My culture

I came to the United States when I turned 13. I honestly think I was quite ignorant about the world at that time. But as I continued to live and grow up in New York, I learned more and more about humanity.

My uncle told me, the age of thirteen is considered as the "golden time" for children to migrate to another country because children who migrate at that age would most likely preserve both their domestic and foreign cultures in the future. The logic there is pretty clear. Someone like me who lived in China for thirteen years definitely has a strong cultural bond in mind, especially because of the fact that children are easily influenced by their living environment. I couldn't disagree that child migration is the right path to widen the child's opportunities. But there is always an opportunity cost to everything.

Recalling back to the early days in America, sometimes I think I have a bad childhood because of the cultural shift and it was my parents' fault that they brought me here. However, I also realize that I can never go back in time and change that fact, so I have buried that depressive feeling inside me. It was difficult for me to adopt another culture. The first shook I had once I stepped on the land of America was that I saw many African Americans. I had never seen any African American actors on Television shows nor that I had any knowledge of their existence. I was like someone living under a well, who only knew what's inside the well but nothing else. It was strangeness and fear that dominated my mind about this country. And these feelings remained in my mind for months as I went on subway and walked on streets. I began school soon after my arrival, and I had no friends here. People talked in a strange language that I couldn't understand, and every time I looked at their smiley faces I wondered if they were laughing at me. Americans ate in a much different fashion than I do. Instead of a meal with rice, meat and vegetables, students here ate hamburgers with milk. All these things I saw are contradictory to my knowledge, and it took me years to get use to the new life style and to make friends here.

Today I cannot say whether my culture is Chinese or American, but a mix of the two. While for lunch I eat fast food near school, and for dinner I cook and eat Chinese food at home. I speak English in school but I speak Chinese to my friends and family outside of school. I also make friends with people of all ethnicity, hang out and talk with them at free times. The American culture has became an important part of my life.