British Settler English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

British Settler English - Essay Example There is that brief period when every physical thing that represented 'home' is packed and sealed into cartons, leaving one feeling disoriented. Even after one has set up one's new home, the feeling of disorientation does not cease. It is followed by the process of adjusting to one's new neighbors. There are new values and new ways of behaving to be understood and internalized. We become the stranger in this landscape, and our neighbors may treat us with disdain. Perhaps it is because of the harshness of the new environment, perhaps it is because they cannot see us as part of themselves that they trouble us. Then, consider the concept of ownership and the practice of borrowing. We may have been used to thinking in terms of 'mine' and 'yours'. But the distinction gets blurred. And what is mine becomes yours. Perhaps after a while, we realize that the reverse doesn't happen. Finally, we have to resort to slightly manipulative ways to rid ourselves of 'good neighbors.' We eventually realize that we may have to do some borrowing ourselves, and neighbor has to come to neighbor's help. In the situations described by Moodie, a dose of humor is what helps one retain a sense of proportion and even sanity. Change-even for the better-involves discomfort.