Saturday, 23 March 2013

Homesick My Own Story

This is the twenty-fifth anniversary of Jean Fritz's award-winning account of her life in China, and to honor this story, it is only fitting that it be added to our prestigious line of Puffin Modern Classics. This fictionalized autobiography tells the heartwarming story of a little girl growing up in an unfamiliar place. While other girls her age were enjoying their childhood in America, Jean Fritz was in China in the midst of political unrest. Jean Fritz tells her captivating story of the difficulties of living in a unfamiliar country at such a difficult time.
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33 comments:

  1. Praneeta23 March 2013 at 23:25

    Have you ever had to relocate and move base to a country completely alien to you? How did you feel? What are some of the things that you needed to get adjusted to? What was your transition like?

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    1. Anonymous28 March 2013 at 04:48

      yes, a lot of times actually. I move a lot. but it has not been completly alien. I felt pretty out of place untill I got used to it. I needed to get adjusted to the different times and the way things worked. the transition was pretty familiar since I have done it multiple times.

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    2. Praneeta8 April 2013 at 08:24

      Any specif move that you would like to particularly mention? What were some of the challenges that you had to face? How did you manage to face these challenges?

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    3. Anonymous13 May 2013 at 04:12

      well one in particular. fleeing from libya was scary. even more once I had to stay one extra night

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  2. srijans25 March 2013 at 04:19

    No,there's no country which is completely alien to me, but there is a state which is alien to me.When I transferred from my hometown to a city called Belgaum the studies and the environment were different. The reason why because the stusies became difficult and learn different languages.

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    1. Praneeta25 March 2013 at 08:03

      When you say, the studies and environment were different, Srijan, can you specifically say how these were different? Why did you have to learn different languages? Which ones? What were some of the emotions you felt?

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  3. Himari25 March 2013 at 06:12

    I've felt alien to India when I first moved from Japan, my home country. This transition was my first time to move away from Japan and live somewhere else. Almost everything was different - school, food, culture, language, shops, environment. The biggest difficulty was with language. At that time, I could only speak Japanese and I felt lonely at school that I couldn't communicate with the others. But after a while, I started to truly enjoy my school life when I started to be able to communicate with my friends. Even with some difficulties, I liked India a lot. I started getting adjusted there and now I feel this transition has changed my life completely into a wider and better one.

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    1. Praneeta25 March 2013 at 08:04

      Written with true feeling and emotion! India and Japan are entirely two different countries with some similarity but many more differences. I can quite imagine, how hard you must have tried to fit in and get going. You sure have done a remarkable job of adjusting, Himari!

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  4. Unknown25 March 2013 at 08:27

    As I have not got a chance to relocate myself to a new country.My relocation can be considered of my school.I had left my friends and moved to another school,being of different curriculum.I felt strange and a little sad to leave my friends from childhood.I felt absurd at first,new friends,new school and new curriculum,but as timed passed by I started to enjoy my new school,enjoy spending time with my new friends it looked like I had adjusted to my new and lovely school.

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    1. Praneeta8 April 2013 at 08:23

      What were some of the challenges you had to face, as you adjusted to your new surroundings, Fateh? What was the most difficult part?

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  5. Anonymous26 March 2013 at 05:57

    I have never had to relocate myself and move to a country which is completely alien to me, but I can talk about when I relocated my school. I was in a school called “Jain International” it was a residential school. It was really emotional when I left my friends because we enjoyed a lot and had extremely fun with each other. I was worried, how will my new school be, will I make many friends or will it be harder to learn, so I was really frightened. The first day I felt uncomfortable, but then as time passed I had adjusted to my new school which is “Canadian International School”.

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    1. Praneeta8 April 2013 at 08:22

      I can quite imagine the change for you from your previous school to this one - such a different culture that you had had to adapt to!

      Hats off to you, Sharath, must say you did a fine job of 'relocating' schools....

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  6. Unknown8 April 2013 at 06:40

    The biggest relocation for me was from Seattle to Bangalore. Still, I never have felt alien in India. But I felt very depressed having to leave. One difficult thing for me was that I get attached to thing very quickly, which makes it hard for me to move on from. That made things extremely hard on me because I cherished my friends. Another thing that challenged me was getting used to the crowd and pollution in India. It really took me an immense time to get used to this. Overall, I had a fantastic time in these eight months. And I’ve made so many friends too!

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  7. Praneeta8 April 2013 at 08:21

    So after your initial hesitation to liking and adjusting in India, you do feel much at 'home' right? The pollution, crowds et al notwithstanding....

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  8. Anonymous9 April 2013 at 01:11

    I felt alien when i moved to India from Germany even though it wasn't the first time a moved to a country. I felt like i strange seeing a whole new side of the world. I had so many thing to get adjust to since in Germany it was alot different. The roats where cleaner, there was no traffic, the food wasn't spicy and ofcourse a new language and poeple.

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    1. Praneeta17 April 2013 at 02:33

      How do you now feel Santi? Have your feelings changed from what they were originally when you first moved in here?

      Please remember to edit your work before you post/publish the comment.

