Attention Chinese and other students and job seekers coming to America - What they do not tell you about cultural differences…

Honor and Respect the Differences

I have had the opportunity to counsel and mentor Chinese students concerning how to adjust to life in America as well as help them understand some of the cultural differences they face.

Whether you are here for the education, or the opportunity to remain and work here, certain cultural differences do exist and your time here might be better spent if you understand them.

The English Language

Many foreign students face the fear of not being able to communicate here, and are reluctant to jump into discussions because they believe they might be misunderstood because of their difficulty speaking English.

Do not be.  First, and as a natural born American who has lived throughout the nation and was a newspaper and communications specialist, you are not alone.  America is no different than most nations, there are vast regional and geographic differences in the dialect and pronunciation of English by Americans, let alone foreigners.

A Nation of Immigrants

We take great pride being the melting pot of the world in terms of immigration.  In fact, with the exception of a few million Native Americans, everyone else in America comes from somewhere else, whether this generation or throughout our history.  In truth we are the largest nation in the world whose entire population came from somewhere else.

When our parents, grandparents, or distant relatives came to America it was to enjoy the individual freedom and self-determination the new world had to offer.  In spite of all the technology and advancements of humanity, and the stunning fact that America has only existed 241 years, people still come here for the same reason.

A great education system has been developed here, but you can find great universities all over the world.  What you cannot find is the cultural foundation of America, which is truly a melting pot for the rest for the world.  Preserving your own culture while blending into the American culture is consistent with what we do.

A Beacon of Light for the World

America has been a beacon of light for the rest of the world, even though you have thousands of years of history and we do not even have 250 years.  There is great truth in the cliché that America is “the land of opportunity,” because we were fortunate our Founding Fathers created an America that would serve as a beacon of light to all those living in other nations who faced corrupt governments, faced living with very limited rights of freedom, self-expression, the right to dissent, and the right to change leaders.

The Miracle of America

Our rapid rise from struggling colonial rule to a free and independent democracy is truly the miracle of America.  We did not have thousands of years of history to draw upon.  No form of monarchy, dictatorship, socialist, or communist structure offered what we needed.

So, our Founding Fathers created something new, that never existed before, when they wrote our Constitution.  They also recognized there were things being done in America because of the early influence of other nations, that were inherently wrong and had to be corrected in time.

Slavery could not exist in a nation guaranteeing individual freedom to all.  Nor could religious, race, or ethic rules stand in the way of equality and justice for all.  Of course, we had faults, but we also were forced to deal with the faults because our Founding Fathers created a blueprint for the future by guaranteeing freedom and liberty for all.  While all is still not well in America when it comes to bias and discrimination, we have made great strides.

Competition and Excellence

America thrives on competition and excellence using both as motivators for our economic engine, our education, and all other aspects of life.  Unfortunately, many aspects are still in need of tremendous improvement.  That does not include the economic engine of capitalism, the strength of our military, the fierce independence of our people, nor the high standard we expect in our quality of life.

Chinese students in particular might have a bit of trouble understanding this form of motivation.  What I have noticed from you are a generation of kids who grew up after the incredible turmoil of the early 20^th Century as your country went from isolation under warlords, to rejection of the western ways other countries tried to impose on China, to a Communist system fighting for its life to stay separate from the Soviet Empire who was aggressively seeking to control China.

Now, after the system of Communism collapsed throughout the world, and you are one of a handful of nations still embracing the guiding principles of Communism, dramatic changes are coming to China.  In order to be a super power, and I do not claim that is such a good thing, one has to have one of the most powerful economies in history which is why there is still only one super-power.

Yet China, and India certainly will deserve a seat at the table of super powers in the near future which is good because the USA is quite tired of dining alone I can assure you.

President Xí Jìnpíng of China

Xi Jinping currently serves as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. 

President Xí Jìnpíng could become to China what our most beloved President Abraham Lincoln is to America, the guiding light bringing our nation out of the darkness and into the light.

Every so often in history there comes a person who changes the world for good and Xí Jìnpíng may very well be the Chinese contribution to future world security.  He is the bridge between a chaotic and troubled past and a hopeful future.  During the thousands of years of human evolution China has made many of the greatest contributions by nations through Taoism, Traditional Chinese Medicine, philosophy, art, science, and many other fields.

When we look to our past to find the things that were essential to our future, China, and India, rank among the greatest civilizations.  Ironically, many Chinese students have little awareness of their rich history because it took place before the rise of Communism, and it is a heritage you should seek out.

Sharing Cultural History

When you come to America, many of us are as hungry to learn about China as you are to learn about America.  You should be proud and aware of your rich history, and share with those you meet here.  You also should be proud of the doors to the future being opened by President Xí Jìnpíng.

Make no mistake, China and India have a long way to go to be able to offer individual freedom and equality to all their citizens, but they are making progress and that should be supported.  We in America were blessed to experience such change in the beginning of our history, not after the first 7,000 years.

No country is expected to be like America, because what works in America may be too extreme for those with a history.  The Chinese, Indians, and Russians all have gone through many leaders and “isms” in the course of their evolvement.  None ever embraced the American brand of Democracy.  It would be foreign to the people and much too radical a change.  But we can all move toward the common goal of insuring individual freedom and equality.

Know your history, be proud of the many contributions your country has made to mankind, and be willing to share that information with Americans hungry to learn about the rest of the world.

The Terracotta Army: First Emperor Qin's Buried Battalions, and the Great Wall are among the oldest of Chinese historic sites, both dating around 2,300 years ago.

