Double Consciousness

        Australia was culturally eye opening during my sophomore year abroad at La Trobe University. I felt a large amount of double consciousness. Studying abroad brought me the realization that I will always be an America wherever I go. The moment I step into another country is the moment I am stamped on my forehead being an American from the US. One eye opening moment was the idea of forgiveness. In the American culture we need insurance. Without insurance forgiveness is not enough to uphold a serious incidence. Even though we are largely a Christian culture we do not play the action of forgiveness very easily. As Americans we are very quick to point the finger in serious encounters where ones world has been encroached on. Our first response in these instances is to say we are going to sue to resolve an issue. We believe that forgiveness and resolution comes from money. I recognized this when a friend told me a story of her grandfather getting the wrong medication in a hospital. He was previously extremely sick prior to being given the wrong medication. This mistake in providing the wrong medication caused her grandfather to pass away. My initial response in this conversation was asking my friend if her family had sued the hospital. She responding with the answer, “why would I sue a hospital when money cannot bring my grandfather back.”  I responded by saying “then what do you do in that situation. She said, “ You try forgiving them” This was a major shift in my worldview realizing that I was an American with certain cultural beliefs that I subscribe to unconsciously. After a number of other realizations I wasn’t sure what to I believed in and causing me to be extremely aware of my double consciousness.