Monday, September 3, 2012

An AMERICAN post?

Well, I suppose I have to write about something particular American once a week on this blog. However, I don't know if I can come up with enough topics to last an entire year. I can talk about Asian pop culture, knitting, camp, family, and maybe piano in a way that talks about America. Other than that, I don't know what I can do. I really don't know what to write. How do I make my posts emulate America?
I'll start with some insecurities I have over my nationalities. Being adopted from China and raised by Americans, I'm often torn between two countries and two races. I didn't want to accept it earlier (more about that later), but I think Chinese and American people are very different. China is a far older nation with a more conservative mentality. America is bright and optimistic. The Chinese people are more conservative and trend-following. Americans are more outgoing and aim to stand out. It's insensitive of me to pick apart my own nations this way, but I don't know how else to explain what I think. Maybe I don't know how to be an American. Or maybe I don't know how to be Asian. Chances are that my American upbringing makes me very different from my Chinese friends. But being Chinese has always made me unique. And I have many friends who are studying abroad from China who completely betray the stereotypes I just said. There are Americans who do the same. I want to believe that nationality doesn't change human nature, that no matter where you are born, there will be different kinds of people with unique personalities. But I can't deny that China and America are very different countries. I can't deny that my ideas about human nature are unsupported and idealistic. So I hope that this blog will show me how to be American.

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