over to friend's houses and birthday parties and church. I think being so young, it was easier for me to be really adaptable and flexible and just kind of go with the flow of things. I picked up on a lot of the customs just by observing and copying my classmates. Every morning when you entered the classroom, you had to shake your teacher's hand before sitting down. Everyone brought a roll or croissant from the bakery to eat during snack time. Lunch was two hours long, so everyone went home to eat and then came back. I remember observing these hyper boys in my class that were always causing problems and thinking they were just like some boys in my class back home. Some things don't change.

What I learned from this experience was the importance of being really flexible and open-minded when in a new place. I'm sure that living in Uganda will be completely different than living in Switzerland, but the idea of changing my surroundings and the culture I will be in, is the same. I also think that as I've grown up over the past 10 years and become even more accustomed with my personal lifestyle and environment in which I live, it will probably be much harder for me to adjust than when I was 8. That's why I need to remember the things I did right as a kid moving to a new country and apply them. I also learned that there are so many similarities between me and people across the ocean. Nine year-old boys are crazy no matter where you go! We're all humans with feelings, talents, interests, personalities...etc. and that was important for me to realize at a young age and something I must never forget.