China-America Cultural Differences Shape My Identity

Becoming culturally integrated was, surprisingly, not something I struggled with as a child. Born in China, I immigrated to the United States at a young age of 3 years old. Having been so young, most of my childhood in China is a mere blur. What is remembered is stored in pictures from the past and stories of a past time. Because most of my childhood memories of China is lost, I hold what I do remember very dearly. Moving to the US in the year 2000 was a huge change for my parents.

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Coming from such a bustling country to the quiet suburban life of America was a complete change in cultural understanding. Being in China all their lives, it was difficult to adapt to the world around them. In the year 2000, many things happened that changed the United States as a whole and had an effect on all its populants. Mainly the drop in unemployment was primarily devastating to all Americans, let alone immigrants.

For my parents, the idea of surviving without a job was utterly disastrous. Having no income for an immigrant family trying to survive is possibly the worst thing that could’ve happened. Luckily, my parents at the time were attending college in the states. This led them to finding jobs around using the recommendations in college.

Without their diplomas, there would have been a good chance that I would not be in America today. Rather living back in China with the support of family. Moving to America was such a huge change for my parents. Unfortunately for them, their relatives stayed in China. Being independent in a foreign country was a difficult challenge my parents and I had to overcome. Around the time of their move, a major event occurred in the US. The 9/11 suicide attacks shook the entire nation and caused mass panic around the country. Although, not particularly understanding of the situation, my parents and the entire nation still felt the effects of the attacks and were shaken by the event. The history of my family primarily lies in the cities of GuiYang and WuHu china. My parents, coming from different areas of China, attended WuHan University together. Before that, my mom’s side of the family consisted of simply my grandfather and grandmother and their parents and siblings. My grandfather and his brother from my mother’s side worked for the Chinese government before eventually retiring. Unfortunately my grandfather’s brother passed away around the age of 45. The history of my mother’s side is much richer than the one of my fathers.

My mother’s family originally owned many trade ships back in the days of trading via ships. Large ships consisted of Silk and other goods that would have been bartered in other areas. As time progressed, the wealth acquired was somehow lost and squandered. My own reflection of family history simply is that I appreciate all that was done for me to have the opportunity to grow up in America. All that has happened that led up to this life of mine is brought to me from my family. The traditions set by my culture will definitely be carried on to the future. The cultural differences between China and America have formed into what I know today. Because of my history between both countries, I am positive that I will be able to carry on both their qualities into the future. I’m very thankful to be able to express both sides of my character, being both Chinese and American.