Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Second Home

Second Home
Every parent wants their children to be educated and successful. I am immigrated to the United States from China. Like everyone else, I came to the United States for a better learning environment and education. However, since I have been in this country. I have found out that there is a big difference between the goals or education in the United States and China. The difference between these two countries’ education is the way how to punish the students, the time students spend on homework and in class, and the most important subject that the schools focus on. There seems to be same purpose but different structures in education between the two countries.

Times we spend on homework and in class are totally different. In China I woke up every day before sun up to go to school. The schools start at six o’ clock in the morning and close at eight o’ clock at night, and there is a break at around twelve o’ clock. There are always not enough time for the students to rest. In the United States, however, students have less times in school and a lot of out-school activities to do. The school times are very short, about half the time of China’s. In exchange students have a lot of homework for us to do at home. Therefore, people in China have to work very hard to prepare for the test that decides if they could go to college or not. Which creates a lot of stress for the students, so many students decided to committed suicide in high school each year. Even though there is stress in the Unites States it is uncommon to hear about suicide. I never seen any high school students committed suicide because of the stress for college.

In China, corporal punishment is a very common thing in the school. I had never experienced in the United States, but already experienced that in China. The Chinese education system requires to obey everything the teacher says. If students disobey the teacher, they will be punished. Corporal punishment is very popular in the schools of China, no matter how old you are. It even happens in elementary school with young children in first grade the teachers still going to hit you with a bamboo. However, when I came to the United States’ school, for a second I thought I went to heaven. The teachers in the United States treat the students very nice and never physically hurt the students, because it is illegal. Teachers could get arrested for hurting a child. No matter what you did in school the teachers will never physically hurt you. I told my friends that the schools in the United States are much better than the ones in China.

The most important subject between the two countries’ education is mathematic and creativity. In China the answer is mathematics. Mathematics is the main subject the teachers and parents care about. If students are bad in mathematic they won’t get any good comments from your teachers or parents. In the United States, students can explore a lot of interests and things that they like to do, for example like playing sports and study art. I love the freedom that I have in the United States. It makes me feel relaxed a lot more than when I was in China. The only choice to become successful in the eyes of your parents is to major in mathematics. The Unites States has a lot of choices for students to choose for their future.

In order to become educated and successful. Students must at least finish their college degree. Better job opportunities and knowledge for the students when they become adults. Corporal punishment should be eliminated from every single school on this planet. This is the worst way to punish a kid. What subject the students picked is not very important. The only important thing is what the students like and how well they do. No matter how much difference between these two countries. They both have the same purpose and goal.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

                                                                   Missing
An ancient Chinese poet said:" People always become extremely homesick when festival come. “long time ago. I moved far away from where I grew up to an unknown city. When winter is coming, it means the Spring Festival is coming too. My favorite holiday is Spring Festival because it is the most important festival in China. On that day all the people who work far away from their home will go back home before the holiday day, in order to reunite with relatives and friends to celebrate the Spring Festival. However, since I moved to Chicago, I recognized that Spring Festival's atmosphere was lost in this city.
The Spring Festival benefits people by celebrated many activities in China. Nevertheless, there is a disparity between the United States and China. In China, the liveliest activity is the lion dance. During the lion dance, there are drums, firecrackers, trumpets that accompany played with the lion dance in the street, and make a blessed to every household. Also, a group of people follow the lion dance performance. This year on Spring Festival, I saw the lion dance in Chinatown but there was no firecracker. There was a small group of people that followed it but It looks cold and cheerless. I thought the reason is the weather was too cold and firecrackers are not allowed in Chicago. Every Spring Festival only snow and work accompany me.

