and some couldn’t stand the lacking of food, eventually getting eaten by lions and other wild animals as suppers. These boys were nicknamed as the ‘Lost Boys’. Luckily (?), the US refugee program offered them to settle in the US and start a new life. They thought that the life in America would be like the ‘heaven’, they will be the future of Sudan and considered the opportunity as some kind of ‘free offerings’. There are a lot of free offerings, especially for buying electronics, but they all turn out to be later on that they aren’t actually free; you either need to fill out a lot of complicated sheets, have to pay later on anyways, or (especially for mobile phones) have to pay a lot more money than ordinary users when using the object. The Lost Boys’ lives in the US also turned out to be like that- they faced a lot of conflicts to adapt through the new culture, and couldn’t gain much benefit living there.An example of the Sudanese boys having difficulties during their life in the US is shown in the docudrama, “The Lost Boys of Sudan” as it focuses on the lives of two Lost Boys, Peter and Santino, before, during and after they have been given the chances to live in the US. Although they had a lot of different tragedies, the major difficulties were probably loneliness, racism (low income) and cultural differences. However, the two boys eventually adapted to the new culture and (although they still had some problems) and were able to overcome the difficulties.
Before they arrived and re-started their life, they were really excited about their new world, new life and a new start. Although they were a little afraid and worried, they had no idea how much challenges there will be when moving to a totally different place would be like, and were thrilled about the new opportunities and better education that they were soon going to have. Their vision of going to the US was like going to the heaven where all problems can be solved. Yet, when they arrived, things turned out to be very different from what they’ve expected them to be- many afflictions started to show up.
The first difficulty/ disappointment that they faced, was loneliness, as America is a busy country compared to Sudan, they didn’t have any friends there (or time to make friends), and they weren’t able to blend in. During the docudrama, one of the boys says “Time is money in America”. Also, other people’s behaviors towards them was another factor that made them feel lonely; since the Americans haven’t seen that many pure Africans before, they looked at the boys in a strange way, making them feel uncomfortable, and perhaps, small. On the bus way to the work, Peter was stared and glanced by other people. He said, “People just look at me. I look odd. I feel shame and I don’t like that. I’m so black than the black people living here. I’m so…black.” This shows how some people are racist towards them and how he feels about that. They also had too many things to do, such as their job or school (studies, homework, and class time) - he had no time or energy to do anything.
Another struggle was the racism and the short of money that followed that. As shown in the docudrama, Santino isn’t used to work in factories, and can’t work fast, so he couldn’t get good jobs. The job he had only paid him 7 dollars per hour, an amount definitely not enough to pay for all the necessities, rent, food, money to send back home, and he was even requested to give money to help the rebels- they didn’t even work full time as they had to study (do homework, at school) and do their housework. They were not only paid for a low income but also biased during work; Santino were told from his boss while working at a supermarket, that since he’s used to the heat, he should work under the sun. “The boss said Africa is hot and we are used to the heat. It’s not funny. She thinks I’m already burnt because we’re black. It doesn’t mean that I need to work under the hot sun,” says he. –this incidence shows how the boys are trying to blend into the American culture, but the other people aren’t opening their mind in return. Peter moved to Kansas due to the lack of jobs, since he heard that there were more jobs there. Yet he still couldn’t get good employments because he was attending high school. He even had a hard time to get this chance of being educated, because the schools thought highly of birth certificates, and Peter wasn’t able to attend the school until he requested a new birth certificate from Sudan where there aren’t many proper hospitals. His naivety about the currency in the US also gave him some challenges to deal with his money.
People experience cultural differences even when moving from one school to another- moving from a country to another that has barely any, or no similarities at all would hav
e given them a lot of cultural shocks. Peter and Santino had this case, and when they first arrived in America, they were ignorant about everything going around them. They didn’t know how to use the facilities in their house, so they had to be instructed carefully about all the details and safety. They even needed help when making their own beds; it’s quite obvious that they would’ve had troubles in many other things, too. Driving license, cars, and receipts were all new for them, so not knowing what to do, they drove without a driving license, didn’t keep the receipts after paying the rent, causing to pay for a lot of fines when they were unaware of the laws there.
However it is then, when recognizing the fact that living in America isn’t a free offering that the boys decided to make some changes- no more sufferings. They eventually adapted to the American culture- they used slangs such as “Man” or “
What’s up”, changed their clothing style, ate Western food, didn’t hold hands and used advanced technology such as TV. Making friends, working hard at school was also some ways they were able to get used to living in America. Peter, after requesting for a new birth certificate and becoming a junior I high school in Kansas made many more friends, and was adjusting to America with the helps from his friends. He learned to speak English fluently, graduated and was accepted by many white friends when he went to a church along with his white friends. However, they kept most of their cultural identity, and still spoke in their own language while talking to each other. They also started to contribute to their country, Sudan.
