My Cultural Transition

With the improvement of the global world, many people have a chance to move to another city for immigration, further study, labor and exploration. Living in a new city is a challenge, and people have to face all kinds of difficulties and find a way to adjust themselves to the new culture. One year ago, I immigrated with my parents to the United States. At the beginning, I felt curious for the new things as a newcomer. However, I was gradually embraced by the difficulties I had never touched, and I seemed to have lost myself in a new environment. During my transition from one culture to the next, I conceived of my life changing for good.

First, the way I communicate with my relatives differs from when I was in China. There is a saying that “the United States is the paradise of earning money”. Thus, Chinese work hard here, and they usually do their job from day to night. Due to this, there is less chance for them to be together and communicate with each other. For example, in my family, the day of rest is different for each member, so it is difficult for us to be together having dinner, playing and discussing. In China, my big family used to gather together once a week, so we had a good communication with each other. However, we can understand the situation here so our relationship is still in good spirit.

Second, the pattern of celebrating festivals is far away from our everlasting custom in China. It was my first year to celebrate Chinese New Year in the United States. I felt excited and hopeful when the Chinese New Year was approaching similar to my feelings of all the past years. However, I was disappointed by the atmosphere. People here were busy with their jobs, so some of customs have been simplified and ignored. Chinese New Year is one of the greatest festivals in China. Everyone has a long holiday to celebrate it. There are a lot of decorations hanging everywhere. In contrast, the view of the United States for the Chinese New Year is distinct. Even though we have to simplify our custom, the significance of the Chinese New Year lives in our heart for good even we celebrate in this foreign country.

Third, as the background is different in these two countries, the education here gave me a big surprise when I had chance to compare it. In the United States, colleges emphasize the cultivation of students’ ability to learn on their own, so the students have to be independent. Here I only study from the morning of Monday to Thursday, and the rest time I follow the teacher’s instructions to study by myself. At the beginning, I was not accustomed to the new method of studying. In China, as a college student I had class from morning to night of each day, and I followed my teacher step by step. I didn’t need to think about what I should do for my next step. However, each method has its own advantage. I think I will get more benefits shuttling between two different kinds of teaching methods.

My new life is far away from my past life during my transition. However, everything has its two sides. When I decided to immigrate to the United States, my father told me that “You don’t know what will happen in your future, but you must face your future with optimism and braveness. Only if you realize your talents and make best of them, you will find your way to overcome the obstacles.” I keep my father’s word in my mind, and I believe that the differences and the difficulties in the United States can help me be mature and independent.