American Like Me Post 2

I'll start by saying this: All people are more alike than they think. Reading each story in American Like Me has revealed a common thread between all immigrant stories. That is, the authors all begin by feeling some form of admiration towards the US, but eventually become alienated and pushed to a corner because of some realization or experience during their upbringing. Ultimately however, most stories end with the author overcoming their challenges in assimilation and eventually accept themselves for who they are and find comfort in their roots. Indeed, every story has its own nuances due to their differences in cultural backgrounds. But despite each author's unique experiences, I began to see and appreciate all immigrant parents for their perseverance through hardships to provide for their families and also every child of immigrant resiliency and determination to remain rooted in their background and cultures. 

The parts of the book which I felt were most relatable, unsurprisingly, were the memoirs of Asian immigrants such as Randall Park, Jenny Zhang, Jeremy Lin... I'm only saying this because I come from a similar cultural background. Below is a little story of my own that I thought of whilst reading Jenny Zhang's.

Growing up in Hong Kong, my knowledge of America came mostly from popular culture and the only real way for me to live the American experience was through food. I loved American food when I was a child. In fact, I loved it so much that I began rejecting foods from my own culture at times. As you may know, yum cha is a very common tradition in Cantonese culture in which you gather with friends and family for tea and dim sum. I loathed yum cha growing up. It wasn't the foods that my idols Michael Jordan and Larry Bird were eating in the Mcdonald's commercial. I remember my grandmother telling me "one day you'll miss yum cha when you study abroad". I didn't believe her. The first semester I came to USC, I lost 10 pounds. Like Jenny, as hard as I tried, I couldn't force myself to eat American food day in day out because it always felt like something was missing. Believe it or not, I began missing food from Hong Kong, especially yum cha. When I got home the first Spring Break, I apologized to my grandma for being stubborn and we both laughed at how ironic the whole situation was. She brought me out to the usual spot for yum cha and it was undeniably one of the best meals of my life.

Although I do not have an immigrant experience like the authors in the book,  I believe I've more or less lived through some form of identity crisis like the authors. Maybe I should send this excerpt to America Ferrera to see if she'd be interested in adding an extra chapter to the book. 

P.S. I've yet to find a dim sum place in Los Angeles even comparable to what we get in Hong Kong, if anyone has any recommendations, please let me know below.