Family
Family is a word with a variety of definitions. These definitions vary depending on who is asked. Ask 12-year-old Adam how he defines family, and he'll tell you family is, "A group of people who are all related." Compare this to 8-year-old Alyssa's definition of, "A lot of people put together that are related," and one begins to see just how much the definitions vary. Straying from common answers one will find that some say family is the group of people that annoys one the most, while others claim family is the people who seem the least like one. Still other, more sensible individuals define family as a group of people who care for each other. Though I can thoroughly understand the theory that family can be very annoying, I also agree quite strongly that family is a group of people who care for one another. Through 16 years as a family member, I have learned various rules about family, as well as what family really is. Oftentimes, family is a group of people that annoys one almost to no end. Having a younger brother and sister, as well as a Japanese exchange student, I have first hand experience with annoying family. With six people in the house, it is oftentimes near impossible to find a quiet place, let alone a place to be alone. This lack of privacy is oftentimes a cause of arguments. Though many of these arguments are rather heated, occasionally even escalating to shouting matches, they are not to be confused with a lack of caring among the people involved. Being a member of two families has given me the chance to see different types of families, as well as to better hone my idea of what family really is. While many people consider family as only those people who are related to them, I have learned that family does not necessarily have to be blood relatives but can, in fact, be complete strangers, at least at first. I learned this over the summer during my time in Japan when I stayed with a family I had never before met or seen and had spoken to only once via a long distance call. It was only a couple of days, however, before I started to consider these people my family which, indeed, they were and remain. My reason for classifying my Japanese hosts as "family" is the fact that they cared for me despite the fact that I could do little or nothing in return. Even though it was often very difficult to understand them, I still grew to love my hosts, so it was easy for me to call them my family. Another thing I learned about family while in Japan is just how much one grows to love the family with whom one grows up. Spending time away from home, one often becomes homesick. Though initially this homesickness may be related to the lack of familiar foods, objects, or surroundings, eventually this homesickness will stem from missing family. Something I did not realize before I went to Japan was that one can miss one's family, even when a surrogate family is available. This brings up another factor of family: family is a familiar group of people. Though a person may not realize just how familiar their own family is, this fact becomes quite obvious when away from family for an extended period of time with little or no communication, and it quickly becomes apparent just how familiar one's family really is. Here in America, I have what most people would consider "family:" a mother, father, younger brother, and a younger sister. I also have a Japanese "sister," our exchange student Kyoko, who is staying in my house. Outside of the family living in the same house as me, I have a huge extended family: grandparents, a great-grandmother, uncles, aunts, and innumerous cousins lend to a number too large to count without having the whole live-in family on hand. Speaking of extended family, I have a sister in Minsk, Belarus, and a Japanese sister, named Maiko, as well as my live-in "sister," Kyoko. I care about all of these people, as they care about me, and they are all my family. Family is word everyone should know the meaning of, as it is an important part of everyone's life. One must remember that family is very important and that without a family of some sort one's life would not be the same as it is today.