A Multi-Cultural Clash

[Chosen_one offline]

If, because of this, you think I've been ranting too much, I'm sorry. It's just that crappy things seem to happen to me like all the time.

You know those people who're constantly moving around the country, constantly having to make new friends? That kind of life pretty much sucks because you can't go very long without having to completely starting over. Well, this is worse. In the first six years of my life, I was moving around the world. And just to give you an example of what you get out of that, I'll tell you that I learned to talk when I was two months old. Then, when I was two years old, I had to learn to talk again. In Japanese. When I was two, I moved to Japan.

Japan was pretty cool. Not much bad stuff happened there, except that I had no friends. Boys there were too immature. You couldn't leave them for five minutes without them getting in a fight. Girls there didn't like guys, so obviously they weren't my friends either.

Then I moved to America. This was very difficult 'cause America has a whole new culture! English was especially difficult to learn; no cognates with Chinese words, no Chinese writing, and why waste so much time using tenses and different forms of one verb? There were just too many words to learn. Everything about American culture was just too much to learn in just six years.

Last year, I was depressed not only because my grades have ben slowly decreasing, but because I felt empty inside. I went for a very long time without knowing why, until I realized that I didn't belong in America.

So many American kids I knew were immature. For example, in my Spanish class, my teacher had a McDonald's meal to teach us how to say the names of foods in Spanish, and every single one of them started screaming in jealousy, asking the teacher for a piece of her lunch. I was the only one who didn't say a word. In music class, there are these three kids that annoy the teacher every day until she starts giving out detentions just for sneezing while she's talking.

And then there's the culture thing again. People make fun of me for not knowing stuff. In fifth grade, I asked what a skillet was. All through the remainder of that year and last year, people made fun of me, saying "What's a skillet?". This year, I asked what velcro was, and a bunch of guys mocked me and said "What's velcro?"
I'M NOT AMERICAN! ENGLISH ISN'T MY LANGUAGE! So many people say that six years in America is enough to learn all of American culture, tradition, and customs. But it's not. My Spanish teacher started learning Spanish in seventh grade and she's studied in the Dominican Republic. And now, she knows less Spanish than I know English!

And finally, there's the way America treats foreign cultures. Based on what I see on TV and what I hear people do, America tends to "assume" stuff about other cultures. For example, when people think of the Chinese language, nearly every American who tried to imitate Chinese said "Ching, chang, chung." That's just dumb and annoying. Imagine someone saying English is "dl;fkja;woethawoetjz;vjpdfjgeawtha[oefjawetrjweo." And then a guy wanted to write a story about a French detective named "Immenent Discoverère." THAT'S NOT A FRENCH WORD! I just hate how so many of the people I know and so much of the media is racist! (And by so much I mean more than none, if not less.) When people try to mimic asian things such as karate, they usa a babyish voice with horrible grammar. THAT'S NOT THE WAY WE TALK.

I'm not saying America is a horrible place, I'm saying that America's worst traits all just happened to be piled up on me.

I desparately want to leave America, but I can't because my friends are here and I go to school here. I desparately want to live in China because it's my home and my family lives there, but I can't because school would be too difficult. I want to live in Japan because most of my childhood is there, but I can't because my parents would never let me live in the country that was China's worst enemy in history from World War II.

[Shi_Min_Xi offline]

Yea...I know alot of how you feel except I've lived in America my whole life and wasn't moving around the world....I agree, English is annoying, complex, hard etc. Yea like the whole "What's ____" That has happened to me so many times because my parents are immigrants so they know even less English then I do and I can't ask them what it means. More like they ask me what it means. But American kids...They and their parents and ancestors grew up in America. Of course they know what all those words mean. Yet they fail to realize that kids with immigrant parents or kids that are immigrants themselves don't know English as well as they do. They are racist. Ignorant and racist. It makes me mad.

As for how American's "assume" things. You're quite right on the chinese part. It's really quite sad how they attempt to "speak" chinese (gibberish) to a chinese person and say "Oh, I'm so good. I can speak Chinese." Usually what I do is say "Yea...You're right...You ARE an idiot." Sadly, they never understand that.... It even happens with other languages (but most commonly Asian/Oriental ones....) You even see this in movies. I can't remember a reference at the moment but I do remember hearing it so many times in movies.

