inversion

My building has a large contingent of Cambodian immigrants, one of whom was recently describing to me his past and life as he recalled it under the Khmer Rouge. I've lived in this neighborhood for many years and it's only now that I've even really begun to consider the fairly simple thought experiment of trying to see through my neighbors eyes...however possible this may be. What would it be like to be caught in a war completely beyond your comprehension and displaced violently as a refugee into a whole new culture ? What would it be like to suffer such a catastrophic cultural shift and personal loss? And then end up in this very neighborhood with me living next door...?