When the Spring Festival arrives in Chicago, I also found some customs have gradually disappeared in this city. In China, I remembered every Spring Festival my father would take my brother to stick couplets on the door of our house, and my mother would take me to make the sweet dumplings. The sweet dumplings mean the family would stay together forever and have good luck in the coming year. Then, during the Spring Festival, we had to wear new clothes and get the red envelopes from the older generation. My parents took me to exchange gifts with relatives and friends. When I moved to Chicago, these customs were not popular to celebrated in my house because my mom said I was grown up already. Also, she does not need to give me the red envelope. What a farfetched reason! Some customs of the Spring Festival are like this windy city; they blow away in the wind.
Finally, delicious and meaningful traditional food makes me miss Chinese Spring Festival a lot. New year's eve dinner is the most important part of Spring Festival. Before the dinner, we have to prepare some traditional food, like the fish, rice cake, turnips and dumplings. These foods all have the special meanings. For example, rice cakes mean work is getting better and better. Turnips mean luck and peace. I miss my mother 's homemade rice cakes, the taste in no one can copy. However, people can still buy these foods in the supermarket, but the taste is so bad. In addition, my parents are very busy so my family cannot celebrate the Spring Festival in Chicago. It has been a long time since I haven't eat the homemade traditional food from my mother.

Since I moved to Chicago for three years ago already. Nevertheless, I still miss the Spring Festival in China. Every Spring Festival, I can only get the pictures through my smartphone to feel the distant of Spring Festival. However, when I chose to live in Chicago. I know very well that these memories would only be saved in my heart. Probably the reality wants to tell me that it is time to accept the new culture from this country. Even though the Spring Festival in Chicago is not perfect. Finally, I still can reside with my family in this unusual Spring Festival.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

The Missing Piece

Living abroad has always been a popular desire for anyone wishing to learn many new cultures. It took me almost two years as an international student to experience foreign culture, people, and the food. Among multiple cultures and languages in the United States, it is such a big deal for immigrants to adopt easily. However, many families who have immigrated to America still continue some of the basic tradition in their home country. Living and experiencing life in a different country now are not really matter anymore but always reminds me a life back in Vietnam. Specifically, two of the most important customs that my family usually does are saying of “thank you” before having a breakfast in the morning and the breaking bread during Christmas.
Unlike the United States, at seven am on the cold morning in Saigon, it’s not hard to find one of the greatest breakfasts in the world. In Vietnam, people start a day with a steaming bowl of Pho, a noodle soup, and before eating, we say thank you to each other which is a cheesy thing that I used to not like it at all when I was seventeen. However, I recognized that it is a unique and awesome tradition to show gratitude for still alive. Feelings of happiness in the morning help people become more enthusiastic through the rest of a day. In the U.S, however, breakfast is totally different from any country in the world. The menu for breakfast usually has a different types of food such as potatoes pancake with syrup, fried eggs, bacon, sliced bread or toast with butter. Also, The U.S has a brunch which is like a late breakfast between twelve or one pm. One time, I saw a couple of elderly people eating a big burger for breakfast and that impressed me. It likes the feeling you have when you see someone wears Halloween costume on Christmas. In addition, the way people have a breakfast kind of rushing. people don’t really enjoy the moment. Somebody just has a tiny sandwich and eats it quickly on the train or on the road while walking to work even in the car. Apparently, people don’t love breakfast as much as I do nor do they care how or what they are going to eat in the morning. In Vietnam, people believe that if you have a good healthy breakfast, you will save a lot of energy for a day.
     Christmas is the king of all the holidays in Vietnam. One of my greatest joys is seeing my father breaks bread during Christmas Eve meal. As usual, the eldest in the family takes a big loaf of bread and breaks it into a pieces then he hands down to each of his children. The event usually happens in the devout family. Since this little event occurred, all of members in my family have been more excited before the holiday coming. The breaking bread process was always fun. Simply and classically. I couldn’t imagine some day if I lost those memories, I might be left out and lose one of the most important connection with my family. I was invited to a real American Christmas meal last year by my first American friend. The dinner amazed me honestly. The moment when I stepped into my friend’s house through the front door was like when the kid first sees Disneyland. The decoration was a little bit different but the food was insanely strange for me. In front of my plate was a big roast turkey with mashed potato and hams on the side. I loved it and felt like I was a part of the family. Excepting in my mind suddenly had a flash which was making my eyes saw a missing spot in my brain. I am still absolutely sure that spot was the picture of my classic Christmas with my family.