You know...These bad traits of the USA happen to every immigrant. Especially in schools where there's hardly any respect anymore for immigrants and their families.

If you want adivce, this is what you can do. Next time they make fun of you and your English...Just say "At least I can speak English AND more languages then you can ever hope to do. I bet you couldn't speak as many languages as I can so you should really shut up and leave me alone." That's what I do...And it works...Most of the time

[Lani offline]

I'm with you there. Lots of Americans seem to be quite full of themselves and see other races as inferior. Being half-Asian myself, whenever I see anyone imitating or mocking Asian culture, I get pissed off as well. Like in eighth grade, the geography teacher said that removing shoes before entering a house was for the Shinto religion only... I got REALLY mad because that's not religious, it's cultural. My family from the Philippines takes off their shoes before coming into a house...

Stereotyping races is just not cool. White people who think they know about other cultures, but really don't, make me mad. For some reason, it always seems to be certain cultural groups who get picked on... Like never in my life have I seen Hispanics/Latinos or blacks stereotyped. It might be because that they're in abundance in my area (even though we do have quite a large Asian community... wtf). Like one girl on my soccer team tried to imitate Japanese, but it ended up sounding more like Korean... I don't really talk to her much anymore xD;; I think that some white people have it hard wired in their head that they are a more superior race to others and thus gives them the right to mock others... which is so not true.

I don't especially like America, either, even if I have lived here all my life. I'd love to live in Japan one day, and teach English there, so that one day the students will hopefully go to England and not America... if I can't leave the states, though, I'd probably most likely want to live in California... with more Asians.

Just as an ending note I wanna say that I hold nothing against anyone here, nor am I racist against white people or whatever. I'm just frustrated, most likely along with Chosen One, with how they treat others of other races. That is all. I guess some Americans can't get it through their thick heads to respect different people

[Zaeryth offline]

Yeah, I kinda know that it feels, the wanting to escape America part. I absolutely hate it! (even though I was born here and have lived here all my life) The way some people treat others who aren't American makes me sick. I have several friends from different cultures, and I respect them. In fact, I think it's really cool that they aren't from America. Another thing that makes me cringe is how people assume how people from other cultures act. On my bus, there's this kid who's from Asia, and they taunt him about the way he talks! It makes me simply furious! In fact, to that kid, WE'RE the ones that sound weird. Yes, I also agree how English is rediculously hard to learn. In fact, it IS the hardest language to learn. Don't feel embarrassed if you don't know what something means. (Trust me, there's a lot of words that I need a dictionary for.) And I have to agree with you on the immaturity part as well, but eventually, most people grow out of it. To sum it all up, most Americans lack respect.

Here's my advice: Talk to your parents about moving back to China. You can still keep in touch with your friends here, and you can always visit. If your parents say no, then you could maybe get a penpal from another country to exchange letters with. Other than that, I say keep your chin up and don't worry so much about what others think.

[Shi_Min_Xi offline]

I'm with you there. Lots of Americans seem to be quite full of themselves and see other races as inferior.

I think that some white people have it hard wired in their head that they are a more superior race to others and thus gives them the right to mock others... which is so not true.

I can agree with you on so many levels. But sadly you can witness this in history too. America "is" "the land free for all." But look at what has happened, African-Americans have been slaved, Chinese and Japanese people have lost rights to come into America etc.

Americans frequently forget that they are not "Americans." They're "English by blood. We've killed off pretty much ALL Americans by blood. Americans' ancestors were immigrants! Yet people can not realize this and they think they're rulers and that immigration is bad and evil and should be destroyed. They are forgetting that their ancestors WERE immigrants themselves!

Stereotyping races is just not cool. White people who think they know about other cultures, but really don't, make me mad.

It goes back to the whole assuming thing Chosen_One was talking about earlier. If they really wanna think they know about other cultures and want to "show-off" then at least they should take the time to LEARN it.

