Critiques please… The prompt was describe a challenge / opportunity & how it has impacted you.
The colors of rainbows adorn the sky
While the young rose is bathed in morning dew.
The sun smiles down at those who pass by
As she greets the delightful dawn anew
June, can you answer the question? asked the teacher with her hands on her hips. Her overbearing stare suddenly ripped me away from my daydreaming and poetry writing, forcing me back into the harsh realities of yet another Sunday afternoon in Chinese school. I rubbed my eyes as I tried to adjust from looking at the bright outdoors in order to return to the dim lighting of the unventilated classroom.<br>
Can you please repeat that? I asked timidly.
Well, I would not need to repeat it if you were listening, she said sternly in her imperfect English as the rest of the class snickered.
Ten years ago, my parents started to send me to Chinese school to learn the language, but I saw no point in it. The last thing I needed was to sacrifice three hours on a Sunday afternoon when I had better things to do. I was born and raised in Austin and completely assimilated into the American culture. The only times when I had to actually use Chinese was when I needed to communicate with my relatives from China. Writing and reading, however, had no correlation with the spoken language. The characters were like Egyptian calligraphy completely foreign to me. There was no alphabet, which meant that I had to memorize more than five thousand different characters to be able to read an article. It just wasnt worth the effort. So, I hid novels in my textbook, stared out the window, and doodled in my notebook while the teacher lectured. Every Sunday, I would make up excuses for not having my homework; the my dog ate my homework excuse got old after a while, especially since I didnt have a dog. The imperial mandate of my parents, however, was the only reason why I even went to Chinese school.<br>
During the summer of my seventh grade year, I visited China. The friendliness of the people, the breathless beauty of the hills and rivers, and the vitality of the city life intrigued me. I knew that I wanted to be a part of the culture, but I felt that I did not belong when I had to ask native speakers what the simple street signs said. Because I was of Chinese descent, people always gave me strange looks whenever I would suddenly blurt something out in English or have trouble reading Chinese characters. After I returned to Austin, I was determined to intensify my efforts to learn the Chinese language. From then on, I listened intently to the teacher, did all my homework, and even found time to read extra material.<br>
This summer, my family decided to visit China again. During this visit, I noticed aspects of China that I had disregarded before, notably the energy and vivaciousness of the developing economy. The entrepreneurial spirit was evident in so many people around me. Businesses at all stages were increasingly global and had extended into the United States. My aunt, who worked for a large high-tech company, had traveled to Austin for a conference to share her findings about semiconductors. Another aunt, who was a small business owner, came to the United States last year to sell her products. Global goods that have entered domestic markets in recent years have increased competition, which decreased inflation. I also saw the familiar names of American companies such as McDonalds, IBM, City Bank, and so forth in China. When my brother got homesick and craved pizza, my parents took us to the nearest Pizza Hut. Since pizza was a popular delicacy among Chinese children, there was a two hour wait to be seated. This showed that American companies were successful in finding new markets in China as well.<br>
In this era of economic globalization, the situation in one country would affect all countries that were linked to it. I was determined to use my links to both cultures to make the most out of the new global economy. In my career, I want the opportunity to travel to such a beautiful country full of opportunity. Many of the Chinese characters are still a mystery to me, but they are a mystery that I am determined to solve in the future so I can 贯通中西 (connect east and west).