Khanh Le Dr.

Poremski ENG 105 Jan 29th 2013 Paper 1 There have been many definitions of home ranging from a physical structure in which people live to an abstract concept of culture: food and music. The former definition, in favor of Maslows hierarchy of needs, argues that home, which is a safe and comfortable place for people, is a house in which people live in. On the other hand, the latter definition, which is spiritually constructed, defines home by the traditional food and music of a culture. Those definitions, although seem to be contradictory, reconcile in a saying by Paul Gruchow in Thinking of Home, which I consider as a true definition of home: Habitation makes a house a home. The well-being of a home, therefore, depends upon the welfare of its residents (335). And it is the connection between the well-being of a home and the welfare of its residents that makes this definition of home different, for inhabiting is not only surviving day by day by means of food in a physical construction but also interacting with other beings around, including oneself. Hence what makes a place home are relationships among beings at home. Habitation, which is defined in the dictionary as the act of living in a place, may appear to be an abstract term but then is revealed to be an inclusive concept which contains an essential aspect of life: interacting. Living without interacting is nothing but surviving. One may argue that one can survive with just food, water and a safe place to stay. However, living in the former sense is omitting the distinctive difference between human and animals and that is the ability to communicate, to understand and therefore to enrich and learn from each other. Food and shelter,

indeed, help us in surviving and growing up day by day. Interacting with people, however, is what nurtures our souls and makes us mature. In interacting with people we pull out from their stories their experiences which, through the complex process of learning, turn into our own. Possessing the instinct to learn, we as humans connect altogether through the growing experience that we have when we interact with other people. In the very end, we are no one but story-tellers wandering on earth, enriching our storage of stories and at the same time, sharing it with hope to make our own connection towards other story-tellers. It is human nature is to make connection through stories. Home, to which everyone feels deeply connected, cannot exist without peoples interactions. A house without relationships between family members is nothing but a boarding house. A home is more than just a place to eat and sleep; it is also a place where I share, enrich and fulfill my life with stories from other family members. Home is where I play chess with my father. Home is where I sit in the kitchen and listen to my mothers stories about the marketplace while she cooks. Home is where I babysit my nephew while my sister makes milk for him. Yet home is not bounded under any physical construction. Home is the road on which my dad takes me to school. Home is a park where I go jogging with my sister. Home is any place where I feel safe and comfortable because I am with my family. Nevertheless, I do not want to limit my definition of home as a place that has strong personal interactions between members in a family. I want to expand the definition to a place that has strong personal interactions among people. When I moved to the United States, I did not accept the fact that the dorm is now my new home, for I did not recognize the kindness of my roommate when he offered to take me back to his house every break. I was surprised by and doubtful about the generosity and hospitality of people around me. I was still reserved and shy,

so I did not share my story with any one. I could not make connection with anyone, and I felt lost among strangers whose story I do not know and who do not know my own story. It was not until then that I realized the need to open up my heart and my mind in order to perceive home as a place that I enjoy not only because of the connections between family members but also because of the people that surround me. Home, although hard to define is however easy to have, because the essence of home lies under no boundary but the extensive one: human connections. Home has no physical boundary and cannot be defined under any abstract term because home lies in everyones heart.