[Ulrich Stern. offline]

I can relate to a lot of that. I've never really been to another country unless you count Canada, but I didn't have to travel far for that since I live in Northern Ohio. I wish I could visit other countries and learn their coustomes, but sadly am not able to. Though I've always lived here my ancestors were not English, at least not in my direct family line. In my direct line my family is German on both my mothers and fathers side. Though I've not been a victim nor have mocked a culter myself, I see it almost every day on TV or in the media. All I can think to myself when I see it is how rude the people are that are doing it. Why just today I saw a cartoon make fun of the French language. I desperatly want to leave this country and I don't even really care where I go at this point. Just away from here, away from these idoit people that think their supperior to all other races. Hopefully one day I'll get my wish. I'm studying for a career that's more popular in Europe then it is in the U.S. so that's probably where I'm going if I succeed. I'm also taking French class next year, partially because of the show, but mostly because even before Code Lyoko I've wanted to learn that Language.

I wish all of you the best of luck to get wherever it is you want to go. I just can't seem to find anything within myself to tell you so that you feel better about living here because I just don't feel that way myself.

[LadyChaos offline]

I think some of you are being very rude about people from the US. I don't think I'm better than anyone at all! I don't stereotype against any culture or race of people. And I grew up in an entirely white town. No one of a different race ever went to any school I went to (except for the exchange students we had).

Yes, some people do say and think things like that, but not everyone does. I want to learn as much as I can about as many different cultures as I can. And the first one is Japanese culture and language. I don't know what I'll move on to from there, possible some different European cultures.

Also, are you trying to say that in none of the countries you, Chosen_one, have lived in that they do not mock people from the US?? I'm more than willing to bet that they do.

The people you know who mock you for not something are stupid and immature, don't bother with them. A lot of people who realize that they know something that someone else doesn't know think that they're better, even though they're not. Consequently, some like to mock the people who don't know.

Americans frequently forget that they are not "Americans." They're "English by blood. We've killed off pretty much ALL Americans by blood. Americans' ancestors were immigrants! Yet people can not realize this and they think they're rulers and that immigration is bad and evil and should be destroyed. They are forgetting that their ancestors WERE immigrants themselves!

Again, you are assuming things about us. I know who my ancestors were, where they were from. I have English blood, Irish blood, German blood, Native American blood, and Dutch blood. And I would like to learn as much as I can about all of those different cultures, so that I know where my family came from.


I once read a story in the Columbus Dispatch about students in Dublin, Ohio (a Columbus suburb) who moved here from Japan. It was all about the trials and problems they had adjusting to life here in the US. After I read that, I imagined what it would be like to go to school there. All of the problems I would face having to live in a different country. I can't believe that I would ever get fully accustomed to living in a another country. There's far too much that you would need to learn.

I don't assume things about other countries any more, it's my hope that people everywhere will stop it as well.

[Kim offline]

I can agree with you guys ecause I see the foreign exchange students being treated differently at my school than the "Americans". But I was born and raised in the USA and I have no Asian blood in me (that I know of). So in my defense, not all Americans are evil. Personally, I love Asian culture and would love to have been born somewhere in Asia. But I wasn't. I, along with many others, respect Asian and all cultures. It seems like you guys got stuck with all the prejeduce (sp?) Americans. I'm sorry but just remember it's not all of us, ok?

Sorry if I sounded like I was mad at anyone. I'm really not. I was just pointing out that it's not everyone.

[The BB of C offline]

I can imagine how that feels like. I sympathise with that a lot too. I'm always getting on people's cases for mocking other cultures. That's not cool. People do that to me all of the time at school because they think I'm asian. It's off of the stupidest generalizations too. I know martial arts, my eyes are slanted (that's only because I have a little extra fat tissue on my cheeks which pushes up on my eyes, and I squint), I can't drive without crashing into anything. I have no idea where that last sterieotype came from at all but it's there and people use it.
The language thing is easy to explain. It looks to me like you were first exposed to Japanese. The first exposures at young ages like that are the ones that we tend to like best and stick with us more. For example, there is no way in heck I would ever be able to understand any asian characters. I have tried. I sat there with a book with and stuff and even my old Japanese-print Pokemon cards. I wrote the stuff down and really tried to acually memorize it. None of it stuck with me for more than a week. I also have yet to get down the Korean counting they're trying to make me memorize in Kuk Sool Won (what in the heck is Hato choggi again? Did I even spell that right?). So the language issue you have with all of English's words and characters is completely natural.
The only thing I can really suggest without people getting on my case is to simply cope with it and be patient. Have hope that one day you'll be grown up and people will be more mature and a lot less likely to make generalizations like that. Every now and then you'll come across someone who hasn't quite grown up yet or a Comedy Central program with stupid stuff like that. But that's all minor and insignificant.

