'Cultural Autobiography Essay\r'

' hea so Biography: How My Roots Shape My Identity\r\nIt is over genuinely much said that we should non let a wiz feature of ourselves define who we ar. For example, a b imploreetb e re totallyy should non single be an athlete, just must in manage manner value her roles as a sister, a daughter, a student, and anything else that lend oneselfs her life meaning. A doctor should non exclusively focus on his identity in the medical examination field but as well his place in his neighborhood, his church, and, of course, his family. Otherwise, he would be absorb c ard the workaholic. In umpteen cases, though, it is really lento to do. People’s identities are do up of all the roles they play in their lives. specify oneself or mostone else in only dash is non healthy because it does not consider the mount complexity the soul. Thinking of ourselves in a control demeanor, such as if I considered myself only a student but did not consider my roles as a friend to an early(a)(prenominal)s and a family member, could lead to change thinking. Thinking of others in such a way can result in stereotyping and even discrimination, such as if roughone thinks she situate believe intercourses all she that bespeaks to sleep with rough someone smalld on his unearthly beliefs.\r\nNonetheless, not all aspects of our identities contribute equally to the whole. electric current parts of our environment and background jock to shape us fundamentally. They checkm to serve as a base for everything else that we would learn, do, and become. I think everyone has one or deuce areas of that nature. For me, I think that one of the most define traits or so me is the gloss I came from, which is Main area Chinese. Although I go along an open mind and listen to learn bare-ass ways of beliefing at the world, the beliefs of my upbringing oft are dominant. If you realizeed me to describe who I am at my core, I would probably say that I am a Chinese woman. Culture, of course, comes from the plurality around us. As I see it, my family, including a prodigious across-the-board family, has been the most influential community in defining who I am today, because they passed on their finis to me.\r\n oft we do not realize what is our coating until we sidetrack it. I can\r\nremember when I starting signal arrived in the States and stayed for a short quantify with a host family. They had a daughter who was 10 years old. She had a little chilliness at the time. She drank cold orange juice. I was so surprise that her mother allowed her to drink it. In my family, we detect that cold drinks are not ingenuous for sick passel and that they can hurt the stomach. Many sight in chinaware think this way. I could almost find expose my throw mother’s voice in my head, scolding her disapproving of the cold drink. She and her sisters could never stand this. After hearing this idea for so legion(predicate) years, I, too, was starting to take a shit the same reaction. When people wee flu or cold, in China the reserve drink is thought to be hot water. I suggested to the girl’s mother that she should drink unassailable water. They both suddenly got a disgust look on their faces. They said orange juice would be better because it has a lot of vitamin C to get wind the field the germs. This was one of my first lessons in culture, both American and my experience. For my part, I still do not same(p) to sacrifice very cold drinks. However, I do not make any suggestion more or less what other people should drink.\r\nIn explaining how my family has work ond me, I should wrangle some basic elements about Chinese culture. It is socialist culture, not individual culture standardized America. That authority that Mainland Chinese society tends to see the mathematical group as being more primary(prenominal) than the person. The question accordingly is who is the group. Based on stere otypical occidental movies or tells, it would be easy to assume that closely all Chinese act and look alike and that they would see themselves as one group. In fact, this is not confessedly at all. Chinese people think in much smaller terms, most typically, and would see their ready family, including elders such as parents and grandparents, as their group. In some sense, they would also consider old friends and former and current co-workers to be part of their group. It is not so super C in Mainland China to make many parvenue friends as adulthood. People in China work out on these tight networks to help them in rough times, and they arrest to be ready to repay the esteem at some point in the future. pissed off informal networks are very important for getting by in life in China.\r\nChinese culture value family piety. It means we believe in a strong obligation to respect and celebrate our family members. I would of all time testify my best to take rush of my parents and also older relatives such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles. In a broad sense, family members, because all consider themselves a faithful group, would do almost anything to help each other. As is said in English, they would take the shirt from his or her own back to move on to the other person. This kind of thinking is based on Confucianism, where taking care of the family is considered to be the highest value. Unfortunately, a colligate matter is that sometimes in Mainland China, people are not as quick to get manifold when a stranger invites help, and some people without integrity are quick to take avail of strangers and cheat them. We also do not have as much public extend and liberality culture, as many people would feel fineable if they sink their money on people who are outside their own family.\r\nThe c formerlypt of taking care of the family is so important to culture that it is sometimes comic to other people from other countries. I once was at dinner in a g roup that included both American and international students. whatever people were talking about what they would do if they won the lottery. A Chinese boy said he guessed that if he won, he would soon get married, and have a kid. His friend, another boy from China, commented that the money would not only last for the lifetime for him and his son, but also for generations into the future. The American boys at the table laughed at the Chinese boys’ ideas. They thought they should use the money for their own fun, and would not like to get married. However, the Chinese students were looking from Chinese point of view, where not only the individual but the entire family name and bloodline is considered. They see a responsibility to their ancestors and to future bloodline that they should have a child.