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  9. Unknown10 April 2013 at 21:51

    I felt aline when I moved to from japan to India. I came India in Jury,2012. it was my first time to relocate from Japan to somewhere. In india many things were diffrent. For examples,food,weather and history. of course I can not speak English. When I came India, I thought that I can not live here,but now I like India a lot.I could made friends. I am enjoying live and school.

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    1. Praneeta17 April 2013 at 02:37

      Well done Seiya, by coming on aboard. I am happy you are getting the grasp of the mainstream class in English.

      Do remember to edit and revise your posts before you publish. See me one day (during lunch recess) and we can go over your posts for revision.

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  10. Unknown13 April 2013 at 01:27

    When I got relocated to India from Dubai, it wasn't that difficult as I had already done it before, when I moved from Portland to Dubai. I felt really lonely and so different when I moved to India, but the main part I had to get used to wasn't the loneliness, it was the culture, the climate, people, pollution....I've been here for 3 years, and I still am not used to it, because India and Dubai are two totally different places, everything is different but I am getting used to it now, and I've been enjoying it so far, and I hope I continue liking it here.

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    1. Praneeta17 April 2013 at 02:40

      Make the most of every country and culture you go to. Each has much to offer and you have much to absorb and learn. Think positive!

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  11. Anonymous15 April 2013 at 23:19

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  12. Anonymous15 April 2013 at 23:29

    Yes, when I went to New Zealand It was really hard because of all the racism.After a while of of living in New Zealand I adjusted by staying on my own. The most hurting time was when they didn't let me play with them.

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    1. Praneeta17 April 2013 at 02:42

      It must have been hard, Shanti. What are some of the adjustments you made in order to gain acceptance? Were you then allowed to become part of the group you wished to be a part of?

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    2. Anonymous29 April 2013 at 03:41

      This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. Unknown16 April 2013 at 08:01

    when i moved from Mauritius I did not feel very alien to India because I used to come to India for holidays to meet my family.
    But I never knew that i would ever move to India,but when i moved i never knew that i did not know anything about India.
    But i think it is very nice to be closer to family.

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    1. Praneeta17 April 2013 at 02:43

      I agree completely! It is always such a wonderful feeling to be close to family and friends. You are able to participate in so many family functions and enjoy all the hospitality. India has so much to offer in terms of food, fun and festivals.

      Welcome!

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  14. Anonymous29 April 2013 at 08:47

    Dear ms Praneeta I did some mistakes and I would like to rite it again. I was borne in Australia in a house with a big garden.I still remember the hammock and the potatoes that were growing in my garden.When I was still little I moved to New Zealand.
    I don't remember if it was difficult, but I definitely remember feeling comfortable because of all the nature. Also people were very sweet especially the Maoris.When I was almost 7 I relocated back to Australia.I didn't expect this place to be so difficult because I was borne there.People were very racist to most of the countries that came to Australia.I could not understand how they were thinking and what they were doing although we spook the same language. The school was very hard because nobody wanted to play with me.It took me a while to get used to them but then a friend called Cate from China Honk Kong started playing soccer with me.I felt more liked and comfortable.Then we moved to India.This was the worst experience of my life.I became very sick and I was so sick that I thought I could die.I prefer not to share this experience in details.It was a time in my life that I felt that I was in another world that everything would end.Then my mum took me to Italy for a while.That was he funnest time of my life because I meet my family and I ate really great food.I came back to India 1 year ago and finely went to the most amazing school in my hole entire life.Finely in my life I meet real best friends.

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    1. P.Varadarajan (Varad)22 May 2013 at 07:34

      Wow! that is quite a story - and to think that you have emerged strong after all of these experiences.

      Take a bow!

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  15. Anonymous20 May 2013 at 06:06

    I felt alien to India when I was coming from the US. The people were acting different and their attitude was different. I got adjusted to India .

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  16. Anonymous20 May 2013 at 06:16

    I had to face challenges of getting adjusted to India. I also had to face the challenge of getting new friends in India. I had to get adjusted to my new school in India.

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  17. Anonymous20 May 2013 at 06:20

    I managed to solve my problems by getting used to the place and knowing my school, my friends and India.

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  18. Anonymous22 May 2013 at 09:11

    My last move was from Italy to India Last year in July.In Italy people are very warm and welcoming and I felt I was cold like Australians.I felt that everyone was like my family because they were so funny and happy as a family could be.In Italy I did not feel any particular challenge, however learning Italian was difficult because my mother tongue is mostly English.But I am not really sure because normally I think in Italian but I feel more comfortable speaking in English.

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  19. Anonymous22 May 2013 at 09:29

    I know two different types of India, one is Andhra Pradesh and the other is Bangalore. For one year I was in Andhra Pradesh and that was really challenging. Everything was challenging. Food, friends,school...my health and my family,, we all experienced difficulties. When I was inside the problems the only thought I had was "where will I go next". I was thinking how to get out of this situation. My Uncle and my mum helped me a lot by telling how life is. I did not think my future as I could think it know. Bangalore is very different and I feel like I can do something in my life.

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