Friday, October 14, 2016

Fun Evening

Ting Hu
Fun Evening

             Before I met my husband, I had never thought that I would move to another country to live. Since I moved to Chicago, I saw a diversity of cultures and a new world. I feel both excited and lost. Especially when the evening comes, it reminds me that I have been away from my familiar environment. In China, people like to go out in the evening. No matter in which city, there are a lot of interesting activities in the evening, such as friends gathering, walking, dancing and singing karaoke. Chinese people enjoying these collective activities, and I also like these activities. These activities can help people to reduce stress in their daily life. At the same time, I used to spend  more face to face time with friends. However, unlike many Chinese people that like the culture of collective life, some Americans prefer to have personal space. Since I moved to the United States, my nightlife activities have changed a lot.
            When I lived in China, after dinner, I used to go out for a walk. A lot of Chinese people all have this habit because they think that walking after dinner is great exercise. Whether I took a walk around the lake, park or community, I would see many people walking. I used to walk with my friends and family because we could talk about our joys and annoyances. We also shared each other’s happiness. When I was walking, I could enjoy the beautiful views,sunset and moon. It make me truly relax, but since I moved to Chicago, I found that many Americans prefer to go out by car. In addition, in this summer I heard some news about robberies and shoots that tend to  happen in the evening. Even though I can meet a few of people walking, I'm still a bit worried about my personal security. Since I moved to Chicago,I rarely go out for a walk in the evening.

             In addition, in the evening, young Chinese people like to go downtown for dinner, shopping  watching movies and singing karaoke. China is still in the process of urbanization, and more and more Chinese are choosing to settle in the city these days. However, the United States has completed the urbanization, so some Americans prefer to live in the suburbs because it has a better environment. In China, some big cities’ population are already more than ten million, such as Beijing, Shanghai, so in the evening downtown is a quite lively place. Stores always open until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. Some stores are even open 24 hours. Young people have enough time shopping and dating in the evening. My friends and I used to go to downtown to watch movies and go shopping. For Chinese people, another important thing is to eat delicious food. However, In the evening of the United States, most of stores closed easier than in China. I usually don’t see too many people on the street, It makes me feel that downtown is deserted in the evening. 

             Finally, Chinese elders also like to dance in the evening. Like my mother, every night she likes to go to dance. Chinese people call this dance square dancing because  their dancing is in the the city square. It is very popular in every city of China. Each square dance team has dozens or even hundreds of people. Since my mother participated in square dance team, not only did her body get healthier, she also met more friends. She has a good relationship with these friends, which let her become more positive than before. She Spent several weeks living in Chicago this year, but it was not suitable for her because she had to leave square dance and her friends.


             Thus, Since I moved to Chicago, I have lost some fun activities in the evening. I away from my friends and parents. My nightlife has lost a lot of color. I like a collective lifestyle, so I really miss those lively and cheerful nights in China. which let me realized the difference between Chinese and American culture. Certainly, I think that I can experience different cultures, and this is my honor. In the future, I hope I can find something funny activities again in the evening, and I can better embrace the American culture. 

1 comment:

  1. The square dancing likes a double-edged sword. It brings a lot of benefits to the elders which makes them healthier and helps them to find many new friends. In addition, the square dancing also bring a big noise to the environment which disturbs some people who live around the square.

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