Throughout this semester, I have learned a lot about cultural differences, probably more than any other semester so far.  Along with this Multicultural Literature class, I am also taking a Multicultural Health class.  We are reading a book called The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down, which is about a Hmong family and the difficulties they go through with their daughter’s disease and medical care.  This book is very similar to East Eats West in displaying cultural dynamics as well as comparing and contrasting Asian and American cultures.  In this blog post, I am going to compare two parts of American culture that I think are important to how they are handled differently in Asiancultures.

My favorite essay from Andrew Lam’s book is “Singing In The Family”.  It is about his uncle’s birthday party and instead of bringing him gifts, every member of the family had to sing a song on the karaoke machine.  In this essay, Lam informs us of how emotions are not expressed in his family with a quote from his depressed uncle; “Vietnamese men don’t cry outward.  Our tears flow inward, back into the heart.”  However, this changed for his family at the birthday party.  As people started singing their songs, everyone started getting emotional, especially when Andrew’s uncle got choked up on his turn.  He started crying and this was the first time any member of his clan had ever seen him cry.

In American culture, I think showing and expressing emotions is very accepted.  People often turn to their families and friends for advice to help with their problems or just to talk about how they feel.  Counseling is also readily available to anyone who seeks a professional “advice giver” to talk to.  Showing affection is also very accepted in American culture.  In this essay, Lam tells about how he had only seen his parents hug or hold hands a handful of times, however he recognizes that this “practiced repression is as old as the history of Vietnam”.  From this quote, one might assume that traditional Vietnamese ways of showing affections have been Americanized.

In the essay “Too Much Self-Esteem Can Be Bad For Your Child”, Lam references the differences between American and Asian academics.  In America, I think there are many different views on academics.  For example, I have always been diligent in school and worked hard for the grades I have gotten.  I am also pretty hard on myself when I don’t live up to the standards I have set.  My parents obviously want me to succeed and do well in school, but they have never set standards I needed to meet or been hard on me about a bad grade.  On the other hand, there are some people who just don’t like school at all.  A few people who are close to me would rather work than go to school, which in this day andage, I completely understand.  School is just not for some people and in America that is an accepted fact.

On the other hand, I don’t think this fact would be accepted in Asian cultures.  As stated in the essay, “That Asian-Americans dominate higher education in the last few decades in America is also worth noting”.  This could be for many reasons, but I think one of the main reasons is the way they were brought up by their parents.  Asian parents most likely hold their children to the academic standards as if they were still in their country of origin.  This aspect of Asian culture is one that American culture lacks and it is obviously working because of the fact that Asian Americans now dominate the University of California school system.  This fact alone shows the difference between the two cultures as far as academics go.

Although there are many cultural differences as well as similarities between cultures, it is amazing how well they all work together in this melting pot known as the United States.

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