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"Culture Clash" I am a born Vietnamese, and Chinese American. For more than a decade I have made many friends coming from diverse cultures. I recall one friend back in high school that demonstrated the importance of one's own private culture, and language. From this experience with my friend, Hong, I realized that families who had a strong cultural, and language practice at home had a very stable and functional family. Individuals who embrace their culture, and language broadly tend to pass on the wisdom of a rich culture on to the next generation. Hong's family demonstrated how out of sync, I was with my own language and culture.
My family was losing its Vietnamese roots. Hong's family strictly conversed in Cantonese daily, while my family mainly spoke in English and southern Vietnamese. Going to the Hong's home at first made me feel Alienated. I would see Hong's entire family speak in their own Language, and occasionally speak some English to me. Simple words or sentences such as, hi, hello, how are you, and good-bye were used. It was interesting to see my friend switch sides of language as soon as he stepped home.
His family seemed to have a special connection to each other, culturally. I would see Hong, and his father have a discussion on Bruce Lee in their own private language. Every word that Hong spoke flowed smoothly, and was interpreted well by his father. Hong's father also spoke in Cantonese, and argued against what Hong thought of Bruce Lee. They had an interesting debate in Cantonese. There was never an incident in the misinterpretation of language.
As a result the family was in a stable condition. During this time my family had problems. My brother and I would speak English 75 % percent of the time, while my mother would speak both languages, my father speaking Vietnamese. At dinner we would socialize about many subjects, and our daily lives. My father would talk in Vietnamese about his work, and I would talk about my day in English. My dad was not fluent in English, so he had a difficult time interpreting, and understanding what I was saying.
Points could not be proven effectively, and it made situations extremely frustrating. As a result it flared up conflicts in language interpretation. The feedback we gave to each other was disorganized, and confusing. Our family was not functioning well in terms of communication. Every year in February my culture celebrates a New Year such as the Vietnamese New Year. The Chinese New Year, and the Vietnamese New Year are identical to each other.
In the Chinese, and Vietnamese New Year relatives, friends, and families get together, and give out money. My family got used to not celebrating our cultural New Year. Every time the New Year would come around, no one would mention it. The Chinese New Year slowly became like any other day.
Hong's family would throw a huge New Year's party. His relatives would drop by to socialize with his family in Chinese. I would see his grandmother, grandfather, parents, and other relatives give out $ 20, $ 50, $ 100 dollar bills to all the nephews, and friends of the family. Everyone was joyful, and happy. I stared to realize that embracing the English language, and culture somewhat blocked out our language, and cultural participation.
In fact my parents worked on the Vietnamese New Year, and I attended school on those days. What made this sound worse was that my family celebrated the American New Year's thru the roof. The American's New Year was celebrated at my home. Our friends, and family partied at my home till 4 am in the morning.
We celebrated by dancing, drinking alcohol, singing, and lighting dozens of fireworks. Watching Hong's family made me feel that my family had lost its pride in our cultural celebration. Attending annual cultural festivities such as: The Little Saigon Festival, Orange County Vietnamese singer association, and the Buddhist Festival were another aspect that my family avoided. I remembered first coming to America as a child. I used to love attending Vietnamese cultural get-togethers.
There was so much life in these festivities. I would actually meet people of my ethnic background, and it gave me a sense of acceptance. In festivals you socialize, eat, share thoughts, and ideas in Vietnamese. These activities reminded me as a Vietnamese at heart. Hong's family would go to the cultural events three to four times a year. Most Asian cultural events recommend you to speak in your language, and participate in activities related to your culture.
My family stopped going because we practiced English more often, and felt we were too "American" to be there. I felt embarrassed to go because my Vietnamese speaking skills started to degrade, and my parents just lost interest in our culture. Our family was gradually assimilated into the American culture. Therefore we felt we could not fit into the Vietnamese culture anymore. My experience with Hong has changed the way I treasure my own language, and culture with my family. I have been practicing my language at home extensively for the past year, and now I have become fluent in it.
I am now proud of my culture, through its rich history. My family has been transited back into a "Vietnamese" family. In our household we speak Vietnamese 90 % of the time to each other. There is rarely a conflict in misinterpretation of language.
We try to attend festivities, and events as much as we can annually. Duties, and chores in the household can be done effectively because we understand each other. Our family is finally functioning well. I strongly believe in holding ones culture, because it encourages the individual to develop pride, and a deep understanding of their roots. The applied knowledge, and experience will then be applied to enrich their lives in the future.
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Research essay sample on Made Me Feel Chinese New Year