  Obviously, living abroad is an adventure, but it has been more challenging myself than I expected. The possibility of missing my family and my usual habit happens over and over again even though it has almost been two years. I just wish I could say thank you before having breakfast with my American friends and actually I have started doing it. Even though I had to explain why I said it to my friends every time and it made me feel silly and yet homesick. And somehow, I feel like I have to find the final missing piece to win the puzzle game. I haven’t found it yet or even I could find it, I want to keep it for myself. I don’t want to win the game because for me the puzzle game is like the picture of an American Christmas and the breakfast at eleven am. The missing piece belongs to my soul. If I lost it, I would lose myself for good. 

Monday, October 17, 2016

The new year time

                 New Year Time
The Chinese Lunar New Year used to be my favorite holiday when I was a child. The Lunar New Year is the biggest holiday in China. All the students usually finish their fall semester a couple of weeks before the New Year, so they always have a long break before their spring semester begins. Also, most of the companies close during the New Year, except some in the service industry such as shopping centers, movie theatres, and restaurants. Moreover, the New Year is a significant holiday for family gatherings. Since I moved to Chicago, everything has changed. I miss some of the feelings that I had in China, the New Year’s atmosphere, the family gathering time, and the food. There is a  nostalgic feeling I can no longer find  since I move to this country.
First, I miss the atmosphere of the New Year in China. When I walked on the street in my town during the New Year, I could feel joyousness in the air. From the mandarin plants that were in front of every store, to the New Year’s song that played on the street, the happiness was everywhere. The fireworks were a requisite show every year. Going out and watching fireworks used to be my family custom. I enjoyed to crowding with my family and feeling New Year’s atmosphere. This is how the New Year feels in China. In Chicago, the atmosphere is totally different. It is just like a normal day for everybody else. Even in the Chinatown, the stores don’t have that many ornaments for the New Year, no plants, no flowers, no fireworks. Also, the people who walk on the street seem like they are not too happy, probably because they need to work on the holiday.
Moreover, the Chinese New Year is a big holiday for the family. Since no one has school or work, my family always gathered on the holiday. All my family relatives used to gather in my grandparents’ old house. My parents, uncles, and aunties usually played mahjong  because it is a custom in my family. In addition,  I used to spend the time hanging out with my cousins, we went out to watch movies, went shopping, or maybe went to sing karaoke, and then everyone went back to our grandparents’ house to have a big dinner. The big dinner tradition is a most important custom in China. It a big tradition, just like Thanksgiving dinner for Americans. Since I moved to Chicago three years ago, everything has changed. In this country, the Chinese Lunar New Year like a normal day for everyone. My parents need to work on the Chinese New Year, and I probably got a night shift at work because I work in a restaurant as a waitress, so my family and I barely have time to have a big dinner together.
Furthermore, if my family had a chance to have the New Year’s dinner together, the food would not be as good as what we have for the New Year’s dinner in China. In typical Cantonese cuisine, the dishes mostly are steamed, such as steamed ginger and onion chicken and steamed fish with scallion strings on top. Cantonese people believe steamed cuisine could keep the original flavor of the food, so people are particular about fresh meat. Frozen chicken and fish are unacceptable on a particular Chinese table. However, there are only a couple of supermarkets that sell the fresh chicken and live fish in Chinatown. Unfortunately, my parents usually don’t have time to cook a big dinner because everybody needs to work, so we usually have some easy cuisine, such as hot pot for the New Year’s dinner.

In sum, I miss all these things that I had in China during the Chinese New Year-- the atmosphere, the family time, and the food that we had. I hope someday these all these nostalgic things could be able to found in Chicago. I am always dreaming that maybe my family won’t need to work during the Chinese Lunar New Year, then we will have a lot of time to prepare the big dinner. I predict the New Year will be the same as what we had in China and the Chinese New Year will come back to become my favorite holiday.

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Lost in Translation

Coach Potato
“Relaxation and recreation are considered to be an indispensable element of life.” The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle Onassis said this. In fact, many Chinese people agree with his opinion because Chinese people love entertainment. The U.S. is a golden dream for many Chinese people, but leaving a familiar place and moving to a new environment is a big challenge for many immigrants. I lived in China for about twenty-two years, but I have only lived in the United States about three years. As a matter of fact, I almost became a coach potato in the past three years because the Chinese food, my best friends and entertainment programs have disappeared from my life.

