Adopted Town

The second part to "The Place You Love is Gone", Adopted Town, is about the author moving to a new house in a new town. She left Akron and moved to Hoboken, Jew Jersey. She dislikes this place a lot. She talks about the town, the street, her house, and why she dislikes everything about it. "At first I lacked the vocabulary to properly term it a railroad apartment, and all I knew was that the interior rooms could have been used to safely process film” (page 68). I love this quote she used because I could truly picture how dark the room is. In high school I took a photography class and I know that to develop film you can’t use real like so I can picture how dark the room is she is describing. Following that she says that “Rarely was food prepared in what was determined to be the ‘kitchen’.” (page 68-69) She describes that the kitchen does not feel like a kitchen, especially compared to her old house. Those quotes help me understand that she is not happy with her new house in New Jersey, and that she misses her old house in a way.

               

The text relates to me in a few ways. For one, I have moved to a new house, other than the one I grew up in. I moved when I was about seven years old and I was forced to give up my old memories and make new ones in my new house. However, my new house wasn’t as bad to move into as hers appears to be. I was a bit excited to move into my new house, although I know I would’ve missed all my other memories of my old house. That was the house I was born into and all my baby and toddler memories were there. I am very glad that I, at least, have the advantage of watching home videos and actually seeing those memories.

Salem, now, is kind of like my adopted town. I am still learning my way around and certain little short cuts, but I adapting to it, kind of like the author did to her new house. I am not usually good with change but Salem is becoming like a second home to me. Methuen will always be my home town and where I grew up but I am slowly adapting to the changes of Salem. The actual University is kind of like my adopted home. It is where I spend most of my week. I don’t like that I’m so far away from my home and my family. But they come to visit, or I go home to visit. I am adapting to both the down and school even though I miss my home. At first meeting new people and seeing all these new places what a little alarming because I wasn’t sure if I fit in here, but after a month or two it gets easier to adapt.