WuKong Education “Tell Us Your ABC Story” Award-Winning Story: Growing Up in the Western World

Welcome to Our ABC Stories! In 2023, WuKong Education’s “Tell Us Your ABC Story” Global Story Contest invited Chinese families worldwide to share their tales. Actor Daniel Wu and author Vincent Yee, and the WuKong Judge Team, collectively selected 21 finalists from touching submissions. “Growing Up in the Western World” by Amy Huang, aged 14, has earned her a place as a “Future Writer Star.” Amy’s narrative offers a unique perspective on growing up in the Western world as a young Chinese individual. Take a moment to be inspired by her incredible story, offering a glimpse into global Chinese experiences.

It all started when my dad made the decision to leave his home in Guangzhou, China and embark on along journey to a small country in Central America, Belize. In this foreign and unfamiliar place, my parents settled down and began to look for jobs. Here, they met people who also came from China and they built a friendship allowing them to depend on and help each other. A year later, my parents started their own business. Although they eventually got used to their environment, overcoming the language and culture barriers remained a difficult challenge. Soon, I was born. After considerable thinking, my grandmother gave me the Chinese name Xi, which means “sunlight,” and Min, which means “quick, clever, and agile.” The story of my English name, on the other hand, was quite amusing. My parents did not want to choose a name that was unfamiliar to them and easy for them to forget how to spell or pronounce it. As a result, they decided that “Amy” would be my Englishname because it is simple to spell and commonly used in TV shows in Hong Kong. At school, it was useful to have an Englishname. More than often my teachers and classmates would pronounce my name wrongly. In Grade 1, my teacher pronounced my name as “Shimin” instead of Ximin, but I never corrected her and I was getting used to it. My time in school includes many memories and first experiences. I can still remember the time when I could only say two sentences in English which were “May Iuse the bathroom?” and “Hello.” Overtime, I learned new words but it was difficult to understand their meanings.  English was never my best subject in school compared to math. In math, there is just one  correct answer, but in English, the answers are more than often a matter of opinion  with its exceptions and irregularities. I always struggled with English tests that had  fill-in-the-blank sentences, grammar, and word analogies. The only way that I could get  those answers right was by reading them over and over and finding which one sounded the  best. Although my current English grade isn’t considered horrible, I still find it more  difficult in comparison to other subjects. I have improved a lot in these few years and I believe  that there are other American-born Chinese that also experience these problems in school. After only one year at school, I became the default translator of the family. Even with my limited English at that time, my parents would take me to any occasion that required them to speak English. Being bilingual could prove challenging at times. My brain is frequently a mess of words from each language and has trouble translating words from one language to another. This makes it difficult forme to have along conversation in just one language without pausing and also why I communicate with my parents with a mixture of two languages like: “Have you seen the 充电宝(portable charger)?”  Majority of the time they understand what I am trying to say but there are times when I struggle to finda translation that my parents can understand. Growing up far away from China has made me distant from family members. When we have family gatherings, which isn’t very often, it takes sometime to catch up and get better acquainted with each other. Growing up in the Western world has exposed me to a variety of cultures and beliefs different from those at home. When people travel away from their homeland, some traditions and beliefs are sometimes forgotten or blended with Western ones. Even so, my parents made sure to keep our traditions alive by eating mooncakes in September and zongzi in June, among other things. They made it certain that I would remember our culture eventhough we were far from China. Being different is one of the difficulties of being an ABC. It can be difficult to fitin at times, and this could lead us to change who we are. I struggled with these issues during my first few years of school, but I am glad that I have now overcome them. Whenever my class- mates and I sat down for lunch, my food was always different from everyone else’s. I gradu- ally learned to share my culture rather than hide it. The fact that my parents sent me to go to a diverse school with people from all over the world also helped a lot to increase my confi- dence. Growing up as an ABC has its share of challenges and advantages, we should never try to hide who we are but instead to embrace our individuality.

Summary

Thank you for immersing yourself in “Growing Up in the Western World,” a unique perspective on the challenges and joys of navigating life as a young Chinese individual in a Western setting. Amy Huang, at the age of 14, has earned recognition as a Future Writer Star for her insightful storytelling. Amy’s story adds a valuable dimension to the diverse tapestry of global Chinese experiences. We express our gratitude to Amy for sharing her unique narrative and contributing to the rich collection of global Chinese stories. May we continue to celebrate these stories that make our cultural heritage wonderfully diverse.