Now that I am living in Chicago, I rarely chat or take a trip with my friends. It is a long distance between my Chinese friends and me. Three years have passed, and most of time I only communicate with my friends online. We can’t sit face by face to have a chat or go out to dinner. I can’t share my feeling for my friends, so sometimes I feel I am alone. In addition, I don’t have enough time to take a trip to China. As an adult, I have to work to afford my life and education fees. Before my family and I moved to Chicago, I was a student and my parents paid for me the money. I didn’t worry about life, but now my life is a cycle. Every day my life is studying, working and going home. I have no time to relax or go on vacation.
Watching entertainment program on the Internet is one of the way I like to relax, but there are a few of programs that I enjoy in Chicago. First, the language is the major issue for me to watch the TV Shows and films. As an immigrant, I can’t speak or listen the English very well. I often don’t understand the main idea or punchline presented in the show, so I am not interested in them. Second, I have the limited path to watch the entertainment programs. Due to the time zone, I can’t watch many of the Chinese entertainment programs in the U.S. Meanwhile, people have to pay when they download the music, movies and TV shows from the U.S. Internet. For this reason, it is really a burden for me to watch the entertainment problem in the U.S.
Besides my Chinese friends and entertainment programs, eating has always been a form of recreational for me, but it is also the most serious problem for me in the U.S. Only a few of Chinese ingredients are sold in Chicago. Most of time I have to go to Chinatown to buy ingredients. Even though I can buy certain things, not all them are fresh. In the U.S, all of the meat is kept in cold storage and I think it has a strange smell. I don’t like these foods. In addition, the business hours are too short in the U.S. In China, there are many restaurants open 24 hours. In particular, the night market plays an important role in Chinese culture. I always attended the night market outside school with my friends in China, but now I only can stay at home at night. It is difficult to find the restaurants to eat at midnight in Chicago, and it has really changed my life.

Since I moved to Chicago, my routine has become boring. My Chinese friends, entertainment programs and food are all far from me, and I miss them. However, I know I should not get addicted to this feeling and I have to look forward to the future. My life still goes ahead and I have to find some new entertainment to relax myself. Even though I want to avoid accepting American culture, I think I need to try to adapt myself to the new environment. I would like to change myself to go outside more to look around and never be a coach potato.

                                                     Scholarship Program 
The number of Saudi students who have had scholarship around the world increased from 2000 students until 190,000 students during King Abdullah’s scholarship program. In fact, the program provided scholarships for students at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate levels. Also, this program covered full academic tuition, salary, medical coverage, and round-trip airfare that were for scholars and dependents. King Abdullah’s scholarship program determined a lot of countries that students could choose such as America, Canada, Australia, Britain, New Zealand, India, Singapore, France, Italy, Poland, Malaysia, and China. Moreover, King Abdullah’s scholarship program has improved my life because this program improved my health, helped me to see the world, and kept me busy and gave me a scholarship.
In the beginning, King Abdullah’s scholarship program helped me improved my health. As I mentioned at the background, King Abdullah’s scholarship program covered medical coverage, so it has helped me to take care for myself. My weight has increased since I came to Chicago. I started have do medical examinations each month because my insurance has covered that. Also, since I started paying attention on my healthy, I have avoided diseases such as stomach problems, flu, and pneumonia.
In addition, King Abdullah’s scholarship program has helped me to see the world. In fact, this program has enabled hundreds of thousands of young Saudi people to travel overseas for higher education opportunities and experiences. I have discovered new cultures. Because the United States has many people of different nationalities, my life experience has improved.in addition; the United States has a lot of holidays, so students who study here have many vacations. I traveled four cities since I came to Chicago such as Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and Indiana, so I saw new places that I have never seen before.

Finally, King Abdullah’s scholarship program kept me busy and gave me a scholarship.  The requirements of this program were not essay, but I worked hard to make my dream since I was a child come true. They requested high grades on school and other exams.  However, King Abdullah’s scholarship program attracted students with many things. For example, students can receive salaries and choose where they want to study. Before I came Chicago I was confused by choosing a city which is a good place for study, and the program advised me to choose Chicago, so that why I’m here.

