张宇辰是我的非常好的朋友。 2005 年她从北京来芝加哥。2004年 她的爸爸和妈妈来芝加哥，她的爸爸是中国的领事。张宇辰的爸爸要她去学校在美国。 他要张宇辰学英文。2005 年我会面她。她也是学生在Walter Payton 。那时她说一点儿英文。 她太害羞了。 然后我给她介绍。 我们成为好朋友。 她帮助我中文说得较好的。我帮助她英文说得较好的。 现在她英文说得非常好！我问她.“你从北京来 美国怎么样？”。 这是她的历史。
As I said in my introduction, I met my good friend Yuchen in our freshman year. At that point, she had just moved to Chicago from Beijing and barely spoke any English. We were both paired up on the first day of school to do a physics experiment, and she wasn't able to communicate with me at all except for saying "My English is not good. I don't understand." Then, I noticed that she was in many of my classes, and I offered to help her out. Throughout the year, we talked more and more about her family and previous life in Beijing, and the differences in our culture. I not only helped her get through her classes, but became a sort of secondary English teacher for her. I helped her with her English As A Second Language class papers, proofreading, and correcting grammar. She then offered to help me with my Chinese, introducing me to her family and many of the Consuls at her father's office. So, when I heard about this project, I was extremely excited to ask her more about her experience coming to America just two years ago.
In 2004, her father, a diplomat for the Chinese government, was assigned to work in the Chicago Chinese Consulate. Yuchen was in her last year of middle school, attending a very prestigious and selective school connected to the famous Beijing University. Her father and mother both left that year to come to Chicago, leaving Yuchen to stay in the dorms at school part time while living with her grandparents the other part. In 2005, when Yuchen was ready to enter high school, her father decided to have her come to study in America. He thought that learning more English and having experience in America would leave her well prepared for her future. She was very excited. When she got to Chicago, she noticed that "the American world is very different from the Chinese world: different culture, different language, and different environment." in her own words. However, she adapted extremely well, though she would never admit it out of modesty. When I asked her how she felt being an immigrant to America, she said that sometimes she feels like an outsider. However, she notes that while she's seen racism and discrimination, she's never experienced it herself. She feels "outside" in that she feels that English has served as a barrier that keeps her from interacting with society.Her own shyness keeps her from approaching even students at school to talk about normal teenaged things, and feels that sometimes people don't really "like" to talk to her either. I've noticed that when she talks to her parents, other students coming from China, and even to our Chinese teacher, she is a different person. She's more relaxed and isn't the same shy person everyone sees her as. She says she prefers to "watch and listen" to what's going on around her. She wants to learn from her surroundings, learn what people have to say, and learn about American culture while also maintaining her Chinese cultural ties. However, while she wants to integrate into American society, she does not want to be an American. Her hopes for the future are "go to college in America, get a Masters Degree, and then if I can find a job and work here for a few years that would be great. That way I will have the experience of working here in America. Finally, I should go back to China." When she said this, I was shocked. I had never known, after talking to her about her life these last few years that she eventually had plans of leaving. When I asked her about marriage in the future, she told me this: a marriage to a Chinese-American or a native Chinese person would be fine. However, she says she could not marry a person outside the "Chinese community" because of the culture differences.
Talking to her parents, they told a very similar story as to their expectations for Yuchen. They want her to learn, study hard (which she does: she's a straight A and B student, regardless of the language difference, having special talent in math and science. Right now she's in several learning summer camps that range from the University of Chicago Math Camp to a SAT/ACT prep course), get a good job, and go back to China. They've always said that they wanted her to get a job as an engineer or in the field of science, but that's not where she wants to be. She says that she would much rather be a teacher. What kind? A Chinese teacher, of course.
MY THOUGHTS ON THE CHINESE-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
I think that in today's time, where people have immigrated to America from all over the world, "inventing" a new identity isn't so much an issue. In my friend's case, the only real concessions she's had to make are language ones, not having to reshape her identity as a person. She accepts and even loves her Chinese heritage, and it's very pleasing to see American acceptance of that. I feel that today, people are accepted more readily for who they are because of the diversity of the country. In my opinion, it's no longer a nation where you have to copy mainstream culture to be accepted. Being an American now is a broad category. I think that the only thing that really ties Americans together is the geography. We all live in America, but outside of that the diversity is incredible. Different languages, different cultures, and different ethnic towns exist in almost every city in America. This is one of the things I learned through not only interviewing 张宇辰, but also through talking to her these last two years. I realized that though we come from different cultures, we get along as well as any two friends would. I think this is because I can appreciate where she's coming from and I hold respect for Chinese language and culture. However, there are some people even in our school who would rather not have to bother with the "new girl from China" and never get the chance to know her. This proves to me that the solution to the discrimination and problems Chinese-Americans face could really be as simple as respect, understanding, and exposure to other cultures. I really wish I had an ethnic history half as great as Yuchen's. I really don't know where I belong, other than the fact that one half of my family immigrated over from England before the Revolution, and the other half was natively German quite a few generations down the line. I wish I had a stronger identity with my heritage and I wish I could speak a heritage language other than English. This makes me respect and understand why she wants to hold on to her Chinese roots so strongly.
--Olivia Lopez 罗安
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