TED@New York
Tania Luna: How a penny made me feel like a millionaire
Tania Luna: Hvordan en lille mønt fik mig til at føle mig som en millionær
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Efter Tjernobylullykken, forlod Tania Luna som lille barn sit hjem i Ukraine for at søge asyl i USA. Og en dag, på gulvet i et herberg for hjemløse i New York hvor hun boede med sin familie, finder hun en lille mønt. Aldrig igen har hun følt sig så rig. En eftertanke om de bittersøde glæder i barndommen - og hvordan man bevarer og tager disse minder med sig.
Tania Luna - Surprisologist
Tania Luna co-founded Surprise Industries, a company devoted to designing surprise experiences. Full bio
Tania Luna co-founded Surprise Industries, a company devoted to designing surprise experiences. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
I'm five years old, and I am very proud.
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Jeg er fem år gammel, og jeg er meget stolt.
00:16
My father has just built the best outhouse
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Min far har netop bygget det bedste udehus
00:20
in our little village in Ukraine.
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i vores lille landsby i Ukraine.
00:22
Inside, it's a smelly, gaping hole in the ground,
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Indenfor er det et lugtende, åbent hul i jorden,
00:26
but outside, it's pearly white formica
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men udenfor, er det perleagtigt, hvidt laminat,
00:30
and it literally gleams in the sun.
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og det skinner helt i solen.
00:34
This makes me feel so proud, so important,
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Det får mig til at føle mig så stolt, så vigtig,
00:37
that I appoint myself the leader of my little group of friends
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at jeg annoncerer mig selv som leder af min lille vennegruppe
00:40
and I devise missions for us.
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og udtænker missioner til os.
00:43
So we prowl from house to house
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Så vi lusker fra hus til hus,
00:45
looking for flies captured in spider webs
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og leder efter fluer fanget i edderkoppespind,
00:49
and we set them free.
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og vi sætter dem fri.
00:51
Four years earlier, when I was one,
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Fire år tidligere, da jeg var et år gammel,
00:53
after the Chernobyl accident,
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efter Tjernobylulykken,
00:55
the rain came down black,
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regnen var sort,
00:57
and my sister's hair fell out in clumps,
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og min søsters hår faldt af i klumper,
00:59
and I spent nine months in the hospital.
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og jeg brugte ni måneder på hospitalet.
01:02
There were no visitors allowed,
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Besøgende var ikke velkomne,
01:03
so my mother bribed a hospital worker.
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så min mor måtte bestikke en hospitalsansat.
01:07
She acquired a nurse's uniform,
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Hun fik fat i en sygeplejerskes uniform
01:10
and she snuck in every night to sit by my side.
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og sneg sig ind til mig hver nat.
01:15
Five years later, an unexpected silver lining.
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Fem år senere, et uforventet glimt af håb.
01:18
Thanks to Chernobyl, we get asylum in the U.S.
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Takket være Tjernobylullykken, får vi asyl i USA.
01:22
I am six years old, and I don't cry when we leave home
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Jeg er seks år gammel, og jeg græder ikke, da vi forlader hjemmet
01:26
and we come to America,
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og vi ankommer til USA,
01:27
because I expect it to be a place filled with rare
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fordi jeg forventer et sted fyldt med sjældne
01:31
and wonderful things like bananas and chocolate
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og vidunderlige ting som bananer og chokolade
01:35
and Bazooka bubble gum,
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og Bazooka tyggegummi,
01:37
Bazooka bubble gum with the little cartoon wrappers inside,
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Bazooka tyggegummi med tegneserie omslag indeni,
01:41
Bazooka that we'd get once a year in Ukraine
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Bazooka, som vi ville få en gang om året i Ukraine,
01:45
and we'd have to chew one piece for an entire week.
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og som vi ville tygge på en hel uge ad gangen.
01:49
So the first day we get to New York,
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Så den første dag, da vi ankommer til New York,
01:50
my grandmother and I find a penny
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min bedstemor og jeg finder en mønt
01:53
in the floor of the homeless shelter that my family's staying in.
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på gulvet i de hjemløses herberg, hvor min familie bor.
01:56
Only, we don't know that it's a homeless shelter.
