Globalization's Impact

How has globalization most affected my life? Maybe it's through my favorite brand of jeans that I've found that fit the way I like. Perhaps its new insights of the scriptures translated from different languages by family members. But I think that most of all, my life has been affected vastly by globalization through my brother, who after serving a mission in Japan for two years, brought parts of the country back with him, and his converted friend, Yuko.

When my brother got back from his mission, he had a zest for life that I hadn't seen in him before. He was always wanting to share things that he'd learned while in Japan, and was eager to try and show us why he cared for this country as much as he did. While at the grocery store, he would always head down the international aisle to look for things he recognized from Japan. Normally on one of these trips, he came back with supplies to make traditional food, trying to get us to expand our palates. We were normally glad to oblige because the food he made was delicious. His friend Yuko also had a tasteful influence on me as well.
When Yuko came to visit my family for the first time, I remember how friendly and polite she was to me and my little sister. She and my brother talked back and forth in Japanese, and I gazed in wonder at this seemingly complicated language. The more I listened, the more I wanted to be a part of their conversation, to fully comprehend what they were saying. Between Yuko and my brother, my fascination of Japan opened up a hunger in me to learn more about this country that had such a beautiful language, and where the people were so friendly. After that introduction to Yuko and exposure to the country through both her and my brother, I started to read books written by Japanese authors and watched movies produced by Japan, in hopes to better understand the culture and the place where Yuko was born and raised. I even enrolled in a Japanese class in high school, so that I could learn the language that I found to be so interesting. When I walked into that small class room, I never expected to exit two years later with the knowledge that I gained.
In that class, I learned writing styles so different from the ones I knew, and food that I'd experienced through my brother and Yuko, as well as a few new dishes. But I think that the most impactful thing that I got out of that class was a documentary made on the Japanese side of Pearl Harbor. In that video I was exposed to the side that I didn't normally hear about, the story that I had yet to experience. Through that video, I was able develop an empathy for a country that I had never visited, but through Yuko, my brother, and my class, had been exposed to their culture. Through those experiences and the knowledge that I had gained about that country, I developed an open heart to Japan; and through that open heart, gained a love for a country I had never seen.