Did I miss anything with that?

[KayLenny#7 offline]

Is that kinda like when people say that I crap in the streets and never shave cuz I'm French?

I don't like that kind of stuff.

[Kim offline]

Is that kinda like when people say that I crap in the streets and never shave cuz I'm French?

I don't like that kind of stuff.

I don't know about the whole street thing, but the never shaving is a big generalization of French women (I'm pretty sure anyway)

[enemyxwithin offline]

Wow... You must really hate living in America. But that is totally fine. When I moved here from Japan (I never really mentioned that I was from Japan on this forum...I kind of wanted to be on hiatus from Japanese related things for a while... SORRY!!!), I had a hard time too. People treated me differently sometimes just because I didn't understand English. And when I did finally learn English, I still had a hard time for some reason. But things got better as I made more friends. Just hang in there, and maybe you might go back to Japan someday.

May the force be with you!!!

[The BB of C offline]

Is that kinda like when people say that I crap in the streets and never shave cuz I'm French?

I don't like that kind of stuff.

I don't know about the whole street thing, but the never shaving is a big generalization of French women (I'm pretty sure anyway)

Acually, I have a couple of friends who went to France. They came back and said that everyone's higiene standard there wasn't exactly as high as ours But that wouldn't apply to you, Numbuh 7 because as far as I know you weren't born there and you don't live there.

[KayLenny#7 offline]

Is that kinda like when people say that I crap in the streets and never shave cuz I'm French?

I don't like that kind of stuff.

I don't know about the whole street thing, but the never shaving is a big generalization of French women (I'm pretty sure anyway)

Acually, I have a couple of friends who went to France. They came back and said that everyone's higiene standard there wasn't exactly as high as ours But that wouldn't apply to you, Numbuh 7 because as far as I know you weren't born there and you don't live there.

Exactly! Yay for understanding!

[Tekirai offline]

Nothing surprises me anymore, since at school I'm teased for being interested in Japanese culture and the language. 'Chinese Girl' is what they call me, and I just call them inappropiate things in it. I was once confronted by a guy in my class with a piece of paper with Chinese inscriptions and told me to read it. Thankfully I didn't get in trouble for creaming him with my math textbook, but that's besides the point.

China and Japan are commonly dissed about in American and the UK, it has been for donkeys. But that's the problem with the world these days- enough racism to end world hunger if it was edible. I'm put in a similar but not as drastic situation as yours at school every day. Getting teased about random crap and having males who are less mature than 2 year olds. (fart and sex jokes, the like...) Our class is well-known for its 'pleasure to be taught', but I personally think it should be the opposite.

I can really tell what you're going through, though. I send good wishes for the future.

[Darkness Incarnate offline]

I know how it feels I may not be from japan but I moved to an all white town and thing were not that easy for me. First the schools were better than the ones in the inner city that I came from. I did make a few friends but I always felt like someone told a joke and I was the only one that didn't get it. As time went on it got alittle better but I can still tell sometimes. I went on a date once and she wanted me to meet her mom and it went ok or so it seemed I talked to her the next day and see told me hre mom was like"He's Black" so we went broke up. Now things are not as hard being 23 but I still see the way some of the people look at me and it bothers me, I guess what I am trying to say is that it will never be the way you want it to be but if you give it time spend time with people you like and who like you your life will be better for it.

[Shi_Min_Xi offline]

I think some of you are being very rude about people from the US. I don't think I'm better than anyone at all! I don't stereotype against any culture or race of people. And I grew up in an entirely white town. No one of a different race ever went to any school I went to (except for the exchange students we had).

Fine...I never meant to say ALL people but I meant most of them.

Also, are you trying to say that in none of the countries you, Chosen_one, have lived in that they do not mock people from the US?? I'm more than willing to bet that they do.

The people you know who mock you for not something are stupid and immature, don't bother with them. A lot of people who realize that they know something that someone else doesn't know think that they're better, even though they're not. Consequently, some like to mock the people who don't know.

