Chinese American Project

Introduction:

Zhuo Mao 是我的姐姐朋友。他的家有三个人。他没有哥哥还是姐姐。他从2001住在美国。他不在芝加哥可是住在Bloomington-Normal. 他的爸爸和妈妈不在芝加哥。Zhou Mao 二十岁。他出血远在Wesleyan. 以后，Zhuo成学校他想回家在中国 。

Summary of Questions:

Zhuo Mao is a student who attends Illinois Wesleyan. He is in the United States now to finish his last 2 years in college. His family was in Illinois until he was old enough to go off on his own and to be able live by himself and at the same time finish school. His family moved back to China with his grandparents so that way they would be able to live closer to the rest of his family without having to travel so far just to see each other. After Zhuo finishes college he is really planning to move back to china so that way he would be able to live and be close to the rest of his family and be closer to the ones he love and who love him.

Zhuo first came to the United States in 2001. His parents felt that him coming when he would be a freshman in high school would be a good idea so that way he would not have to leave school at his native country in the middle of his schooling. When he came to the United States he was extremely excited to be traveling in general because his family never really traveled like that before. Zhuo had heard so much about this country ever since his family was expecting to move here and even a lot before then. His parents only stayed for about four years and went back to china, leaving behind their son. They left it to his decision if he wanted to stay and finish college or go back to china. But he decided to stay in the America so that he would be able to finish college and then later would decide probably that he would want to move back with the rest of his family.

Zhuo feels as though the hardest part of being here was just adjusting to the lifestyles of Americans. But after getting adjusted to how people were in the U. S he didn’t mind staying for as long as he has. He doesn’t feel like an outsider as he thought he would have felt when he traveled from china but instead he feels more involved with the American cultural as well. His family has many expectations of him while he lives here. One of the main one of his expectations is that he would not ever forget where he came from, who he is, and more importantly his culture.

Critical Thinking:

I feel that today it would be easier for immigrants to be able to create a new identity if they wanted to. Times now is not as strict as in comparison to how life was back then years ago. It also wouldn’t be as hard for people to survive here because they would not be alone in what ever task in which they might would be trying to achieve. Support would mostly be able to come mostly from your own race and because America is composed of several different ethnic backgrounds finding support would be easy. To be an American today in my opinion you mainly have to have pride in your country (America). You also have to be able to show your respect, pride and also have to represent your own country. Doing this interview has made me think about the kind of impact that going or moving someplace else could have on you. It has also helped me to understand other people’s point of view of how they are treated and what they go through coming to a new place and basically being considered as an outcast.

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Please note:

Ø that most answers are quotes but some are summaries of what the speaker had to say.

Ø some extremely personal questions were not included for the connivance and respect of the speaker.

§ A few questions from the actual interview:

Do you feel caught between two worlds?

“No I don’t feel caught I jus feel as though my life is just continuing and I am learning from the different aspects of it.”

Do you like your stay so far?

“Yes, I have been enjoying my experience for the few years that I have been here. I like the experience of different aspects of life here in America.”

Do you like being the only child?

“I like being the only child, because when I was younger it meant that all the attention is being focused on me.” “And when I was younger I like the idea of not have to really be worried about being looked over when having a brother or sister(sibling).”

What language are you most fluent in?

“Well I guess you can say that I am bilingual in English and Chinese.” “I am so good at Chinese because of my background and in English because of the things which I have learned during the years I have been in the United States.”

Are you accepted as who you are with other races?

“Yeah, I would really think so.” “Well especially the ones that I am befriended with I guess you can say that we really get along.”

Do other people tend to give you a hard time?

“Not really, although it depends on the location of where I am”

-What do you mean?

“Well the location would put an affect on the race/kinds of people that are around” “And……. well, some people might jus have grown up being rude and also with bad attitudes.” “But for the most part I am treated well especially at the school which I attend.”

Give a summary of this type of experience.

“Well its jus that depending on the types of people they would rarely stare and would most often mock me after I am talking in my other language/dialect.”

Have you ever visited China?

Yes. I have live there for abut fifteen years of my life.

Do you like it in the United States?

Yes I feel that although it is something different then what I was originally use to I still like that idea of this new adventure, I would call it.”

Do you and your family really carry on the Chinese customs?

“Yeah but my grandparents, parents, cousins, and etc. really carry on those kinds of customs. They always participate in the Chinese customs, eat the Chinese food, and treat company they way that Asians are known to do in China.” As for me I still eat the food but while I am in the United States I am not really as geeked out about those customs as I use to be.”