       

Photo taken on July 13, 2016 shows a bronze cauldron at Yinxu, or the Ruins of Yin, one of China's oldest archaeological sites, in Anyang, Central China's Henan province. Named after the last capital of China's first recorded dynasty Shang (16-11 cent. BC), which was in Anyang, Henan, the Ruins of Yin were famous for the discovery of oracle bones and script. [Photo/Xinhua] 

Yin Xu

The archaeological site of Yin Xu, close to Anyang City, some 500 km south of Beijing, is an ancient capital city of the late Shang Dynasty (1300 - 1046 BC). It testifies to the golden age of early Chinese culture, crafts and sciences, a time of great prosperity of the Chinese Bronze Age. A number of royal tombs and palaces, prototypes of later Chinese architecture, have been unearthed on the site, including the Palace and Royal Ancestral Shrines Area, with more than 80 house foundations, and the only tomb of a member of the royal family of the Shang Dynasty to have remained intact, the Tomb of Fu Hao. The large number and superb craftsmanship of the burial accessories found there bear testimony to the advanced level of Shang crafts industry. Inscriptions on oracle bones found in Yin Xu bear invaluable testimony to the development of one of the world’s oldest writing systems, ancient beliefs and social systems.

Layer	Oracle bone period	Kings	Approximate dates
Yinxu I		Pan Geng, Xiao Xin, Xiao Yi	1300–1250 BCE
Yinxu II	I	Wu Ding	1250–1192 BCE
	II	Zu Geng, Zu Jia	1191–1148 BCE
Yinxu III	III	Lin Xin, Geng Ding
	IV	Wu Yi, Wen Wu Ding	1147–1102 BCE
Yinxu IV	V	Di Yi, Di Xin	1101–1046 BCE

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Do You Do What You Do Do Well? Is it What You Dreamed of Doing?

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Did you ever wonder if you just spent your entire life living your back up plan? Here you are, however old you might be or however young you might think you are at a good time in life to think about serendipitous and sentimental stuff.



If you did get stuck doing what was expected of you, or sacrificed your dreams to help other people with theirs', then you know what I am talking about.

Somewhere in the attic of your upstairs playground your dreams patiently wait. Way back in the cobwebs of your mind can be found the innocence of youth, your first dreams of what you wanted to do with your life. Then you had to go out and face life.



Over the years I have explored those attics in a whole lot of people's minds and most people seem to be living the back up plan - not their own true dreams.

That's okay. It was what you thought was the best decision for you at the time. As time went by you found yourself giving up more and more of your first dreams for others.



To me the result is you eventually are spending most of your time living the back up plan. Now in spite of this rather negative perspective on my part I am a card carrying member of the eternal optimists "hall of fame".

I figure if we are as young as I think I am, there is still time to get those first dreams out of the attic and live them. If we do we can feel a sense of fulfillment that might otherwise have never been felt in your life.

Most likely the biggest dreams you gave up were being a star or hero. Instead you chose to lead a life of ambiguity and obscurity.

Come on, admit it, there was a time you wanted to be recognized, for doing something really heroic.



I wanted to do a lot of heroic things. First I was going to be a famous writer influencing people like Mark Twain who actually grew up about 80 miles from where I lived. Close enough for me to immerse myself during numerous visits to his home, cave and Mighty Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri.

Then I was going to be the next Sherlock Holmes dazzling Scotland Yard with my deductive reasoning while solving the most dastardly of cases.



Next I was going to be a star of the New York Yankees with my statue in Yankees Monument Park next to Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra and the gang.



After winning a few state baseball championships that was replaced by being the next Buddy Holly, a new icon in rock 'n roll music, and sharing my stories with people through music. Maybe one like Aristotle or Plato, whose influence is still being felt this day, 2,500 years since they taught in Greece.



There was a point when I changed course completely and decided on life as a dedicated Monk, a teacher and scholar who discovers amazing new insights from Divine Providence.





Then came my materialism era when I thought I was a prodigy of the powerful House of Rothschild in England and just about every where else. I dismissed the fact I was living in a small town in Iowa and figured there was a mistake at birth, I was sent to the wrong place and the wrong parents.





This influenced my next dream or obsession of attending Yale in the Ivy League, a place I just knew I belonged, but after visiting Yale and meeting the kids and feeling the pressure they lived under I opted for the University of Arizona in Tucson.



There were a lot of other dreams as well but you get the idea. In time, I came to the conclusion that I just wanted to do a lot of things, experience a lot of life, and help people along the way.

Years later I realized I blew it. Once upon a time in high school I did have a really good rock 'n roll band that had a lot of future promise. But I gave up my Buddy Holly dream for another dream at the time.



Now that I am older and wiser, take that with a grain of salt, I intend to finish what I started so long ago. I've written many songs, recorded rough cuts of them, went to Nashville and recorded really good versions of some, and realized I could have been doing that all my life.

Back in high school one of the reasons I gave up the Buddy Holly dream was I did not want to play cover songs, songs other artists released, but wanted to do my own stuff. My own stories were just as poignant as anything other people were recording. Then I took stock in my life and decided I must be crazy, I haven't lived long enough to have many interesting stories to tell. I decided to collect the material for the songs before I worried about the career in music. Been doing that ever since.

My point is this. It is never too late to go back and pursue your first dreams. The biggest regret people have shared with me was never being able to do what they really wanted to do in life. They feared going to their grave wondering what might have been.

So don't, especially if your dreams might have helped people. Do the things you always wanted to do with no guilt about giving it a try. You may very well find that you were given gifts that you never shared but by now sharing you can help other people with their lives.

There is no higher purpose than helping others. But sometimes you must help yourself before you can help others. Take a chance. Have a little faith and self-confidence and the world may still be waiting for you. You really can get through life without wondering might have been.



If you do, I hope you will write and share the experiences with me so I can share them with others. Never forget that we are all in this together.

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