2008-09-29T22:44:34Z Like 55,000+ other children born in China, Vivian became a U.S. citizen at 13 months of age and moved to the U.S. with her adoptive family. 3 2008-09-29T00:00:00Z 40.7620810116 -73.9869117737 15 0 2008-09-29T22:44:34Z 2008-10-31T18:58:09Z My father learned to drive stick shift in Taiwan, and he learned to ride a motorcycle on the highways of New Jersey. 6 2007-01-31T00:00:00Z 40.6510805688 -74.4349479675 7 1 0 2008-10-31T19:01:19Z 2008-09-29T21:06:44Z I am an American-born Chinese. A child of immigrants who met in the States. My parents have always tried to instill a bit of Chinese pride within me. I was made to watch the TV shows from Hong Kong. They had me go to Chinese school growing up. I was very resistant, preferring the draw of the Yankees and Nintendo. <br> <br> I sometimes regret not embracing my heritage more. <br> <BR> Many of my childhood friends were just as resistant. I am fortunate enough to keep in contact with most of them. Now they have children of their own and try to pass on their culture to the next generation. <br> <br> But how much tradition can be passed from someone illiterate in Chinese? Is it real custom or did I pick it from a bad TVB soap opera? What do I really know outside of a mahjong table? What will I do when I have kids? Will they care? Luckily, I will not have to deal with this for quite some time. But it doesn't mean I don't think about it. –Edward Cheng 1 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z 40.7620810116 -73.9869117737 15 0 2009-05-01T21:25:50Z 2009-05-01T21:19:04Z My mother and I had become US citizens nine years ago in 1998. I remember pledging allegiance under the American flag for the first time in the immigration office. I questioned if I was ready to renounce my homeland China, whether I would ever be completely loyal to America as my new homeland. <br><br>Over the years, I’ve struggled with the idea, unable to truly see my reflection as an American. At the time, I didn’t identify with this nationality and when in debates about US politics, felt extremely uncomfortable when the word “we” was used to refer to Americans. <br><br> Changes happened quietly in me over the years. I grew to understand the true meaning of freedom and liberty. A few years ago, in 2005, I visited the Vietnam War Memorial while I was in DC for a conference. I was unprepared by how much the memorial moved me. I looked at the names carved on the black marble, its reflections of the green lawn, the blue sky and visitors in the marble. Seeing the red carnations laid in front of it, waves of emotions washed over me. I felt an immense sense of pride. This was the first moment I began to relate to myself as an American. I am proud to be a citizen of a country that protects my freedom and rights as a true free person. --Hao Li 13 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z 38.892091 -77.024055 washington dc 15 0 2009-05-01T21:28:42Z 2009-05-08T18:12:57Z I was born in the West Village of New York City to a father who was born in Pennsylvania to Chinese immigrants, and a mother who immigrated to the United States from Kowloon, Hong Kong, at the age of 7 in 1964. Raised as an American, I did not learn to speak Chinese until I moved to Hong Kong for two years at the age of 21, where I taught English and studied Cantonese. (My Cantonese is elementary, at best, but I have tried to keep it up.) I am also a 2006 grant recipient from the Urban Artist Initiative/New York City, in conjunction with the Asian American Arts Alliance, currently working on a collection of creative non-fiction stories based on the life of my paternal grandmother. My non-fiction work has appeared in HK Magazine, Sawasdee Magazine, Smith Magazine and Time Out New York.<br><br>--Jennifer Yee 16 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z 40.77194 -73.93056 Astoria, NY 15 0 2009-05-08T20:41:34Z