Saying Good Bye

This week I had my last volunteer session with my refugee family. I never imagines that it would be as hard as it was for me to say goodbye to my family. I did not expect to get as attached as I did to the kids and my family as a whole.
Throughout my entire volunteer experience I experienced a change in perception and many cross cultural experiences. My perception of my life has changed and my perception of others has changed. Also as I experienced cross cultural situations, I gained a better appreciation for my culture as well as other people's culture.
I have used perception many times in my volunteer experience. I used selection to select the situation. I used organization to find a schema and apply it to the situation. Lastly, I used interpretation to find out the meaning of the situation. After spending time with this family and experiencing a culture different than my own, I look at other people differently. I am less judgmental when I see others now because I have learned that everyone is fighting their own battle and you do not know what that is. Before my  volunteering I might have looked at my family and made a certain judgment about them. Now I am starting to realize that I should not make any judgments about people because I do not know what they are going through. Also, my perceptions of my life have changed. This experience has caused me to look at my life. This experience has made me appreciate everything in my life. It has made me appreciate my house, my family, and most important, the opportunities that I have experienced. I am so fortunate to have everything and everyone that is a part of my life. Also, seeing that our family appreciated little things like snow falling, learning a new word, or mastering something that they have been working on for a long time has made me appreciate those things that I take for granted too often.
In addition to perception I have experienced many cross cultural situations. These experiences have taught me to be grateful for my own culture but also to appreciate other cultures and respect their traditions. An example of cross cultural situation was when our family cooked dinner for us. The mother cooked all afternoon for us. When dinner was ready we went into the kitchen and sat at the table. We assumed that we would be eating with the family but they let us sit down and they stood and watched. The little girl told us that in their culture it is courteous to let your guests sit and eat you stand and wait until they are done. I thought that was so interesting and kind of them to do that. The dinner was great and then we got up to help clear the table and do the dishes, the family told us to sit and relax. This was so different from dinner in American culture but it was so interesting. They are so courteous and kind to their guests. In American culture we usually eat with our guests. This was just one of the many cross culture experiences that I experienced.
Overall I had an incredible volunteering experience. I have learned so many thing about perception and cross cultural experiences. I have learned a lot about my self and to appreciate everything in my life. I can't believe that my time with the family is over but I do plan on stopping by a few times next semester to check up on them and see them.