Writing Assignment 1: Borders

Borders.  Upon first inspection it is a relatively simple term, at least it was for me, carrying with it no more connotation than a mental image of perfectly drawn lines on a map or that bookstore of the same name.  It is only upon encountering them: crossing them or being stopped by them that deeper exploration becomes mandatory.  Over the past week or two I have run into a plethora of borders, both those that I can cross and those where I am rebuffed.  There are of course the obvious ones, those aforementioned unrealistically sharp delineations depicted by cartographers, crossed as I flew first to France and then to Italy. However for now I will focus on those that are more cloaked, the ones that I've encountered on a daily basis since coming to Europe.  The most pronounced of these is my inability to communicate with the ease I am accustomed to.  I pride myself on my knowledge of the English language as a conduit through which to express myself and to have that severely crippled has made this border particularly pronounced for me.  Since being here I have been reduced to child-like levels in certain situations, wordlessly pointing at the things I want or staring dumbly as a native Italian attempts to impart useful knowledge.  If you have ever been in a similar situation, in a country where you did not know the language, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.  As the days have gone by I have progressed past complete ignorance regarding the Italian language gaining the ability to throw out a Buongiorno here and an Arrivederci there.  Interestingly enough a large number of those Italians with some English skills won't even attempt to speak Italian with me transitioning to English as soon as they assess that I am a foreigner, implying that they are far more comfortable crossing my language barrier than having theirs crossed.  Another facet I have observed is that if there is a multilingual person present it is incredibly easy to become dependent upon them relying upon their expertise rather than undergo the discomfiting feeling of a tangible barrier.  This gives that person an incredible level of power as they are able to regulate that lingual border, capable of censorship.  This directly supports Newman's theory on the subject of borders that the elite few who are able to control borders have access to immense power.  I first came to this realization while traveling in rural areas of China with my sister who is relatively proficient at the language. I on the other hand know how to say only two words in Chinese, nihao and xiangmao, the first meaning hello and the second panda.  She quite literally became the sieve through which my interactions with the world were filtered.  To be honest I did not enjoy the feeling of powerlessness and in a certain sense isolation that accompanied this realization.  This has charged me with a desire to learn Italian that was not present during my language classes in high school.  I look forward to empowering myself and crossing this lingual gap gaining at least limited membership on the other side.