Unknowingly, I started to show strong preference for western culture since the beginning of middle school. At the beginning, I was only attracted to thrilling novels about brave American teens such as Goosebumps and Tiger Team series. However, this attraction soon developed into a “cult” for the whole western world. Instead of listening to the popular Chinese singer Jay as everyone else, I filled my iPod with Linkin Park and Avril Lavigne and I asked my friends to watch American movies with me on weekends. I feel the sense of freedom delivered by the movie. The protagonists, which in my case are mostly teenagers, usually have a passion outside school. Even though the parents sometimes complained about their misbehaviors and lack of disciplines, they never asked their kids to sleep by 9 or forced them to study on weekends. When I went out and wander in a strange street alone, my mother would shout at me angrily and thought that I would follow strangers and get lost. While in the movies and novels, those brave American kids would venture into the forests and have a campfire with their friends. Without any other information, these stories become the main source of my impression of western countries. I persuaded my mother to let me have the basement and tried to change it into a “secret” gathering spot with my friends. I bought a skateboard with my savings and tried to row like a skaterboy.
However, these imaginations broke by the end of summer. When my mother decided to bring me into a boarding middle school, everything changed. I was forced to study in a restrained campus from dawn to sunset and after study we did not have the permission to leave the dorm for more than 30 minutes. My imagination conflicted with this cruel reality continuously and I could only comfort myself with videogames and movies. Every time when attended 7pm night class session and imagined that teenagers across the ocean were playing guitar and practicing Hip-hop, my eager to escape this place grew stronger. I started taking extra English classes on weekends and waited for my chance.
Finally, the arrival of my aunt from LA changed my “fate”. She visited our family in Yantai and had a dinner with us. As a big fan of American culture, I could not help but keep asking questions about America and her answer intrigued me as a new-released action movie. By the end of the dinner, she suggested my mother that I should go to study in American high school and the Chinese educational system would destroy my creativity. My mother nodded when my aunt told her about all the good merits of American high school. And after an eight-hour discussion, she agreed to let me go to high school in America. I was so reveled by this news and did not believe that my dream had come true so soon. After eight month of high level English studying, I set my foot on America for the first time.
Reality always deviates a bit from reality. After my first month in a New England boarding school, I found that my life here did not resemble the movie. I was pretty shocked when I realized I needed to stay up to finish my reading or go to church at 9 am. The dreams, shattered into pieces. Yet after a temporal disappointment, I began to see the true difference between China and America and the meaning of me coming here. I realize the American freedom does not only reflect on pop culture and teenage life, but also the way we think and pursue our dreams. Through multiple projects and writings, I begin to think more creatively and learn about my interest, something not tangible in Chinese educational system. Even though I did not experience my old imaginations about America, I felt I have learned something more important, a life goal and a multicultural worldview. With my Chinese background and knowledge about American culture, I begin to view situations with different perspective and a more liberal way. I believe this what American educational system has taught me and the meaning of freedom.
With my experience with America, I wanted to interview two other generations and see what are their impression about western world.
However, these imaginations broke by the end of summer. When my mother decided to bring me into a boarding middle school, everything changed. I was forced to study in a restrained campus from dawn to sunset and after study we did not have the permission to leave the dorm for more than 30 minutes. My imagination conflicted with this cruel reality continuously and I could only comfort myself with videogames and movies. Every time when attended 7pm night class session and imagined that teenagers across the ocean were playing guitar and practicing Hip-hop, my eager to escape this place grew stronger. I started taking extra English classes on weekends and waited for my chance.
Finally, the arrival of my aunt from LA changed my “fate”. She visited our family in Yantai and had a dinner with us. As a big fan of American culture, I could not help but keep asking questions about America and her answer intrigued me as a new-released action movie. By the end of the dinner, she suggested my mother that I should go to study in American high school and the Chinese educational system would destroy my creativity. My mother nodded when my aunt told her about all the good merits of American high school. And after an eight-hour discussion, she agreed to let me go to high school in America. I was so reveled by this news and did not believe that my dream had come true so soon. After eight month of high level English studying, I set my foot on America for the first time.
Reality always deviates a bit from reality. After my first month in a New England boarding school, I found that my life here did not resemble the movie. I was pretty shocked when I realized I needed to stay up to finish my reading or go to church at 9 am. The dreams, shattered into pieces. Yet after a temporal disappointment, I began to see the true difference between China and America and the meaning of me coming here. I realize the American freedom does not only reflect on pop culture and teenage life, but also the way we think and pursue our dreams. Through multiple projects and writings, I begin to think more creatively and learn about my interest, something not tangible in Chinese educational system. Even though I did not experience my old imaginations about America, I felt I have learned something more important, a life goal and a multicultural worldview. With my Chinese background and knowledge about American culture, I begin to view situations with different perspective and a more liberal way. I believe this what American educational system has taught me and the meaning of freedom.
With my experience with America, I wanted to interview two other generations and see what are their impression about western world.