With a Grateful Heart for Our Human Mosaic
With a Grateful Heart (2 of 8)
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The Human Mosaic
From 2010 - 2021 our family lived in and traveled throughout Asia. I have come to feel rather at home walking in a sea of black hair or hearing several different languages anywhere I go. The world is both bigger and smaller because we chose to explore it. What a gift it has been to meet, come to know, love and value people of different cultures, backgrounds, beliefs and ethnicities. Following are reflections on the gratitude I have for our amazing human mosaic.
May 9, 2021
Brent and I were on the beach at Shek O yesterday afternoon for a leisurely Mother's Day. We like to people watch and there were a lot of people to watch! The beaches have been re-opened for a few weeks now after Covid numbers remained low long enough. There were loads of families and couples and friend groups hanging out on blankets, under umbrellas, or in pup tents. So many people!
After seven years in Hong Kong the diverse and international nature of where we are is normalized for us. But because we are only three weeks from our return to Green Bay, the mosaic of people we shared the beach with stood out to me. Every skin color one could imagine was present. Easily I could tune in to hear English, French, Cantonese, Hindi, or Tagalog (a language of the Philippines).
See a one-minute, 360 degree view here!
https://youtube.com/shorts/NNRsgaRnHI8?feature=share
In my time abroad I have made friends with people of great wealth and people with no possessions to their name. I have lived in, worked in or visited communities where faiths varied from Christian to Jewish to Buddhist to Hindu to atheist.
I have marched in Pride parades and met lovely transgender adults and teens.
I have been stretched with new encounters like caring for those with crippling disabilities, such as blindness and cerebral palsy or teaching English to North Korean Refugee women.
In church I have the privilege of being around infants to elders. In my work place and in my friend group people span several decades of ages - from 30s to 70's. While, of course, I spend a majority of my day with teens.
Not everyone gets along with everyone all the time, of course. But here the notion of "different" or "other" just isn't the same as back home. Here, somehow being around this mosaic of humanity makes it easier to feel comfortable around all sorts of visible differences. Somehow, I have less of a sense of trepidation now.
I suppose there are some understandings that only come through experience. And what rich and mind-opening experiences I have had - by chance or by choice! Thank you, Asia.
May 24, 2021
Something that I doubt could or would happen to me in Wisconsin in the course of a day.
First, meet an Iranian in a line at a government office and strike up a conversation which ends up being an hour long and highly interesting.
Next, go out with a lovely circle of friends in which there is a Scot, a Brit, a few Aussies, an American (me), a Hong Konger, and a Botswanan.
What a gift it has been to meet, come to know, love and value people of different cultures, backgrounds, beliefs and ethnicities.
May 5, 2013
Our family had the good fortune to travel to Sri Lanka over our Spring Break. Even more fortunate was that we were able to tour the small island country south of India with the father of a friend of ours. Gary is an expat who has lived there for many years. He and Recika, a driver and friend, planned our entire trip for us. It was amazing to arrive off of the plane and have a van and 2 new friends waiting for us. The week that followed entailed many, many hours on the road (pretty slow roads) traveling up country to see many major sites. What an extraordinary experience it was. Sri Lanka has varied landscapes; we were not on the coast but inland which meant that we experienced the tropics and jungle and mountainous regions.
Among my favorite experiences were. . . the varied religious representations: Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian. We were there on Good Friday and were surprised to see the Catholic churchyards filled with parishioners all in white, as well as witness an angel parade in the street!
We also enjoyed the food and people!
Post Script
The world is becoming smaller as we all continue to understand how much we hold more in common than we might have thought. While it grieves me to witness division and hatred of one group of people by another at home or abroad, I believe that humanity is on a path of shared brotherhood and sisterhood with all. Each time we ourselves open our hearts and homes to anyone who would be our neighbor, we create this hope and this change.
For the full articles above and more photos, visit www.greenbaytokorea.blogspot.com
Click here for a Bonus Article from my first series,
Adulting 101 Coupons: A Gift from your Parents “Hopes and Dreams” (2 of 12)
Next up: With a Grateful Heart for Self-care
You can find all of my series in the archives:
Adulting 101 Coupons: A Gift from your Parents
Partnering 101: A Deep Dive into Leaving Kindly
Me-Time: Self-care in the time of Covid
Reasons for Hope
From Fog to Flow
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Writer. Teacher. Gong Player.
Find more of my writing at GreenBaytoKorea.blogspot.com
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All photos by © Brenda Brayko 2022 unless otherwise credited.
Today I listened to you and your amazing journey! Beautiful!