You make very good points there. Especially with the second one. I bet that's typically how the whole thing starts

Americans frequently forget that they are not "Americans." They're "English by blood. We've killed off pretty much ALL Americans by blood. Americans' ancestors were immigrants! Yet people can not realize this and they think they're rulers and that immigration is bad and evil and should be destroyed. They are forgetting that their ancestors WERE immigrants themselves!

Again, you are assuming things about us. I know who my ancestors were, where they were from. I have English blood, Irish blood, German blood, Native American blood, and Dutch blood. And I would like to learn as much as I can about all of those different cultures, so that I know where my family came from.

Well that's for you specifically and like you mentioned above, you're one of the few exceptions. I speak this from observing what we learn in history and what I see in school. It's very true that I'm assuming but at least it's assuming in a mature way unlike the examples Chosen_One gave before.

I must say though, you made well points and defended them pretty well. I appluade you for that. I could only wish to be able to immediatly think like you do.

[Carth]

Y'know, when people diss on Americans, you're being racist as well ^^

Or not...

Anyway, I'm American. Italian by blood. Nobody notices. But it makes me REALLY angry when I hear these boys in my school call each other 'white' and 'black' as insults (several are Hispanic, but most are white). One guy, in particular, (who used to sit next to me in math) was horrible. During class, he'd make jokes about the KKK and hispanics. And because he sits right next of me, it was even worse. It made me sick and disorientated. (Not only that, he makes 'asian' jokes about this one really nice girl (who's actually...polynesian, I think))

None of the girls make jokes like that. Thank GOD.

Here's what I reccomend for those im*****es (sorry, didn't know that was that bad). One, NEVER stoop to their level. NEVER insult them back. It'll only intensify the teasing. Two, just ignore them.

I can't give any help for the media as of now. But, since I plan to work in media someday, I promise I'll whip their heads into shape.

[The BB of C offline]

Yeah, guys do that. You'd be surprised, but we seldom mean any of it. But still, if you're going to insult something, don't insult culture. If you feel you must insult something, insult individuals.

[Chosen_one offline]

I think some of you are being very rude about people from the US. I don't think I'm better than anyone at all! I don't stereotype against any culture or race of people. And I grew up in an entirely white town. No one of a different race ever went to any school I went to (except for the exchange students we had).

I apologize if I seemed racist to you. By "America does ____" I was targeting the people in America who actually do those things. I know that not all Americans do this, and racism is the one thing I hate the most.

Yet the American media approves of this stereotyping. Like those commercials on TV that refer to martial arts. Have you seen the Cinnamon Swirls commercial that takes place in a training dojo?

You must train your tongue to master the taste of the swirl.

From that quote I can tell that many people think martial arts is a joke.

Also, are you trying to say that in none of the countries you, Chosen_one, have lived in that they do not mock people from the US?? I'm more than willing to bet that they do.

That wasn't my point, but it's true. I've heard not one person from Japan, China, the Northern Mariana Islands, or Canada say a single word to describe people based on ancestry. In fact, the other countries I've been to give the US so much respect. Did you know that in Canada, next to many of the Canadian flags flying in local stores and libraries, there's an American flag right next to it? I asked my friend why American flags were there, and she said it was because America was their neighbor, that America was their friend. Yet I've never seen a single Canadian flag in America, apart from the one I brought as a souvenir. How does America treat Canada? By mocking their accent. "Eh?", "Aboot", Mounties... that's not funny. Here's a quote from the show Xiaolin Showdown:

I can give you anything you want. Toys, money, Canada...

And here's a quote from the Fairly OddParents:

I'm off to conquer Canada. They've had it too good for too long.

And the worst part of this is that it's on television. CANADIAN PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO AMERICAN TELEVISION. On my visit to Canada, I noticed that like 90% of their TV shows are American. The Canadian ones are news and stuff.

In China, the only wrong English word you'll ever hear on TV is when there's a trivia game show and one of the answers involve saying a word in English. Did you know that in China kids learn the Latin (or in China, the English) alphabet before learning to write their first word in Chinese?!! China, Japan, Canada... all these countries give so much respect to America. They practically worships the US. And what do they treat them as? As a joke!

