Imagine...

Just imagine, you have landed on a planet. On this planet people only eat a quarter of the food that you would normally eat. What is more, it is considered very bad form to request any more than the average helping, as this would be perceived as unnecessary and using more than a persons fair share.

The problem is, although you do not want to offend them, your body naturally needs this larger amount of food to survive. You try to explain this to them, and show them that your body is built a bit bigger and different than theirs. However, although they speak a language that is very close to English, somehow, they just do not seem to understand what you are trying to say to them.

You get hungrier and hungrier day by day. It affects your patience, your concentration and your mood. You try to explain your need to the inhabitants again. Due to your progressive negative behaviour, coupled with the fact, that you have lost weight, are looking a bit dishevelled and are beginning to show a rather desperate glint in your eye, the natives are even more reluctant to listen and retreat from your presence, and give you even less nurishment. This in turn makes you feel lonely, misunderstood and hungry.

You try to leave the planet, but discover that you are not able to get fuel easily, and will have to wait. You will have to spend many years amongst these people. Thinking about it, you begin to understand that they will not adjust to your needs with any speed, as you are only one of your kind and there are very few of you flying around in spaceships.. another may not land on this planet for a very long time. You realise that it is you that will/must adjust to the natives cultural norms in order to survive. You are facing a lifetime of slow starvation if you cannot find a way to make them understand that your's is an inherent need and not greed on your part. You face a most difficult task, attempting to change perceptions of folk who are somewhat suspicious of your motives and aren't easily willing to try and get to know you.

An uncomfortable beginning...

This was shared by a young author who chose to remain anonymous but agreed that it was ok for readers to see it. It is how his initial educational experience seemed to him.. interesting..