Although the life in America and adjusting to it wasn’t spoon- fed to them, they gradually adapted to it, having quite a successful experience there. =]
Before they arrived and re-started their life, they were really excited about their new world, new life and a new start. Although they were a little afraid and worried, they had no idea how much challenges there will be when moving to a totally different place would be like, and were thrilled about the new opportunities and better education that they were soon going to have. Their vision of going to the US was like going to the heaven where all problems can be solved. Yet, when they arrived, things turned out to be very different from what they’ve expected them to be- many afflictions started to show up.
The first difficulty/ disappointment that they faced, was loneliness, as America is a busy country compared to Sudan, they didn’t have any friends there (or time to make friends), and they weren’t able to blend in. During the docudrama, one of the boys says “Time is money in America”. Also, other people’s behaviors towards them was another factor that made them feel lonely; since the Americans haven’t seen that many pure Africans before, they looked at the boys in a strange way, making them feel uncomfortable, and perhaps, small. On the bus way to the work, Peter was stared and glanced by other people. He said, “People just look at me. I look odd. I feel shame and I don’t like that. I’m so black than the black people living here. I’m so…black.” This shows how some people are racist towards them and how he feels about that. They also had too many things to do, such as their job or school (studies, homework, and class time) - he had no time or energy to do anything.
Another struggle was the racism and the short of money that followed that. As shown in the docudrama, Santino isn’t used to work in factories, and can’t work fast, so he couldn’t get good jobs. The job he had only paid him 7 dollars per hour, an amount definitely not enough to pay for all the necessities, rent, food, money to send back home, and he was even requested to give money to help the rebels- they didn’t even work full time as they had to study (do homework, at school) and do their housework. They were not only paid for a low income but also biased during work; Santino were told from his boss while working at a supermarket, that since he’s used to the heat, he should work under the sun. “The boss said Africa is hot and we are used to the heat. It’s not funny. She thinks I’m already burnt because we’re black. It doesn’t mean that I need to work under the hot sun,” says he. –this incidence shows how the boys are trying to blend into the American culture, but the other people aren’t opening their mind in return. Peter moved to Kansas due to the lack of jobs, since he heard that there were more jobs there. Yet he still couldn’t get good employments because he was attending high school. He even had a hard time to get this chance of being educated, because the schools thought highly of birth certificates, and Peter wasn’t able to attend the school until he requested a new birth certificate from Sudan where there aren’t many proper hospitals. His naivety about the currency in the US also gave him some challenges to deal with his money.
People experience cultural differences even when moving from one school to another- moving from a country to another that has barely any, or no similarities at all would hav
e given them a lot of cultural shocks. Peter and Santino had this case, and when they first arrived in America, they were ignorant about everything going around them. They didn’t know how to use the facilities in their house, so they had to be instructed carefully about all the details and safety. They even needed help when making their own beds; it’s quite obvious that they would’ve had troubles in many other things, too. Driving license, cars, and receipts were all new for them, so not knowing what to do, they drove without a driving license, didn’t keep the receipts after paying the rent, causing to pay for a lot of fines when they were unaware of the laws there. However it is then, when recognizing the fact that living in America isn’t a free offering that the boys decided to make some changes- no more sufferings. They eventually adapted to the American culture- they used slangs such as “Man” or “
What’s up”, changed their clothing style, ate Western food, didn’t hold hands and used advanced technology such as TV. Making friends, working hard at school was also some ways they were able to get used to living in America. Peter, after requesting for a new birth certificate and becoming a junior I high school in Kansas made many more friends, and was adjusting to America with the helps from his friends. He learned to speak English fluently, graduated and was accepted by many white friends when he went to a church along with his white friends. However, they kept most of their cultural identity, and still spoke in their own language while talking to each other. They also started to contribute to their country, Sudan.Although the life in America and adjusting to it wasn’t spoon- fed to them, they gradually adapted to it, having quite a successful experience there. =]
Hi, Jae Won
ReplyDeleteI liked how you picked out all the details and the dialogue spoken by Santino and Peter, it caught my attention when reading. I also like your choice of quotes for example, “People just look at me. I look odd. I feel shame and I don’t like that. I’m so black than the black people living here. I’m so…black.” It stood out because you were speaking a little about the cultural shock that they faced in America and I agree with your statement, “…shows how some people are racist towards them and how he feels about that.” But how would you explain in depth about this quote and really focus on the cultural shock? And also this quote, “The boss said Africa is hot and we are used to the heat. It’s not funny. She thinks I’m already burnt because we’re black. It doesn’t mean that I need to work under the hot sun,” I liked it because it reflects back to the difficulties they faced which relates to the question. I can understand how they felt when the boss said they can work outside.
- Hye Ran