My Parents Home

My parents came from a city called Guangzhou and lived ordinary lives their. I have visited there three times and I would best describe it as a city similar in size to New York City. I’d say that it’s actually really nice there. The streets are crowded though, there very messy because they have all these different cars and bikes going around. You could probably say it’s not much different than New York City, but of course it has been a bit modernized from when my parents lived there. My parents though they didn’t feel like they were making enough money. My mother worked sewing while my father worked at a store. They had a normal life, they just didn’t feel like they had enough money.

Coming to America

Actually the way my father got to America was very interesting. Apparently my uncle came to america as a fake vietnamese refugee and settled here. After some time he got my father to come to America and then eventually when he married my mother she came over as well. I’m not sure how truthful that is, but that is the story that they tell me so I believe them. As for myself I did not come from Guangzhou, I was born here in America after my parents had settled.

Me as a Kid

I was taught to speak Cantonese as a child and that’s how I mainly communicate to my parents even today. They speak English, but only at a basic level. I was actually taught to speak english at school and it never has been a problem for me, learning a language at a young age usually comes easy to people. I’d like to think that my life here in America isn’t so different from everyone else. I’m just another kid, born here in America, like everyone else. There’s really not much that sets me apart, I rarely ever get asked about my origins. This is one of the few times.

The only thing I can think about that probably affected me about my parent’s was that I usually have to help them read important documents because they only have a basic understanding of English. But, it’s not as bad as my other friend how has had to do all of the document work for his parents. It’s not very annoying to have to read for them, but it does keep me in the loop when it comes to what my family needs to get done.

Me Now

Right now I’m taking a lot of business classes at Baruch and I’m actually very involved in many of the events taking place there. Like I said before I really don’t think I’m different from anyone else and I’d just like to consider myself another kid going through college. My family’s past isn’t much of a thing that I think about, it’s just something that is present but never talked about. I feel like there really isn’t much to say about me as a Chinese person because I’m honestly just a person and everyone is the same no matter what they are. We all live in this city and we’re all one big cluster where culture seems to live somewhere that’s not out in the open.