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I'm originally from China, but came to the United States via Peru five years ago. Well, I don't remember much of my family origins; however, I'll do my best in describing it.
In my nuclear family, my father left our little village in Heshan, Guangdong, in the year I was born - 1989 - in order to escape peasantry and the lack of economic advancement in rural China. It took him around six years to settle down in Peru. He was a fairly successful businessman by then, involved in the food industry. In 1995, my mother, and my brother, and I joined him.
For the next eight years, I went to a Peruvian-Chinese private school. This place became my second home, if not my first home, since I literally spend half of my day in there. In addition, I often went to the school on the weekends to get involved with sports-related activities. I adapted myself to my new environment quite quickly. Perhaps it was my age that allowed me to assimilate into the Peruvian culture, its customs, food, and people. Nonetheless, whenever I was home, my parents would remind me of my Chinese heritage. The things that they loved to repeat the most were: "Study, study, and Study" and "Obey, obey, and obey." Since my school was partly Chinese, I later learned that filial piety was the virtue that my parents had been trying to install in me all along.
Alas, my life was to take a u-turn in 2003. After spending most of my life in Peru, my parents decided that all of us would be better off in the US. According to them, the US was the golden land that rewarded everyone who works hard. I arrived in the US with my parents when I was fourteen years old, not knowing that I was going to reside in here. Because my parents knew that my brother and I wouldn’t want to reside in the US, they only told us that were staying after a couple of months passed.
At first, I hated every minute of my staying in here. I mean, who on earth would like to reside in a place where you do not know anyone and do not even know the language? It took me perhaps half a year to accept the reality. I noticed that the US was not the golden land that my parents envisioned it to be. Back in Peru, we were considered to be in the middle class. But in the US, we were considered to be the lowest of the lower class. When I realized that my parents sacrificed themselves by working day and night in menial jobs in the food and garment industry, I felt indebted to them. Even though I did not like the US and its people, I forced myself to assimilate. To me, this meant that I had to be proficient in the English language and be able to get along with others.
In my first two years of high school, since I could not put a coherent sentence together, many of my classmates used to make fun of me. I loathed them for that. Nonetheless, I proved them that I was as equally competent as they were by doing well academically. As a result, I slowly gained their respect. Nowadays, people still tease me about my accent from time to time. But they no longer make fun of me.
It's been five years since I first set foot in the American Dream. Fortunately, things have gone well for my family and I. Even though my parents still have not grasped the English language, they have at least found stable jobs. On the other hand, my brother and I have been slowly assimilating to the American values. More importantly, we are a step closer from the American Dream since we are both in college.
If I were to trace the whereabouts of my extended family, it would be impossible since they are all over the world. I have family members in China, the United States, Peru, Canada, Costa Rica, Panama, Chile, the Netherlands, Japan, and among other places. Because my grandparents, both from my dad and mom's side, had many children, they each opportunistically took their chances to go to a foreign country. Unfortunately, I have not been able to keep in contact with my entire family. Whenever my parents make international phone calls, especially to China and Peru, they tag my brother and I along. This is one of the most efficient ways of keeping in touch with my close relatives.
Contact me @ siwen.liao@baruchmail.cuny.edu
