Growing up in the U.S., as a first generation Chinese-American, was not an easy experience. However, I feel that my unique experiences have given me insightssintosboth cultures that have helped make me a richer person.
I grew up in the little town of Union City, New Jersey. This working cLAss area has been settled predominately by immigrants of Latin America and is conveniently located across the Hudson River from New York City. I grew up being one of a small minority of Asian individuals in this area. My family came here to make a living as blue-collar workers owning a Chinese restaurant. Most families in China idealize America as this great "Gold Mountain," a land of opportunityswheresanyone can make their fortune if they work hard enough. One is not constrained by familial ties and societal cLAss, which prevents one from advancing in traditional Asian cultures.
My life revolved around this restaurant. My parents worked 12-hour days just to make a comfortable living they could never have attained in China. Both my parents had to make sacrifices to their family and did not receive an education. Unfortunately after 8 years of laborious work and encroaching competition in the area, my parents decided to sell their restaurant and find work in New York City in the hotel industry.
In the meantime, my parents heavily reinforced hard work and education so that my siblings and I wouldn't fallsintosthe same pattern of lost opportunity that they had. They also reinforced obeisance and decorum in their children. As a result of their strict upbringing, when I camesintosmy own in my late teens and early 20s, I rebelled against them. I no longer wanted to be a minion following the words of my parents. I wanted to have my own identity. What I didn't realize was that the core of the Chinese family was instilled centuries ago by the tenets of Confucianism, which placed the focus on the family. These traditional concepts went against all my individualistic ideas from my American cLAsses.
When I reached college age and was leaving for the first time out of the protective grasp of my parents, I didn't know what to do with myself. All my life, I had my parents tell me what I should do or not to do with my life. They didn't want me to go to college or university but instead to business schoolswheresI could get an associate's degree in 2 years and enter the job force as a secretary. Then I would be able to provide for themsintostheir old age. I decided against this course of action and was blacklisted by them for a while. With time, our relationship grew with understanding. They understand that, as Asian-Americans, we are different and our uniqueness should be celebrated. We have the opportunities they dreamed of for themselves as immigrants to the U.S.
第一代美籍華人的成長經歷
作為第一代生長在美國的美籍華人並不是件容易的事情。然而我感到正是這種獨特的經歷，使我具備了一種在中西文化方面受益終身的獨到眼光。我是在New Jersey的一個叫Union City長大的。這是一個工薪階層聚集的地區，居民大部分是來自拉丁美洲的移民，悠閒地居住在紐約州東部的哈德遜河兩岸。
亞洲人是這個地區的少數民族。我們全家移民到這裏後，經營一家飯店謀生。許多中國人認為美國是一座金山，是一片充滿機會的沃土，只要你辛勤苦幹就可以賺大錢。在美國一個人是不會被家庭或者社會等級所束縛的，這種狀況影響了我們對亞洲傳統文化的理解。
我的生活圍着這個餐館團團轉。為了過上在中國永遠也沒法過上的舒適生活，我的父母每天工作12個小時，他們都不得不為家庭做出一些犧牲，因此他們沒受過什麼教育。不幸的是經過8年的辛苦勞作，以及我們在該地區同其他飯店的不斷競爭，我的父母決定賣掉這個餐館，在紐約市的飯店區找些工作。
當時我的父母要求我和我的兄弟姐妹們辛苦工作，努力學習，從而使我們不至於像他們一樣，錯過很多機會。同時他們還要求我們謹尊禮儀。在他們的嚴格教導下，當我在20歲左右時，我開始有了自己的想法，我不想再做一個唯父母命是從的人，我也想有我自己的思想。然而我沒有意識到，幾千年前的孔夫子思想早已經深深植根於中國家庭裏。而這種傳統思想正和我的美國個人主義望其項背。
第一次離開父母的保護傘是在我上大學的時候，我不知道自己該何去何從。我的一生都是我的父母在拿主意，告訴我該做什麼，不該做什麼。他們不想讓我上大學，而想讓我讀商業學校，因此兩年以後我就能夠拿到證書，開始做祕書之類的工作了。那樣我就能在他們老的時候贍養他們。我決定反抗，於是有一段時間，我被他們視為逆子。然而隨着時間的流逝，我們開始互相理解對方。他們意識到作為一個美籍華人，我們是不同的，而我們這種特殊狀況應該被利用起來。我們擁有着他們移民到美國時所夢想的所有機會。
Growing up in the U.S., as a first generation Chinese-American, was not an easy experience. However, I feel that my unique experiences have given me insightssintosboth cultures that have helped make me a richer person.
I grew up in the little town of Union City, New Jersey. This working cLAss area has been settled predominately by immigrants of Latin America and is conveniently located across the Hudson River from New York City. I grew up being one of a small minority of Asian individuals in this area. My family came here to make a living as blue-collar workers owning a Chinese restaurant. Most families in China idealize America as this great "Gold Mountain," a land of opportunityswheresanyone can make their fortune if they work hard enough. One is not constrained by familial ties and societal cLAss, which prevents one from advancing in traditional Asian cultures.
My life revolved around this restaurant. My parents worked 12-hour days just to make a comfortable living they could never have attained in China. Both my parents had to make sacrifices to their family and did not receive an education. Unfortunately after 8 years of laborious work and encroaching competition in the area, my parents decided to sell their restaurant and find work in New York City in the hotel industry.
In the meantime, my parents heavily reinforced hard work and education so that my siblings and I wouldn't fallsintosthe same pattern of lost opportunity that they had. They also reinforced obeisance and decorum in their children. As a result of their strict upbringing, when I camesintosmy own in my late teens and early 20s, I rebelled against them. I no longer wanted to be a minion following the words of my parents. I wanted to have my own identity. What I didn't realize was that the core of the Chinese family was instilled centuries ago by the tenets of Confucianism, which placed the focus on the family. These traditional concepts went against all my individualistic ideas from my American cLAsses.
When I reached college age and was leaving for the first time out of the protective grasp of my parents, I didn't know what to do with myself. All my life, I had my parents tell me what I should do or not to do with my life. They didn't want me to go to college or university but instead to business schoolswheresI could get an associate's degree in 2 years and enter the job force as a secretary. Then I would be able to provide for themsintostheir old age. I decided against this course of action and was blacklisted by them for a while. With time, our relationship grew with understanding. They understand that, as Asian-Americans, we are different and our uniqueness should be celebrated. We have the opportunities they dreamed of for themselves as immigrants to the U.S.
第一代美籍華人的成長經歷
作為第一代生長在美國的美籍華人並不是件容易的事情。然而我感到正是這種獨特的經歷，使我具備了一種在中西文化方面受益終身的獨到眼光。我是在New Jersey的一個叫Union City長大的。這是一個工薪階層聚集的地區，居民大部分是來自拉丁美洲的移民，悠閒地居住在紐約州東部的哈德遜河兩岸。
學問齋