My parents have recently been takling about marriage and compatibility. They are the typical chinese parents that are very concerned about who their children are going to marry, since it is one of the biggest accomplishments for a person in the chinese culture. However, they have grown up in an environment where chinese people only married chinese people, making them completely sure that it is the only right way. Talking about this topic made me think about how globalized the world is today. It made me realize how we cna meet people from all over the world through the internet and break these cultural boundaries. It aslo made me start to question whether a person can really be summed up to her culture.
I have always tried to keep an open mind, getting to know different cultures without any resentment or fear. It is tough to think about this certian topic, since we all want some kind of specific structure in our family that might involve culture, language, religion, etc. WE are very vulnerable to judge other people by their backgrounds, because they are completely unknown to us. However, keeping an opne mind and trying to accept different people has made me realize that independent of how different they are, they continue being equally beautiful.

Family

I have always put my family as my priority, however, it has recently struck me how important they are to me. Thinking about my family makes me think about time. It makes me realize that time really does pass by fast. Thinking about time makes me feel a bit scared, since so much can happen and change in just a split second. Just twenty years ago my parents came to Florida to take my sisters to Disneyland. It makes me feel a bit overwhelmed to think that we are once again in Florida, however, not only with my parents and my two sisters, but also with my brother and I. My dad said something today that made me really think about life. If it took us twenty years to come to the same place.. what are the chances thta twe will be able to come again as a whole family? This idea makes me feel a bit sad because it just shows how we are all getting older. Teenagers are constantly talking about how they want to be independent, however, the more I look into it.. the scarier it seems to be. Dont get me wrong.. I do want to be able to live my own life, be alone in the world.. But constantly thinking about the future and wishing isn't enough.. we have to treasure our present too.
Soon I will graduate and start a new stage in my life. It is scary to think about it.. But im looking forward to it :)

Home Country

I was never a very big fan of living in São Paulo. I always had set in my mind that I would want to live in another country in the future because I always hated the way my hometown worked. However, now that I am currently in another country, I realize that I do miss a lot of things that I can't find here due to the difference in culture. One of the things that I miss the most would be the padarias. It is so difficult to find real food (that is not fast food), while in Brazil, you can find food right around each corner. ;Even though I have never really believed it when people said that Brazilians were extremely warm and welcoming, I can now slightly understand why they would say that. Going through two different countries these past few days, I have noticed that people react in different ways becuase they have a different culture. Studying in an international school, new cultures have never been something new. HOwever, this exposure is completely different and in a disticnt dimension. I realized now that there is an extreme difference in food, roads, way of speaking, way of looking and interacting with each other.
I love getting to know different cultures. I have always been someone that is not intimidated by different customs because I find it to be interesting. The knowledge that you gain from remaining open minded is crucial. I still have set in my mind that I want to live in another country in the future. HOwever, I have realized that I will still miss a lot of things from Brazil.