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Vi ved dog ikke, at det er et herberg for hjemløse.
01:58
We think that it's a hotel, a hotel with lots of rats.
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Vi tror det er et hotel, et hotel med mange rotter.
02:01
So we find this penny kind of fossilized in the floor,
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Vi finder denne mønt, nærmest forstenet i gulvet,
02:06
and we think that a very wealthy man must have left it there
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og vi tænker, at en meget rig mand må have glemt den der,
02:09
because regular people don't just lose money.
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fordi normale mennesker taber ikke bare penge.
02:11
And I hold this penny in the palm of my hand,
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Jeg holder mønten i min hånd,
02:14
and it's sticky and rusty,
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og den er klistret og rusten,
02:16
but it feels like I'm holding a fortune.
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men det føles som, at jeg holder en formue.
02:19
I decide that I'm going to get my very own piece
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Jeg beslutter for at jeg vil købe mig mit helt eget stykke
02:21
of Bazooka bubble gum.
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Bazooka tyggegummi.
02:23
And in that moment, I feel like a millionaire.
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Og i dét øjeblik føler jeg mig som en millionær.
02:27
About a year later, I get to feel that way again
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Omtrent et år senere, får jeg den følelse igen,
02:29
when we find a bag full of stuffed animals in the trash,
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da vi finder en pose fyldt med bamser i noget skrald,
02:32
and suddenly I have more toys
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og pludselig har jeg mere legetøj
02:34
than I've ever had in my whole life.
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end jeg nogensinde har haft i mit liv.
02:37
And again, I get that feeling when we get a knock
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Og igen får den jeg følelse, da banker
02:39
on the door of our apartment in Brooklyn,
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på vores hoveddør i vores lejlighed i Brooklyn,
02:41
and my sister and I find a deliveryman
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og min søster og jeg åbner op til en pizzamand
02:44
with a box of pizza that we didn't order.
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med en pizza, som vi ikke havde bestilt.
02:46
So we take the pizza, our very first pizza,
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Så vi tager denne her pizza, vores allerførste pizza,
02:49
and we devour slice after slice
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og vi fortærer stykke efter stykke
02:52
as the deliveryman stands there and stares at us from the doorway.
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mens pizzamanden står og kigger på os gennem døren.
02:56
And he tells us to pay, but we don't speak English.
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Og han beder os om at betale, men vi snakker ikke engelsk.
02:59
My mother comes out, and he asks her for money,
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Min mor kommer ud, og han spørger hende efter penge,
03:01
but she doesn't have enough.
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men hun har ikke nok.
03:02
She walks 50 blocks to and from work every day
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Hun går hver dag 50 blokke til og fra arbejde,
03:06
just to avoid spending money on bus fare.
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bare for at undgå at bruge penge på bussen.
03:08
Then our neighbor pops her head in,
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Så dukker vores nabo op,
03:10
and she turns red with rage when she realizes
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og hun bliver rød af raseri da hun opdager
03:13
that those immigrants from downstairs
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at de der immigranter der bor under hende
03:15
have somehow gotten their hands on her pizza.
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på mærkelig vis har fået fat i hendes pizza.
03:19
Everyone's upset.
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Alle er oprevede.
03:21
But the pizza is delicious.
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Men pizzaen er lækker.
03:25
It doesn't hit me until years later just how little we had.
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Det er først år senere at jeg har fundet ud af hvor lidt vi havde.
03:31
On our 10 year anniversary of being in the U.S.,
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På vores 10 års jubilæumsdag i USA,
03:33
we decided to celebrate by reserving a room
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besluttede vi at fejre det ved at reservere et værelse
03:35
at the hotel that we first stayed in when we got to the U.S.
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på hotellet som vi boede på da vi i sin tid kom til USA.
03:38
The man at the front desk laughs, and he says,
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Receptionisten griner, og siger
03:40
"You can't reserve a room here. This is a homeless shelter."
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"I kan ikke reservere et værelse her. Dette er et herberg for hjemløse."
03:43
And we were shocked.
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Og vi var chokerede.
03:45
My husband Brian was also homeless as a kid.
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Min mand Brian var også hjemløs som barn.
