Egronk said:
So if your parents disapprove of Australian culture so much, why did they come here?
I know, I know, because unlike the culture that they want to hold onto so fucking tightly, our society has opportunities for anyone to be financially prosperous.
Dad first came here in 1990 because both my parents felt that a 'wider' education, like, a second language especially English etc, would be beneficial for me. Dad first considered England, then the U.S. but didn't get accepted. It's also 'cos we neede money and there were offers in China for ppl to go to foreign countries to earn $$$. It's also because it's really difficult to get into uni in China because there's just too much competition and pressure (dense population), even though I'd only been 2. My uncle on my mum's side 'cursed' me, saying that my future'd be ruined 'cos he thought rules were really lax here. So dad put extra pressure on me to get into selective school and making me consider suicide in the process =S .
It's quite ironic, they knew they'd be takinga risk, tried to protect me from it (the 'openess' of the West), yet neglected me at the same time. Grades and studies are everything to them. They'd think I'd have everything if my grades are good - not so, I had to fight the emotional and mental battles all on my own. Because we're poor, even though we're here, it's a struggle, so their focus is to get me out of this hole. I understand that, but they're ignoring my emotional side. They've unintentionally opened up a whole new world for me.
They're like " 'grab' the 'good stuff', the values from the Australian culture and leave the 'liberating' stuff " - they saw how 'wild' and laidback Aussies can get and didn't want me to party, go out etc etc if my grades weren't up to standard...just to show the family back in China that I'm not rubbish, that their choice is correct. Yet at the end of the day, that's all over, I'm at USyd, I've a most perfect boyfriend who doesn't quite understand the Asian parents' toil either lol...it's my liberation, my life from now.
My b.f. doesn't get the fact that Chinese/Asian kids can be grateful to their parents even after the torture - I can, it's because after the Chinese/Asian kids of the traditional families earn big $$$ after everything they'd been thru, they'd think that's the only way. Not so!...but I won't be grateful, I'll give my parents what they've given me, as it is right-fit...because I've been fighting alone for too long. No one's seen me through it, except my b.f., but even he can be a little too harsh in being on my side.
P.S. Remind me to teach my b.f. Mando and the (new and updated) Chinese culture 'cos mum'd only accept Western guys if she can understand them and if he understands the Chinese culture etc lol. Man, I'm in such an inferno.