From: lulu@ucrengr.ucr.edu (david lu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.taiwan
Subject: Re: US born kids
Keywords: No-test for entering senior high school in TW
Date: 14 Aug 92 19:32:43 GMT
Organization: University of California, Riverside


Great Subject!

While I am not an ABC, up to about 2 months ago I've always
considered myself more American than I am Chinese.  I came
over here to the states when I was 10, and grew up in Az,
where there is a *very* small Asian population.  I think
there were only 2 other Chinese families in my high school
of 4000 students.

Well, two months ago, I went back to Taiwan for the first
time since 1980.  I went through a transformation that even
I do not understand.  I was in Taiwan for only 3-1/2 weeks,
but all of a sudden, I feel like I'm more of a Chinese than
an American.  I don't know, maybe people in Taiwan are just
more friendly than people in the US, but I felt more comfortable
with my new Chinese friends than I did with American friends
that I've know for much longer.  Before this trip, I had
always thought that I'll end up marrying an American (much
to my parents' chagrin) and live the rest of my life in the
US.  But now I'm not so sure.  I'm now fairly certain that I
will eventually marry a Chinese, and while I still don't see
myself living in Taiwan on a permanent basis, I cannot
altogether say that the possibility does not exist.

Now, a main reason why I still feel strong ties with Taiwan,
undoubtedly, is that my Chinese is still fairly good.  I
cannot write very well, but when I speak, people from Taiwan
cannot tell that I don't live there (in fact, people mistaken
me for a Hong-Kong-er because of my English).  And a good
reason why I still have my Chinese skills is undoubtedly due
to the fact that my parents don't speak English, and thus I
get to practice my conversational Chinese all the time even
though I live in an English-dominated society.  I have some
Chinese friends who are like me: they were born and had some
education in Taiwan, but came here at an early age.  But
because their parents speak English, they all speak English
at home.  Result?  The children no longer speaks Chinese.

I think that language and culture, more than anything else
(including skin color), is what makes a person a particular
race.  There are a lot of Chinese in the US who consider
themselves Americans; I used to be one of them.  Consequently,
I'm sure there are Americans in Taiwan who consider themselves
Chinese.  Therefore, I would assert that as long as you raise
a child as a "Chinese", i.e. speak Chinese at home, teach them
Chinese as a "native language", observe Chinese holidays and
customs, etc., the child will grow up with strong ties to the
Chinese culture, even though outside of the home, everything
the child sees is American.

An argument that a lot of Chinese parents use for sending
their children to Taiwan is that they fear their Chinese
children will grow "bad" in America.  Ten years ago, this
might be a valid argument.  But from what I can see through
my recent trip back to Taiwan, the island is now just as
"bad" as it is in the States.  I'm not just talking about
the environmental issues like smog and trash, but the entire
culture is also much more westernized.  In certain places,
they even went beyond what Americans would consider to be
decent.  Just think about it: hair salons that open 'til 3
or 4 in the morning?  What kind of an idiot would go and get
a haircut at 3 in the morning?  When I get married, and if
I'm living in the states, I'm definitely keeping my children
beside me.  I think nowadays kids in Taiwan are not as innocent
as their parents thought.  There are bad influences in both
Taiwan and the US.  I, for one, would rather be with my kids
so that I know exactly what the bad influences are.

This is a good thread.  Thanks to the person who started it.

			- David

-- 
---==lulu@ucrengr==---  just another bewildered college undergraduate.
David T Lu, Amateur Thinker: lulu@ucrengr.ucr.edu, {ucsd, uci}!ucrengr!lulu
"I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle."
					- Arthur Dent, Hitchhiker's
Newsgroups: soc.culture.taiwan