In conclusion, King Abdullah’s scholarship program aimed to improve the Saudi students’ life by improving their health, helping them to discover the world, and reducing the unemployment rate. In fact, the king Abdullah died 2 years ago, so the numbers of Saudi students who have had scholarship around the world have decreased. All the Saudi people have loved King Abdullah because he supported them for many things such as the education. Because he gave me this opportunity, I have studied hard to graduate from the United States.       

Lost in Translation Essay - An Inviting Smell

When I was student, a dish of street food was an easy, cheap and tasty treat. I stopped frequently while I was working because of the smell that came from food trucks. To be exact, it is a food wagon, and the street was lined with snack stalls. I couldn’t avoid the sweet, spicy fragrance every time I passed in front of the food wagons. Since I came to Chicago three years ago, I have not experienced street food. My daughter is a fan of Korean food, so she often requires me to buy or cook Korean food. There is a Korean restaurant in Hyde Park, but it is expensive. If I was living in Korea, I wouldn’t need to make a snack and meal every time my daughter wanted it. I would just need to stop by a food wagon for a couple of minutes. Now that I am in Chicago, it is difficult to live any more as a street food mania due to the differences of street food culture.

There is a variety of street food in Korea that hot noodles, soup, Korean rice cakes, fried vegetable, and Gimbap, Korean sushi. Food wagons look like a table covered with delicious dishes.  I often stopped in front of the food wagon to fill my empty stomach because I couldn’t resist the smell of the food, so I yielded to temptation to eat it up. In contrast, there are a few types of street food in the United States. In fact, I have mostly seen the ones selling hot dogs, pretzels, and hamburgers. There is an annual food festival called Taste of Chicago and the other street festivals with great venders and trucks. These festivals are good chances for people to enjoy various foods outside, but they are held only during summer season.

 On the other hand, food wagons are ubiquitous in Korea. I often bought from food wagons due to their accessibility. I used to have breakfast at the food wagon selling sandwiches, milk and hot tea. Night time is the peak for food wagons in South Korea. Many food wagons come out at dusk on the streets to sell. They wait for businessmen or women to finish their work. After work, people have a drink with their colleagues in Po-Jang-Ma-Cha. It is the food wagon that serves various dishes with alcohol and looks like a big screen porch or tent for camping. Some places are open twenty-four hours a day. Since I arrived here, I tried to keep my eyes on the road when I was in a car or walked down on the street. However, it is difficult to find food trucks in Chicago. Some food trucks are in Hyde Park, but they are only open at lunch time. Also, food trucks are closed when college students are on break.

People make their memories and have a meal cheaply at snack stalls. My friends and I regularly fed our hunger in this place because it was the best way to have a meal with pocket money. A typical dish was only two to three dollars, and I didn’t need to pay tip. Also, these trucks have unforgettable memories for me. When I was a high school student, most high school students stayed in school until nine PM in Korea. My classmates and I were teenage girls who couldn’t satiate our appetite. We used to decide our supper by playing rock-paper-scissors. The loser went out of school secretly to buy Tteokbokki, stir fried rice cake. We got yelled at, but we couldn’t give up. Although I tried to find reasonable street food, I couldn’t have it. I have bought nachos for my kid from the food truck, but it was not a reasonable price.

In conclusion, street food is easy to find, delicious and inexpensive in Korea. Most people connect with food wagon in their life. They satiate their hunger easily, and they drown their sorrows in cheap alcohol at Po-Jang-Ma-Cha. However, I can’t experience any more Korean style street food in Chicago. I am no longer a chubby teenage girl or a poor student, but I really miss it. It means not only a good way for satisfy my cravings, but memories for me. Some day, I will find easy, cheap and tasty treat places to replace the street food in Chicago. 

Rashidi
Lost in translation

                                                        A Gathering of Friends
       I used to spend three hours every day with my friends back home in Saudi Arabia. Plus, in Saudi Arabia I used to get off from my job and stay longer time with my friends, which is very common in my country, this is how I used to spend my times. back in Saudi Arabia. Yet There are enormous differences of spending times with my friends in Saudi Arabia and United States of America.

