Comments for American Born Chinese - 美國土生華人

Comment on Distinguishing Both Chinese and American Rhetoric by ptatel

ptatel — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:48:14 +0000

Your professor was over generalizing probably because he was trying to advise you in lieu of a bigger issue: you are two very different people. Believe me, an ABCF (American-born Chinese-Filipino), when I say that there are those Americans that have identified themselves as such possibly because they descend from 3 or more generations of Americans; and these Americans will never fully understand what it’s like to be you or me or any other 2nd gen American. Assimilation is a controversial topic (especially in academia) so you have to take everything a faculty member will tell you with a grain of salt (perhaps a handful). I think the right way to interpret his advice is that if you want to work for the type of American employer that is looking to employ frank, direct, individuals, then that’s what you need to portray in your resume. He was right, you have to give the company exactly what they’re looking for and you have to be honest with yourself: are you what the company is looking for? Cultural-background or race is a big factor but it’s just one. I don’t know what kind of work you were looking for but don’t lose yourself in the job hunt. If you want to bridge cultures, look for a job where you can do that and put that in your resume. If you’re in need of a job sooner, suck it up and do what your professor said. And never forget that you’re not alone.

Comment on From the ABC Perspective: Torn Between Two Worlds by CBC

CBC — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:03:16 +0000

Hi, I just found your extremely interesting blog (a little late..)and it’s exactly the same for Canadian-born Chinese. I would however, like to hear your thoughts on this-the dating experience of ABC with other ethnic groups such as black, white, other. Why do you think young ABC are attracted to dating outside of their own cultural background?

Comment on Distinguishing Both Chinese and American Rhetoric by Taikor

Taikor — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 06:20:05 +0000

We occasionally experience “writer’s block” and the lack of time to pursue an interest. Everybody does.

Blogging is a new pastime in this era. Some do it leisurely without time constraint or obligations to anyone. But if you’re serious about building a successful weblog, you might want to learn about the skills and knowledge of blogging at Problogger.com. It has wealth of information, ideas and suggestions for that purpose.

Happy blogging and Merry Dongzhi.

Comment on Distinguishing Both Chinese and American Rhetoric by zuraffo

zuraffo — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:57:43 +0000

I have just stumbled on your blog. Liked it a lot. Keep it up!

Now for me two cents worth on the topic of communication style:

It is true that chinese tend to be less assertive than americans and employ a lot more euphemism. However from the example you gave in your article, the issue you had with your resume doesn’t seem to be related to the above. It is more, I believe, to do with the lack of experience with writing a resume.

Your professor is not being helpful by confusing the matter with the racial issue.

I suggest, if possible, to get a few resume from your friends, of all races, and see the difference for yourself. Then maybe you can determine if it’s a racial tendency.

Comment on Differences in Western and Chinese/Asian Cultures by Taikor

Taikor — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 08:26:59 +0000

Eastern collectivism vs Western individualism has always been the main difference between the two.

Comment on From the ABC Perspective: Torn Between Two Worlds by Chris

Chris — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 23:27:53 +0000

Wow, this blog is pretty cool! These entries are very well written. I’m an American-born Cantonese in NYC, second year of college. Your story is really similar to mine– I’ve taken an interest in Chinese culture after my friend a GZ native, she started to encourage me about it in my freshman year. I also started taking Mandarin this semester, except I already have some background in it. I’ve never traveled to Asia yet. My written communications are better than my verbal skills. And my future pursuits are in newswriting.

Which university do you go to and what year are you in?

Comment on From the ABC Perspective: Torn Between Two Worlds by Sue G Cheng

Sue G Cheng — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 19:24:58 +0000

Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts about chinese living in another country. I for one, am Cantonese but I was born and raised in Malaysia. Although there are alot of Chinese in Malaysia, I feel left out most of the time. Mostly because of the political reasons that made me feel like a second class citizen in this country. I wonder to myself sometimes that what if I was born and raise in Hong Kong or Guang Zhou, how will my life be different…
You are lucky in a way, because you can voice out almost anything in the States, but here, you really have to keep it inside you. I know that there are alot of Malaysian Chinese that are not happy living here because of the double standards in Malaysia.
Sometimes, I think I am really messed up (culturally) because when I was in the States, I am more Chinese with my non-chinese friends, not a ‘right’ type of Chinese with my Hong Kong friends (because I dont speak Cantonese fluently)and when I went back to Malaysia, I was told that I am very ‘American’. So there you go, basically, I dont feel like I belong anywhere…
but thank you again for your posting, I feel like I can relate to you.

Comment on Differences in Western and Chinese/Asian Cultures by ABT

ABT — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 02:33:37 +0000

I would just like to tell you thank you for writing all of this… I discovered your blog the other day and it’s great feeling that an ABC/ ABT isn’t along in this world.

Comment on Jin releases his all-Cantonese album “ABC” by abclives

abclives — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 22:18:40 +0000

Very interesting, just linked it into our site.

Comment on About “American Born Chinese” blog by Susan S. Cheung

Susan S. Cheung — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:16:12 +0000

I was doing some research on the web to find some American-born Chinese voices out there and came across your blog, and was very interested to hear about your thoughts and hear about your experiences as an ABC (re: June 5 posting.)

I am in a unique situation as I am a British-born Chinese person, raised and educated in England (parents are from Hong Kong) who immigrated to the United States several years ago and I am bringing up my two American-born children. Therefore, I am very interested to find out about the Chinese-American experience and how it’s similar or different to my experience growing up in the UK.

I write for an award winning website for British-born and British-based Chinese called dimsum.co.uk. I started my regular column for the website with a piece called: “BBC or ABC-it’s all about identity.” I think my piece will add to your discussion about identity. Check out: http://www.dimsum.co.uk/

My aim is to write about two articles a month for the website based on my experiences (both in the UK and in the States) and the challenges of bringing up my children with a sense of their Chinese identity.

I think you and your readers would be interested in the dimsum website in general. It is a great source of interesting discussions such as this.

Good luck with your blog and I look forward to reading more entries.