American Family II

It says that, in American society, the adults are usually the spectators who are watching the children. But from my observation, I think that American parents not differ from which in my country. They take care of children when they need to. They carry their hand in the supermarket but don’t often look at them. They talk by their own and let the children to play everywhere in the restaurant. However, they have much more body contact with the kids to show their emotion or their love, which is not very common in China. Sometime we do kiss babies and rub their faces by our faces, but not very often to those who are already elementary schools students.


In the survey about life after retirement, some Americans want to live in the big cities, some want to live in suburb area, but most of them want to find a warmer place to live in and live away from their children. One said that he wants to live in a house nearby the street alone, and sit in a rocking chair towards the street everyday in a bathrobe with a shot gun in hand, shout at the passing by kids. That’s funny, but from these I find that most Americans are independent, not only children but also their parents. It’s not like in my home country where a big family often live together or nearby each other. Family is a big part of an American’s life, but on another aspect, the concept of family seems not very strong for many Americans.

American Family

During my observance and research, I found that there are a lot of interesting things about American families. First is quantity of children. Due to the Birth Control Policy, most of the Chinese families have an only child while most American families have the number of 2 or 3. But in the old time they are like the same. Children today in both China and America may have lots of aunts and uncles, but kids in the next generation in China probably may not have any cousins.




Second is the family role. It’s about the same here and in China even the changes. In old times women are usually house wives and men are the bread makers. Now most of the women have their jobs and both men and women earn money and do house things. But children in American are more independent. In China, many teenagers who are above 18 live with their parents. But here, kids just want to go out and live along.



Third is about the olds. In America, many parents live far away from their kids when their kids are independent and have their own house. Their children don’t visit them frequently though the olds want so. As a result, nowadays, grandparents don’t often take care of their grandkids, which is not like the situation in China. Many families live in the same city as their former generation does, so they go to see their parents more frequently. There are a lot of American movies about the children sickness of old parents. However, because China is a developing country, families are getting richer and richer, so older people many times are poorer and need care. Olds in American have the ability to live in a nicer and quitter place – which means higher life quality and less family love.

What are the advantages and disadvantages to having a multicultural society in the twenty-first century?

In 21th century, since worldwide connection is getting deeper and deeper, it is more and more important for people to be familiar with multicultural society. If a person wants to be successful in worldwide, he/she has to learn much about the culture differences because he/she will definitely meet people from many different cultures—especially if he/she is a businessman/~an. Based on this, I think, if a person is from a society of multicultural, he/she will has the advantage of knowing much about the culture diversity, and this will make it easier for him/her to succeed abroad. Another advantage of having a multicultural society is that the culture diversity can make the society more colorful and interesting, which in some way means more money can be made on the tourism. What’s more, culture diversity can also help people to know the world better and deeper.


The disadvantages are more obvious. It will bring many inconvenient to people’s lives. It cause the so called “culture gape”, which always brings misunderstandings and prevents people from getting along with each other. Culture differences or non-identity sometimes can even result in conflicts. It is harder for the government to control such a society.

Nevertheless, we should make the best of the advantages of the multicultural society and live a harmony life together.

Would I have a gun in my own home?

Would I have a gun in my own home? My answer is yes.


First of all, let’s assume I live in a country where having guns in house is legal because it is known to all that gun allowance is not suitable in China for we have too high a density of population to control if so.

Why do people need a gun in their home? They use them to defense themselves (or to hunt, but that’s not what I’m talking about). That is to say, if a thief, a robber or even a killer enters my house, I can shoot him or force him to give in. If you want to force a man to drop his weapon and not move, it is easier to use a gun but not a knife or any other close fight weapons. And if I’m in a country where people can keep guns, the robbers or killers will mostly use a gun as their weapon; in this case, if I don’t have a gun, I’ll probably lose in the fight with the bad guys.

Another reason that people keep guns is to defense their politic rights. If the government is really bad to the people and they have to overthrow it, they will be more powerful with guns. That is to say, the government will think twice before they want to add press on its people. So, if a officer come to my home and forces me to move out of my own house in no reason, I can even point my gun at him.

For these reasons,  I would have a gun in my house.

Who should be most respected?

Young adults, middle-aged people, or senior citizens, who should be most respected? To answer this question, we should know one thing first: why do people show respect to a person?




I think when people show respect to a person, they think highly of the good things he/she has done. That is to say, the contribution one made to the improvement of the human society is the main factor of how people show respect to a person. Besides this, they may also think about the benefits he/she will bring in the future. So, if a person contributed a lot or is able to contribute a lot to the society, people will show respect to him/her. People show respect to superman not only because he (or “it”?) saved the world, but also because he can save the world again and again in the future, we show respect to his ability.



Now let’s come back to the question. According to the conclusion above, I think all of them should be respected equally. All of them work for the human welfare: the old people use their wisdom, the youth use their endless energy, and the middle-ages use their strength and experiences to build our world together. The olds did much, and the youth will do more. All of them are essential. I think it’s impossible to choose one of them.



Incidentally, in the question paper, it says：Americans are often accused of admiring youthful beauty and energy over the experience and wisdom of older people. But I asked my roommate, he said that Americans used to be like this, but not anymore. I think it’s good because everyone has his/her significance to the society.

About the Policy of Immigration

America is a country with great ethnic diversity, so the policy of immigration is very important thing to this nation.


It is the ethnic diversity and the aim (or slogan) of freedom that attracts so many people to come to the U.S. So I think the immigration quotas based on country will make people in or from countries in the blacklist lose their good impression of America and confidence in it. However, in order to make the economy and the society more stable, it is necessary to have immigration quotas, but not aiming at special countries.

Should immigrants become citizens? Of cause they can, why not? That is the way American population grows in the past time. But due to the density of the population, it should depend on the situation in different areas, and the government should control the percentage strictly. Totally, America should show its freedom to the whole world.

About the “guest workers”: in my opinion, every country needs temporary workers. Truly they help the country to develop, and they also bring diversities in many parts. So it is impossible to not let people have temporary jobs. Nevertheless, if the number grows too big or too fast, that will be harmful to the country. So it should be under control as well; everything needs balance, aren’t they?

Anyhow, opening to the outside world and having a good control of the amount of the immigrants will help a country to get a nice name and a stable development.



P.S.: The question asked very generally, the policy changes from country to country, so it is hard to answer in general, so I just choose America to write.

Tour to the Downtown

This is a federal court.

This is a church at the opposite side of the river, and it surves only Spanish people. There is an other church nearby which surves only Jews.

Behind me is the Phoenix Park, that area was the early settlement of Frenches, but most of them didn't settle down; they  traded with the Indians here.

Sawdust City Matures, built in 1893-94, is the largest remaining commercial building in this city.

The City Hall and the old public library, built in 1916 and 1903. They remind us that Eau Claire was one of the first towns in WI to adopt the Commission form of government.

The first brick house here. Fire is one of the greatest problems here in the early ages.