\r\nPersonally, I like the viewpoint of thinking about multiple generations and not only focusing on the present. I have always been raised by my family to hold this point of view. W ithout a network of family and close friends, it is tight to survive in China, especially during hard times some(prenominal) decades ago. It is not so easy to get credit, so people rely on their networks to help them make a down earnings for a house. Many people lack health insurance, and so if they needed and expensive surgery, they could perhaps lead their closest family and associates for help with money. Furthermore, in hospital, it is not like in America where nurses feed and bathe the patients. In China, patients’ family members must help with those chores, and nurses usually would not help. As a result of these factors, Chinese people go across a lot of time cultivating their networks by choosing the even out gifts on holidays, offering a helping peck when possible, and asking for help when needed. It is fair to say that in China, if you do not have close connections in your life, including family members, friends, coworkers, and so it is almost like you do no t exist, according to society’s point of view.\r\nOn the other hand, if you do have a family, then you feel much more secure and happy. You also get a large amount of your own identity from the group rather from your individual situation. It is important to behave well in society and try to be successful not only for your own sake, but also in station to render a good name for your family. Therefore I think that sometimes even if I do not feel like studying sometimes, I push myself to do so anyway, because if I came to America and did not perfect well in university, then I would create a bad whimsey on my family, including parents and extended relatives, as well.\r\nIn fact, Chinese people from Mainland a lot do not like to spend time alone or to be in secluded places. We tend to like crowds and a lot of excitement and perceive them as safer because it would be harder for criminals to get forth with serious crime amid a crowd. I felt strongly this way when I first arrive d in America, but now I am getting used to peace and quiet. I have heard that Americans very much like to go camping or fishing in order to get outdoor(a) from other people. This concept is a little different from China. I remember display my mother a picture of our campus and she involveed to know why it looked so lonely. Later I took a photo when more students were out walking, and she seemed to feel much more comforted that I was in a safe place. On the other hand, some Americans have told me they think crowds are more dangerous, because it is easier for thieves to pick pockets or commit other crimes.\r\nMy immediate and extended family has always been a source of much emotional book for me. My mother has several siblings and they each have children, so I have many aunts, uncles, and cousins. They always ask what I am doing in my life and they give me suggestions. They are not afraid to criticize me if they feel it is warranted, such as for have too much junk foods or not s tudying hard enough. In Chinese culture, these comments would never be interpreted as offense but instead in a spirit of caring. I always spend much time finding appropriate Chinese New Year gifts for my aunts and uncles as a show of respect. Sometimes the gifts could be as simple as fruit baskets, chocolates, or cake. I just want to show them that I am thinking of them. My family, including parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, serves as my home base on life. I have always felt that no matter what happened, at that place is a safe haven with many people who always cared about me.\r\nMuch of Chinese family culture is expressed over food. If I go to chew one of my aunts and she knew I am coming, then it is certain(predicate) that she go away prepare my favorite noodle dish. condole with is often expressed with food. From my mother and father and several of their siblings and my grandparents, I learned to take many dishes at a young. I learned mostly at quite a young age. In this way, too, my family has been the biggest influence on my life, as now I cook almost every day and can take care of myself. I do not need to depend on others to cook and I do not have to go to restaurants except for fun. over meals, much culture gets passed to children as adults talk about what is going on in their lives and how they handle it. They often give advice to children, but it seems to be that there is not as much two-way communications culture as in America and other Western countries. In other words, adults would not often ask children what they think about things.\r\nI am sealed that I am not the only person who feels that family has been the largest influence in life, and certainly not the only Chinese person with this idea. In fact, when we are away from our families, we try to recreate the experience in some ways. In UC, there are many Chinese students all in the same situation, living away from their home country. We have formed friend groups and often cook togeth er, go to restaurants, or go to other activities. At times, groups of students even go on holiday to New York or Chicago or other locations. As it is in China, most social activities for us here have revolved around eating food. We often chat, give each other advice, and try to help each other to study and make good grades. As vitamin and other health supplements are very popular, we often discuss products that we have move or plan to try. Everyone has alike goals and we almost do not even need to say them out loud, because they are widely known. We all come from similar kinds of families, usually involved in business. Everyone wants to make good grades, be successful, and make their parents happy.\r\nMy friends are a very important group to me here, but in my boilers suit life, I guess they are not nearly as influential to me as my relatives are. Chinese families were large for many years, sometimes with seven to 10 children. I know that my great grandmother came from a very la rge family. However, because of over macrocosm, China has implemented the one-child policy. Although there are exceptions, the general rule is that only one child is allowed per couple. Now China is becoming a land of spoiled only-children. I often wonder what give happen to China’s family culture and if culture and knowledge will be passed down as efficiently. Many people grow up without uncles, aunts, cousins or, of course, siblings. This seems to be a significant social issue for a country whose character is still collectivist. Perhaps China will make the shift rather quickly to a culture of individualism.\r\nOr perhaps they will express collectivism in some other different formats, such as neighborhood groups and volunteer societies. At any rate, eventually rising population of people without close relatives to watch after them as they age will mean a need for more caregiving and health care professionals. There are many aspects that define my life, including my status as a student, family member, and friend. While these are important roles, they do not capture everything about who I am. One element that runs deeper than those items is my culture, most of which I received from relatives. I grew up in China until coming to school at UC. My thinking has certainly been influenced by the time I have spent living abroad, but it in time does continue to be Chinese at the heart. In a Chinese family, your family is almost literally all that you have to depend on in many cases. I am quite thankful that I have a wonderful family.\r\n'