Now, I know that this racism is just a joke. You've all heard "Can't you take a joke?" But some people can't tell that this is a joke. One day, during lunch, my friend asked,

Why does Confucius say "Confucius says" before everything he says?

Shi_Min_Xi brought up a good point about African slaves in America. Have you noticed that throughout American history, it was the whites who always had the most rights? First, black people were slaves no matter what. Whites couldn't become slaves. Then, there was Segragation. Blacks had to relinquish their rights to whites when they wanted them. Next, there was Executive Order No. 9044. Do you know what that was? It ordered the evacuation of all US residents of Japanese ancestry into concentration camps. Why? Japan was an enemy of the US. But so was Germany and Italy. But there weren't any Germans or Italians arrested for being who they were. Why? Because Germans and Italians were European. THEY WERE WHITE. Finally, there was the Cold War. The United States refused to allow people to travel into communist countries. Now many people argue that communism isn't a race, and so anti-communism shouldn't be racism. But it's just as bad. A Russian from the Soviet Union could be called a communist for being Russian.

People tell me to stop criticizing America. But all this isn't even half of the stuff I've seen. I'm just saying.

[MY85 offline]

No cursing outside BKO, Carth.

And people expand to the States for better oportunities, which is almost as same to say that their countries are undeveloped. If you got money and look okay, you're in for it. But if not, you're screwed. Africans and Latinos are used for taxi services (mostly africans), being maids (Latinos), washing dishes at restaurants, etc.

Discrimination is everywhere, it's inevitable. You marginate latinos, black people, Asian, African, etc. You will never find the perfect nationality because there's at least one country where you can be discriminated for several reasons. Racist jokes always happen. I happen to like some of them, as long as they're well told. And I'm not just making a reference to black peopl jokes, I mean Muslim, Jew...

Guys, if other students bug you for any reason or not, you have to learn that teachers won't solve it completely. One, they can't be there for you 24/7. Two, kicking off a group of students costs the school money (for private schools, that is) and privilege. Three, do it by yourself. Accusing won't do much (accusing students to teachers is seen as a weakness act) as fighting back well. Ignoring them won't help that much really. You can ignore insults, but you can't ignore a fist in the nose. Murdering could solve the thing, but it will lead you to grief and will torment you for life.


If you're an inmigrant, the best way to get along in the foreign country is to adapt as quickly as you can to the nation where you live. It might reduce the discrimination against you.

So many American kids I knew were immature. For example, in my Spanish class, my teacher had a McDonald's meal to teach us how to say the names of foods in Spanish, and every single one of them started screaming in jealousy, asking the teacher for a piece of her lunch. I was the only one who didn't say a word. In music class, there are these three kids that annoy the teacher every day until she starts giving out detentions just for sneezing while she's talking.

I had to laugh at that. And I have ate McDonald's inside a classroom before, so... xD

Chaos... many people have mocked the States, but most of your people's nation doeesn't even mind about it, so thy keep going on with their lives.

If you're a girl, the bothering and discrimination is less than what a guy gets.

What's more f***ed up? Being a black guy from the USA, being a Latino, a Muslim, an African....? The answer should be none, but the image we are being sold is another.

[Carth]

No cursing outside BKO, Carth.

That's a BKO word? Didn't know that...

[MY85 offline]

No cursing outside BKO, Carth.

That's a BKO word? Didn't know that...

It's almost the same meaning as a****le.

[. offline]

Please, america gets the same treatment from other countries I bet. It's life.

I'm with Hot RoD, you can't ignore a fist to the face. Just ya know, besure you need to fight the guy before you do.

[Chosen_one offline]

Please, america gets the same treatment from other countries I bet. It's life.

I'm with Hot RoD, you can't ignore a fist to the face. Just ya know, besure you need to fight the guy before you do.

America doesn't get the same treatment. Did you know that America is the most highly respected country in the world? Obviously, the country you should support the most is your own country. But in other countries, the country you support the second most is America. Americans who've never been outside of America don't realize this. Many people refer to America as a second heaven. I thought America to be one. When I moved to America, I was kind of disappointed because it wasn't what I thought it would be (there are like no croweded places, and the summers are really hot!).

My point is, America is practically worshipped by other countries. In China, about a third of all the television programs teach English so people can get jobs that are affiliated with America.

Just a random thing to say, we have better washing machines than America.