   On the other hand, back home in Saudi Arabia I always with my folks in Hashem’s house every single day. By the way, Hashem is my friend. Now sitting home with friends is our favorite thing do to if we going to meet people in Saudi Arabia. However, in the U.S. there are a plenty of good places for people who want to meet friends. For example, I can go to the beach and relax, attending more festivals or museums all these are good for friends to go and have fun. On the other hand, in Saudi Arabia my friends and I would play games, watch movies or go camping into the desert which is the most common places for people in my city to go and spend their weekends.
     Not only gathering with friends has changed in terms in finding places to hang out in, but also cultural diversity has plays a huge part of finding friends. For example, Chicago and the city I came from are different in terms of seeing an international people so that one thing I have never seen in my city. Saudi Arabia I would only find people who speak my language and think the way I think. Meanwhile in the U.S I can hang out with people from all over the world who think differently and I don’t need to travel to those foreign people’s countries to explore their culture I can see it here in the U.S. Furthermore, I had a hard time managing my time here in the U. S. And back home in my country I would stay up late for longer time without being nonchalant about my sleeping time because I used to see my friends more than my family. In the U.S.  teachers are giving homework and projects that won’t let me even enjoy my weekends. This is the different between America and Saudi Arabia in terms of spending time with friends.

      Finally, are many different aspects of meeting friends back home or here in the U.S. and these differences have actually changed me for the better. I love meeting my friends, but living in America will force me to blend in to this culture and take my times so that it is hard for me to go out with friends like I used to do.
 

The Tragedy in Heaven

"Hey, how are you these days?" "Good, you?" "Fine, you know I miss the time when we used to hang out." "That happened a long time ago. However, I still remember that you owe me a dinner." That is the chat I had with one of my friends in China recently. I don't think three years is as long as he thought. I still remember the private high school I left and the busy life there. I wouldn’t call the life I had there heaven at that time, but I was delighted that I could set off for America from China. Since I came here, I have found out that Chicago outshines China in many ways. However, we all know the idiom of “You can’t have your cake and eat it.” Besides all benefits, I found that the joyfulness I had in China with friends lost its existence through the calculation of immigration.

As an important part of my joyfulness, the time I had inside my sch
ool reduced. Most of my time in China was spent inside the school, much longer than six hours per day in Chicago. The majority of high schools in China start at seven thirty in the morning and end at eight thirty in the evening. Unfortunately, I attended a boarding school. On the one hand, I had to spend all my twenty-four hours there. On the other hand, I had a long time to hang out with my friends. Walking and chatting on the ground with them were my daily routines. Even though I did not like playing sports at all, I joined their ball games after lunch. Me and my friends spent most of our time in school together to finish the homework. Even the boring homework did not reduce our joy.

In the same way, the activity with my friends outside of school got divided into pieces. The internet cafés opened for me to stay with many of friends has switched to visiting them separately. The party lost its purpose if there is only one guest invited. Students commonly do not have the chance to finish the homework in China, but my friends and I would gather together and go to the internet café. I have joined several parties with my friends in Chicago, yet they did relieve me from the burdens of studying because the activities are boring. Neither the card game nor the television can provide me the same joy as I had. It seems to me that the activities at parties in the United States have nothing cheerful or supportive from my friends.


Ironically, the only thing I found that got multiplied is the matter of behavior. Whenever I go into a restaurant in Chicago, I remember the one I used to go with my friends. Since it was not popular, it was quite until my friends and I got there. We would sit at a table, order our favorite food, and chat for a few hours. We could stay there as long as we wanted. Nobody cared about what we were talking about or how loud we were. It is totally different here. America is a country full of appropriate manners. Making any sounds in public places is judged as uncivilized. The joy of a dainty dish isn’t the only reason humans eat. The communication during the dinner bonds people together, but now it is ruined by manners.

"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light." Helen Keller's words tell me the importance of friendship. However, I consider the activities we do with our friends are as important as the friendship itself, and that is why people with similar habits can be friends easily. I can't find a place here that brings me the same fun I had in China. My joyfulness brought by friends is canceled out by the immigration. Nevertheless, I think it is time for me to explore a new way to relax and have fun, in case one of my Chinese friends pay me a visit for dinner regardless of the time. I want him to feel like being in heaven in America the same way he used to, instead of having the same tragedy as I had.