Galactaron - Culture Shock

Space is a very large place and it is not very densely populated. So when a new species or life inhabited planet is discovered, the various citizens of the galaxy quickly want to greet them and learn about them.

Drawn by radio waves, Galactaron focuses in on Earth and they travel a great distance to learn about us. When they finally reach Earth they land their massive red, egg-shaped space ship on a frozen lake in the upper Midwest of America. There they meet Emily Wong, a 20-year-old Chinese-American girl who lives with her father. Emily quickly befriends Galactaron and decides to give them a personalized tour of planet Earth. That’s when they start to discover what earth is, what humans are, what we have to offer, and what we will take away.

Because they’re aliens, they often have trouble communicating. They don’t have human tongues so they have to use computer assistance to help them speak. However, they also don’t realize that the people of earth have more than one language. It’s similar to how one might assume that a dog from Australia could understand a dog from Russia because they’re both the same species. Galactaron tends to assume the same of us and they have trouble seeing regional differences like we can. When they speak, it is often a jumble of words from many different languages mixed together. The meaning is there, but the sound is sometimes incomprehensible.

Singer has no face and no ability to express emotions. The people of his (?) world are travelers. They try desperately to learn about emotions because they do not understand them. Each person on his world earns masks that express all the emotions they’ve come to learn and understand. The oldest and greatest of their people have hundreds of masks, each with a unique expression on it’s face symbolizing every emotion that the wearer has learned.

Singer is curious, young, and inexperienced. He has his neutral mask and has only learned three other emotions: Sadness, Anger, and Happiness. In visiting Earth, Singer hopes to continue his education.

Let us welcome Galactaron to Earth and hope they have a pleasant stay!