03:49
His family lost everything, and at age 11,
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Hans familie mistede alt, og da han var 11 år gammel,
03:52
he had to live in motels with his dad,
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var han nødt til at bo på motel med sin far,
03:55
motels that would round up all of their food
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moteller som ville tage alt deres mad
03:58
and keep it hostage until they were able to pay the bill.
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og beholde det, indtil de var i stand til at betale regningen.
04:02
And one time, when he finally got his box
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Og engang, da han endelig fik sin pakke
04:04
of Frosted Flakes back, it was crawling with roaches.
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med cornflakes tilbage, var den fyldt med kakerlakker.
04:08
But he did have one thing.
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Men han havde én ting.
04:10
He had this shoebox that he carried with him everywhere
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Han havde en skotøjsæske som han havde med sig rundt alle vegne
04:12
containing nine comic books,
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med ni tegneseriehæfter,
04:15
two G.I. Joes painted to look like Spider-Man
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to G.I. Joe dukker malet så de lignede Spiderman,
04:18
and five Gobots. And this was his treasure.
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og fem robotdukker. Og det var hans lille skat.
04:21
This was his own assembly of heroes
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Det var hans egen samling af helte
04:24
that kept him from drugs and gangs
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som holdt ham væk fra stoffer og bander
04:26
and from giving up on his dreams.
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og fra at opgive sine drømme.
04:29
I'm going to tell you about one more
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Jeg vil nu fortælle om endnu
04:30
formerly homeless member of our family.
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et tidligere hjemløs medlem af vores familie.
04:33
This is Scarlett.
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Dette er Scarlett.
04:34
Once upon a time, Scarlet was used as bait in dog fights.
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Engang blev Scarlet brugt som lokkemad i hundekampe.
04:37
She was tied up and thrown into the ring
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Hun blev bundet sammen og kastet ind i ringen
04:40
for other dogs to attack so they'd get more aggressive before the fight.
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så andre hunde kunne angribe hende så de ville blive mere aggressive inden en kamp.
04:44
And now, these days, she eats organic food
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Og nutildags, spiser hun organisk mad,
04:48
and she sleeps on an orthopedic bed with her name on it,
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og hun sover på en ortopædisk seng med hendes navn på,
04:51
but when we pour water for her in her bowl,
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men når vi hælder vand i hendes drikkeskål,
04:55
she still looks up and she wags her tail in gratitude.
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kigger hun stadig op og logrer med halen i taknemmelighed.
04:59
Sometimes Brian and I walk through the park with Scarlett,
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Sommetider går Brian og jeg en tur i parken med Scarlett,
05:02
and she rolls through the grass,
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og hun ruller sig i græsset,
05:05
and we just look at her
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og vi står bare og kigger på hende,
05:07
and then we look at each other
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og så kigger vi på hinanden,
05:09
and we feel gratitude.
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og vi føler taknemmelighed.
05:13
We forget about all of our new middle-class frustrations
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Vi glemmer alle vores nye middelklasse frustrationer
05:17
and disappointments,
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og skuffelser,
05:18
and we feel like millionaires.
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og vi føler os som millionære.
05:21
Thank you.
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Tak
05:22
(Applause)
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(Publikum klapper)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tania Luna - SurprisologistTania Luna co-founded Surprise Industries, a company devoted to designing surprise experiences.
Why you should listen
Tania Luna has an unusual title: she calls herself a “surprisologist.” The co-founder and CEO of Surprise Industries, Luna thinks deeply about how to delight, and how to help individuals and teams thrive in uncertain circumstances and develop the bonds needed to get through them.
When Luna was invited to take part in TED’s Worldwide Talent Search in 2012, she expected to give a talk about surprise and the importance of not being attached to outcomes. However, she was inspired to tell a more personal story -- one many of her closest friends didn’t know -- about her Ukrainian family getting asylum in the United States when she was 6-yeard-old and arriving in New York with virtually nothing. She sees her work as connected to her upbringing -- in which a piece of Bazooka bubble gum, a thrown-out toy or a mis-delivered pizza was magical -- because it gave her an appreciation for the joy of little surprises.
Tania Luna | Speaker | TED.com