My American Life.

Beer-pongs. Football games. Mint chocolate chip ice cream. The exoticism of American lifestyle as portrayed in TV series entranced me growing up in China. When I started my college in the US, I was eager to Americanize myself and blend in. I used fancy slangs in text messages and filled my schedule with hangouts and club meetings. However, starring in my own American live show did not make me feel as accepted as I imagined. I wondered what went wrong.

One day in class I watched a BBC documentary about air pollution in China. The video was presented in an extremely unpleasant way, as if the poisonous air and irresponsible government were the only things that people could ever encounter in China. My frustration with this video made me realize that my understanding of American lifestyle was as superficial and limited as the image of China in the eyes of western countries. The America that I had been trying to assimilate to before was only a scene on the screen based on over-exaggerations and single-sided stories rather than the authentic taste of life.

I discovered that my previously parochial perspective on American culture was the true reason behind my lingering loneliness. Once I stopped regarding me as an outsider but a member of this society, America is not as different as I thought to be. I found myself embraced by the tolerance of this cultural mosaic and surrounded by people who share the same passion with me. My professor is excited to try the Chinese cuisine I cook for his family. Despite the campus partying customs, I am not the only nerd who spends Friday nights studying in the library. The American lifestyle I have been longing for is the process of maintaining my unique background while also integrating into to something new.

Now, my world has turned into an amorphous, hog-potbelly-“hodgepodge”. I use my fine blue and white ceramic teacup to drink Americano coffee and place the poster of Lady Gaga right beside the hanging works of my calligraphy. And I enjoy reading a whole section within the library dedicated to Western critiques of Chinese classic “Dream of The Red Chamber.” When I look through the kaleidoscope my life, I see various, ever-changing facets. These countless colors and shifting shapes are all parts of my unique combination, my identity. As I continue exploring diverse ideas, connecting with different people, I will add to my hodgepodge, on a journey to becoming a more tasty stew, though some would still call it congee.