Restart

Restart

Chinese people feel proud of those who can immigrate to the United States of America. It is the dream country. Most Chinese parents hope their daughters can marry an American man because they want to immigrate to the U.S. When I came to the U.S., which is my dream country, I realized I had to restart my life. In my early days in this country, I lost my confidence because I didn’t know much English. I had a lot of things to say, but I didn’t know how to express my mind. Sometimes when shopping in the mall, I wanted to ask salesclerks about the new arrival, but they never understood what I was talking about. In addition, most American people don’t celebrate the Chinese festivals, so I feel I lost a part of my Chinese culture. When I came to America I lost confidence, my communication skills, and some Chinese culture in my new life.

The first thing I lost was my confidence after I came to the U.S. I was born in the zodiac sign of Leo, so I will do anything in order to succeed. I was a very confident girl in China. However, I had no confidence after I came to the United States.  I was afraid of facing strangers because I was worried that I would say something wrong. When I started class at school, I wanted to participate. I had some ideas about some discussions in the classroom, but I didn’t dare to express myself because I always thought my opinions would not be accepted or I was afraid someone would think my idea is just a joke. In contrast, I would unreservedly express my opinion in school in my class in China. I want to regain my confidence in order to become myself again.

My ability to communicate was the second thing that got lost in the U.S. I had a smart mouth in China. Maybe many people think it’s a bad character trait because it is very easy to offend others, but I don’t think so. I think if people want to have good relationships, they must be able to communicate well with one another. In fact, I’m good at Chinese, but poor at English. I had to speak English everywhere such as school, restaurants and my job. I think I don’t have good English skills and represent that I lost the ability to communicate. I need to restart better communication skills in the U.S.

            What I lost the most, however, is my Chinese culture. I had lived in China for more than twenty years before I came to America. However, after I came to the U.S., I found that few American people would celebrate Chinese Festivals. Instead, they celebrated Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween. For example, I lived in China for more than twenty years, and I’ve celebrated The Lunar New Year my entire life. On that day my parents and other married relatives would give me lucky money in a red envelope, and all the families would get together and have dinner on New Year’s Eve. Nonetheless, I didn’t feel the atmosphere about the Lunar New Year in America. Another example of this is when the Chinese have to burn a sacrifice for their forefathers in China’s Qingming Festival every year. This implies that people will be receiving blessing from their ancestors. However, there is completely no way to sacrifice for my forefathers in the U.S. because my forefathers were buried in the ground in China. I need to find ways of celebrate my China holidays in this mew country.

            Since the moment I chose to immigrate to America, my life I was doomed. I lost my confidence, but I was intent to find it again. Although people rarely speak Chinese in the U.S. I believe that through my efforts my English will become better. My Chinese culture has accompanied me for years, but I can learn a different culture in the U.S. “Restart” means to take up or begin anew, and that represents my American life will have a new beginning.